Defeat the armies separately
Napoleon crosses the Sambre on 15 June to prevent Wellington and Blücher from combining their forces. Ligny defeats the Prussians on 16 June but does not destroy them; Quatre Bras allows Wellington to remain in contact.
Battle
Waterloo
18 June 1815
A ridge holds long enough for two allied armies to unite.
Military history
How did Wellington's position and coordination with Blücher turn French successes into a general defeat?
Wellington held a ridge south of Waterloo while waiting for Blücher. The French attacked the farms, the line and the squares but achieved no lasting breakthrough. The capture of La Haye Sainte nevertheless weakened the Allied center. The Prussians then engaged the French flank at Plancenoit and joined Wellington’s left near Papelotte. The French reserve was split between two fronts. When the Guard’s final attack failed, the Allied advance turned retreat into rout.
A position built for waiting
Wellington places most of his army behind the Mont-Saint-Jean ridge. Hougoumont, La Haye Sainte and Papelotte cover the approaches and give both wings strongpoints.
Marching while the other army holds
Waterlogged ground hindered movement and fire. While the French deployed and attacked, the Prussians marched from Wavre. Their arrival gradually created a second front; rain alone does not explain the delay in the attack.
A heterogeneous allied army
Wellington's force combines British, Dutch, German and other contingents. Its cohesion comes not from perfect uniformity but from a defensive position, reserves and command able to hold until Prussian support arrives.
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Chronological dossier
MarengoHow was an almost-lost battle reversed by the arrival of reserves and a concentrated counterattack?TrafalgarHow did two British columns accept fire on the approach to break the opposing line and impose local engagements?AusterlitzNapoleon lets the right wing appear vulnerable, then strikes the Pratzen Heights once the Allies have committed there.Jena–AuerstedtNapoleon defeats a Prussian force at Jena while Davout, badly outnumbered, repels the main army at Auerstedt.EylauHow did snow, visibility and staggered arrivals turn a search for decision into an inconclusive and exceptionally costly battle?WagramThe crossing from Lobau deploys the army along an immense arc; on the 6th, the unsynchronised Austrian offensive threatens Aspern, but the battery covers Masséna, Davout turns Markgrafneusiedl and the general assault compels an orderly withdrawal.BorodinoWhy did the successive capture of Russian positions destroy neither the opposing army nor its ability to retreat?LeipzigHow did a coalition coordinate several armies around Leipzig while avoiding defeat in detail?
Military history
Sources
Institutional referenceThe Battle of Waterloo, National Army Museum
Sections Positions, Let battle commence, The Prussians arrive et Defeat of the Imperial Guard ; effectifs dans The Little Corporal.
Campaign context, positions, cartographic reconstruction, sequence of attacks, order-of-magnitude strengths and consequences.
View ↗Primary sourceWellington's Waterloo dispatch to Lord Bathurst, 19 June 1815
Dépêche du 19 juin, édition Gurwood 1838, pp. 478–484 ; passages sur la position, La Haye Sainte, Bülow et la poursuite. Transcription en ligne non appuyée ici sur un fac-similé.
Contemporary account of deployment, engagements, Prussian arrival and losses.
View ↗Modern referenceDavid G. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon
Bibliographie complémentaire héritée ; ouvrage non relu lors de cette reprise.
Bibliographic context on the campaign; the present revisions rely on the references that were reviewed.
Institutional military cartographyWest Point — Waterloo, situations à 16 h et 19 h 30
Napoleonic Wars, cartes 68 et 69 ; images entières examinées.
Relationships among farms, roads, Bülow’s and Zieten’s axes, and the French retreat.
View ↗Institutional historical atlasInstitut Destrée et Segefa — Waterloo à 19 h 30
Notice complète, Plancenoit, réserve et Zieten ; horaires approximatifs.
Distinguishing the southeastern fighting, the junction near Papelotte and the final attack.
View ↗Specialist uniform historyP. W. Reynolds — Officer and Private, 14th Foot, 1815
Notice du soldat : habit à parements chamois, shako couvert, pantalon gris, buffleteries et mousquet. Illustration postérieure.
Depiction of a British campaign soldier; Wellington’s contingents should not be treated as uniform.
View ↗Specialist equipment studyRobert Mantle — Prussian Reserve Infantry, Part III: Uniforms
The Regulation Uniform : shako couvert, kollet, parements, buffleteries, capote et fusil ; variantes des réservistes.
Depiction of a regular musketeer; this uniform should not be assigned to all Prussians in 1813.
View ↗Museum equipment collectionStadtmuseum Münster — les uniformes du futur 13e régiment
Die Regiments-Uniformen im Laufe der Zeit : tenues grises et habits bleus au shako coexistent en 1813.
Institutional check on the variety of Prussian uniforms.
View ↗Museum equipment collectionMusée-Panorama de Borodino — Cuirassier Regiment Soldier
Notice de reconstitution de 2011, équipement de 1812 : lecture effectuée lors de Borodino dans cette reprise.
Reuse of a cuirassier silhouette with crested helmet, cuirass and straight sabre.
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