Waterloo

WATERLOO
Four days that changed Europe’s Destiny
(15th-18th June 1815)

Exile in Elba
• On 6 April 1814, Napoleon abdicated his throne, leading
to the accession of Louis XVIII and the first Bourbon
Restoration a month later. The defeated Napoleon was
exiled to the island of Elba off the coast of Tuscany, while
the victorious Coalition sought to redraw the map of
Europe at the Congress of Vienna.
• Napoleon spent only nine months and 21 days in uneasy
retirement on Elba (1814–1815), watching events in
France with great interest as the Congress of Vienna
gradually gathered.

The Devil is unchained
• On 26 February 1815, when the British and French guard
ships were absent, Napoleon slipped away from
Portoferraio on board the brig Inconstant with some
1,000 men and landed at Golfe-Juan between Cannes and
Antibes on 1 March 1815.
• After proceeding through the countryside promising
constitutional reform and direct elections to an assembly,
Napoleon entered the capital the 20 March to the acclaim
of gathered crowds, whence Louis XVIII had recently
fled.

United against Napoleon
• On 13 March, seven days before Napoleon reached Paris, the
powers at the Congress of Vienna declared him an outlaw, and
on 17 March Austria, Prussia, Russia and the United Kingdom,
members of the Seventh Coalition, bound themselves to put
150,000 men each into the field to end his rule.
• The first line of defense against Napoleon was the brand new
Kingdom of the Netherlands, created from the addition of the
Netherlands, Southern Netherlands (modern Belgium) and
Belgium. William, Prince of Orange-Nassau, proclaimed the
Netherlands a kingdom on 16 March 1815 at the urging of the
powers gathered at the Congress of Vienna.

The first line of defense
• Before midnight on 4 April the Duke of Wellington
arrived in Brussels to take over command of the allied
forces from the Prince of Orange.
• Only UK and Prussia had troops close to France. It fell to
them to stop Napoleon until the Austrian and Russian
reinforcements arrived

Brussels must be
defended!
• In Wellington’s view it was imperative for political
reasons to defend Brussels: “It would be of the greatest
importance to Bonaparte to drive us back behind
Brussels, to chase away the king of France and to reverse
the order of things that the King of the Netherlands has
established here. It would have a terrible effect on public
opinion”

Napoleon Bonaparte,
Emperor of France
• 45 years old, military genius, revered and loathed in equal
measure. Even his British enemies admitted that “he was
and will remain the greatest man of his time”

Arthur Wellesley, Duke of
Wellington
• 46 years old. The best British general, never defeated in
battle against the French in Portugal and Spain. His
troops did not love him in the way that sailors had
idolised Nelson –indeed they tended nor to like him- but
they trusted and admired him.

Prince Gebhard
Leberecht von Blücher
• 72 years old. Having limitless courage, energy and
determination, after each setback he would dust himself
down and drive onswards. Called “old Forwards” by his
soldiers. They loved him, and he could get troops to do
things that few others could.

Marshal Michel Ney
• 46 years old. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of
the Empire created by Napoleon. He was known as Le
Rougeaud ("red faced" or "ruddy") by his men and
nicknamed le Brave des Braves ("the bravest of the
brave") by Napoleon.

William, Prince of Orange
• 22 years old. Son of the King of the Netherlands. He
entered the British Army, and in 1811, as aide-de-camp to
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, took part in
several campaigns of the Peninsular War. On 25 July
1814 he was promoted to general in the British Army.

August von Gneisenau
• 54 years old. With the outbreak of the Wars of Liberation,
Major-General Gneisenau became Blücher's
quartermaster-general. Thus began the connection
between these two soldiers which has furnished military
history with one of the best examples of the harmonious
co-operation between a commander and his chief-of-staff.

Emmanuel de Grouchy
• 48 years old. Appointed marshal in April 1815. A brave
cavalry officer, but who had never been in overall
command and had no experience of commanding infantry
and combining arms.

Marshal Jean-de-Dieu
Soult
46 years old. In May 1804 he was made one of the first
marshals of the Empire. Knew well the British after
having fought 4 years against them in Spain. He acted as
chief of staff for Napoleon replacing Marshal Berthier,
who had held the post 18 years.

Henry Paget, Earl of
Uxbridge
• 47 years old. Talented cavalry commander who had
distinguished himself in Spain. His liaison since 1809 with
Lady Charlotte, the wife of Henry Wellesley, afterwards Lord
Cowley, had made it impossible subsequently for him to serve
with Wellington, Wellesley's brother.

Frederick William, Duke of
Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
• 43 years old. Raised a unit of volunteers, the Black
Brunswickers, to fight against Napoleon. His mother was
George III’s sister and his own sister was married to
George III’s son the Prince Regent. Had fought the
French in Germany, Portugal and Spain.

Sir Thomas Picton
56 years old. Lieutenant General. He was a Welsh British
Army officer who fought in a number of campaigns for
Britain in the Napoleonic wars. The Duke of Wellington
called him "a rough foul-mouthed devil as ever lived",
but very capable.

Armée du Nord
• At its height, (including reserves,) it numbered 123,000 strong
and consisted of many veterans from previous campaigns. In
terms of quality it was the best army Napoleon had
commanded since 1812 when he had led his Grande Armée
(Grand Army) to disaster in Russia. It also fielded
proportionally more artillery (344 pieces) and significantly
more cavalry, than had French armies in the campaigns of
1813 and 1814. Its left and right wings (Aile Gauche and Aile
Droite) were under the independent command of Marshals Ney
and Grouchy respectively, when Napoleon himself was not
present to direct them.

Anglo-Allied Army
• 93,000 men strong. The Duke of Wellington's army was a
coalition army made up of troops from the duchies of
Brunswick, and Nassau and the kingdoms of Hanover, the
Netherlands and the United Kingdom.The sprinkling of
veterans, particularly the British and King's German
Legion units, were the corset-stays holding together this
volatile mixture of men, some of whom had fought for
Napoleon only the previous year.

Prussian Army of the
Lower Rhine
• 116,000 men strong. The Prussian army was in the throes of
reorganisation. In 1815, the former Reserve regiments, Legions, and
Freikorps volunteer formations from the wars of 1813–1814 were in
the process of being absorbed into the line, along with many
Landwehr (militia) regiments. The Landwehr were mostly untrained
and unequipped when they arrived in Belgium. The Prussian cavalry
were in a similar state. Its artillery was also reorganising and did not
give its best performance – guns and equipment continued to arrive
during and after the battle.
• Off-setting these handicaps the Prussian Army had an excellent and
professional leadership in its General Staff organisation. These
officers came from four schools developed for this purpose and thus
worked to a common standard of training. This system was in marked
contrast to the conflicting, vague orders issued by the French army.

The Allied Plan
• Wellington was still waiting for reinforcements of
seasoned troops and personnel under orders to join him
from America and did not want to attack until the
Austrians were ready. However, Blücher insisted and
Wellington agreed, reluctantly, that they could take the
offensive on 1 July.

Napoleon’s Plan
• Napoleon's operational plan was both simple and audacious: To
divide the Allies by maneuvering between their forces; driving the
Prussians northeast and the Anglo-Dutch northwest. His strategic
goal was to capture Brussels, the newly-acquired second capital of
the Netherlands.
• Despite being part of a coalition and working together the two armies
had separate lines of supply; Wellington from England via Ostend
and Blücher from Liege. Napoleon therefore decided to overcome his
overall numerical inferiority by use of the Central Position.The plan
being that he would first destroy the Prussian army while a small
force held off the British the whole army would then unite and crush
the British; this tactic depended on a local superiority of numbers at
the point of decision and great tactical planning

Misinformation
• Although Napoleon thought his army’s concentration had been
achieved in secret, in fact few of his movements had gone
unperceived.
• Wellington placed total confidence in his spy network in Paris
(Fouché?) from which he had received no warning but instead
assurances that he was safe until July.

15th of July: the invasion
of Belgium begins
• Napoleon crossed the frontier at Thuin near Charleroi on 15 June 1815. The
French drove in Coalition outposts and secured Napoleon's favoured "central
position" – at the junction between Wellington's army to his north-west, and
Blücher's Prussians to his north-east. Wellington had expected Napoleon to try to
envelop the Coalition armies by moving through Mons and to the west of
Brussels.Wellington feared that such a move would cut his communications with
the ports he relied on for supply. Napoleon encouraged this view with
misinformation.Wellington did not hear of the capture of Charleroi until 3 pm,
because a message from Wellington's intelligence chief, Colquhoun Grant, was
delayed by General Dörnberg. Confirmation swiftly followed in another message
from the Prince of Orange. Wellington ordered his army to concentrate around the
divisional headquarters, but was still unsure whether the attack in Charleroi was a
feint and the main assault would come through Mons. Wellington only
determined Napoleon’s intentions with certainty in the evening, and his orders for
his army to muster near Nivelles and Quatre Bras were sent out just before
midnight

The Duchess of
Richmond’s ball
• Given as an entertainment for the officers of the Duke of
Wellington's army stationed in Brussels, it was in fact a
glittering social affair - until Wellington received the
news during the ball that the French forces under
Napoleon had unexpectedly begun their march. Some
officers immediately left the ball to return to their troops,
while others stayed so long that they did not change their
clothes, and ended up fighting in their evening clothes.

Before Waterloo (1868), by
Henry O'Neil

“Napoleon has
humbugged me”
• Between midnight and supper Orange’s aide arrived with
the news that the French were at Frasnes on the Brussels
road. Wellington studied a map with the Duke of
Richmond, exclaiming, ‘Napoleon has humbugged me,
by God, he has gained 24 hours march on me’. It is
conceivable that he also indicated, as ‘witnesses’
reported, that if he couldn’t hold the french at Quatre
Bras, he would have to fight at Mont Saint-Jean, for that
position had been chosed and surveyed as a possible
battlefield earlier in the year.

Summoned to Waterloo: Brussels, dawn
of June 16, 1815 by Robert Alexander
Hillingford.

Marching Orders
• The British Army did not concentrate on its left wing
within 22 hours of the first cannon shot, as the Prussians
claimed Wellington had promised. Indeed, 22 hours after
the first shot concentration had barely commences, and
22 hours after that it was far from complete.
• Meanwhile the Prussian I, II were converging on a line of
defense between Wagnelée, Saint-Amand and Ligny. The
III Corps formed the left wing and the routes of
withdrawal while defending Gembloux and Namur.

Quatre Bras
• The hamlet of Quatre Bras was clustered around the
crossroads of the Nivelles-Namur highway and the
Charleroi-Brussels chaussée, 23 miles south of Brussels
and 9 miles north of Charleroi. There was nothing
naturally strong about the terrain there and it did not lend
itself to defence; it was only strategically important
thanks to its location at the junction of the two routes
from Nivelles and Brussels that Wellington’s army would
naturally use to come to Blucher’s aide, or by which
Blucher would most naturally retreat towards Brussels.

