Note 44 — Chapter XIII · AT WATERLOO

The “fanion” of the second battalion of the 45th shared the fate of the regimental Eagle. It fell to Private Wheeler of the 28th, the “Slashers,” the present 1st Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment. The 28th, on the left of Picton’s line, had, like the Highlanders, charged forward among the French, following close after the Greys. Wheeler, after a fierce fight with the bearer of the “fanion,” in which he was severely wounded, bayoneted the French sergeant and carried off the trophy. It disappeared in an unexplained manner some days later, during Wellington’s march on Paris, while being forwarded to the Duke’s head-quarters.