51-593: General Alexander Cavalié Mercer (28 March 1783 – 9 November 1868) was a British Army officer of the Royal Horse Artillery . He is most notable as commander of G Troop Royal Horse Artillery at the Battle of Waterloo , and as author of Journal of the Waterloo Campaign . Mercer's six-gun horse artillery troop arrived too late for the Battle of Quatre Bras , but it fought with
102-809: A lieutenant in the Royal Regiment of Artillery in 1799 at the age of 16. He served in Ireland in the aftermath of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 . He was promoted to second captain (a rank unique to the Ordnance ) in 1806. Promotion in the Royal Artillery was very slow, especially in peacetime, as it relied solely on seniority. Unlike in the rest of the British Army of the time there was no opportunity for purchase of commissions in
153-586: A field marshal". The troop had five 9-pounder guns (which had recently replaced some of the RHA's 6-pounders) and a 5½" howitzer, 80 gunners, 86 drivers and 226 horses. Mercer's Troop embarked for Belgium on 11 April 1815, a few days after hearing of Napoleon 's escape from Elba . From 1 May until the French invasion on 15 June it led a quiet life in the small village of Strijtem , west of Brussels . G Troop rode all day on 16 June, but arrived too late to participate in
204-492: A formation of 15 Hercules aircraft to drop a parachute battalion group over two drop zones (DZs) in under five minutes, by day or night. To do this, there was a requirement for the DZs to be clearly marked, to ensure that the crews had an easily identified reference point to allow them to drop accurately and consistently. With the demise of the 16th Parachute Brigade in 1977, the disbandment of No 1 (Guards) Independent Company meant that
255-720: A highly mobile brigade of parachute units and airmobile units, which employ helicopters. After a ceasefire was declared in the Republic of Macedonia (now known as the Republic of North Macedonia) between government forces and rebels known as the National Liberation Army , NATO launched a British-led effort, Operation Essential Harvest , to collect weapons voluntarily given up by the rebels. The brigade HQ and some of its elements deployed in August 2001, acting as
306-764: Is a formation of the British Army predominantly based in Colchester , Essex . It makes up the Air Assault Task Force, a battlegroup held at high readiness, and is the only brigade in the British Army focused on operating via parachute, helicopter and air-landing. The brigade was formed as part of the defence reforms implemented by the Strategic Defence Review on 1 September 1999, by the merging of 24 Airmobile Brigade and elements of 5th Airborne Brigade . This grouping created
357-847: Is based in Colchester Garrison and reports directly to Commander Field Army whilst the Army Air Corps units previously assigned to the brigade will remain under Joint Aviation Command . The Brigade Headquarters has personnel from both the British Army and the Royal Air Force assigned, enabling it to carry out air and land operations. Due to the brigade's mobile role, it is lightly armed and equipped. The brigade's land equipment includes Foxhounds , Jackal 2s , WMIK Land Rovers , Supacat ATMPs , towed L118 light guns , Javelin anti-tank and lightweight Starstreak air-defence missile launchers. The aviation element of
408-459: Is buried at St. David's Church, Exeter. Today a publicly funded project is underway to restore Mercer's grave for the Waterloo 200th commemorations, to provide informative signage and to build a fund to care for the condition of the grave for the next 100 years. The commemorations will be marked on 18 June 2015 at Mercer's graveside with a short service, the laying of a laurel and rose wreath, and
459-455: Is marked by a memorial on the Waterloo battlefield. After the battle, Mercer's troop marched on Paris with the Allied armies, and formed part of the army of occupation. Mercer's Journal is an important source for historians of the Waterloo campaign, as well as a detailed description of the landscape and people of Belgium and France in the early 19th century. It is one of the few accounts of
510-483: Is now only awarded as an honorary rank. The rank of general has a NATO-code of OF-9 , and is a four-star rank . It is equivalent to a full admiral in the Royal Navy or an air chief marshal in the Royal Air Force . Officers holding the ranks of lieutenant-general and major-general may be generically considered to be generals. A general's insignia is a crossed sword and baton. This appeared on its own for
