by [N]Von Thielmann » Fri Dec 24, 2010 6:58 pm
found more incedents of friendly fire.
1. In 1809 at Talavera, British II/87th and I/88th Regiment of Foot became so disordered and frightened after French attack that they fired at each other. Both regiments then took cover behind the 45th and 60th Regiment of Foot, reformed and the British division retreated, covered by cavalry. The British lost 440 men (incl. 100 who surrendered) while the French lost less than 100.
2.In 1811 at Fuentes de Onoro, the French infantry took their allies, the Hannoverian Legion, for an English battalion and opened fire on them. The Hannoverians with over 100 dead hastily retreated past the village.
3. In 1815 at Waterloo, the Nassauers were fired upon by their Prussian allies because they were still wearing the French style uniforms. The shooting went on for at least 10 minutes (!) before the officers on both sides realized their mistake
4. In August 1812 at Polotzk 2 Russian Jager companies were confused by the smoke in the woods that they were fireing at two other Russian Jager companies which were also being fire upon by the French.
5. In 1815 at Quatre Bras, the Hihlanders mistook the Netherlands cavalry for French and fired. Williams writes: "There then occuredd one of those tragic incidents of war in which men die in error at the hands of friends. Seeing the Netherlands in blue (hussars) and green (light dragoons) galloping wildly toward the crossroads and hearing them shouting in French, the Scots of the 92nd and 42nd Highland along the Namur road mistook them for French and were ordered to open fire on them. Many horses in particular were brought down, as they presented the largest targets ... van Merlen was left to reflect with sadness on the losses his unit had suffered and with bitterness that more had been caused by their 'Scotish allies than by the French."
6. At Albuera, the British infantry fired in the backs of their allies, the Spaniards under General Zayas, before they realized their mistake. For a while the Spaniards were under fire from two sides: from the rear by the British and from the front by the French.
7.At Waterloo, the counter-attacking British infantry (Picton's division) fired on their allies, the Belgians under the command of General Bylandt, whose uniforms resembled the enemy's. Shortly thereafter, having realized their error, they mistook French troops for Belgians and let them get away.
8.in the very last stage of the battle of Waterloo, the British 52nd Light Infantry mistook 23rd Light Dragoons for enemy and fired. It resulted in great disorder and hesitation among the troops.
Just known cases i bet there are even more cases unkown.