Hold the crossroads!
• On 15 June as the Prussian I Corps withdrew towards Ligny, there was a danger for the
Coalition forces that Ney would be able to advance through Quatre Bras and take his
objectives with little or no Coalition opposition. At the Dutch headquarters at Genappe
(about five kilometres (3 miles) from Quatre Bras), Major-General Jean Victor de Constant
Rebecque, chief of staff to the Prince of Orange, realising the danger ordered Lieutenant-
General Hendrik George de Perponcher Sedlnitsky, the commander of the 2nd Dutch
Division, to dispatch his 2nd Brigade (Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach) to occupy
Quatre Bras. The brigade, consisting of two regiments from Nassau, arrived at about 14:00
on 15 June. Prince Bernhard deployed before the first French scouts, lancers of the Guard
Light Cavalry Division (Lefebvre-Desnouëtte), as they approached Quatre Bras. The lancers
were interdicted at Frasnes after which the Nassauers retreated to the Bois de Bossu, a thick
patch of forest near Quatre Bras. General Lefebvre-Desnouëtte requested infantry support,
but as night was approaching, and his infantry was strung out along Brussels-Charleroi road
Ney declined the request deciding to camp for the night and approach Quatre Bras in force
the following day. Early on the evening of 15 June instead of obeying Wellington's order to
concentrate the I Corps at Nivelles, Rebecque ordered 1st Brigade (Count of Bylandt) of the
2nd Dutch Division to reinforce Prince Bernhard's 2nd Brigade

Preparations for battle
• Ney spent the morning of 16 June in massing his I and II corps, and
in reconnoitering the enemy at Quatre Bras, who, as he was
informed, had been reinforced. But up till noon he took no serious
step to capture the cross-roads, which then lay at his mercy. Grouchy
meantime reported from Fleurus that Prussians were coming up from
Namur, but Napoleon does not appear to have attached much
importance to this report. He was still at Charleroi when, between
09:00 and 10:00, further news reached him from the left that
considerable hostile forces were visible at Quatre Bras. He at once
wrote to Ney saying that these could only be some of Wellington's
troops, and that Ney was to concentrate his force and crush what was
in front of him, adding that he was to send all reports to Fleurus.
Then, keeping Lobau provisionally at Charleroi, Napoleon hastened
to Fleurus, arriving about 11:00

The battlefield at Ligny
• The battlefield of Ligny was on the watershed between the rivers
Scheldt and Meuse. The Ligny stream rises to the west of Fleurus and
meanders in a north east direction through the small village of Ligny
to the confluence at Sombreffe. The stream was only few metres
wide at its edges, however it was swampy in parts so that the bridges
at Saint Amand and Ligny were strategically important. This dictated
that villages of Ligny, and St Amand and Wagnelée – connected by
the hamlets of Saint Amand-le-Hameau and Saint Amand-la-Haye –
were the best defensive position because they were sturdily built and
surrounded by trees. The remaining parts of the battlefield consisted
of fields of grain as high as a man. The windmill of Brye on a hill
north west from Ligny, was a suitable vantage point and Blücher
made it his headquarters during the battle. Napoleon placed his
headquarters in Fleurus, where he also had a good view of the
battlefield from the windmill of Naveau.

The Duke of Wellington passing British
guns on the way to Quatre Bras

Nothing to worry about…
• Wellington arrived at Quatre Bas in mid-morning. The troops of both
sides were cooking. Nothing was happening and Wellington’s cool
approach to the crisis seemed entirely justified.
• Wellington discussed the situation with Blucher’s emissary and sent
the marshal a note containing his assessment of the current location
of his forces and their expected time of arrival. The Duke, however,
was wildly over-optimistic.
• After making his brief assessment of the situation at Quatre Bras,
where the small French force then present did not seem very
threatening, Wellington set out on the 7 mile ride along the cobbled
chaussée to Sombreffe, with Dörnberg, Müffling, some staff and a
small cavalry scort. Just after he left, however, the light troops
resumed their skirmishing and cannonading recommenced.

Wellington meets
Blucher
• Wellington met with Blucher at the Prussian position. The
original plan had not envisaged any British involvement,
but now it seemed that the Prussian army might hold the
French until Wellington arrived to deal the decisive blow
from the west, so discussions began as to how he might
intervene. Still under the impression that there was
negligible French opposition at Quatre Bras, Wellington
believed that the bulk of his army was likely to be
available to fight within an hour or two. With such
assurance, Blucher decided to accept battle in the present
position, signalling his decision by firing a gun.

Ney attacks the
Netherlanders
• The real battle at Quatre Bras began with the French attack
around 14:00 hours. Ney massed a battery of 22 guns and
started bombarding the Coalition positions. Swarms of
skirmishers preceded the French columns as they attacked. The
Dutch picket line of the 2nd Division (Sedlnitsky) greeted
them with musket volleys, but it was outnumbered and those
east of the Brussels highway were at once forced back by the
mass of men moved against them.The Nassauers of 2nd
Brigade (Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar) retreated to Grand-
Pierrepont farm and Dutch troops of the 1st Brigade (Bylandt)
to Gemioncourt, but the allies managed, however, to hold the
wood. Facing three infantry divisions and a cavalry brigade,
the situation became desperate for the 2nd Division.

Vicious fight for Saint-
Amand
• Napoleon delayed his attack until about 14:30 when he heard cannon fire coming from the direction of
Quatre Bras, and thus knew that his left flank was secure. This delay also gave Gérard's IV Corps more
time to deploy as it had only recently arrived in Fleurus from south west, and had an important role to play
in the Napoleon's plan of attack on Ligny. Both delays meant that there was less time to win a decisive
victory before night fell.
• Napoleon began the attack with a cannonade by the Guards artillery positioned around Fleurus. Shortly
afterwards Vandamme's III French Corps (Girard's 7th Infantry Division attached on its left) attacked the
hamlet of Saint-Amand-la-Haye. Jagow's 3rd Prussian Brigade, defending Saint-Amand-la-Haye, could
not withstand the pressure of Lefol's 8th Division and was forced to retreat. Shortly afterwards a
counterattack by General Steinmetz with six battalions of the 1st Brigade recaptured the hamlet. A
renewed attack by Vandamme's troops led to a bitter fight in which the Prussians lost approximately 2,500
men and possession of Saint-Amand-la-Haye.
• With the loss of Saint-Amand-la-Haye, Blücher's right flank threatened to give way, so he ordered Pirch
II's 2nd Prussian Brigade to retake Saint-Amand-la-Haye. Although Girard was mortally wounded (he died
in Paris on 25 June of his wounds) the French held the hamlet, so Blücher ordered Tippelskirch to envelop
the French with an attack by units of the II Corps on the left flank of the hamlet. French reinforcements,
(Vandamme's III Corps,) deployed in front of Wagnelée prevented this happening, attacking Tippelskirch's
brigades as they marched out of the grain fields to get into position for their attack. They were driven into
the hamlet.
• Blücher left his observation post in the windmill of Brye and intervened personally in the fight. Under his
guidance the Prussian counter-attack on the French, very weak from the preceding actions, succeeded, and
Saint-Amand-la-Haye was again in Prussian hands. Thus at 19:00 Saint-Amand, Saint-Amand-la-Haye and
Wagnelée were still held by the Prussians.

Ligny in flames
• At 15:00 Gérard's IV French Corps opened the battle around
Ligny. Under heavy Prussian artillery fire Pécheux's 12th
Infantry Division succeeded in capturing the church in the
village of Ligny. With this success however, came a price as
the division now found itself under a violent bombardment
from three sides. In a short time Pécheux's division lost 20
officers and 500 men and had to withdraw. Napoleon sent a
battery of 12-pounders to support another attack and with the
IV Corps artillery set numerous buildings in Ligny aflame.
Another attack followed with vicious house to house fighting,
then Jagow's 3rd Prussian Brigade counter-attacked and
recaptured the town.

Ligny by Ernest Crofts (1875).

Picton arrives at Quatre
Bras
• At around 15:00 the 5th British Infantry Division (Picton) and
the 3rd Dutch Light Cavalry Brigade (Baron van Merlen)
arrived. The Duke of Wellington came back from his meeting
with Blücher and took command. He deployed Picton's
Division on the allied left flank where it stopped the French
advance to the east of the road. The fresh French 6th Division
(Prince Jérôme Bonaparte) arrived on the scene. A fierce fight
now broke out all along the line. Picton, showing a dauntless
front, maintained his position, while the French 6th Division
were sent against Grand-Pierrepont. The Nassauers were
forced to abandon the farm and were driven into the Bossu
wood. There they fought from tree to tree, slowing the French
advance. At Gemioncourt the Dutch troops were a thorn in the
side of the French.

The fight for Gemioncourt
farm
• The defending battalion of Gemincourt Farm, the 5th National
Militia, lost 62% of its original strength that day. It was driven
out by the 4th light and 100th Line regiments, but regrouped
north of the farm when the Dutchmen saw the 28th British
Foot come to their aid. But this regiment thought the
farmhouse was lost and retreated, while the 5th Militia,
thinking they were going to get reinforced, charged the
Farmhouse again and drove the French regiments from the
surroundings of the farm, but were unable to take the farm
itself. The 5th managed to take up position south of the farm,
where their Prince joined them. With artillery support, they
repulsed the 6th Chasseurs-Au-Cheval and a lancer regiment.
The Dutch lost and retook the farm another time, but
eventually lost it.

The Black Duke falls
• By 15:00, the French formed a line between Pierrepoint
through Gemioncourt to Piraumont. At 15:30 the Dutch 3rd
Light Cavalry Brigade (van Merlen), led by the Prince of
Orange, charged the French line; although they were met by
French cavalry and were thrown back, this gave the battered
Dutch infantry time to regroup. When the Dutch cavalry
brigade disengaged and retired to friendly lines they were shot
at by Scottish infantry because their uniforms looked like the
French uniforms of the chasseurs à cheval. The Brunswick
Corps, under the Duke of Brunswick, now reached the field,
but their commander received a mortal wound while leading a
charge and the attack failed. At 16:15 Ney received Napoleon's
order, (despatched at 14:00), to attack vigorously. He sent an
order to his II Corps (Honoré Reille) to attack with more force.

