Black plaque № 40335
Connection to This Location
# The Waterloo Way On the evening of June 21st, 1815, 16 St James's Square became the theatrepoint where the news of Napoleon's defeat transformed from military intelligence into a moment of national triumph. Major Henry Percy, still dust-covered from his desperate three-day journey across the Chan...
Location
16 St James's Square
Inscription
The Waterloo Way On Sunday 18th June 1815 the Anglo-Dutch army under the command of the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian army led by Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher defeated Napoleon Bonaparte's army at the Battle of Waterloo eight miles south of Brussels in Belgium. This victory was a defining moment in European history. The official dispatch with the news of the victory was carried to England by the Honourable Major Henry Percy, 14th Light Dragoons, an aide de camp to the Duke of Wellington. He travelled by post chaise from Brussels to Ostend where he joined His Majesty's Ship Peruvian, under the command of Commander James White, Royal Navy, which then sailed for England. Landing at Broadstairs the officers travelled together by post chaise to London, arriving on 21st June 1815. Immediately after delivering The Duke of Wellington's dispatch to the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for War at Grosvenor Square, Major Percy continued his journey here to 16 St James's Square and laid two French Imperial Eagles captured at Waterloo before HRH The Prince Regent, who was attending a soirée hosted by Mrs Edmund Boehm.