12cm (4.7in) X 29cm (11.5in) x 14.5cm (5.7in)
Clay earth brick, lead and painted wood. A musket ball embedded in a brick mounted on an ebonised base raised on four bun feet and inscribed ‘Papelotte Farm 1815’.
Papelotte Farm (Ferme de la Papelotte) was one of the advanced positions of the Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington during the Battle of Waterloo fought on On 18 June 1815. Located at Rue Du Dimont some 15 km (9.3 mi) south of Brussels, Belgium, Papelotte, together with the walled farm compounds of Hougoumont and La Haie Sainte, proved to be instrumental in impeding Napoleon’s attacks on the Allied line. Moreover Napoleon diverted disproportionately large numbers of troops in order to capture or eliminate these defensive positions, thereby failing to achieve a decisive breakthrough the Allied lines.
The defence of Papelotte was the responsibility of Prince Bernard of Saxe-Weimar's 2nd Netherlands Brigade. The six companies of the 3/2 Nassau under Major Hegmann took up positions in and around the farm and its neighbour La Haie Sainte. The buildings were occupied and prepared for defence by Captain von Rettburg's Light Company from that battalion. Although French skirmishers from Durutte's Division probed the position for much of the day, it was not until the late afternoon that serious fighting flared around Papelotte. Reinforcements were needed to drive out the attackers. In early evening Prussian troops from 15th Brigade (Bülow's IV Corps) advancing from the south-east mistook von Rettburg's men for Frenchmen as their uniforms were similar, and attacked. A brisk, ten-minute firefight took place with casualties on both sides before the error was discovered.