THE BATTLE THAT SEALED THE END OF THE NAPOLEONIC WARS ERAAt the start of the win-all/lose-all battle of Waterloo the French had an estimated 72,000 men with 243 cannons pitted against as many cannons and 68,000 British troops under the overall command of Duke Wellington. Both commanders were banking on reinforcements with Napoleon expecting the timely arrival his detached right-wing corps led by Marshal Grouchy and Wellington pinning hope on the nearby Prussian army of Field Marshal Blucher. At dawn it was decided the ground was too boggy to launch an immediate attack and so Napoleon ordered his troops to take their time – the first blunder that undermined the French morale because as we all know, there is nothing worse in this life than waiting and catching up…
In the afternoon Napoleon ordered his artillery to open up on the enemy in preparation for a major advance on Wellington’s left flank and center. Suddenly there appeared in the distance vague outlines of a moving army… The French commanders wondered whether it was Grouchy or Blucher coming up to join the fray. The problem was, the French and Prussian reinforcements were all dressed in black uniforms – another telltale whim of Fate… At 1.30 p.m., following a half-hour bombardment, four French infantry divisions led by General D’Erlon moved forward and, undeterred by the dense wall of British shrapnel, overran the central bastion of the Hougaumont Castle. Seeing the impending disaster the British cavalry commander ordered his cuirassiers into action and the famous Charge of the Scots Grays began. The French fell back and just as Napoleon was forced to divert his troops away from the British left flank and towards their center and right, he was told the terrifying news of Blucher having outmaneuvered Grouchy and rushing full speed to join the battle. 10,000 French Guards were committed to action to stop the Prussian advance. The battle was at its height now. In one final attempt to deal with Wellington, Napoleon threw in his undefeated Old Guard. Ordering 11 battalions of his veterans into a square, Napoleon charged ahead… The moment of victory was at hand when, upon Wellington’s command, the British Guardsmen stood immediately in front of their French counterparts and stopped the advance with a withering point-blank series of volleys. Simultaneously, Blucher’s Corps rammed into Napoleon’s right flank. The French caved in and ran pursued by the English Hussars. In a desperate attempt to cover the back of his retreating troops, Napoleon ordered the remaining three battalions of his trusty Imperial Guards to form a square and staying in the center tried to command his men hoping deep inside he would be killed in action. Destiny had a different future in store for him, though, and the generals somehow managed to take their Emperor out of the line of fire. Asked by British Colonel Hugh Halkett to surrender what had remained of his three battalions, General Pierre de Cambronne cried out: “The Guard dies, but does not surrender!” The Old Guard preferred death to captivity. The Battle of Waterloo was over. 25,000 French and 22,000 British and Prussian soldiers were either killed or wounded. Napoleon’s army had ceased to exist. The Waterloo debacle drew a line under the whole campaign and sealed France’s defeat by the Anglo-Allied coalition. That’s the sad lot Fate had in store for France and her once invincible Emperor… |
Napoleon began
the battle at about 11.30 a.m. with salvoes from his massed artillery and
then sent an initial assault intended as a diversion to draw enemy reserves
away, against Hougaumont Castle on the British right flank. Then walls
of the chateau proved too high and impregnable and the advancing French
regiments were taking huge losses from the devastating artillery and rifle
fire leveled against them by the British. Before long a separate operation
degenerated into a full-blown battle and once again Fate turned away from
the audacious French.