Near the breaking point at
Quatre-Bras
• On Ney's left, Prince Jérôme drove the allies out of the
Bossu Wood. French mixed forces advanced almost all
the way to the crossroads. Regiments of the British 9th
Brigade (Pack) — 42nd ("Black Watch", Macara), 44th
("East Essex", Hamerton) and 92nd ("Gordon
Highlanders", John Cameron) — held up against the
infantry. French of the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Cavalry
Division (Piré) counter-attacked and severely mauled the
42nd and 44th before they were driven off

Quatre Bras (Black Watch at
Bay) by William Barnes Wollen

Confusion at the french
left flank in Ligny
• At about 17:00 Field-Marshal Blücher employed the still-fresh
II Corps under the command of General Pirch I and ordered
him to deploy it into the area south of Brye. At about the same
time Vandamme on the left French flank sighted a force of
twenty to thirty thousand men advancing on Fleurus, which he
incorrectly took to be enemy troops. Napoleon, who was
preparing to launch a crucial attack at the centre of Blücher's
line, was very surprised by this news, because at 15:30 he had
sent Comte de la Bédoyère with a written note to Marshal Ney
at Quatre Bras ordering him to send d'Erlon's I Corps to attack
the rear of the right Prussian flank. Instead it seemed that the
troops seen by Vandamme threatened the French left flank.

Where is D’Erlon Corps?
• D'Erlon had gone on ahead of his corps (marching west
towards Quatre Bras) to reconnoitre. Bédoyère, realising that
time was of the essence, had on his own initiative ordered the I
Corps to turn east towards Ligny. Its leading elements came
into view at 17:00, that is to say, earlier than Napoleon
expected. Marshal Ney, unaware of Napoleon's instructions,
sent an order to d'Erlon to immediately turn around and march
back towards Quatre Bras. D'Erlon, who had caught up with
his troops, turned them around only a few kilometres away
from Ligny. Crucially, the I Corps did not fight in either battle
that day.

The French hesitate, the
Prussians attack
• Blücher took advantage of the hesitation of the French by
ordering an attack on the French left flank. From his
observation post in the mill of Brye, Blücher could
observe how his troops fared to the west of Saint Amand.
Vandamme's III Corps received unexpected support from
Duhesme's Young Guard and the Prussians were thrown
back to their original positions.

D’Erlon, back and forth…
• At 17:00 the timely arrival of the British 3rd Division (Alten),
coming in from Nivelles, tipped the numerical balance back in favour
of the allies. At quarter past the hour Ney heard that the French I
Corps (d'Erlon), without his direct order or knowledge, had moved
eastwards to assist in the battle of Ligny. Fifteen minutes later at
17:30 he received an unclear order from Napoleon to seize Quatre
Bras and then turn eastwards to crush Blücher, who was caught at
Ligny. Due to the arrival of allied reinforcements, Ney realized that
he could capture and hold Quatre Bras only with the support of the I
Corps and he sent imperative orders to d'Erlon to return at once. To
keep the pressure on Wellington, immediately after sending for
d'Erlon, Ney ordered Kellermann to lead his one available cuirassier
brigade and break through Wellington's line.

The critical error?
• “D’Erlon, as we have seen, actually arrived close on the field
of Ligny, halted for a short time, and then, leaving Durutte’s
division of infantry and Jacquinot’s brigade of horse on the
right flank of the Prussians, led the bulk of his corps back to
Frasnes in obedience to Ney’s order. Hence, he was totally
useless, either to Ney or Napoleon, as if he had remained at
Jumet. ‘Twenty thousand men and forty-six guns,’ says an able
French author, ‘had been led about, from mid-day until nine in
the evening, between two battle-fields, distant six miles from
each other, without taking part in either.’ Their timely presence
at Quatre Bras would have placed Wellington in an extremity
of peril, while their actions on the right flank of the Prussians
would have destroyed Blucher.

Kellermann’s charge
• Kellermann's cuirassiers caught the British 5th Brigade
(Halkett) — 33rd ("West Riding", Knight) 69th ("South
Lincolnshire", Morice) and the 73rd (Harris) — in line
formation. The 69th were badly mauled, losing their
King's colour (the only battalion under Wellington's direct
command to do so); the 33rd and the 73rd were saved
from a similar fate by running for the safety of Bossu
Wood where they rallied quickly. The cuirassiers reached
the crossroads but were driven back by close range
artillery and musket fire

Wellington’s counter-
attack
• The arrival of the British 1st Infantry Division (Guards Division,
Cooke) gave Wellington sufficient strength to counter-attack and
Jérôme, whose skirmishers were now west of Quatre Bras, was
forced to retreat and give up possession of Bossu wood to the British
Guards. When the Guards and other allied units emerged from the
wood, they were met with heavy fire from French infantry and an
attack by 6th Lancer Regiment (and possibly the 1st Chasseurs) of
the 2nd Cavalry Division (Piré); the Guards were caught in line and
forced to flee back into the wood. This cavalry attack and taking the
Bossu wood caused high casualties among the British Guards. There
was some further skirmishing between allied light companies and the
French voltigeurs and cavalry screen, but the battle was over. By
21:00, when the fighting stopped, the French had been forced to give
up all of their territorial gains.

Blucher’s counter-attack
• At 19:00 the situation on the battlefield was as follows: Grouchy's
cavalry had captured Tongrenelle and advanced on Mont-Potiaux; in the
centre, heavy fighting was taking place around Ligny; on the Prussian
right flank there was a lull in the fighting between the Young Guard and
the Prussians.
• It was now that Blücher received a message that Wellington was heavily
engaged fighting Ney's left wing of the French army and, therefore,
could on no account send support to Ligny. So Blücher decided to
counter-attack on the French left flank, in order to force a decision. First,
he strengthened his tired forces in Ligny, and then he collected his last
reserves and personally led an attack on Saint-Amand. The attack was
initially successful and the Prussians managed to recapture Saint-
Amand-le-Hameau, but the attack faltered and they were counter-
attacked by chasseurs of the Imperial Guard west of Saint-Amand and
started a disorderly retreat from Saint-Amand-le-Haye.

Napoleon commits the
Old Guard
• Taking advantage of the Prussians' retreat, Napoleon decided it was time to
launch a decisive counterstrike. He could at least beat Blücher and render the
Prussians unfit for any serious operation except retreat on 17 June, although he
could no longer expect to destroy the Prussian army. Lobau's VI Corps, too, was
now arriving and forming up on the heights east of Fleurus. The artillery of the
Guard, therefore, came into action above Ligny to prepare Blücher's centre for
assault. Some delay was occasioned by a thunderstorm; but, as this passed over,
the guns opened and the Old Guard, supported by the reserve cavalry – the
Grenadiers à Cheval de la Garde Impériale – led by Guyot, as well as Milhaud's
IV Cavalry Corps proceeded to form up opposite Ligny. At about 19:45 a
crashing salvo of 60 guns gave the signal for a combined assault to be delivered
by Gerard and the Guard, with Milhaud moving on their right flank. Blücher's
worn-out soldiers could not withstand the tremendous impact of Napoleon's
choicest troops, and the Prussian centre was pierced and broken.As a reaction to
the Old Guard's attack, Blücher instructed Lieutenant-General Röder to counter-
attack with the 2 brigades of the reserve cavalry of the I Prussian Corps.

With the Guard readied for action Napoleon issues the order for
the final attack at Ligny - 18.45, June 16th 1815

Blücher, incapacitated
• In shear desperation to stem the assault and offer some
possibility to extricate the survivors of his army, Blucher
personally led Roder's cavalry division in amongst the now
forming Guard squares only to have them counter-attacked by
Milhaud's cuirassiers. Blucher's horse was shot from under him
and he lay pinned for some time, ridden over by the victorious
cuirassiers, until rescued by Major von Nostitz, and later by
one of his aides, badly battered and bruised, but alive. He was
borne in a semi-conscious condition from the field. While
Blücher was being taken from the field the French cavalry beat
off the Prussian cavalry counter-attack. Lieutenant-General
August von Gneisenau (Blücher's Chief of staff), took over
command from the absent Blücher.

Blucher pinned under his dead horse is rescued by aides as the
Battle of Ligny draws to a close

Prussian retreat
• At 20:00 Major-General Kraft announced he would not be able to hold the village
of Ligny much longer and half an hour later the Old Guard broke through,
signalling that the Prussians had lost the battle. Gneisenau decided to retreat
northward on Tilly, which left open lines of communication to the Rhine as well
as the possibility of supporting Wellington if Napoleon was to turn on his army.
• On the Prussian right, Lieutenant-General Zieten's I Corps retreated slowly with
most of its artillery, leaving a rearguard close to Brye to slow the French pursuit.
On the left, Lieutenant-General Thielemann's III Corps retreated unharmed,
leaving a strong rearguard at Sombreffe. The bulk of the rearguard held their
positions until about midnight, before following the rest of the retreating army. In
fact, Zieten's I Corps rearguard units only left the battlefield in the early morning
of 17 June, as the exhausted French failed to press on. Pirch I's II Corps followed
the I Corps off the battlefield and Thielemans III Corps moved last with the
armies various parks in tow. The last of III Corps was moved in the morning
completely ignored. Von Bulow's IV Corps moved south of Wavre and set up
strong rear guard positions for the army to quickly reassemble. Blücher was
already in communication with Wellington.

Aftermath of Quatre Bras
and Ligny
• With the defeat of the Prussians Napoleon had the still and the
initiative, for Ney's failure to take the Quatre Bras cross roads had
actually placed the Anglo-allied army in a precarious position. So
true is it that a tactical failure encountered in carrying out a sound
strategical plan matters but little. Again Napoleon's plan of campaign
had succeeded. He having beaten Blücher, the latter must fall back to
rally and re-form, and call in Bülow's IV Corps, who had only
reached the neighbourhood of Gembloux on June 16; whilst on the
other flank Ney, reinforced by D'Erlon's fresh corps, lay in front of
Wellington, and Ney could fasten upon the Anglo-allied army and
hold it fast during the early morning of 17 June, sufficiently long to
allow the emperor to close round his foe's open left flank and deal
him a deathblow. But it was clearly essential to deal with Wellington
on the morrow, ere Blücher could again appear on the scene

Wellington, endangered
• The Prussian defeat at Ligny made the Quatre Bras position
untenable, but initially Wellington was not acquainted with the details
of the Prussian defeat at Ligny as he ought to have been. It is true
that, before leading the final charge (in which he fell under his horse,
and being ridden over by French cavalry twice]), Blücher dispatched
an aide-de-camp to his colleague, to tell him that he was forced to
retire; but this officer was shot and the message remained
undelivered. To send a message of such vital importance by a single
orderly was a piece of bad staff work. It should have been sent in
triplicate at least, and it was General Gneisenau's duty to repeat the
message directly he assumed temporary command. Opposed as they
were to Napoleon, Gneisenau's neglect involved them in an
unnecessary and very grave risk (Blücher survived his ordeal and
reassumed command of the Prussian army at the Wave rendezvous)

