Napoleon and the Battle of Waterloo
Napoleon’s last battle, the infamous Battle of Waterloo, was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium. Ithappened when a French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by the united armies of the Seventh Coalition, one an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington, and the other a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von Blücher. Many people say that the Battle of Waterloo was the culminating battle of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleon's last battle ever. When he was defeated at Waterloo, he lost his title as Emperor.
Waterloo itself is just a small town a few miles south of Brussels, Belgium. It's an inconspicuous town, with a church, some inns, and a few homes and old stone farmhouses with lots of open fields. The Battle of Waterloo, as it has come to be known, is always included on lists of battles that changed the course of history. Napoleon was considered one of the greatest generals ever, yet he is often defined by this one terrific loss at the end of his career. The word has entered our language: when someone has met their Waterloo, it means they’ve been finally defeated.
The Battle of Waterloo began with Napoleon being declared an outlaw by the Congress of Vienna. They did not like Napoleon because he had declared himself emperor. Also, he was marching on Paris, in his bid to solidify his role as Emperor. Waterloo, it turned out, was not only a strategic point on the road to Paris, but it was built such that it made a good battlefield.
That Sunday, the generals of the two armies didn’t seem to head to battle with much urgency. The Duke of Wellington rose around 02:00 or 03:00 on the morning and wrote letters until dawn. After 06:00 Wellington was out supervising the deployment of his forces. Napoleon, in the other army, breakfasted off silver at Le Caillou, the house where he had spent the night. When Soult suggested that Grouchy should be recalled to join the main force, Napoleon said, "Just because you have all been beaten by Wellington, you think he's a good general. I tell you Wellington is a bad general, the English are bad troops, and this affair is nothing more than eating breakfast." These would turn out to be famous last words.
At 11:30am, the French launched their diversionary attack on Hougoumont. The Allied line hid behind the ridge apart from for Bylandt's Dutch-Belgian brigade which was forced to give up work. The diversionary tactics were not carried through as Napoleon's brother, Jerome, made an attempt to capture the farm. Wellington stood firm. At 1:00pm, heavy artillery opened fire before d'Erlon's Corps marched forward in their traditional columns across the field from the French right past La Haye Sainte. They came under fire and suffered heavy casualties from Allied artillery fire, but the French succeeded in capturing Papelotte and surrounding La Haye Sainte. As Wellington's troops moved forward from the ridge to engage the French before they could break columns and form a line, the reserves moved up to support the left.
About then, Napoleon intercepted a message from Bulow to Wellington revealing the Prussian's presence in the St Lambert area to his right. He sent Lobau's infantry and Domon's and Subervie's cavalry to face the Prussian troops.
Wellington was losing, so he sent in his reserve led by Picton's brigade to plug the gap. The French were beaten back from La Haye Sainte and Wellington ran home his advantage by having the cavalry brigades under Somerset and Ponsonby attack. The French infantry were surprised and easily overcome, but the Allied cavalry was badly decimated during a counter attack by a cuirassier brigade and some lancers.
The battle went on from there, with lots of different strategies. But by 7:00pm it was obvious that Napoleon was going to lose. He was forced to retreat. At 9.00pm Blücher met Wellington at La Belle Alliance. A fresh Prussian cavalry pursued the retreating French.
Ultimately, this was the end for Napoleon. He was forced to retreat and to give up his fight. He found himself exiled to the island at Elba, where he lived out the last of his days. He never tried to attack France again.