Waterloo

After Napoleon escaped from Elba, the allies, in conference at Vienna, declared war on him, not France.   The duke of Wellington was given the task of defeating Napoleon.  He had to travel to Brussels from Vienna to organise his British-Dutch army, while Blucher was tasked with leading the Prussian army.   The Russians and the Austrians could not get their armies into the field in time to battle the French in time.

Napoleon's plans were to split the allied army, defeating one then the other.  He split his own army in order to do that.  Marshall Ney was sent to Quatre Bras to take on the British, while Napoleon turned to battle Blucher at Ligny.  Napoleon punished Blucher, but did not destroy him.  Blucher retreated northwards toward Wavre, while the battle at Quatre Bras was a relative draw.  However, because of Blucher's move northwards, Wellington retreated too.  He had a place in mind; Mont. St. Jean, just outside of Waterloo.

Mistakes by Ney and Napoleon plus a torrential rainstorm allowed Wellington and his men to escape to Mont St. Jean, a place Wellington had observed as a perfect place for a defensive battle the year before.  Blucher is twelve miles to the east when Napoleon and his army arrive at the site where Wellington awaits.  He is sure that he will defeat the British on the following day, June 18, 1815.

The morning dawns, the fields are wet an Napoleon is told by his officers that the guns would get stuck in the mud, so he decides to wait.  Besides Blucher's army is not going to be able to come to the aid of Wellington, is it.  At about 11:20 a. m., Napoleon decided it had dried enough and commenced the battle with an attack on Chateau Hougoumont, which was on his left.

Napoleon's plan by attacking Hougoumont, was to hopefully draw some of Wellington's reserves from the centre in order to protect his right flank.  That never happened.  Napoleon began his attack on Wellington's centre-left flank at about 1:00 p. m. with an artillery barrage.  Fortunately for Wellington, he kept most of his men on the reverse slope.

At the same time as Napoleon was preparing to advance his troops onto Wellington's position, he became aware that the Prussians were approaching his right flank.  He placed troops on his right to be ready to take the Prussians on, expecting to have defeated Wellington by the time Blucher's army arrived.

The attack is almost successful as the French reach the summit despite a devastating heavy barrage of canister shot from the British.   It is at that time that the British release their heavy cavalry on the French destroying their advance.  Out of control, the cavalry continue on to attack the French guns.  Seeing their opportunity, French lancers attack the now tired British cavalry, killing many who become mired down in the mud.

At about 4:00 p. m., Marshall Ney, from his high vantage point across the valley, seeing the British evacuating their wounded, assumed Wellington was retreating.  He then ordered a cavalry charge, not wanting the British to escape.  Approximately 5 000 cavalry were involved in the charge.  When they crested the ridge they were met by the famous British squares and guns firing case-shot.  The charge was devastating on both sides, but more so to the French.

Late in the day, Napoleon was left with but one option, and that was to send The Old Imperial Guard into the centre of the British line.  In order to do that he would have to take the farm of La Haie Sainte.  The British-Dutch contingent was unable to hold it primarily because they ran out of ammunition.  The French were now able to bring their guns up close to the British-Dutch line.  Ney wanted reinforcements, but Napoleon refused because he was dealing with the Prussians on his right flank.

When Napoleon ordered his last attack, he lied to his troops telling them that the Prussians reinforcing the Allies were actually French troops coming.  The advance began at about 7:30 p. m.  An hour later it was all over.  Wellington had kept men hidden on the reverse slope and they now fired relentlessly into the advancing Guard.  The Guard panicked and fled the field.  France was lost to Napoleon!

Bernard Cornwell's "Waterloo" is an excellent read.  As Wellington stated, "It is hard to describe a battle.", such is true for Waterloo.  Cornwell does it justice through the extensive research he did into the days leading up to the battle and the battle itself.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.