Uniform gives up the secrets of Waterloo,thanks to DNA testing
TALES of family heroics inevitably become exaggerated and embellished over time.
But the descendants of Sir Thomas Noel Harris, a British brigade major at the Battle of Waterloo, can finally rest assured that their ancestor really did play a death-defying role in the decisive conflict.
Family legend and diaries suggested Sir Thomas had been shot, and had his arm amputated on the battlefield.
So when a jacket purporting to belong to the officer came up for auction, his family bought it and asked forensic experts at Cranfield University to find out whether it was the genuine article.
Not only were scientists able to say with certainty that the uniform was present at the battle in 1815, but they also found out more details of how Sir Thomas was injured.
Prof Andrew Shortland, the director of Cranfield Forensic Institute, said:
“This was a very unusual item for us, but particularly interesting, being involved as it was in a key moment in national and international history.”
To find out whether the jacket really did belong to Sir Thomas the team took DNA samples from the fibres to compare with his relatives’. Next, they extracted soil samples to compare with samples from the Waterloo battlefield. They then used analysis of the bullet damage to the jacket to see if it was consistent with the reported injuries sustained by the British Army officer. Although DNA from the blood stains had degraded to a level beyond use for analysis, soil samples showed a very strong similarity in mineral content to the British section of the battlefield. An account from the time identified Sir Thomas as lying overnight in this section of the battlefield after he had been wounded and fell from his horse. Although family history suggests that he was shot twice, examination of three holes on the right sleeve and right side of the jacket showed they line up with each other, suggesting he was only shot once and the musket ball passed through both his arm and side. There is no exit hole on the jacket and the forensic team believe the fact that the ball hit Sir Thomas’s arm first saved his life – if it had penetrated his torso directly it may have proved fatal. Sir Thomas was found on the battlefield the following morning and taken to the dressing station at Hougoumont farm where his right arm was amputated. The right sleeve of the jacket has been cut from cuff to shoulder, and forensic examination of the cut’s edges suggests that it was made by an instrument sharper than scissors, such as a surgical knife. A diary kept by Sir Thomas, together with other research, was also used to piece together the events and confirm the findings.
Prof Shortland added: “We were able to safely confirm c the authenticity i of the jacket and place pl it on the Waterloo battlefield. ba In so doing, we also als gained further insight into int the grievous wounds suffered suff by Harris during the battle.”
Sir Si Thomas retired from the Army A in September 1834 and became b Chief Magistrate in Gibraltar. Gibr