Napoleon Bonaparte and
Battle of Waterloo
The military career of Napoleon Bonaparte spanned over 20 years. As emperor, he led the French Armies in the Napoleonic Wars.
The great French dominion collapsed rapidly after the disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. Napoleon was defeated in 1814; he returned and was finally defeated in 1815 at Waterloo. He spent his remaining days in British custody in the remote island of St. Helena.
|
16 Jun 1815 |
Ligny/ Belgium |
Emperor |
Kingdom of Prussia |
Victory |
It was part of the Hundred Days War, also called
War of the Seventh Coalition. On his return to France after escaping from
exile at Elba, Napoleon built an army
and attacked the Prussian Army. Prussian Field-Marshal Blücher's worn-out
soldiers could not withstand the French Infantry and Artillery assaults. The Prussian Army retreated and ultimately regrouped south of Wavre,
around 13 kilometres to the east of Waterloo.
The battle resulted in a tactical victory for the French, but the bulk
of the Prussian army survived the battle in good order. However, it was his
last victory, because two days later he was defeated by the combined forces of
the Seventh Coalition in the Battle of Waterloo. After his defeat, |
|
18 Jun 1815 |
Waterloo/ Belgium |
Emperor |
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Kingdom
of Prussia. |
Defeat |
In repeated attacks, Napoleon failed to break the allied centre of defence.
Subsequent forceful allied advance particularly that of reorganised Prussian Army turned the tide
against the French Army which disorganised and retreated in chaos. After his
defeat, Napoleon had returned to France where he had signed his second and
final abdication on June 22 and six days later Louis XVIII was restored to
the French throne. Napoleon had then
surrendered himself to the Royal Navy Captain and was now sent to exile to
the island of Saint Helena, where he died in 1821. The Treaty of Paris 1815
had dictated the terms of peace which had ended the War of the Seventh
Coalition against France. |
Interesting facts about
the ‘Battle of Waterloo” -
1. the
battle was waged three miles south of the town of Waterloo in the villages of
Braine-l’Alleud and Plancenoit along the Mont Saint Jean Ridge. The battle was
so named because the Duke of Wellington, who led the victorious forces, made
his headquarters there.
2. Although
the the Duke of Wellington was a Britsh, only one-third of Wellington’s army
was represented by British troops and
the majority of those soldiers were Irish, Welsh and Scottish. Approximately half of Wellington’s forces hailed
from German states. In addition to this, Dutch and Belgian soldiers in sizable
numbers as well as more than 50,000 Prussian army fought in the battle.
3. After
he was forced to abdicate on June 22,
1815, he fled to the coastal city of Rochefort, from
where he likely intended to sail to the United States, which had just concluded
its own war with Great Britain. But, British ships had blockaded Rochefort and consequently Napoleon surrendered to a
British warship on July 15, 1815, and three months later he was exiled to the
remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena, where he lived out his final six
years until his death in 1821.
4. Due
to heavy rain fell upon the region around Waterloo on the night before the
battle, Napoleon waited until midday to launch his attack Wellington’s forces.
This delay allowed Blucher’s Prussian army to join the fightensuring before the French defeat.
5. Some
scholars believe that Napoleon suffered from a severe pain of hemorrhoids on the morning of the Battle of
Waterloo which prevented him from riding his horse to survey the battlefield as
was his custom and could have contributed to his defeat. But it is debated.
6. Scavengers
harvested teeth from dead soldiers and sold
the pilfered teeth to dentists who crafted them into dentures. According to
England’s National Army Museum, English dentists used to advertise the dentures as “Waterloo teeth” or
“Waterloo ivory.
7. In
recognition of his service, Parliament awarded the Duke of Wellington 200,000
British pounds, equivalent to 15 million British pounds today, according to the
Royal Engineers Museum.