561-468: The Battle of Quatre Bras . It covered the retreat from Quatre Bras on 17 June, narrowly escaping capture by French cavalry. It was in the action at Genappe later the same day with the cavalry rearguard. Arriving on the field of Waterloo, Mercer's Troop briefly took up a firing position on the famous knoll behind the sandpit, which would feature in the fighting the following day. Mercer was still acting as rearguard for Wellington 's army, not realising that
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#1732781083591612-492: The Pathfinder Platoon is made up of selected personnel from the armed forces, who have undergone a rigorous selection and training programme. The Group is formed around a platoon to company strength cadre of reconnaissance and communications specialists. Its roles include locating and marking parachute drop zones and tactical and helicopter landing zones for air landing operations. Once the main force has landed,
663-601: The Second World War , first used by the 16th Parachute Brigade formed in 1948. The brigade's original emblem was a light-blue and maroon shield with a light blue Striking Eagle outlined in maroon emblazoned upon it, and was adopted from the Special Training Centre in Lochailort , Scotland, where Special Forces and Airborne troops were trained between 1943 and 1945. The sign was worn on
714-419: The cavalry rearguard covering the army's retreat to Waterloo. The troop fought on the extreme right wing of Wellington's army at Waterloo, before being moved into the thick of the fighting nearer the centre of the line. There it beat off repeated charges by French heavy cavalry , disobeying orders to abandon the guns and retire inside nearby infantry squares as the enemy closed. The location of this action
765-570: The limber -horses. This battery was eventually driven off by fire from a newly arrived Belgian battery. The hostile battery may well have been Prussian but Mercer did not believe it, despite being told so by a Brunswick cavalry officer. Due to its shortage of horses, the troop was unable to move when the general advance was ordered, and Mercer slept under a limber , amongst the dead and wounded. The troop had 5 killed and 15 wounded and lost 69 horses at Waterloo. It expended 700 rounds of ammunition. Sir Augustus Frazer said, "I could plainly distinguish
816-412: The 1807 Buenos Aires expedition, but the G Troop of Waterloo was formed from the amalgamation of two other RHA troops before leaving Colchester for Belgium . It had the pick of the horses from each, and was therefore regarded as an exceptionally fine unit. When reviewing the cavalry at Grammont on 29 May 1815, Blücher is supposed to have said "there is not one horse in this battery that is not fit for
867-709: The Army near Mons on 21 June, and marched with it to the gates of Paris without seeing further action. It was ordered into cantonments at Colombes early in July 1815. Apart from two months of leave in England, Mercer spent much of the rest of the year enjoying tourist pursuits in Paris. Mercer was transferred to command D Troop RHA at Stains , also near Paris, in July 1815 and he returned with it to England in January 1816. After
918-545: The British rear. As the third attack withdrew, the troop had to cease firing to allow the Duke of Wellington to pass along the road. Shortly afterwards Wellington's infantry advanced, leaving the guns on the ridge to engage masses of French troops in the valley below. Towards the end of the action a battery established itself on the ridge to Mercer's left and fired into the flank of his troop, causing devastating casualties amongst
969-586: The Ordnance. Mercer was not breveted as a major until 1 March 1824, though this was then backdated to 12 August 1819. Mercer was posted to G Troop Royal Horse Artillery around 1806 and joined Whitelocke's ill-fated Buenos Aires expedition in 1807. He did not serve in the Peninsular War and next saw war service in the Waterloo Campaign . In 1815 Mercer was acting commander of what
1020-582: The Parachute units of 5 Airborne had to give up the Pegasus symbol and replace it with the Striking Eagle symbol. However, following Army 2020 restructuring, command of 16 Air Assault Brigade was transferred from Joint Helicopter Command to Commander Field Army , and the Pegasus emblem returned as the symbol of British airborne forces on 25 November 2015. The composition of the brigade after
1071-688: The Water, Gloucestershire, while he was stationed in Woodbridge, Suffolk ; she travelled with him to France after his leave in November 1815. They had one son, Cavalié A. Mercer, who edited the Journal after his father's death. Mercer and Fanny lived in Berkshire at the time of the Waterloo campaign, but in later life Mercer lived at Cowley Hill near Exeter . He died there on 9 November 1868 and
