Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo
(Information taken from 'Waterloo' by Charles Labour.

Before the Battle

In 1814 Napoleon had been exiled to the Island of Elba, but escaped to France in March 1815. Very quickly he managed to form a new army with which he wanted to reconquer his lost empire. The first part that he wanted to reconquer was Belgium and Holland. The European powers, at Congress in Vienna, mobilized their armies to defeat Napoleon. Two major armies made their way to Belgium. The first one was an army consisting of divisions from different countries (Belgian, Dutch, British) under the command of the Duke of Wellington. The second army came from Prussia and was led by Marshal Blücher.

Battles at Ligny and Quatre Bras

The armies already clashed before the actual battle took place. Blücher and the Prussian army fought Napoleon at Ligny, a village north east of Charleroi on the 16th of June. However, Blücher and his troops were forced to retreat. A part of the army of the Duke of Wellington tried to drive the French army back at Quatre Bras, the crossroads of the Brussels-Charleroi and Namur-Nivelles roads. Also Wellington did not succeed and he had to retire to the plains south of Waterloo where he waited for the big confrontation on the 18th. Blücher managed to send a message to Wellington that he would be able to join him on the battlefield at Waterloo, but probably only later in the day. Napoleon thought that the Prussian army had been defeated and that he would only have to face the Wellington troops.

The Battle of Waterloo

On the night before the battle it had rained heavily and both the French and Allied armies had spent the night in the mud and the pouring rain. The troops of Wellington occupied the northern part of the plains of Mont-Saint-Jean and were situated behind a sunken lane, which later proved to be a strategic advantage for the Duke, because the French infantry and cavalry kept falling inside this sunken land and thereby hindering each other to move further north.

The battlefield was situated around three large farmhouses . On the far left was the HOUGOMONT chateau/farm, in the middle the HAIE SAINTE farm and at the extreme right was the PAPELLOTTE farm. The French offensive started at 12 0'clock when the farm of Hougomont was taken. Later during the day heavy fights took place around the farms of Haie Sainte and Papellote. By the late afternoon the chances for both armies were still fifty-fifty. But, around that time the Blücher's troops started to arrive coming from Wavre to assist the army of Wellington. By then, the French army was surrounded by the two forces and could no longer withstand the joint attacks of allied troops. By the beginning of the evening Napoleon had to withdraw his troops from the battlefield and start the escape back to France. Later, Blücher and Wellington met each other near the BELLE ALLIANCE farmhouse and congratulated each other with the final victory over Napoleon.

On the 18th of June 191,300 soldiers fought one of the most decisive battles in the history of Europe in only one day. The Wellington army had 67,000 soldiers, Blücher's army 52.300 and Napoleon's army 72,000. A total of 48,500 men fell or were severely wounded.

After the battle, the territory of the battlefield was given to the Wellington family by the newly formed state of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Later several monuments were erected in commemoration of the different army divisions who fought the battle of Waterloo.

Waterloo is a small city in Wallon-Brabant in Belgium. It is famous for the Battle Of Waterloo, which took place on the 18th of June 1815 in Mont-Saint-Jean, a small village just south of Waterloo. It was at Waterloo that Napoleon suffered his final defeat.

In 1814 Napoleon had been sent in exile to Elba. He escaped and returned to France in March 1815 and built up a new, small army with which he intended to reconquer his lost empire, starting with Belgium and Holland.

Two great European armies were mobilized and made their way to Belgium to defeat Napoleon. The first army was under the command of the Duke Of Wellington and consisted of divisions from different countries. The other army was under command of Marshall Blücher and came from Prussia.

The Prussian army first fought Napoleon at Ligny, but was forced to retreat. The Duke of Wellington fought the French army at Quatre Bras, but he too was forced to retreat. He awaited the French army at Waterloo, preparing for the final battle. Blücher sent Wellington a message that he would be able to join the battle there, but only later on the day of the battle.

Wellington chose Waterloo because there were several forts or castles there which his forces could use if they needed a final defence, and because there were slopes which might protect them from the bombardments that always came before the French attacks.
Wellington's army was in the northern parts of the fields outside Waterloo. It had been raining heavily on the night before the battle and this delayed the French attack somewhat.

At about 11 a.m. Napoleon attacked Wellington, starting the battle on the western flanks of the armies. From a little after noon and throughout the day there was a lot of fighting in a frontal attack. Still both armies seemed to have a 50-50 chance of winning, but Blücher was now on his way from east of the battlefield to aid Wellington in the battle.

At about 6Pm Blücher arrived at the battlefield and his Prussian army linked with the eastern flank of Wellingtons army. This forced Napoleon to make a dogleg front, which kept getting squeezed in from the right. The positions in the final battle must have looked something like this:

   WWWWWWWWWWWWBB
   NNNNNNNNNNNN BB
              NN BB
               NN BB
               NN BB

The W here represents Wellington's forces, B represents Blücher's army and N represents Napoleon's army.

In the end Napoleon could no longer stand up aggainst the joined forces of Wellington`s and Blücher`s armies, and he retreated and escaped to France. Blücher and Wellington met each other near the Belle Alliance farmhouse and congratulated each other on the final defeat of Napoleon.

Before the main battle Napoleon had despatched a force of 30,000 men from his initial force. These were to head north and engage Blücher's forces in order to hinder them from comming to Wellington's aid. These 30,000 men under the command of Marshal Grouchy did not find Blücher however, and they did not participate in the main battle. If they had remained with the rest of their army instead, they might have tipped the balance in the battle against Wellington.

In the main battle, Wellington had 67,000 soldiers, Blücher had 52,000, and Napoleon's remaining army counted 72,000.

Several monuments have been erected at Waterloo, including a monument in memory of the Belgian soldiers that fell in the battle, and L'Aigle Blessé (The Eagle Wounded \ The Wounded Eagle) in memory of the French forces that fought in the Battle Of Waterloo, at the site of the final defeat of Napoleon.