Queries about "Up and at 'em"

[Jonathan Lighter]

The phrase has long been attributed to the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo in 1815, in the form "Up, Guards, and at 'em !"

  I don't know the ultimate source of this claim.

  JL

"Cohen, Gerald Leonard" <gcohen at UMR.EDU> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Cohen, Gerald Leonard"
Subject: Queries about "Up and at 'em"
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Would anyone know when the expression "Up and at 'em" is first attested? Also, I assume the original context was a battle, where an officer tells his men in effect: "Get up (from a defensive position) and charge at them (the enemy)." Is there any reason to doubt this assumption?

These queries were suggested to me by a student.

Gerald Cohen

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