Who was Ensign Ewart?
When you visit Edinburgh Castle, you’ll find several references to Ensign Ewart. An impressive memorial on the Castle Esplanade, a huge portrait in the Great Hall, and even an Ensign Ewart pub just a little down the Royal Mile. But who was Ensign Ewart and what did he do?
Ensign Charles Ewart
Charles Ewart was a Sergeant of the Scots Greys, born in Scotland in 1769. He was famous for capturing a French Imperial Eagle at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. This was a regimental eagle figure on a staff, which the French army carried into battle and guarded fiercely. It was incredibly difficult to seize and a symbol of glory, and Ewart became a war hero for bringing it home. He was promoted to Ensign (Second Lieutenant) in 1816 and he was honoured at a dinner by the great Sir Walter Scott.
The story of Ewart capturing the eagle became so legendary, he lived the rest of this life as a celebrity. He left the army in 1821, retiring on full pay and died in Salford aged 77. However, it was over a hundred years later, in 1938, that his grave was uncovered and the Royal Scots Greys reburied him on Edinburgh Castle Esplanade. The infamous eagle is also at Edinburgh Castle now, on display within the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum.
The Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo took place in Belgium on 18th June 1815. It was the final battle in the Napoleonic Wars, a series of conflicts between Napoleon Bonaparte‘s French army and European Coalition Forces. The wars had lasted for twelve years and taken the lives of five million people. At Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington‘s British army and Field Marshal Blücher’s Prussian army permanently defeated the French. Napoleon was exiled to St Helena, an island in the Atlantic ocean, where he died six years later.
Although the Battle of Waterloo lasted only 9 hours, it was a hugely significant event in history. The Duke of Wellington was one of the biggest heroes in Britain after the victory. And Ewart, captor of the French Eagle, was also highly revered for the part he played. The painting of Ensign Ewart that hangs in Edinburgh Castle depicts the brutality and bloodiness of the battle, although it also glorifies it. On horseback, he holds the eagle above his head as he slits the throat of an enemy soldier, while bodies lay trampled beneath them.
