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ATTRIBUTED TO CHARLES HINXMAN

Last survivors of Waterloo at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea

Jun 1880

RCIN 2907241

This photograph, taken sixty-five years after the battle, shows the last survivors at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea. From left to right they are Naish Hanney (b.1792) (seated), John McKay (b.1785), Benjamin Bumstead (b.1798) (seated), Robert Norton (b.1790) and Sampson Webb (b.1798) (seated). Naish Hanney had fought with the 7th Hussars, who entered the Battle of Waterloo at 5pm and suffered terrible losses. He had previously served with Wellington in the Peninsular War. John McKay was in the 42nd Foot, a Highland regiment which fought at both Quatre Bras and Waterloo. Like Hanney, he had previously fought in the Peninsular War, and had been badly wounded at the Siege of Badajoz (1812). Benjamin Bumstead was aged 17 at the time of the battle, having enlisted just a year earlier. At Waterloo he fought with the 73rd Foot Regiment. Like John McKay his unit fought at Quatre Bras as well as Waterloo. He was discharged from the army in 1820 as a result of a wound to his ankle. Robert Norton had fought with the 34th Regiment in Germany, Holland and France, before participating at Waterloo. Sampson Webb served with the 3rd Foot Guards, who were placed just behind Hougoumont during the battle and played an important role in the defence of the building.

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