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#17327810835911122-674: The artillery in Nova Scotia during the 1837 border dispute with the United States which became known as the Aroostook War . He was promoted to colonel on 2 April 1846, to major-general on 20 June 1854 and to lieutenant-general on 29 August 1857. He was commandant of the Dover garrison before he retired from active service, but he was appointed Colonel Commandant 9 Brigade Royal Artillery on 16 January 1859, and as such he
1173-504: The battlespace, and terminal control of air assets. Under the Defence in a Competitive Age programme and subsequent Future Soldier, the brigade was redesignated as the 16th Air Assault Brigade Combat Team . At the same time, the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment re-joined the brigade after a 8-year hiatus. In 1984, 5th Airborne Brigade was in the process of developing its Limited Parachute Assault Capability (LPAC). This required
1224-700: The brigade consists of three attack regiments equipped with WAH-64 Apache and AW159 Wildcat helicopters from the Army Air Corps , Chinook and Puma support helicopters from the RAF , and Merlin support helicopters from the Fleet Air Arm (all of which are controlled by Joint Aviation Command). Furthermore, two four-man Tactical Air Control Parties (TACPs) manned by the RAF Regiment provide airspace deconfliction, integration of air platforms within
1275-648: The campaign Mercer was put on half-pay from 31 July 1816 until 1821. Recalled to the peacetime army, he served twice in British North America , first as commander of the 6th company of the 5th battalion Royal Artillery at Quebec from 1823. He was breveted major in 1824, backdated to 1819. He returned to England in 1829 and held commands at Woolwich and Devonport . He was promoted lieutenant-colonel on 5 June 1835. He served again in British North America from 1837 to 1842, commanding
1326-515: The country, the brigade returned to Kabul in August 2021 to ensure the safe evacuation of British nationals as part of Operation Pitting . During the build-up to the invasion of Iraq , the brigade, commanded by Brigadier Jacko Page , was deployed to Kuwait in February 2003. The brigade was part of 1 (UK) Armoured Division and after extensive training in Kuwait it took part in the beginning of
1377-482: The enemy could not close the gun-line. Under the rapid fire of Mercer's Troop and the Brunswick infantry, the enemy fell like "grass before the mower's scythe". The greatest danger to Mercer's men came between the charges, from French skirmishers and artillery. The third and final charge stood little chance of reaching the guns. On each occasion individual cavalrymen passed between the guns, but only so as to escape to
1428-452: The enemy in French and attracting aimed but inaccurate carbine-fire in return. The second main attack came on in columns , led by cuirassiers . Mercer's Troop waited for them, double-loaded with case-shot over ball , and fired at 50 or 60 yards. Mercer reported that the whole front rank of the enemy went down, with the round-shot tearing through the column behind. The ground became virtually impassable with dead and wounded horses and men, so
1479-426: The entire army had halted on the ridge immediately behind him. His troop exchanged fire with arriving French batteries before retiring. After a miserable, hungry night in the mud and rain in the orchard of Mont St Jean farm, where Mercer is fabled to have drunk port from a chicken shaped goblet, Mercer found himself without orders in the opening phase of the battle, as d'Erlon's infantry attacked Wellington's left. He
1530-562: The expertise had been lost. Regimental Headquarters was asked to look at the options for providing this capability. Major Phil Neame produced a paper in October 1984 recommending the formation of an independent platoon, with manpower drawn from all three battalions and coming directly under the command of the Brigade Headquarters. It would number a total of 28 in 7 patrols of 4 men and include 2 Royal Signals operators. Today,
1581-432: The group provides tactical intelligence to assist operational decision-making within the brigade headquarters. The pathfinders can utilise various airborne insertion techniques, which range from the current in-service Low Level Parachute (LLP) , to High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) and High Altitude High Opening (HAHO) systems. The numeral 16 is derived from the 1st Airborne Division and 6th Airborne Division of
Cavalié Mercer - Misplaced Pages Continue
