Blanket of Major Tyrwhitt Drake (textile)

Blanket, blue and red broad striped, said to have been used by Maj Tyrwhitt-Drake at the Battle of Waterloo. In the colours of the Royal Horse Guards Regiment. This is the blanket used the night before the Battle of Waterloo by Major Tyrwhitt Drake, to shield himself from the appalling weather. Despite the fact that the battle was fought in the middle of June, it rained torrentially throughout the night, and almost every soldier who fought at Waterloo was wet, cold, and sleepless. Some lit bonfires, some slept in peasants’ cottages, but Major Drake huddled under this horse blanket with his steed to keep warm.