A quiet night
• Napoleon was unwell, and consequently was not in the
saddle on 17 June as early as he would otherwise have
been. In his absence neither Ney nor Soult made any
serious arrangements for an advance, although every
minute was now golden. During the night more
reinforcements arrived for Wellington, and on the
morning of 17 June Wellington had most of his army
about Quatre Bras. But it was 24 hours too late, for
Blücher's defeat had rendered the Anglo-allied position
untenable

Left to right: Maréchal Ney, Général Reille, Général
Cambronne, Maréchal Soult

Left to right: Maréchal Soult, Maréchal Bertrand,
Général D’Erlon, Général Kellermann

Wellington learns about
his position
Early in the morning Wellington (still ignorant of the exact
position of his Coalition partner) sent out an officer, with an
adequate escort, to establish touch with the Prussians. This staff
officer discovered and reported that the Prussians were drawing
off northwards to rally at Wavre; and about 09:00 a Prussian
orderly officer arrived from Gneisenau to explain the situation
and learn Wellington's plans. Wellington replied that he should
fall back on Mont-Saint-Jean, and would accept battle there, in a
selected position to the south of the Forest of Soignes, provided
he was assured of the support of one of Blücher's corps. Like the
good soldier and loyal ally that he was, he now subordinated
everything to the one essential of manoeuvring so as to remain in
communication with Blücher. It was 02:00 on June 18 before he
received the answer to his suggestion

Following the Prussian’s
trail
• Early on 17 June the Prussians drew off northwards on three roads,
Thielemann covering the withdrawal and moving via Gembloux to
join hands with Bülow. The French cavalry on the right, hearing
troops in motion on the Namur road, dashed in pursuit down the
turnpike road shortly after dawn, caught up the fugitives and captured
them. They turned out to be stragglers; but their capture for a time
helped to confirm the idea, prevalent in the French army, that Blücher
was drawing off towards his base. Some delay too was necessary
before Napoleon could finally settle on his plan for this day. The
situation was still obscure, details as to what had happened on the
French left were wanting, and the direction of Blücher's retreat was
by no means certain. Orders, however, were sent to Ney, about 08:00,
to take up his position at Quatre Bras, and if that was impossible he
was to report at once and Napoleon would co-operate

Wellington slips away
• Napoleon clearly meant that Ney should attack whatever
happened to be in his front. If confronted by a rear-guard
he would drive it off and occupy Quatre Bras; and if
Wellington was still there Marshal Ney would promptly
engage and hold fast the Anglo-allied army, and report to
Napoleon. Napoleon would in this case hasten up with
the Reserves and crush Wellington. Wellington in fact
was there; but Ney did nothing whatever to retain him,
and Wellington began his withdrawal to Mont-Saint-Jean
about 10:00. The last best chance of bringing about a
decisive French success was thus allowed to slip away

The fatal moment: Grouchy is
charged with pursuing the
Prussians
• Meanwhile Napoleon paid a personal visit about 10:00 to the Ligny
battlefield, and about 11:00 he came to a decision. He determined to send
the two cavalry corps of Pajol and Exelmans, and the corps of
Vandamme and Gerard, with Teste's division (VI. Corps), a force of
33,000 men and 110 guns, to follow the Prussians, discover their
intentions and discover if they intend to unite with Wellington in front of
Brussels. As Exelmans' dragoons had already gained touch of the
Prussian III Corps at Gembloux, Napoleon directed Marshal Grouchy, to
whom he handed over the command of this force, to "proceed to
Gembloux." This order the marshal only too literally obeyed. After an
inconceivably slow and wearisome march, in one badly arranged column
moving on one road, he only reached Gembloux on June 17, and halted
there for the night. His cavalry gained contact before noon with
Thielemann's corps, which was resting at Gembloux, but the enemy was
allowed to slip away and contact was lost for want of a serious effort to
keep it

“There is no more time to
lose”
• On the other flank, too, things had gone all in favour of Wellington. Although
Napoleon wrote to Ney again at noon, from Ligny, that troops had now been
placed in position at Marbais to second the marshal's attack on Quatre Bras, yet
Ney remained quiescent, and Wellington effected so rapid and skilful a retreat
that, on Napoleon's arrival at the head of his supporting corps, be found only
Wellington's cavalry screen and some horse artillery still in position.
• On learning of Ney's lethargy Napoleon angrily declared that Ney had ruined
France. This was the fatal mistake of the campaign, and Fortune turned now
against her former favourite. Although the smouldering fires of his old energy
flamed out once more and Napoleon began a rapid pursuit of the cavalry screen,
which crumpled up and decamped as he advanced, yet all his efforts were
powerless to entangle the Anglo-allied rearguard in such a way as to hamper the
retreat of Wellington's infantry. The pursuit, too, was carried out in the midst of a
thunderstorm of monsoon intensity which broke at the roar of the opening
cannonade, and very considerably retarded the French pursuit. It was not until the
light was failing that Napoleon reached the heights of Rossomme opposite to
Wellington's position and, by a masterly reconnaissance in force, compelled
Wellington to disclose the presence of practically the whole Anglo-allied army

The Heavens open their
Sluices
• The storm was clearly of monumental proportions. A few
quotations from the letters of Private William Wheeler are
typical. His regiment (51st Kings Yorkshire Infantry) was
active in the retreat from Quatre Bras. His writings make no
mention of rain until the afternoon of the 17th, after which the
accounts are graphic: “… and as it began to rain the road soon
became very heavy … the rain increased, the thunder and
lightning approached nearer, and with it came the enemy …the
rain beating with violence, the guns roaring, repeated bright
flashes of lightning attended with tremendous volleys of
Thunder that shook the very earth …”

A miserable night
• That night Wheeler’s regiment found refuge not far from
Waterloo. His letter continues: “… the night came on, we were
wet to the skin … the bad weather continued the whole of the
night … It would be impossible for any one to form any
opinion of what we endured this night. Being close to the
enemy we could not use our blankets, the ground was too wet
to lie down … the water ran in streams from the cuffs of our
Jackets, in short we were as wet as if we had been plunged
over head in a river. We had one consolation, we knew that the
enemy were in the same plight.”
• In similar fashion, Private John Lewis of the 95th Rifles wrote
to his friends, “… the rain fell so hard that the oldest soldiers
there never saw the like …”

Wellington’s position
• With the 67,000 men whom he had in hand, however, he took
up a truly admirable "Wellingtonian" position astride the
Nivelles-Brussels and Charleroi-Brussels roads which meet at
Mont-Saint-Jean. He used a low ridge to screen his main
defensive position, exposing comparatively few troops in front
of the crest. Of his 156 guns, 78 belonged to the British
artillery; His troops consisted of: 50,000 infantry, 11,000
cavalry, and 6,000 artillery with 150 guns. Of these, 25,000
were British (including a disproportionate number of
Irishmen), with another 6,000 from the King's German Legion
(KGL). All of the British Army troops were regular soldiers
but only 7,000 of them were Peninsular War veterans. In
addition, there were 17,000 Dutch and Belgian troops, 11,000
from Hanover, 6,000 from Brunswick, and 3,000 from Nassau.

Defensive strongpoints
• Wellington occupied Hougoumont in strength, chiefly with detachments of the
British Guards; and he also placed a garrison of the K.G.L. in La Haye Sainte, the
tactical key of the allied position. Both these farms were strengthened; but, still
nervous about his right flank, Wellington occupied Hougoumont in much greater
force than La Haye Sainte, and massed the bulk of his troops on his right. The
main position was very skilfully taken up, and care was taken to distribute the
troops so that the indifferent and immature were closely supported by those who
were "better disciplined and more accustomed to war". On the opposite side of
the road was a disused sand quarry, where the 95th Rifles were posted as
sharpshooters. This position presented a formidable challenge to any attacking
force. Any attempt to turn Wellington's right would entail taking the entrenched
Hougoumont position. Any attack on his right centre would mean the attackers
would have to march between enfilading fire from Hougoumont and La Haye
Sainte. On the left, any attack would also be enfiladed by fire from La Haye
Sainte and its adjoining sandpit, and any attempt at turning the left flank would
entail fighting through the streets and hedgerows of Papelotte, and some very wet
ground

The French Army at
Waterloo
• The French army of around 69,000 consisted of 48,000
infantry, 14,000 cavalry, and 7,000 artillery with 250
guns. Napoleon had used conscription to fill the ranks of
the French army throughout his rule, but he did not
conscript men for the 1815 campaign. All his troops were
veterans of at least one campaign who had returned more
or less voluntarily to the colours. The cavalry in particular
was both numerous and formidable, and included
fourteen regiments of armoured heavy cavalry and seven
of highly versatile lancers.

The French position
• The French army formed on the slopes of another ridge to the south.
Napoleon could not see Wellington's positions, so he drew his forces
up symmetrically about the Brussels road. On the right was I Corps
under d'Erlon with 16,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry, plus a cavalry
reserve of 4,700. On the left was II Corps under Reille with 13,000
infantry, and 1,300 cavalry, and a cavalry reserve of 4,600. In the
centre about the road south of the inn La Belle Alliance were a
reserve including Lobau's VI Corps with 6,000 men, the 13,000
infantry of the Imperial Guard, and a cavalry reserve of 2,000.
• In the right rear of the French position was the substantial village of
Plancenoit, and at the extreme right, the Bois de Paris wood.
Napoleon initially commanded the battle from Rossomme farm,
where he could see the entire battlefield, but moved to a position near
La Belle Alliance early in the afternoon. Command on the battlefield
(which was largely hidden from his view) was delegated to Ney

Last preparations
• Wellington rose at around 02:00 or 03:00 on 18 June, and wrote
letters until dawn. He had earlier written to Blücher confirming that
he would give battle at Mont-Saint-Jean if Blücher could provide him
with at least one corps; otherwise he would retreat towards Brussels.
At a late-night council, Blücher's chief of staff, August Neidhardt von
Gneisenau, had been distrustful of Wellington's strategy, but Blücher
persuaded him that they should march to join Wellington's army. In
the morning Wellington duly received a reply from Blücher,
promising to support him with three corps.
• Napoleon breakfasted off silver plate 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".

