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Waterloo June 18th 1815 was fought between the French and the British & Prussians. 2 days earlier Marshal Ney had fought Wellington at Quatre Bras, a draw, & Napoleon had defeated Bluchers' Prussians at Ligny. A great many of Wellingtons veterans of the Peninsular war (Spain & Portiugal) had been sent off to the USA, therefore much of Wellingtons' forces were made up with the aid of allies from Belgium & Holland, a lot of whom had previously served Napoleon previously.(For example Nassauers changed sides in Spain in 1812) After Ligny Napoleon detached a corps under Marshal Grouchy to chase off the Prussians & he marched north in pursuit of the British. Oh, how it rained ! The ground was so damp & waterlogged that the French needed time on the morning of the 18th to move all their artillery into place, the British were assembled across a fairly shallow valley, atop Mont st Jean. There were 3 strongpoints on the British side of the valley : Hougoumont, a farmhouse with a walled garden; La Haye Sainte, in the centre, on the main road, farm buildings; & Papelotte/la Haye, more buildings which could be fortified on the British left. It deserves saying that the French approach to the battle, up to this point, is a model of military excellence. Unfortunately it is about to all go wrong for the French! Grouchy has not followed the main body of the Prussians, he's pursuing stragglers, the first salvoes are fired at Waterloo & it is suggested that Grouchy should now march to the guns..... He does not heed the sage advice ! To cut a long battle short Blucher does not march east, but north after Ligny & therefore is in position to intervene on the British left in the afternoon & evening of the 18th: But had Blucher not aided the British then the result would have been victory for the French, unfortunately for Napoleon the Prussians, though many of doubtful quality, are simply far too numerous and the French reserves are exhausted. Napoleon's return to the battlefield after Elba, the Hundred Days, is a great example of a military campaign, its culmination, Waterloo was a splendid though very bloody battle: A near run thing indeed.

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16y ago

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