Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Morice (177518 June 1815) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer killed at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

Life

Educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

, he joined the

15th (The Yorkshire East Riding) Regiment of Foot 15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 and preceding 16. Mathematics 15 is: * A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and . * A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky number, a pernicious nu ...

as an

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

on 1June 1793. He was promoted to lieutenant on 6December 1794; to captain-lieutenant 27August 1799; to captain on 10November 1800 and to major on 17July 1802. He transferred first to Colonel Ramsay's Regiment 21May 1803 then to Colonel Baille's Regiment on 9August 1806 and then to the 3rd Ceylon Regiment on 31July 1806. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 7January 1808 and was given command of the 2nd battalion of

69th Regiment of Foot The 69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1756. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 41st (Welch) Regiment of Foot to form the Welch Regiment in 1881. History Formation T ...

on 4June 1813. His final promotion was to

brevet Brevet may refer to: Military * Brevet (military), higher rank that rewards merit or gallantry, but without higher pay * Brevet d'état-major, a military distinction in France and Belgium awarded to officers passing military staff college * Aircre ...

colonel on 4June 1814. Morice was wounded in the night attack on

Bergen-op-Zoom Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the local dialect) is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands. Etymology The city was built on a place where two types of soil meet: sandy soil and marine clay. The sandy soi ...

on the 8/9 March 1814.

Death

As a result of either the inexperience or incompetence of

William, Prince of Orange William, Prince of Orange (Willem Nicolaas Alexander Frederik Karel Hendrik; 4 September 1840 – 11 June 1879), was heir apparent to the Dutch throne as the eldest son of King William III from 17 March 1849 until his death. Early life Prince Wi ...

, commander of

I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to: France * 1st Army Corps (France) * I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French A ...

. Morice had been ordered to form his battalion of the 69th into

square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length adj ...

by Maj-General Sir Colin Halkett, commander of the 5th Brigade, when the Prince of Orange rode up and asked him why. He replied that they had been ordered to do so "not more than a few minutes ago". The Prince replied, "Colonel, there is really no chance of cavalry coming on. Reform

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

immediately then get back into line." Moments later the French cavalry charged, whereupon Morice and a number of others were killed and the king's

colour Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

lost. He was killed at the battle of Waterloo. His death is commemorated in a memorial tablet in St Mary the Virgin Church in Langley near Slough, Berkshire.

References

;Bibliography * * * 1775 births 1815 deaths People educated at Eton College People of the Battle of Waterloo British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars 69th Regiment of Foot officers British military personnel killed in action in the Napoleonic Wars {{British-Army-bio-stub