Napoleon’s orders
• Napoleon had delayed the start of the battle owing to the sodden ground, which would have
made manoeuvring cavalry and artillery difficult. In addition, many of his forces had
bivouacked well to the south of La Belle Alliance. At 10:00, in response to a dispatch he had
received from Grouchy six hours earlier, he sent a reply telling Grouchy to "head for Wavre
[to Grouchy's north] in order to draw near to us [to the west of Grouchy]" and then "push
before him" the Prussians to arrive at Waterloo "as soon as possible".
• At 11:00, Napoleon drafted his general order: Reille's Corps on the left and d'Erlon's Corps
to the right were to attack the village of Mont-Saint-Jean and keep abreast of one another.
This order assumed Wellington's battle-line was in the village, rather than at the more
forward position on the ridge. To enable this, Jerome's division would make an initial attack
on Hougoumont, which Napoleon expected would draw in Wellington's reserves, since its
loss would threaten his communications with the sea. A grande batterie of the reserve
artillery of I, II, and VI Corps was to then bombard the centre of Wellington's position from
about 13:00. D'Erlon's corps would then attack Wellington's left, break through, and roll up
his line from east to west. In his memoirs, Napoleon wrote that his intention was to separate
Wellington's army from the Prussians and drive it back towards the sea

Hougoumont under
attack
• The historian Andrew Roberts notes that "It is a curious
fact about the Battle of Waterloo that no one is absolutely
certain when it actually began". Wellington recorded in
his dispatches that at "about ten o'clock [Napoleon]
commenced a furious attack upon our post at
Hougoumont".Other sources state that the attack began
around 11:30. The house and its immediate environs were
defended by four light companies of Guards, and the
wood and park by Hanoverian Jäger and the 1/2nd
Nassau.

Close the gates!
• The initial attack by Bauduin's brigade emptied the wood and
park, but was driven back by heavy British artillery fire, and
cost Bauduin his life. As the British guns were distracted by a
duel with French artillery, a second attack by Soye's brigade
and what had been Bauduin's succeeded in reaching the north
gate of the house. Sous-Lieutenant Legros, a French officer,
broke the gate down with an axe. Some French troops
managed to enter the courtyard. The 2nd Coldstream Guards
and 2/3rd Foot Guards arrived to help. There was a fierce
melee, and the British managed to close the gate on the French
troops streaming in. The Frenchmen trapped in the courtyard
were all killed. Only a young drummer boy was spared.

The British defense of the North Gates at Hougoumont - Chris
Collingwood.

Hougoumont resists
• Fighting continued around Hougoumont all afternoon. Its
surroundings were heavily invested by French light infantry,
and coordinated attacks were made against the troops behind
Hougoumont. Wellington's army defended the house and the
hollow way running north from it. In the afternoon, Napoleon
personally ordered the house to be shelled to set it on fire,[f]
resulting in the destruction of all but the chapel. Du Plat's
brigade of the King's German Legion was brought forward to
defend the hollow way, which they had to do without senior
officers. Eventually they were relieved by the 71st Foot, a
British infantry regiment. Adam's brigade was further
reinforced by Hugh Halkett's 3rd Hanoverian Brigade, and
successfully repulsed further infantry and cavalry attacks sent
by Reille. Hougoumont held out until the end of the battle.

A diversionary attack
gone wrong
• The fighting at Hougoumont has often been characterised as a
diversionary attack to draw in Wellington's reserves which escalated
into an all-day battle and drew in French reserves instead. In fact
there is a good case to believe that both Napoleon and Wellington
thought that holding Hougoumont was key to winning the battle.
Hougoumont was a part of the battlefield that Napoleon could see
clearly, and he continued to direct resources towards it and its
surroundings all afternoon (33 battalions in all, 14,000 troops).
Similarly, though the house never contained a large number of troops,
Wellington devoted 21 battalions (12,000 troops) over the course of
the afternoon in keeping the hollow way open to allow fresh troops
and ammunition to reach the buildings. He moved several artillery
batteries from his hard-pressed centre to support Hougoumont, and
later stated that "the success of the battle turned upon closing the
gates at Hougoumont".

The Grande Batterie
opens fire
• While the battle for Hougoumont was underway on the
western flank of the field, the 80 heavy guns of Napoleon’s
Grande Batterie were pounding Wellington’s center. Though
the bulk of the Allied forces were drawn up on the reverse
slope of the ridge, beyond the line-of-sight of the French
gunners, much of the 12 lbs shot hurled over the crest to land
among the allied formations. The Allied infantry lay down in
the grass to present a smaller target; and cavalry regiments of
the Wellington’s Union Brigade, waiting far in the rear in the
third line, found it necessary to move to their left to avoid
casualties.

The Prussians detected
• At about 13:00, Napoleon saw the first columns of Prussians around
the village of Lasne-Chapelle-Saint-Lambert, four or five miles
(three hours march for an army) away from his right flank.Napoleon's
reaction was to have Marshal Soult send a message to Grouchy
telling him to come towards the battlefield and attack the arriving
Prussians Grouchy, however, had been executing Napoleon's
previous orders to follow the Prussians "with your sword against his
back" towards Wavre, and was by then too far away to reach
Waterloo. Grouchy was advised by his subordinate, Gérard, to
"march to the sound of the guns", but stuck to his orders and engaged
the Prussian III Corps rear guard under the command of Lieutenant-
General Baron Johann von Thielmann at the Battle of Wavre.
Moreover, Soult's letter ordering Grouchy to move quickly to join
Napoleon and attack Bülow would not actually reach Grouchy until
after 20:00

D’Erlon’s Assault
• A little after 13:00, I Corps' attack began. D'Erlon, like
Ney, had encountered Wellington in Spain, and was
aware of the British commander's favoured tactic of using
massed short-range musketry to drive off infantry
columns. Rather than use the usual nine-deep French
columns deployed abreast of one another, therefore, each
division advanced in closely spaced battalion lines behind
one another. This allowed them to concentrate their fire,
but it did not leave room for them to change formation.

Initial success
• The formation was initially effective. Its leftmost division, under
François-Xavier Donzelot, advanced on La Haye Sainte. The
farmhouse was defended by the King's German Legion. While one
French battalion engaged the defenders from the front, the following
battalions fanned out to either side and, with the support of several
squadrons of cuirassiers, succeeded in isolating the farmhouse. The
King's German Legion resolutely defended the farmhouse. Each time
the French tried to scale the walls the outnumbered Germans
somehow held them off. The Prince of Orange saw that La Haye
Sainte had been cut off and tried to reinforce it by sending forward
the Hanoverian Lüneberg Battalion in line. Cuirassiers concealed in a
fold in the ground caught and destroyed it in minutes and then rode
on past La Haye Sainte, almost to the crest of the ridge, where they
covered d'Erlon's left flank as his attack developed.

Pressing the advantage
• As the advancing French divisions fired volleys into Bylandt’s brigade,
D’Erlon’s expectations seemed to have been justified; for whole files of
the defending Dutchmen went down. As gaping holes appeared in their
lines, the militiamen broke and fell back on their reserves. The 95 Rifles,
holding the gravel pit to the northeast of La Haye Sainte, was driven
back by masses of French skirmishers; as the Dutch and Brunswick
battalions to its left gave ground. The farm complex of La Haye Sainte,
center-piece of Wellington’s line was defended by the Light Battalion of
the King’s German Legion. As the first British line was pressed back to
the east, La Haye Sainte was assaulted by elements of Quiot’s First
Division. The complex was difficult to hold, as no engineers had been
available to aid the Germans in preparing it for defense the night and
morning before; the Legion’s Pioneer Battalion having been sent to
prepare the defenses at Hougoumont. As D’Erlon’s brigades advanced up
the ridge, their position became increasingly difficult.

Stretched till the
breaking point
• Lt. General Thomas Picton commanded the reserve 5th Division. Picton was also
a veteran of the Peninsula War, known for his courage and irascible temperament.
His baggage had not arrived in Brussels in time for the campaign; and so he
commanded his division that day wearing civilian clothing and a top-hat!
• Seeing the first line falling back before d’Erlon’s blue-coated infantry, Picton
now ordered his brigades to counter-attack. The British and Scots), who were
lying in low ground behind the ridge-crest, stood now and fired upon the French.
Exchanging volleys at close range, Picton’s outnumbered men got the worse of
the exchange. The British and Hanoverians were also forced to fallback. Picton
himself was struck in the temple by a musket ball, and fell dead. He was the most
senior officer killed on that sanguine day.
• As some 4,000 French infantry gained a position atop the plateau, pushing
steadily forward, Napoleon was jubilant. His plan was coming to fruition, and it
looked as though Wellington’s left was about to break; the polyglot collection of
British, Scot, Irish, Dutch, Belgian and German regiments dissolving before his
eyes. He ordered Milhaud and Kellerman’s cavalry divisions to prepare to move
up behind d’Erlon’s advancing infantry to exploit the breach.

A providential charge
• At this crucial juncture, Uxbridge ordered his two brigades of
British heavy cavalry—formed unseen behind the ridge—to
charge in support of the hard-pressed infantry. The 1st Brigade,
known as the Household Brigade, commanded by Major-
General Lord Edward Somerset, consisted of guards
regiments: the 1st and 2nd Life Guards, the Royal Horse
Guards (the Blues), and the 1st (King's) Dragoon Guards. The
2nd Brigade, also known as the Union Brigade, commanded by
Major-General Sir William Ponsonby, was so called as it
consisted of an English, the 1st (The Royals); a Scottish, 2nd
('Scots Greys'); and an Irish, 6th (Inniskilling); regiment of
heavy dragoons.

Charge!!!!
• To the west of La Haye Sainte the Household Brigade
smashed into the Cuirassiers warding the left of
Donzelot’s Division; driving them off in disorder.
Continuing down the slope, they likewise destroyed that
part of Donzelot’s infantry who stood in their way.
• The Union Brigade, to the east of La Haye Sainte, came
flooding over the crest of the ridge and down into the
astonished and unprepared French battalions. In seconds,
d’Erlon’s divisions were shattered, and fleeing back the
way they had come!

Lady Butler, Scotland Forever! (1881;
Leeds Art Gallery).

Two eagles captured
• From the centre leftwards, the Royal Dragoons destroyed
Bourgeois' brigade, capturing the eagle of the 105th Ligne. The
Inniskillings routed the other brigade of Quoit's division, and
the Scots Greys came upon the lead French regiment, 45th
Ligne, as it was still reforming after having crossed the sunken
road and broken through the hedge row in pursuit of the
British infantry. The Greys captured the eagle of the 45th
Ligne and overwhelmed Grenier's brigade. These would be the
only two eagles captured from the French during the battle.On
Wellington's extreme left, Pierre François Joseph Durutte's
division had time to form squares and fend off groups of
Greys.

