James Macdonnell

James Macdonnell was a Scottish officer in the British Army who served with the Coldstream Guards during the Napoleonic Wars. By 1815 he was a lieutenant-colonel and commanded troops defending the château and farm complex of Hougoumont on the Allied right at Waterloo, a position repeatedly attacked by French forces throughout the battle.

Macdonnell became especially associated with the closing of the north gate of Hougoumont after French soldiers forced their way into the courtyard. The defence tied down large numbers of French troops and became one of the most celebrated episodes of the battle. Macdonnell continued his military career after Waterloo and died in London in 1857.

In Iain Gale’s Four Days in June, Macdonnell is one of five major historical viewpoints. His position at Hougoumont places the reader inside the close-range fighting on Wellington’s line, contrasting the immediate duty of holding a physical position with the larger strategic decisions seen through the novel’s other commanders.