Napoleonic Wars: Wellington Wins at Waterloo!

June 18, 1815 - After twenty-three years of near-continuous fighting, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars come to an end with Wellington's defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. Returning to France in March from his exile on Elba, Napoleon quickly began marching north with 73,000 men hoping to defeat the Seventh Coalition's forces in Belgium before overwhelming force could be brought against France. To meet this threat, the Duke of Wellington (right) and Prussian Field Marshall Gebhard von Blücher moved to intercept with armies numbering 67,000 and 60,000 respectively.

On June 16, French forces were beaten at the Battle of Quatre Bras, while Napoleon won a victory over the Prussians at Ligny. Unable to hold Quatre Bras after the Prussian defeat, Wellington fell back to the ridge of Mont St. Jean, just south of the village of Waterloo. Employing his favored "reverse slope" defense, Wellington arrayed his troops to defend in depth. Through the day, they beat off repeated French attacks, while the Prussians arrived on the field and began assaulting Napoleon's right flank. With most of his reserves committed, Napoleon ordered his elite Imperial Guard to attack Wellington's center. This attack initially achieved success, but Coalition reserves arrived and drove the Guard back. As the Guard retreated, Wellington ordered a general advance, which coupled with a Prussian breakthrough at Plancenoit, drove the French from the field. The battle cost the French 25,000 casualties and led to final fall of Napoleon's regime. Wellington and Blücher's forces suffered 22,000 dead and wounded.

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