Capture of the Eagle of the 45th Reg
Line by the Scots Greys

Charge the Guns!
• However, the indiscipline of the British horsemen and the very success
of their charge now worked to their detriment. As officers frantically
called for them to reform, the British horsemen galloped on in a killing
frenzy; pursuing and sabering d’Erlon’s fleeing soldiers.
• “(the officers) exhorted themselves to the utmost to reform the men; but
the helplessness of the enemy suffered too great a temptation to the
Dragoons… The Dragoons were in the same disorder, cutting up
remnants of the dispersed enemy.”
• The Scots Greys, particularly, over-extended themselves; charging across
the valley. At some point, James Hamilton, the commander of the Greys
redirected their charge now against Napoleon’s Grande Batterie, on the
opposite slopes of the valley and in the center of the French position.
Many of the gunners were sabered or run off, at least temporarily
silencing the punishing barrage of Wellington’s position.
• However, this was a “bridge too far”.

Overextended…
• Napoleon, watching from nearby Belle Alliance, ordered a counter
attack from the flank by regiments of lancers waiting in reserve.
Wheeling into the flank of the disordered British horsemen, the
lancers fell upon them and exacted a bloody revenge!
• “If only we could have formed a hundred men we could have made a
respectable retreat and saved many. But we could effect no formation
and were as helpless against their (the lancers) attack as their
infantry had been against ours.”
• On now-blown horses, the British tried fleeing back to their lines or
to either flank of the lancers. But many were overtaken and killed or
captured. Among the dead was Sir William Ponsonby, commander of
the Union Brigade; speared by a lancer while attempting to flee
across the muddy field on a spent horse.

Stalemate
• By the middle of the afternoon, both combatants had returned to their respective
places on either side of the valley; leaving the slopes littered with masses of dead
and wounded, men and horses alike. While d’Erlon’s Corp had been shattered
(and its understrength divisions would not be prepared to fight again till much
later in the day) and Wellington’s heavy cavalry was a nearly spent force.
• Some historians, such as Chandler and Weller, assert that the British heavy
cavalry were destroyed as a viable force following their first, epic charge.
Barbero states that the Scots Grey were practically wiped out and that the other
two regiments of the Union Brigade suffered comparable losses
• 14,000 French troops of D'Erlon's I Corps had been committed to this attack. The
I Corps had been driven in rout back across the valley costing Napoleon 3,000
casualties including over 2,000 prisoners taken.Also some valuable time was
lost, the charge had dispersed numerous units and it would take until 16:00 hours
for D'Erlon's shaken corps to reform. And although elements of the Prussians now
began to appear on the field to his right, Napoleon had already ordered Lobau's
VI corps to move to the right flank to hold them back before D'Erlon's attack
began.

Napoleon’s options
• The problem was that while he had begun the day with an advantage
over Wellington of 4,000 men and 90 guns, that advantage was now
gone. Nearly twice this amount had been lost with d’Erlon’s reverse,
killed, wounded or taken prisoner. Now, of Napoleon’s four infantry
Corps on the battlefield, Reille’s was tied up in fierce struggle over
Hougoumont on his left; Lobau’s was now facing east, awaiting the
Prussians; and d’Erlon’s survivors (some 13,000) were demoralized and
reassembling to the east of La Belle Alliance, and would not be ready for
battle for some hours. Were Wellington to attack at this point, Napoleon
had only 13,000 infantry uncommitted and ready to fight; the 10,000
men of the Imperial Guard and three reserve brigades.
• With the Prussians coming, he was in no position to stand on the
defensive; but must continue to attack and break Wellington before
Blücher could arrive in force. While putting together a new plan of
attack, he covered his weakness by renewing the intense barrage by his
Grande Batterie upon Wellington’s position.

The situation for
Wellington
• Fortunately for Napoleon, Wellington was in no position to attack, nor had he planned to do
so. His right was tied-up defending Hougoumont; and though he still had considerable
reserves behind this position, Wellington was determined to leave these in place. Throughout
the long day, he was alert to a potential French turning movement on this flank, which could
cut his line of retreat to the northwest. His left-wing, composed largely of his dark-
uniformed Belgic, German and Dutch allies, leavened with red-and-green coated British
regiments, had been thoroughly savaged. Huge holes exited in what had been a solid line.
Officers were conspicuously absent, and in some regiments sergeants were left to command
whole battalions. The senior leadership had not been spared: General Thomas Picton was
dead and General Bylandt of the 1st Brigade, 2nd Netherlands Division so wounded he had
to turn over his command to a subordinate (Lt. Colonel de Jongh, so wounded in turn he had
to be tied with rope into his saddle). Wellington filled the gaps in Picton’s division with the
10th Brigade, veterans of the Peninsula War commanded by Major General Sir John
Lambert. Lambert was only recently returned to Europe from America, where he had
commanded the reserve at the Battle of New Orleans. One of his two veteran regiments was
the 27th Inniskillings; who within hours would earn the dubious honor of taking the highest
casualties of any British regiment on the field that day.

The Grande Batterie
rebuilt
• The constant bombardment from Napoleon’s Grand
Batterie was taking its toll of the Allied regiments waiting
in reserve beyond the ridge. Though they could not be
targeted directly, the thousands of French cannon balls
fired had skimmed over the ridge and landed among the
formations massed beyond; inflicting terrible casualties.
Lt. General Sir Charles Alten, commander of the British
3rd Division, said, “Never had the most veteran soldiers
heard such a cannonade”. In response, Wellington ordered
the line to withdraw 100 paces.

The Great Cavalry
Charges
• At 4 pm, with no reserves immediately available but his
Imperial Guard, which he was unwilling to commit just yet,
Napoleon ordered Marshal Ney to lead his large and
formidable cavalry reserve to a massive but unsupported attack
on Wellington's center!
• Initially Milhaud's reserve cavalry corps of cuirassiers and
Lefebvre-Desnoëttes' light cavalry division of the Imperial
Guard, some 4,800 sabres, were committed. When these were
repulsed, Kellermann's heavy cavalry corps and Guyot's heavy
cavalry of the Guard were added to the massed assault, a total
of around 9,000 cavalry in 67 squadrons. When Napoleon saw
the charge he said it was an hour too soon.

Form Square!
• Wellington's infantry responded by forming squares (hollow
box-formations four ranks deep). Squares were much smaller
than usually depicted in paintings of the battle – a 500-man
battalion square would have been no more than 60 feet (18 m)
in length on a side. Vulnerable to artillery or infantry, squares
that stood their ground were deadly to cavalry, because they
could not be outflanked and because horses would not charge
into a hedge of bayonets. Wellington ordered his artillery
crews to take shelter within the squares as the cavalry
approached, and to return to their guns and resume fire as they
retreated

Prepare to receive
cavalry!
• A British eyewitness of the first French cavalry attack, an officer in the Foot
Guards, recorded his impressions very lucidly and somewhat poetically:
• About four p.m., the enemy's artillery in front of us ceased firing all of a sudden,
and we saw large masses of cavalry advance: not a man present who survived
could have forgotten in after life the awful grandeur of that charge. You
discovered at a distance what appeared to be an overwhelming, long moving line,
which, ever advancing, glittered like a stormy wave of the sea when it catches the
sunlight. On they came until they got near enough, whilst the very earth seemed
to vibrate beneath the thundering tramp of the mounted host. One might suppose
that nothing could have resisted the shock of this terrible moving mass. They
were the famous cuirassiers, almost all old soldiers, who had distinguished
themselves on most of the battlefields of Europe. In an almost incredibly short
period they were within twenty yards of us, shouting "Vive l'Empereur!" The
word of command, "Prepare to receive cavalry", had been given, every man in the
front ranks knelt, and a wall bristling with steel, held together by steady hands,
presented itself to the infuriated cuirassiers.
• —Captain Rees Howell Gronow, Foot Guards

Cavalry vs infantry
squares
• In essence this type of massed cavalry attack relied almost entirely on
psychological shock for effect. Close artillery support could disrupt
infantry squares and allow cavalry to penetrate; at Waterloo, however,
co-operation between the French cavalry and artillery was not
impressive. The French artillery did not get close enough to the Anglo-
allied infantry in sufficient numbers to be decisive. Artillery fire between
charges did produce mounting casualties, but most of this fire was at
relatively long range and was often indirect, at targets beyond the ridge.
If infantry being attacked held firm in their square defensive formations,
and were not panicked, cavalry on their own could do very little damage
to them. The French cavalry attacks were repeatedly repelled by the
steadfast infantry squares, the harrying fire of British artillery as the
French cavalry recoiled down the slopes to regroup, and the decisive
countercharges of Wellington's light cavalry regiments, the Dutch heavy
cavalry brigade, and the remaining effectives of the Household Cavalry.

Charge of the French Cuirassiers at Waterloo, painting by Felix
Philippoteaux

Terrible casualties
• After numerous costly but fruitless attacks on the Mont-Saint-
Jean ridge, the French cavalry was spent. Their casualties
cannot easily be estimated. Senior French cavalry officers, in
particular the generals, experienced heavy losses. Four
divisional commanders were wounded, nine brigadiers
wounded, and one killed – testament to their courage and their
habit of leading from the front. Illustratively, Houssaye reports
that the Grenadiers à Cheval numbered 796 of all ranks on 15
June, but just 462 on 19 June, while the Empress Dragoons lost
416 of 816 over the same period. Overall Guyot's Guard heavy
cavalry division lost 47% of its strength

Neys combined-arms
attack
• Eventually it became obvious, even to Ney, that cavalry
alone were achieving little. Belatedly, he organised a
combined-arms attack, using Bachelu's division and
Tissot's regiment of Foy's division from Reille's II Corps
(about 6,500 infantrymen) plus those French cavalry that
remained in a fit state to fight. This assault was directed
along much the same route as the previous heavy cavalry
attacks. It was halted by a charge of the Household
Brigade cavalry led by Uxbridge. The British cavalry
were unable, however, to break the French infantry, and
fell back with losses from musketry fire

French capture of La Haye
Sainte
• At approximately the same time as Ney's combined-arms
assault on the centre-right of Wellington's line, rallied elements
of D'Erlon's I Corps, spearheaded by the 13th Légère, renewed
the attack on La Haye Sainte and this time were successful,
partly because the King's German Legion's ammunition ran
out. However, the Germans had held the centre of the
battlefield for almost the entire day, and this had stalled the
French advance. Ney then moved horse artillery up towards
Wellington's centre and began to pulverise the infantry squares
at short-range with canister. The 30th and 73rd Regiments
suffered such heavy losses that they had to combine to form a
viable square

The storming of La Haye Sainte by
Knötel

A critical situation
• The possession of La Haye Sainte by the French was a very dangerous
incident. It uncovered the very centre of the Anglo-Allied army, and
established the enemy within 60 yards of that centre. The French lost no
time in taking advantage of this, by pushing forward infantry supported
by guns, which enabled them to maintain a most destructive fire upon
Alten's left and Kempt's right ...
• —Captain James Shaw, 43rd Foot, Chief of Staff 3rd Division,
• The success Napoleon needed to continue his offensive had occurred.
Ney was on the verge of breaking the Allied centre.
• Along with this artillery fire a multitude of French tirailleurs occupied
the dominant positions behind La Haye Sainte and poured an effective
fire into the squares. The situation was now so dire that the 33rd
Regiment's colours and all of Halkett's brigade's colours were sent to the
rear for safety, described by historian Alessandro Barbero as, "... a
measure that was without precedent."

