Who defeated Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo?

Answer 1

Napoleon was defeated by the British army and the Prussian army. The British army was led by the Duke of Wellington, the "Iron Duke", and the Prussians by Gebhart von Blucher.
The Duke of Wellington, Field Marshal Gebhard von Blucher and the Army of the Seventh Coalition.

Answer 2

An alliance (or Coalition) of Britain, Prussia [now in Eastern Germany], the Netherlands, and the states of Hanover [Hannover, now part of Germany], Brunswick [Braunschweig, in Germany] and Nassau [also now part of Germany.] A number of French Royalists also fought against Napoleon.

Napoleon believed that Waterloo was going to be a quick and easilly winnable battle. The Emporer had fought all over Europe and defeated almost everyone but he had never faced Wellington and didn't know what the Iron Duke was capable of. Despite not knowing what his adversary was capable of he held Wellington in contemp and believed he could just sweep the British commander away and march on Brussels with little effort.

Wellington had chosen the Battlefield. He had chosen Waterloo because it was a very good defensive position which, without careful observations, didn't look as such. It had his prefered reserves slope behind which he could hide his true strenght from his enemy and protect his men from their guns. He had also seen the importence of Papelotte, Le Haye Sainte and Hougoumont, which he garrisoned and fortified. Hougoumont and Papelotte stood at opposite ends of Wellington's flank and thus offered him a way to succor his flank from his enemy while Le Haye Sainte stood in his center. If Hougoumont fell then the battle would be Napoleon's.

Before the battle it rained heavilly and turned the ground to mud. Wellington's position dried quicker than Napoleon's and gave him an edge there.

People often try to lessen Wellington victory by saying "he only won because the Prussians arrived" but this is irrelevant because Waterloo was only fought because Blucher had promised to support Wellington. In the morning before the battle Wellington sent dispatches to find Blucher and tell him that he would fight at Waterloo if Blucher could promise him a Corps in support but if the Prussian could not then Wellington would withdraw towards Brussels. Blucher's reply came later that same morning and Blucher had promised support. If Blucher hadn't promised at least a Corps in support Wellington would not have risked the battle.

Before the battle began General Nicolas Soult, who had been one of Wellington's adversaries in the Peninsular War, suggested Grouchy should be recalled from his persuit of the Prussian's to rejoin the main force against Wellington. To this Napoleon reportedly replied "Just because you have all been beaten by Wellington, you think he's a good general. I tell you Wellington is a bad general, the English are bad troops, and this affair is nothing more than eating breakfast." Later Napoleon's brother Jerome told him of a romour that the Prussians were coming in support, Napoleon dismissed this, saying that the Prussians would need two days to recover from their defeat at Ligney and would be dealt with by Grouchy when they had.

Wellington had given orders for Hougoumont to be defended to the last man. Napoleon's initial attack on Hougoumont was replused and every attack following that was repulsed. Hougoumont became a drain on the French as the battle began as they failed to take it and Wellington's forces endured.

The French artillery opened fire on the British line but was too far away to be accurate. The wet ground prevented the cannon balls from bouncing as they would usually and Wellington's position gave him protection from the worst of the fire.

Soon Napoleon saw the Prussians marching towards Waterloo and sent a message to Grouchy to march towards Waterloo himself and attack the Prussians but Grouchy was too far away to reach the battle. One of Grouchy's subordinates advised him to march to the sound of the guns but Grouchy stuck to his original orders to march to Wavre and would fight with the Prussian rear guard there.

D'Erlon's change of formation on the march against Wellington at Waterloo (having learnt from fighting the Iron Duke in the Peninsular War) allowed the French to have greater fire power but restricted their maneuverability. It was initially effective and d'Erlon began pushing Wellington's forces. He cut off Le Haye Sainte from the rest of Wellington's army and pushed up the slope but then Thomas Picton managed to stop the advance at the cost of his life.

The British Heavy Cavalry charged. There was no more powerful cavalry in the world than the British Heavy Cavalry but they were ill-disciplined and simply rampaged when loosed. As such they were not as maneuverable as their French counterparts. They drove the French infantry back but overstretched themselves and lost control and were cut down as Napoleon loosed part of his own Cavalry against them.

With the Prussian's coming quickly to the field Napoleon began to rush. He threw his reserve except for his Imperial Guard against the Prussians to stop their advance. He now knew he had to defeat Wellington and had to do it quickly.

At this point Michel Ney made a major blunder. Mistaking the movement of casualties to the rear as the beginning of a retreat he sought to exploit it. He rallies the cavalry and sent them in but upon crossing the ridge the French Cavalry were presented with British squares and could do nothing. Time and again they charge and time and again they failed. Without any artillery to support them their action was useless and after all this effort the French Cavalry was spent.

Realising that his cavalry charge had accomplished nothing Ney sent in a combined arms attack of Infantry and Cavalry along the saem route the purely cavalry attack had gone. Initially this had success but Wellington commited the Household Brigade of Cavalry under Uxbridge and French attack was slowed and eventually repulsed.

Then Le Haye Sainte fell and the Prussians began to arrive. At Placenoit the Prussians and French fought bitterly. The French gained control of the village but the Prussians continued to attack and the French there were caught in feirce fighting for the rest of the battle. The Prussian Corp's Blucher had promised Wellington arrived and slotted in immediately on Wellington's left and succored it.

Naploeon now threw in his last ace. The Old Guard were sent against Wellington's exposed center but they were stoped, repulsed and broken and Wellington ordered te advance. The battle was Wellingtons!

Now also the Prussians took Placenoit and all hope for the French was lost.

Answer 3

The Battle of Waterloo was won by Wellington's and Bluecher armies. The war of Waterloo, that is the complex of military operations which took place during the "Hundred Days", including the aforesaid battle, was won by the allied powers of the Seventh Coalition.

Answer 4

The british, Prussians and Dutch beat the French.

Answer 5

The British and the Prussians. The French lost.

Answer 6

The Duke of Wellington with the able assistance of the Seventh Coalition.

Answer 7

That credit is given to the Duke of Wellington.

Answer 8

Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo by the Allied Army under the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian Army under Field Marshal Blucher.