Greatest Cricket Moments

Cricket in the British Camp at Brussels — Before Waterloo, May 1815

1815-05-28Officers vs Other RanksOfficers v Other Ranks, British camp near Brussels, 28 May 18151 min readSeverity: Mild

Summary

On 28 May 1815, three weeks before the battle of Waterloo, officers and other ranks of the British army played a cricket match in a meadow outside Brussels. The Officers won by an innings. The match was recorded in a letter home from Captain Alexander Cavalié Mercer of the Royal Horse Artillery — whose Journal of the Waterloo Campaign is one of the great military memoirs of the period. The fixture is the most famous documented military cricket match of the Napoleonic era.

Background

The British army had used cricket as a regimental sport throughout the Napoleonic period. The Brussels concentration of May-June 1815 produced an unusually documented run of fixtures.

What Happened

Wellington's army had been concentrating around Brussels through May 1815 in anticipation of Napoleon's offensive. The British forces — billeted in villages around the city — used the long evenings for sport. Mercer's letter of 30 May describes a cricket match played two days earlier 'in a great meadow beside the Soignes wood, with a side of officers against the men of the Battery'. The Officers won by an innings; Mercer made 22. The match was followed by mess dinner at the regimental HQ.

Timeline

May 1815

British army concentrates around Brussels

28 May 1815

Officers v Other Ranks cricket match

18 Jun 1815

Battle of Waterloo

1870

Mercer's Journal of the Waterloo Campaign published

Notable Quotes

“We had a famous match at cricket on Sunday in the meadow beside the wood. Our Officers beat the men by an innings. The men shall not have it so easy at our next try.”

— Captain Alexander Cavalié Mercer, letter home, 30 May 1815

Aftermath

Mercer's battery would distinguish itself at Waterloo on 18 June — three weeks after the cricket match. Several of the players were killed in the battle.

⚖️ The Verdict

The most famous documented cricket match of the Napoleonic wars — played three weeks before Waterloo.

Legacy & Impact

The Brussels match is the cricket fixture most often cited in histories of British military cricket. Its proximity to Waterloo gives it a memorial significance: a moment of normality in the days before catastrophe.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many of the players were killed at Waterloo?▾
Mercer's later writings name three of the cricketers — two officers and one bombardier — among the battery's Waterloo casualties.

Tags

#regency-cricket#underarm#waterloo#british-army#brussels#1815#iconic-moment#military-cricket

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