Waterloo
Waterloo names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
Waterloo the final battle in the Napoleonic wars
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
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
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
BATTLE OF, an important battle won by the allied forces over Napoleon, near Waterloo, a Belgian village 11 miles S. of Brussels, June 18, 1815. The preliminary battles had been at Ligny, June 16 (when Napoleon had defeated the Prussians under Blücher), and at Quartre-Bras, on the same day (when the allies under Wellington compelled the French Marshal Ney to retire). At Waterloo the French numbered about 72,000. The allies (British, Dutch, and Germans), under Wellington, had about 67,000; the Prussians (about 50,000 more), under Blücher, up came in time to take part in the close of the battle, and in the pursuit. The battle began about 11:30 A. M. Briefly it may be said to have consisted of a series of brilliant, but unsuccessful charges made by the French, and dogged resistance on the part of the British; in the evening the French Old Guard charged, but unavailingly; after which the allies advanced advanced. The French lost about 35,000, and many prisoners; the allies about 22,000. Marshal Grouchy, though he defeated Blücher at WAVRE (q. v.), June 18, failed to prevent him from joining Wellington, and himself failed to come to Napoleon's aid, though but a few miles distant. The rout of the French was complete, and the disaster final to Napoleon, the result being his deposition exile to St. Helena.
Waterloo a city and county-seat of Blackhawk co.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city and county-seat of Blackhawk co., Ia.; on the Cedar river, and on the Illinois Central, the Chicago Great Western and other railroads; 6 miles E. S. E. of Cedar Falls. Here are a court house, numerous churches, West High School, Collegiate Institute, Conservatory of Music, School for Stammerers, waterworks, street railroads, electric lights, National and other banks, and several daily, weekly and monthly periodicals. The city has flour mills, foundries, woolen mills, and manufactures of farming implements, furniture, electric cars, gasoline engines, locomotives, es, paper, machinery, etc. Pop. (1910) 26,693; (1920) 36,230.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The outline of 18 June 1815 that Aiton's gave in 1910 and Collier's in 1921 still stands: the numbers Collier's cites — roughly 72,000 French against 67,000 under Wellington, with some 50,000 Prussians arriving late — remain close to what modern historians accept. What has changed is the ground itself: the battlefield is now a protected Belgian heritage site visited by hundreds of thousands, and since 2015 the Waterloo Uncovered project has excavated there with serving and veteran soldiers, recovering in 2022 a pit of amputated limbs and human bone at the Mont-Saint-Jean field hospital — the first substantial battle dead found in two centuries, most of the corpses having been carted off for bone meal and fertiliser. The bicentenary in June 2015 drew some 5,000 re-enactors and heads of state, and prompted a small diplomatic row when France objected to a Belgian commemorative two-euro coin. The other Waterloo here, in Blackhawk County, Iowa, had 36,230 people in 1920 and about 67,000 today; the John Deere tractor works Collier's did not name has been its industrial mainstay since 1918.
Written for this edition, 2026.