Failed counter-attack
upon la Haye Sainte
• Wellington, noticing the slackening of fire from La Haye Sainte, with his
staff rode closer to it. French skirmishers appeared around the building
and fired on the British command as it struggled to get away through the
hedgerow along the road. Alten ordered a single battalion, the Fifth KGL
to recapture the farm. Their Colonel Ompteda obeyed and chased off
some French skirmishers until French cuirassiers fell on his open flank,
killed him, destroyed his battalion and took its colour. A Dutch–Belgian
cavalry regiment ordered to charge, retreated from the field instead, fired
on by their own infantry. Merlen's Light Cavalry Brigade charged the
French artillery taking position near La Haye Sainte but were shot to
pieces and the brigade fell apart. The Netherlands Cavalry Division,
Wellington's last cavalry reserve behind the centre having lost half their
strength was now useless and the French cavalry, despite its losses, were
masters of the field compelling the allied infantry to remain in square.
More and more French artillery was brought forward

Wellington in dire straits
• A French battery advanced to within 300 yards of the 1/1st Nassau square causing heavy casualties. When the Nassauers
attempted to attack the battery they were ridden down by a squadron of cuirassiers . Yet another battery deployed on the flank
of Mercer's battery and shot up its horses and limbers and pushed Mercer back. Mercer later recalled, "The rapidity and
precision of this fire was quite appaling. Every shot almost took effect, and I certainly expected we should all be annihilated. ...
The saddle-bags, in many instances were torn from horses' backs ... One shell I saw explode under the two finest wheel-horses
in the troop down they dropped."
• French tirailleurs occupied the dominant positions, especially one on a knoll overlooking the square of the 27th. Unable to
break square to drive off the French infantry because of the presence of French cavalry and artillery, they had to remain in that
formation and endure the fire of the tirailleurs. That fire nearly annihilated the 27th Foot, the Inniskillings lost two-thirds of
their strength within that three or four hours.
• The banks on the road side, the garden wall, the knoll and sandpit swarmed with skirmishers, who seemed determined to keep
down our fire in front; those behind the artificial bank seemed more intent upon destroying the 27th, who at this time, it may
literally be said, were lying dead in square; their loss after La Haye Sainte had fallen was awful, without the satisfaction of
having scarcely fired a shot, and many of our troops in rear of the ridge were similarly situated.
• —Edward Cotton, 7th Hussars,
• During this time many of Wellington's generals and aides were killed or wounded including Somerset, Canning, de Lancey,
Alten and Cooke. The situation was now critical and Wellington, trapped in an infantry square and ignorant of events beyond
it, was desperate for the arrival of help from the Prussians. He later wrote,
• “The time they occupied in approaching seemed interminable. Both they and my watch seemed to have stuck fast”

Arrival of the Prussian IV
Corps
• The first Prussian corps to arrive was Bülow's IV Corps.
His objective was Plancenoit, which the Prussians
intended to use as a springboard into the rear of the
French positions. Blücher intended to secure his right
upon Frichermont using the Bois de Paris road. Blücher
and Wellington had been exchanging communications
since 10:00 and had agreed to this advance on
Frichermont if Wellington's centre was under attack.
General Bülow noted that the way to Plancenoit lay open
and that the time was 16:30

The Prussian push
forward to Plancenoit
• At about this time, as the French cavalry attack was in full spate, the
15th Brigade IV Corps was sent to link up with the Nassauers of
Wellington's left flank in the Frichermont-La Haie area with the
brigade's horse artillery battery and additional brigade artillery
deployed to its left in support. Napoleon sent Lobau's corps to
intercept the rest of Bülow's IV Corps proceeding to Plancenoit. The
15th Brigade threw Lobau's troops out of Frichermont with a
determined bayonet charge, then proceeded up the Frichermont
heights, battering French Chasseurs with 12-pounder artillery fire,
and pushed on to Plancenoit. This sent Lobau's corps into retreat to
the Plancenoit area, driving Lobau past the rear of the Armee Du
Nord's right flank and directly threatening its only line of retreat.
Hiller's 16th Brigade also pushed forward with six battalions against
Plancenoit.

The Guard counter-
attacks at Plancenoit
• Napoleon had dispatched all eight battalions of the Young
Guard to reinforce Lobau, who was now seriously
pressed. The Young Guard counter-attacked and, after
very hard fighting, secured Plancenoit, but were
themselves counter-attacked and driven out. Napoleon
sent two battalions of the Middle/Old Guard into
Plancenoit and after ferocious bayonet fighting—they did
not deign to fire their muskets—this force recaptured the
village

Zieten’s I Corps supports
Wellington’s left flank
• Throughout the late afternoon, Zieten's I Corps had been arriving in
greater strength in the area just north of La Haie. General Müffling,
Prussian liaison to Wellington, rode to meet I Corps. Zieten had by
this time brought up his 1st Brigade, but had become concerned at
the sight of stragglers and casualties from the Nassau units on
Wellington's left and from the Prussian 15th Brigade. These troops
appeared to be withdrawing and Zieten, fearing that his own troops
would be caught up in a general retreat, was starting to move away
from Wellington's flank and towards the Prussian main body near
Plancenoit. Zieten had also received a direct order from Blücher to
support Bülow, Zieten obeyed and marched to Bülow's aid. Müffling
saw this movement away and persuaded Zieten to support
Wellington's left flank. Zieten resumed his march to support
Wellington directly, and the arrival of his troops allowed Wellington
to reinforce his crumbling centre by moving cavalry from his left

Furious fight at Papelotte
• I Corps proceeded to attack the French troops before Papelotte
and by 19:30 the French position was bent into a rough
horseshoe shape. The ends of the line were now based on
Hougoumont on the left, Plancenoit on the right, and the centre
on La Haie. Durutte had taken the positions of La Haie and
Papelotte in a series of attacks, but now retreated behind
Smohain without opposing the Prussian 24th Regiment as it
retook both. The 24th advanced against the new French
position, was repulsed, and returned to the attack supported by
Silesian Schützen (riflemen) and the F/1st Landwehr. The
French initially fell back before the renewed assault, but now
began seriously to contest ground, attempting to regain
Smohain and hold on to the ridgeline and the last few houses
of Papelotte.

Napoleon’s last gamble: Attack of
the Imperial Guard
• Meanwhile, with Wellington's centre exposed by the fall of La
Haye Sainte and the Plancenoit front temporarily stabilised,
Napoleon committed his last reserve, the hitherto-undefeated
Imperial Guard infantry. This attack, mounted at around 19:30,
was intended to break through Wellington's centre and roll up
his line away from the Prussians. Although it is one of the most
celebrated passages of arms in military history, it had been
unclear which units actually participated. It appears that it was
mounted by five battalions of the Middle Guard, and not by the
grenadiers or chasseurs of the Old Guard. Three Old Guard
battalions did move forward and formed the attack's second
line, though they remained in reserve and did not directly
assault the allied line

Ernest Crofts - Life of Napoleon Bonaparte by William
M. Sloane, New York: Century, vol. 4

Deploying for the attack
• Napoleon himself oversaw the initial deployment of the
Middle and Old Guard. The Middle Guard formed in battalion
squares, each about 550 men strong, with the 1st/3rd
Grenadiers, led by Generals Friant and Poret de Morvan, on
the right along the road, to their left and rear was General
Harlet leading the square of the 4th Grenadiers, then the
1st/3rd Chasseurs under General Michel, next the 2nd/3rd
Chasseurs and finally the large single square of two battalions
of 800 soldiers of the 4th Chasseurs led by General Henrion.
Two batteries of Imperial Guard Horse Artillery accompanied
them with sections of two guns between the squares. Each
square was led by a general and Marshal Ney, mounted on his
5th horse of the day, led the advance

The Allied Centre on the
verge of breaking
• Behind them, in reserve, were the three battalions of the Old Guard, right to left 1st/2nd
Grenadiers, 2nd/2nd Chasseurs and 1st/2nd Chasseurs. Napoleon left Ney to conduct the
assault, however Ney led the Middle Guard on an oblique towards the Allied centre right
instead of attacking straight up the centre, Napoleon would send Ney's senior ADC Colonel
Crabbé to order Ney to adjust. But Crabbé was unable to get there in time. Other troops
rallied to support the advance of the Guard. On the left infantry from Reille's corps that was
not engaged with Hougoumont and cavalry advanced. On the right all the now rallied
elements of D'Érlon's corps once again ascended the ridge and engaged the allied line. Of
these, Pégot's brigade broke into skirmish order and moved north and west of La Haye
Sainte and provided fire support to Ney, once again unhorsed, and Friant's 1st/3rd
Grenadiers. The Guards first received fire from some Brunswick battalions, but the return
fire of the grenadiers forced them to retire. Next, Colin Halket's brigade front line consisting
of the 30th Foot and 73rd traded fire but they were driven back in confusion into the 33rd
and 69th regiments, Halket was shot in the face and seriously wounded and the whole
brigade retreated in a mob. Other allied troops began to give way as well. A counter attack
by the Nassauers and the remains of Kielmansegge's brigade from the allied second line, led
by the Prince of Orange, was also thrown back and the Prince of Orange was seriously
wounded. General Harlet brought up the 4th Grenadiers and the allied centre was now in
serious danger of breaking.

The Allied Counter-Attack
• It was at this moment that the timely arrival of the Dutch General Chassé turned the tide in
favour of the allies. Chassé's relatively fresh Dutch division was sent against them, led by a
battery of Dutch horse-artillery commanded by Captain Krahmer de Bichin. The battery
opened a destructive fire into the victorious 1st/3rd Grenadiers' flank. This still did not stop
the Guard's advance, so Chassé ordered his first brigade (Colonel Hendrik Detmers) to
charge the outnumbered French with the bayonet, who faltered and broke.
• The 4th Grenadiers, seeing their comrades retreat and having suffered heavy casualties
themselves, now wheeled right about and retired.
• British 10th Hussars of Vivian's Brigade (red shakos – blue uniforms) attacking mixed
French troops, including a square of Guard grenadiers (left, middle distance) in the final
stages of the battle.
• To the left of the 4th Grenadiers were the two squares of the 1st/ and 2nd/3rd Chasseurs who
angled further to the west and had suffered more from artillery fire than the grenadiers. But
as their advance mounted the ridge they found it apparently abandoned and covered with
dead. Suddenly 1,500 British Foot Guards under Maitland who had been lying down to
protect themselves from the French artillery rose and devastated them with point-blank
volleys. The chasseurs deployed to answer the fire, but began to waver, some 300 falling
from the first volley, killing General Michel.A bayonet charge by the Foot Guards then
broke them, the British losing order in their pursuit.

