Ensign Charles Ewart

The Ensign Ewart is named after Charles Ewart, who, single-handedly captured the standard of the famous French Invincibles at the Battle of Waterloo.

Battle of Waterloo

On the 18th of June 1815, Charles Ewart was a Sergeant in the Royal North British Dragoons when he captured the standard of the French 45th Regiment, from which the badge of the Royal Scots Greys (now the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards) was derived (See note below) He was born at Biddles Farm in Kilmarnock, Scotland, in 1769 and enlisted in the 2nd Royal North British Dragoons (The Scots Greys) in 1789. At the time of the Battle of Waterloo, therefore, he was 45 years old and a veteran of many battles. A giant of a man, various sources place him at anything between 6 foot. 4 inches and 7 feet tall, he was an expert swordsman.

The Battle

On the day of the battle The Scots Greys, alongside the Gordon Highlanders, faced the French 45th Regiment (The Invincibles). It was late in the day when they got the order to charge, and with the soldiers of the Gordon Highlanders hanging on to their stirrups and with a cry of "Scotland Forever!", the Greys swept down on the enemy. Ewart made straight for the French standard bearer, fighting his way through. Three Frenchmen threw themselves in the way.

In his own words

One made a thrust at my groin, I parried him off and cut him down through the head. A lancer came at me - I threw the lance off by my right side and cut him through the chin and upwards through the teeth. Next, a foot soldier fired at me and then charged me with his bayonet, which I also had the good luck to parry, and then I cut him down through the head".

Later Life

Ewart eventually left the Army in 1821. He and his wife Maggie (Margaret Geddes, of Stockport) moved to Salford. He kept busy teaching swordsmanship. Ewart moved to a cottage in Bent Lane, Davyhulme, where he spent the last 16 years of his life, on his 100 pound a year Army pension. When he died in 1846 he was buried in a church in Salford. Eventually the church closed, became a factory and the burial ground was paved over. It was not until 1938, that workmen clearing the site found his grave. Ewart's body was exhumed and re-buried beneath a granite memorial, on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. However that was not the end of his travels. In 1967, repairs became necessary at the castle, and so with full military honours Ewart's body was once again exhumed and taken to a temporary resting place at Preston Hall, Midlothian. Today, however, he is back at the castle.

Did You Know?

Ensign Ewarts recieved the commision as an Ensign in the 5th Veteran Battalion in 1816.

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