CDV of Sergt Munday, 7th Hussars-“Present Guide At Waterloo.” – SOLD

Description

“Sergt Munday, late 7th Hussars-“Present Guide at Waterloo.” is the period ink inscription on the reverse of this scarce image of this Waterloo veteran.

Joseph Munday joined the British 7th Hussars around 1810, and served with his regiment during the Napoleonic Wars participating in the Battle or Orthez in 1814, and at the battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo.

In 1849, Munday took over the battlefield guide touring business at Waterloo from a friend (some accounts say brother-in-law), Sergeant Major Cotton. Joseph Munday also owned an Inn in Waterloo, which also afford a small museum for his guests. Writing in “Household Words, Vol 3” in 1851, Charles Dickens wrote, “In Waterloo, there is an excellent hotel kept by Serjeant Munday, an Englishman who was in the battle, and who has succeeded as guide to his brother-in-law, the late well-known Serjeant-Major Cotton, the author of the admirable little guide-book.”

Aging and longing to be with family who had migrated to the United States, Sergeant Munday and family settled down in Iowa in the late 1860s.

This image is a full seated view of Munday, holding cane and wearing an unidentifiable British campaign medal. The photographer is DECHAMPS & Cie, Bruxelles.

Very good condition.