After being banished to Elba then escaping and resuming power Napoleon's Hundred Days ended when he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo by the British under Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, on June 18, 1815. During the last stage of the battle, Wellington was supported by the Prussians under Field Marshal von Blücher.
Britain and its allies had 68,000 soldiers. They were joined by 48,000 men from the Prussian army in mid-afternoon.
The French army, outnumbered and poorly equipped, comprised 50,700 infantry, 14,400 cavalry, 8,000 artillery and 250 guns.
Wellington described his own troops as, "an infamous army, very weak and ill-equipped, and a very inexperienced staff." He apparently said the battle was, "a damn close thing."
The Battle of Waterloo started around noon on June 18, 1815 and ended by 11pm.
It actually took place at Braine l'Alleud, about eight miles (13 kms) south of Waterloo, but Wellington had a habit of naming battles after the place he had spent the previous night.
When the battle was fought, Waterloo, which is now in Belgium, was part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Heavy rain before the battle created swamp-like conditions. Wellington stayed on the high ground, forcing the French to slog uphill from the boggy valley, with their guns sunk up to their axles in thick mud.
Some of Wellington's officers took umbrellas with them onto the battlefield. The surgeon of Captain Mercer’s troop of Horse Artillery was seen to be sheltering under a brolly during the early part of the battle.
A haemorrhoids sufferer, Napoleon's piles were so painful that he couldn't mount his horse to survey the field at Waterloo, which may well have contributed to the outcome.
The Duke of Wellington was almost kicked in the head by his war horse Copenhagen after riding his mount for 17 straight hours during the Battle of Waterloo.
The French suffered more than 41,000 casualties compared with Wellington and Blücher’s combined forces who suffered 24,000 wounded, killed and missing. Ten thousand horses also died.
The outcome of the Battle of Waterloo was first delivered by a pigeon to England.
The Rothschilds had such an efficient system of couriers that they knew Napoleon had lost at Waterloo a day before the British government did. Nathan Rothschild kept it secret and immediately bought up the government bond market. He then sold the bonds for an enormous 40% profit two years later.
The Battle of Waterloo ended 12 years’ war between France and an alliance including Britain, Russia, the Netherlands and Prussia (now in Germany).
After the defeat, Napoleon was captured and exiled to the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena, where he died in 1821.
The Duke of Wellington was awarded a victory bonus of £61,000 – worth £3 million today plus a country house at Stratfield Saye near Basingstoke.
In France and Germany the Battle of Waterloo is called La Belle Alliance after the 'beautiful alliance' between Britain and Prussia.
At the close of the Battle of Waterloo the British officer Fitzroy Raglan was standing beside the Duke Of Wellington when a bullet smashed his right arm. The shattered limb had to be amputated, which Raglan stoically bore, but as his arm was taken away for disposal he cried out "Don't carry away that arm till I have taken off my ring." The gallant officer then proceeded to retrieve from his limb a ring that his wife had given him.
There is a memorial to Lord Uxbridge's leg at Waterloo, shattered in the battle and amputated. When Uxbridge died 39 years later, the leg was exhumed and buried with the rest of him.
The Queen of England's guard wear tall bear skin hats because at the Battle of Waterloo, English troops took them as a trophy from France. They had been worn by Napoleon's elite guard.
After Waterloo, British forces were not in action in Europe until the First World War, 99 years later.
Waterloo Bridge across the River Thames in London was built on the site of an earlier toll bridge originally called the “Strand Bridge”. It was opened on June 18, 1817 and renamed in honor of Wellington's victory at Waterloo.
"Waterloo" by Abba was named the best song in the Eurovision Song Contest's history in 2005. The song uses the battle as a metaphor for a woman who gives in and falls in love with a man - he's her "Waterloo."
Sources Daily Mail, Daily Express
Britain and its allies had 68,000 soldiers. They were joined by 48,000 men from the Prussian army in mid-afternoon.
 |
| Battle of Waterloo by William Sadler |
The French army, outnumbered and poorly equipped, comprised 50,700 infantry, 14,400 cavalry, 8,000 artillery and 250 guns.
Wellington described his own troops as, "an infamous army, very weak and ill-equipped, and a very inexperienced staff." He apparently said the battle was, "a damn close thing."
The Battle of Waterloo started around noon on June 18, 1815 and ended by 11pm.
It actually took place at Braine l'Alleud, about eight miles (13 kms) south of Waterloo, but Wellington had a habit of naming battles after the place he had spent the previous night.
When the battle was fought, Waterloo, which is now in Belgium, was part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Heavy rain before the battle created swamp-like conditions. Wellington stayed on the high ground, forcing the French to slog uphill from the boggy valley, with their guns sunk up to their axles in thick mud.
Some of Wellington's officers took umbrellas with them onto the battlefield. The surgeon of Captain Mercer’s troop of Horse Artillery was seen to be sheltering under a brolly during the early part of the battle.
 |
| Map of the battle: Napoleon's units are in blue, Wellington's in red, Blücher's in grey. |
A haemorrhoids sufferer, Napoleon's piles were so painful that he couldn't mount his horse to survey the field at Waterloo, which may well have contributed to the outcome.
The Duke of Wellington was almost kicked in the head by his war horse Copenhagen after riding his mount for 17 straight hours during the Battle of Waterloo.
The French suffered more than 41,000 casualties compared with Wellington and Blücher’s combined forces who suffered 24,000 wounded, killed and missing. Ten thousand horses also died.
The outcome of the Battle of Waterloo was first delivered by a pigeon to England.
The Rothschilds had such an efficient system of couriers that they knew Napoleon had lost at Waterloo a day before the British government did. Nathan Rothschild kept it secret and immediately bought up the government bond market. He then sold the bonds for an enormous 40% profit two years later.
 |
| Sir David Wilkie, The Chelsea Pensioners reading the Waterloo Dispatch, 1822 |
The Battle of Waterloo ended 12 years’ war between France and an alliance including Britain, Russia, the Netherlands and Prussia (now in Germany).
After the defeat, Napoleon was captured and exiled to the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena, where he died in 1821.
The Duke of Wellington was awarded a victory bonus of £61,000 – worth £3 million today plus a country house at Stratfield Saye near Basingstoke.
In France and Germany the Battle of Waterloo is called La Belle Alliance after the 'beautiful alliance' between Britain and Prussia.
At the close of the Battle of Waterloo the British officer Fitzroy Raglan was standing beside the Duke Of Wellington when a bullet smashed his right arm. The shattered limb had to be amputated, which Raglan stoically bore, but as his arm was taken away for disposal he cried out "Don't carry away that arm till I have taken off my ring." The gallant officer then proceeded to retrieve from his limb a ring that his wife had given him.
There is a memorial to Lord Uxbridge's leg at Waterloo, shattered in the battle and amputated. When Uxbridge died 39 years later, the leg was exhumed and buried with the rest of him.
The Queen of England's guard wear tall bear skin hats because at the Battle of Waterloo, English troops took them as a trophy from France. They had been worn by Napoleon's elite guard.
After Waterloo, British forces were not in action in Europe until the First World War, 99 years later.
Waterloo Bridge across the River Thames in London was built on the site of an earlier toll bridge originally called the “Strand Bridge”. It was opened on June 18, 1817 and renamed in honor of Wellington's victory at Waterloo.
"Waterloo" by Abba was named the best song in the Eurovision Song Contest's history in 2005. The song uses the battle as a metaphor for a woman who gives in and falls in love with a man - he's her "Waterloo."
Sources Daily Mail, Daily Express
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