1815 Timeline of the Battle of Waterloo

25th June 2016 hamish

The Battle of Waterloo was the culmination of the Napoleonic Wars and led to ultimate defeat of Napoleon. Although the overall campaign was always likely to be an allied victory the actual battle could have gone either way. At one point around 14:30 on the 18th June Napoleon was strongly in control. However the arrival of Prussian reinforcements tipped the balance into Wellington’s favour and victory was the result.

Napoleons abdication and the Treaty of Paris

Napoleon became First Consul of France in 1799 following a coup. In 1804 he became Emperor and was in total control until his disastrous campaign against Russia. Following this he was captured and exiled to Elba.

Napoleon reaches Paris after escaping from Elba

Napoleon spent just under a year on Elba escaping with 700 men on 26 February 1815. He landed back on French soil and quickly amassed an army during Hundred Days return.

The Battle of Quatre Bras took place shortly before Waterloo and involved Wellington and the French troops led by Michel Ney. The allies won but they were prevented from helping the Prussian forces at the Battle of Ligny. This forced them to retreat and set the stage for the battle at Waterloo.

End of the Battle of Waterloo — Napoleon abdicated at the end of the Battle of Waterloo and was captured shortly afterwards

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815. The battle was fought over a relatively small area but resulted in large casualties. A large part of the fighting centred on the farmhouse at Hougoumont. Charges were made by the British and later the French cavalries with Napoleon mistakenly seeing casualty movements as a gap in the British line. However it was the infantry advances which allowed the French to capture the strategically important La Haye Sainte.

The course of the battle changed with the arrival of the Prussian troops and despite the attack of the French Imperial Guard the French troops were overrun.

Napoleon attempted to escape to North America but was captured on 15 July. He was exiled to Saint Helena where he died six years later.

Further Information:

Timeline of the Napoleonic Wars

Wikipedia: Battle of Waterloo

Books:

Peter and Dan Snow’s account of the battle was released in time for the 200 year anniversary and contains many previously unseen maps and letters.