The attack of the 2nd Batallion; painting
by Hoynck van Papandrecht

Turning the tide
• The 4th Chasseurs battalion, 800 strong, now came up on the
flank of the British guardsmen and the two battalions of British
Foot Guards lost all cohesion and dashed back up the slope as
a disorganized crowd with the chasseurs in pursuit. At the crest
the chasseurs came upon the battery that had caused severe
casualties on the 1st and 2nd/3rd Chasseurs, they opened fire
and swept away the gunners. The left flank of the square now
came under fire from a heavy formation of British skirmishers,
the chasseurs drove them back, but the skirmishers were
replaced as the 52nd Light Infantry, led by John Colborne,
wheeled in line onto the chasseurs' flank and poured a
devastating fire into them, the chasseurs returned a very sharp
fire killing or wounding some 150 men of the 52nd. The 52nd
then charged. Under this onslaught, the chasseurs broke

British 10th Hussars of Vivian's Brigade (red shakos – blue uniforms)
attacking mixed French troops, including a square of Guard grenadiers
(left, middle distance) in the final stages of the battle.

La Garde Recule!
• The last of the Guard retreated headlong. A ripple of
panic passed through the French lines as the astounding
news spread: "La Garde recule. Sauve qui peut!" ("The
Guard is retreating. Every man for himself!") Wellington
now stood up in Copenhagen's stirrups and waved his hat
in the air to signal a general advance. His army rushed
forward from the lines and threw themselves upon the
retreating French

La Garde meurt, elle ne se
rend pas!
• The surviving Imperial Guard rallied on their three
reserve battalions (some sources say four) just south of
La Haye Sainte for a last stand. A charge from Adam's
Brigade and the Hanoverian Landwehr Osnabrück
Battalion, plus Vivian's and Vandeleur's relatively fresh
cavalry brigades to their right, threw them into confusion.
Those left in semi-cohesive units retreated towards La
Belle Alliance. It was during this retreat that some of the
Guards were invited to surrender, eliciting the famous, if
apocryphal,[ac] retort "La Garde meurt, elle ne se rend
pas!" ("The Guard dies, it does not surrender!")

Whirlwind of death at
Plancenoit
• At about the same time, the Prussian 5th, 14th, and 16th
Brigades were starting to push through Plancenoit, in the third
assault of the day. The church was by now on fire, while its
graveyard—the French centre of resistance—had corpses
strewn about "as if by a whirlwind". Five Guard battalions
were deployed in support of the Young Guard, virtually all of
which was now committed to the defence, along with remnants
of Lobau's corps. The key to the Plancenoit position proved to
be the Chantelet woods to the south. Pirch's II Corps had
arrived with two brigades and reinforced the attack of IV
Corps, advancing through the woods

The storming of Plancenoit by Ludwig
Elsholtz.

Plancenoit falls
• The 25th Regiment's musketeer battalions threw the 1/2e
Grenadiers (Old Guard) out of the Chantelet woods,
outflanking Plancenoit and forcing a retreat. The Old
Guard retreated in good order until they met the mass of
troops retreating in panic, and became part of that rout.
The Prussian IV Corps advanced beyond Plancenoit to
find masses of French retreating in disorder from British
pursuit. The Prussians were unable to fire for fear of
hitting Wellington's units. This was the fifth and final
time that Plancenoit changed hands.

Prussian Attack at Plancenoit, By Adolf
Northern

No Quarter
• French forces not retreating with the Guard were surrounded in their positions and
eliminated, neither side asking for nor offering quarter. The French Young Guard Division
reported 96 per cent casualties, and two-thirds of Lobau's Corps ceased to exist.
• “Despite their great courage and stamina, the French Guards fighting in the village began
to show signs of wavering. The church was already on fire with columns of red flame coming
out of the windows, aisles and doors. In the village itself—still the scene of bitter house-to-
house fighting—everything was burning, adding to the confusion. However, once Major von
Witzleben's manoeuvre was accomplished and the French Guards saw their flank and rear
threatened, they began to withdraw. The Guard Chasseurs under General Pelet formed the
rearguard. The remnants of the Guard left in a great rush, leaving large masses of artillery,
equipment and ammunition wagons in the wake of their retreat. The evacuation of
Plancenoit led to the loss of the position that was to be used to cover the withdrawal of the
French Army to Charleroi. The Guard fell back from Plancenoit in the direction of Maison
du Roi and Caillou. Unlike other parts of the battlefield, there were no cries of "Sauve qui
peut!" here. Instead, the cry "Sauvons nos aigles!" ("Let's save our eagles!") could be
heard.”
• —Official History of the 25th Regiment, 4 Corps,

La fin de la Grande Armée
• The French right, left, and centre had all now failed. The last cohesive French force
consisted of two battalions of the Old Guard stationed around La Belle Alliance; they had
been so placed to act as a final reserve and to protect Napoleon in the event of a French
retreat. He hoped to rally the French army behind them, but as retreat turned into rout, they
too were forced to withdraw, one on either side of La Belle Alliance, in square as protection
against Coalition cavalry. Until persuaded that the battle was lost and he should leave,
Napoleon commanded the square to the left of the inn. Adam's Brigade charged and forced
back this square, while the Prussians engaged the other.
• As dusk fell, both squares withdrew in relatively good order, but the French artillery and
everything else fell into the hands of the allies. The retreating Guards were surrounded by
thousands of fleeing, broken French troops. Coalition cavalry harried the fugitives until
about 23:00, with Gneisenau pursuing them as far as Genappe before ordering a halt. There,
Napoleon's abandoned carriage was captured, still containing diamonds left behind in the
rush to escape. These became part of King Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia's crown jewels; one
Major Keller of the F/15th received the Pour le Mérite with oak leaves for the feat.[By this
time 78 guns and 2,000 prisoners had also been taken, including more generals

Wellington and Blücher
meet at la Belle Alliance
• “In the middle of the position occupied by the French army,
and exactly upon the height, is a farm (sic), called La Belle
Alliance. The march of all the Prussian columns was directed
towards this farm, which was visible from every side. It was
there that Napoleon was during the battle; it was thence that
he gave his orders, that he flattered himself with the hopes of
victory; and it was there that his ruin was decided. There, too,
it was that, by happy chance, Field Marshal Blücher and Lord
Wellington met in the dark, and mutually saluted each other as
victors.”
• —General Gneisenau,

The Meeting of Wellington and Blucher
(detail), Royal Gallery of the
Westminster Palace (House of Lords),

A terrible carnage
• Waterloo cost Wellington around 15,000 dead or wounded and Blücher some
7,000 (810 of which were suffered by just one unit: the 18th Regiment, which
served in Bülow's 15th Brigade, had fought at both Frichermont and Plancenoit,
and won 33 Iron Crosses). Napoleon's losses were 24,000 to 26,000 killed or
wounded and included 6,000 to 7,000 captured with an additional 15,000
deserting subsequent to the battle and over the following days.
• “22 June. This morning I went to visit the field of battle, which is a little beyond
the village of Waterloo, on the plateau of Mont-Saint-Jean; but on arrival there
the sight was too horrible to behold. I felt sick in the stomach and was obliged to
return. The multitude of carcasses, the heaps of wounded men with mangled limbs
unable to move, and perishing from not having their wounds dressed or from
hunger, as the Allies were, of course, obliged to take their surgeons and waggons
with them, formed a spectacle I shall never forget. The wounded, both of the
Allies and the French, remain in an equally deplorable state.”
• —Major W. E. Frye After Waterloo: Reminiscences of European Travel 1815–
1819

The last moments of the
Empire
• At 10:30 on 19 June General Grouchy, still following his orders, defeated General
Thielemann at Wavre and withdrew in good order—though at the cost of 33,000
French troops that never reached the Waterloo battlefield. Wellington sent his
official dispatch describing the battle to England on 19 June 1815; it arrived in
London on 21 June 1815 and was published as a London Gazette Extraordinary
on 22 June. Wellington, Blücher and other Coalition forces advanced upon Paris.
• Napoleon announced his second abdication on 24 June 1815. In the final skirmish
of the Napoleonic Wars, Marshal Davout, Napoleon's minister of war, was
defeated by Blücher at Issy on 3 July 1815. Allegedly, Napoleon tried to escape
to North America, but the Royal Navy was blockading French ports to forestall
such a move. He finally surrendered to Captain Frederick Maitland of HMS
Bellerophon on 15 July. There was a campaign against French fortresses that still
held out; Longwy capitulated on 13 September 1815, the last to do so. The Treaty
of Paris was signed on 20 November 1815. Louis XVIII was restored to the
throne of France and Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena, where he died in 1821

Bearskins and cuirasses
• Maitland's 1st Foot Guards, who had defeated the Chasseurs of
the Guard, were thought to have defeated the Grenadiers,
although they had only faced Chasseurs of the newly raised
Middle Guard. They were nevertheless awarded the title of
Grenadier Guards in recognition of their feat and adopted
bearskins in the style of the Grenadiers. Britain's Household
Cavalry likewise adopted the cuirass in 1821 in recognition of
their success against their armoured French counterparts. The
effectiveness of the lance was noted by all participants and this
weapon subsequently became more widespread throughout
Europe; the British converted their first light cavalry regiment
to lancers in 1816, their uniforms, of Polish origin, were based
on those of the Imperial Guard lancers.

Historical significance
• Waterloo was a decisive battle in more than one sense. Every generation in
Europe up to the outbreak of the First World War looked back at Waterloo as the
turning point that dictated the course of subsequent world history. In retrospect, it
was seen as the event that ushered in the Concert of Europe, an era characterised
by relative peace, material prosperity and technological progress.The battle
definitively ended the series of wars that had convulsed Europe, and involved
many other regions of the world, since the French Revolution of the early 1790s.
It also ended the First French Empire and the political and military career of
Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the greatest commanders and statesmen in history.[ae]
• It was followed by almost four decades of international peace in Europe. No
further major conflict occurred until the Crimean War. Changes to the
configuration of European states, as refashioned after Waterloo, included the
formation of the Holy Alliance of reactionary governments intent on repressing
revolutionary and democratic ideas, and the reshaping of the former Holy Roman
Empire into a German Confederation increasingly marked by the political
dominance of Prussia. The bicentenary of Waterloo has prompted renewed
attention to the geopolitical and economic legacy of the battle and the century of
relative transatlantic peace which followed.

Waterloo

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Waterloo