A rare uniform worn by an English Lieutenant Colonel who was badly injured in the Battle of Waterloo almost 200 years ago is expected to fetch £35,000 at auction.
The exceptional lot comprises the red jacket, black silk cocked hat and two swords worn by Lt Col Fiennes Sanderson Miller who fought the French in 1815.
Lt Col Miller’s belt and document pouch he used to hold vital battle strategies along with his Waterloo bravery medal is expected to fetch a further £15,000.
Auctioneers Thomas Del Mar Ltd in London are handling the sale which takes place next on June 30th.
A spokesman said: ”This is a historically significant collection of objects from one of the greatest battles in British military history. The medal is extremely fine.”
Lt Col Miller, who was born in 1743 in Radway, near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warks., rose through the British Army to lead three squadrons against the French at the Battle of Waterloo in Flanders, Belgium.
During the fierce fighting he was severely injured when a cannon-ball shattered his right thigh and he was reluctantly discharged with a £300-a-year pension.
In recognition of his bravery he was awarded the Waterloo Medal. He later married and had four sons and three daughters.
His youngest son, Frederick, born in 1831, joined the Royal Artillery and was awarded the Victoria Cross in the Crimean War in 1854.
Miller became both a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for Warwickshire, and died in 1862.
Lt Col Miller had an exemplary military career being commissioned into the 6th Dragoons, in Northern Ireland in 1799.
In 1814 he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and the following year led the British Army in one of the most famous military triumphs in history.
The Anglo-Allied coalition, led by the Duke of Wellington, saw Napoleon’s army defeated signalling the end of his role as Emperor.
