Definition
An overreaction by the British military in 1819 at St Peter’s Field, Manchester, to a public electoral reform meeting motivated by severe economic conditions, exacerbated by the recent introduction of the Corn Laws. The tragedy of the 15th Hussars directly or indirectly causing the deaths of 15 people and injuries of approximately 500 led to its choice of name as an ironic comparison to the four-year previous Battle of Waterloo.