John George Woodford
Major-General Sir John George Woodford was a British Army officer who has been called "possibly the first battlefield archaeologist". He served in the Napoleonic Wars, and in 1818, did archaeological work in the area surrounding the Battle of Agincourt.
Woodford played a large role in military reform before his retirement in 1841. Battlefield archaeologist Tim Sutherland called him the last living British officer to have served at the Battle of Waterloo.
Life
Early life and family
Born the son of Lieutenant-Colonel John Woodford and Lady Susan Gordan, Woodford was the younger brother of his fellow officer Field-Marshal Sir Alexander George Woodford. Woodford also had three half-sisters: Susan Drummond, Elizabeth Lowther, and Lady Mary Fludyer. He was educated at Harrow under Joseph Drury. The foundations of his military career started in 1800, when he was sent to Brunswick, which was at the time in a personal union with the Kingdom of Great Britain, due to the accession of the Elector of Hanover as King George I in 1714.Military career
Granted a commission as an ensign in the first regiment of the Grenadier Guards by the Duke of Gloucester in May 1800, Woodford finished his time training in Brunswick before his return to Great Britain to join his regiment in 1801. Upon his return, he was befriended by William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry, who presented him with a fine horse and led him to the King at Windsor. This friendship proved fortunate, as Douglas left him £10,000 in 1810. Although Woodford joined the regiment in 1801, he did not see active service until 1807, when he was involved in the Battle of Copenhagen. Following this, in 1808, he was sent to the Peninsula under the command of Sir David Baird to join with the forces of Sir John Moore. Here, Woodford was appointed deputy-assistant quartermaster-general and aide-de-camp to Moore. Involved in the retreat to Corunna, it is said that Woodford's heel was injured by the last shot fired in the Battle of Corunna at dusk. As a result of this, Woodford was unfit for military service for eighteen months until he was able to join the Duke of Wellington's army, which had just crossed the Ebro. Woodford continued his previous roles and was a participant in numerous battles, including Nivelle, Nive, Orthez, and Toulouse.In 1813, Woodford had purchased a captaincy in the first regiment of the Grenadier Guards. Upon the return of Napoleon in 1815, Woodford served in the fourth division under Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Colville as a lieutenant-colonel in the 1st Foot Guards. This division was detailed to support Prince Frederick of the Netherlands on the road to Halle. However, Woodford was dispatched by Colville to Wellington for orders. Arriving in the early morning, Wellington ordered Woodford to remain by his side as an aide-de-camp due to the imminence of the battle. Tim Sutherland, in his TV series Medieval Dead, stated that Woodford was the last living British officer to have fought at Waterloo. Following the battle, Woodford continued to serve under Colville and assisted in the occupation of Cambrai. In 1818, Woodford was appointed to the command of the Army of the Occupation in France until its withdrawal in October of that year. Woodford was made a C.B. in 1815.
Archaeological work at Agincourt
During his time as the commander of the Army of the Occupation in France, Woodford engaged in archaeological excavations on the supposed site of the Battle of Agincourt. During these excavations, Woodford found numerous artifacts, and these finds were reported by newspapers at the times, including the Caledonian Mercury on 25 May 1818 and The Morning Chronicle on 20 April 1818. They included bones, arrow-heads and upwards of sixty coins. One such coin was in a high state of preservation, on the one side the arms of France and the inscription Karolus Dei Gracia Francorum Rex and on the reverse PC Regnat, PC Imperat. Fragments of iron, two lance-heads, a spur, buckles, 'other insignia of the fray' and several rings. These rings, some of which were gold, had inscriptions on them, and were thought to be pledges, which were 'given to the Knights by their fair Dames, on departing to the wars'. One ring is enamelled and on the outside has the words pleine amitie and inside a flower like a rose, with 'belle' after it. It is thought this could create the name of a lady, Rosabelle. Another ring, made of brass, was found with a finger bone sticking in it. Unfortunately, the present-day locations of these finds are unknown.Records of the excavations and the finds exist in Woodford's letters to his brother, Alexander, which was preserved in the Nachlaß of the English politician Roger Newdigate. These letters also include illustrations of certain finds, namely a coin and an arrow-head. Alongside the discoveries, there is also thought to have existed a diary, although it is suspected this may have been lost in a fire at an establishment on Belgrave Square called the Pantechnicon, which gave its name to the van, in 1874 or 1876. Whilst excavating, Woodford received considerable hostility from the local French, who considered Woodford to be desecrating the graves of the war-dead to conduct a celebration commemorating the English victory. This appears to have been little but spin, as the letters highlight Woodford's intention to re-bury any dead which he found in consecrated ground – this he did, as there is reported to be several dead from Azincourt buried in the local church under an etching in the wall that reads '1838'.