Waterloo

the final battle in the Napoleonic wars. It was fought June 18, 1815, near the village of Waterloo, a few miles south of Brussels. When Napoleon escaped from Elba the representatives of the allied powers of Europe were in session in the Congress of Vienna. They caught breath and branded Napoleon as "an enemy and disturber of the peace" of the world. A new coalition was formed and 700,000 men were put in the field under the English Wellington and the Prussian Blucher, the former with headquarters at Brussels and the latter at Namur. Napoleon raised an army of 500,000 men, and hastened to confront his enemies before they invaded France. He attempted to wedge himself between the English and the Germans to defeat them in detail before they could effect a junction. In several preliminary skirmishes Napoleon was successful; in the decisive struggle, however, he lost. While the French Grouchy with 33,000 troops was hunting for Blucher, supposed to be retreating, Napoleon fell on Wellington. The English regiments withstood the fiercest assaults. Marshal Ney and the flower of the French cavalry were repulsed. The Old Guard held in reserve staked their lives and lost in a terrific charge on Wellington's center. Grouchy had been signaled to return, but was too far away. Blucher and his marching battalions of black-browed Prussians appeared on the battlefield at nightfall. Wellington ordered a general charge and all was over. Thirty-three thousand Frenchmen and 23,000 of the allies lay on the battlefield killed or wounded, or were reported missing. Napoleon galloped away to Paris with a few companions. June 22d he abdicated. He was sent to St. Helena to end his days, and the map-makers resumed their interrupted sessions at Vienna.

About 200,000 men were engaged in the battle. The magnitude of the movements, the skill of the commanders, the momentous issues involved, the desperate bravery shown on both sides, and the decisiveness of the victory render Waterloo one of the most memorable battles in history. The gathering odds were too great for Napoleon. Even though he had won he must have been beaten at the end. France single-handed could not withstand Europe. It was a foregone conclusion that Napoleon was to "meet his Waterloo" sooner or later.

See Blucher; Wellington; Napoleon; Ney