1632-525: The hectic few days before and after Waterloo, so his account may not be entirely reliable. The Journal is notable for its lengthy descriptions of the countryside and its people, and especially of Parisian life under the Allied occupation. Very little of it is devoted to military matters, and indeed Mercer does not seem to have devoted much time to command, spending most of his days in country walks, riding or tourism in Paris. General (United Kingdom) General (or full general to distinguish it from
1683-413: The hottest part of Wellingtons' line, between the crossroads and Hougoumont, where its position is now marked by a memorial. It deployed immediately behind the ridge road, which was on a low embankment . The bank provided excellent cover from enemy artillery and increased the effectiveness of Mercer's case-shot . The troop was between two squares of Brunswick infantry, whom Mercer regarded as unsteady. He
1734-625: The invasion on 20 March. The brigade's objective was to secure the southern oil fields before they were destroyed by Saddam Hussein 's forces. The brigade's 7th Parachute Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery entered Iraq on 20 March to support U.S. Marine Corps forces in their efforts to capture the Rumaila oil fields , nearly all of the oil wells being taken intact. The rest of the brigade, supported by its AAC helicopters, entered Iraq soon afterwards, still tasked with securing Rumaila. The brigade often met sporadic resistance and had to deal with disarming
1785-410: The land component command of a joint and multi-domain sovereign Global Response Force (GRF). As the British Army's rapid response formation, 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team has served in the vanguard of all of the Army's recent operational deployments to Sierra Leone , Macedonia , Iraq and Afghanistan , and is the largest brigade in the Army, with 6,200 personnel. It comprises: The brigade HQ
1836-403: The left arm. The colours chosen were traditional and showed the make-up of the brigade, maroon for Airborne and light-blue for Army Air Corps. The symbol of 5 Airborne Brigade had been Bellerophon on top of Pegasus (a winged horse of Greek mythology ) and became synonymous with British airborne forces during World War II. When 16 Air Assault Brigade was formed there was some controversy when
1887-474: The lower general officer ranks) is the highest rank achievable by serving officers of the British Army . The rank can also be held by Royal Marines officers in tri-service posts, for example, Generals Sir Gordon Messenger and Gwyn Jenkins , former and current Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff . It ranks above lieutenant-general and, in the Army, is subordinate to the rank of field marshal , which
1938-528: The many explosives attached to the infrastructure. The brigade was subsequently used to guard the oil fields and protect Allied supply lines with elements moving further north of Basra – Iraq's second largest city – to provide a screen protecting it from Iraqi attack. On 31 March, the brigade, assisted by artillery and air support, attacked an Iraqi armoured column advancing on Basra, destroying 17 T-55 tanks, 5 artillery pieces and 7 armoured personnel carriers. After British forces entered Basra on 6 April 3 PARA
1989-464: The now obsolete rank of brigadier-general . A major-general has a pip over this emblem; a lieutenant-general a crown instead of a pip; and a full general both a pip and a crown. The insignia for the highest rank, that of Field Marshal , consists of crossed batons within a wreath and surmounted by a crown. 16 Air Assault Brigade 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team , known simply as 16 Air Assault Brigade from 1999 – 2021,
2040-615: The period written by an artillery officer. Mercer remained in the peacetime army, twice serving in Canada . He was a painter of some merit, and a number of his watercolours of Canadian landscapes were purchased by the National Gallery of Canada in the 1980s. Mercer was born in 1783 at Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorkshire, into a military family: his father was General Alexander Mercer of the Royal Engineers. The name Cavaillie
2091-502: The position of G Troop from the opposite height by the dark mass of dead French cavalry which, even at that distance, formed a remarkable feature on the field." Mercer's Troop stayed on the battlefield until 3 pm the following day, and Mercer spent the day touring the field, visiting Hougoumont and talking to the wounded. Once it had been rejoined by its ammunition and supply wagons, the troop moved off towards Nivelles , leaving some guns and carriages behind for lack of horses. It rejoined
Cavalié Mercer - Misplaced Pages Continue
