Defence of the Chateau de Hougoumont by the flank Company, Coldstream Guards, 1815

Watercolour by Denis Dighton, 1815.

The Chateau de Hougoumont was a strong-point in the British defensive line during the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815. Hougoumont was not taken in nearly nine hours of continuous fighting. The nearest the French came to capturing the chateau was when a determined attack by Sous-Lieutenant Legros (nicknamed 'L'enfonceur' or 'The Smasher'), wielding a huge axe, managed to break through the North gate. The commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell and his Guardsmen managed to shut the gate, trapping 30 Frenchmen inside. They were all killed apart from a young drummer boy who was spared.