2142-591: The respect of current serving members of Mercer's G Troop. His Journal of the Waterloo Campaign kept throughout the campaign of 1815 was published in 1870, after his death. It was written some 30 years earlier, from the original notes Mercer wrote contemporaneously, with additions and verifications from correspondence and other sources. It covers the period from April 1815 to January 1816, when Mercer returned to Canterbury with D Troop, with an interlude for his leave in England from September to November 1815. By Mercer's own admission he had little time to write his journal in
2193-797: The spearhead for the NATO operation. It returned home after the NATO mission was successfully completed in September. After the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, NATO established a peacekeeping force in December known as the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), based in the capital Kabul . The brigade HQ and some of its units deployed to Afghanistan in 2001, 2006, 2008 and again in 2010–11. 16th Air Assault Brigade has deployed to Afghanistan more times than any other formation. Following Taliban gains across
2244-588: The trot as Mercer's guns deployed, so the troop opened fire with case-shot at close range, causing terrible casualties. The French hesitated, then the front ranks attempted to retreat as the rear ranks pushed forward, causing them to mill about under the execution of Mercer's guns before they eventually withdrew. Before the second charge of the heavy cavalry, Mercer's Troop was harassed by close-range carbine fire from mounted French skirmishers , while Mercer held fire to conserve ammunition. To steady his men, Mercer promenaded across his troop's front on horseback, goading
2295-399: Was about to lead his troop into action on his own initiative when he was ordered to the extreme right of the line. That was a quiet sector, but in common with much of Wellington's artillery, Mercer disobeyed orders to refrain from counter-battery fire. He engaged enemy guns, attracting heavy fire from superior enemy artillery in return. In mid-afternoon Mercer's Troop was suddenly ordered into
2346-490: Was employed to clear the 'old quarter' of the city on 7 April due to the narrow streets making it inaccessible to vehicles. After Basra's capture, the brigade was based in Maysan Province , centred around the province's capital Al-Amarah . The brigade carried out patrols into towns, helped bring normality back to the south, tried to maintain order and destroyed any conventional weapons caches that were found. The war
2397-727: Was never officially placed on the retired list. He was promoted to full general on 9 February 1865. During his service in Lower Canada (1828–29) and Nova Scotia (1840–42) Mercer painted the watercolours which were acquired by the National Gallery of Canada in the 1980s. In 2014, Glenn Devanney of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada wrote a book titled "Halifax in Watercolour: The Paintings of Alexander Cavalié Mercer 1838–1842." The ninety-six page book includes historical text and fifty-two paintings. Mercer married Frances (or Fanny) Rice on 10 November 1813 at Bourton on
2448-480: Was officially G ( Dickson 's) Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, but is usually referred to as Mercer's Troop or Mercer's Battery . Its modern successor is G Parachute Battery (Mercer's Troop) Royal Horse Artillery , part of 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery , which currently serves in the field artillery role with 16 Air Assault Brigade , and is equipped with the L118 Light Gun . G Troop served on
2499-457: Was officially declared over on 1 May and the brigade began to return home that same month. During one patrol into Majar al-Kabir on 24 June, the brigade suffered its largest casualties in Iraq when six Royal Military Policemen of 156 Provost Company were killed by a large Iraqi mob. 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team is now under the command of 1st (UK) Division now and from 2024, will provide
2550-471: Was ordered to lead his men into the squares as cavalry closed, but decided they would be safer at their guns. Unlike all the other batteries in the sector, the troop's gunners never abandoned their guns to take refuge in the infantry squares. Massed French heavy cavalry attacked repeatedly from about 3.15 pm. The Grenadiers à Cheval of the Imperial Guard were already emerging through the smoke at
2601-598: Was possibly inherited from his grandmother Margaret Cavaillie, wife of James Mercer overseer at Fort George. Margaret Cavaillie (1699, St Andrews – 1777, St Andrews) was the daughter of captain James Cavaillie, who it is said came to Britain in the army of William of Orange and settled in Fife as a wine merchant and died at Cupar Fife in 1716. He went to the Military Academy at Woolwich and was commissioned as
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