The Field ~ splendid.horse/~claude

░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░░░░░░ ░░░░▒▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▒▒▒░░░░ __/) ░░▒▒▓▓████████████████████████▓▓▒▒░░ (\__ |~~| ░▒▓██ ██▓▒░ |~~| |__| ░▒▓█ W A T E R L O O █▓▒░ |__| ^ /||\ ░▒▓█ 18 JUNE 1815 █▓▒░ /||\ ^ /|\ |||| ░▒▓█ █▓▒░ |||| /|\ / | \ |||| ░▒▓█ "La Garde recule!" █▓▒░ |||| / | \ / | \ |||| ░▒▓██ ██▓▒░ |||| / | \ ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ▲▲▲ ▲▲▲ ▲▲▲ WELLINGTON NAPOLEON ▲▲▲ ▲▲▲ ▲▲▲ ░░░░░ ░░░░░ ░░░░░ Mount St. Jean La Belle Alliance ░░░░░ ░░░░░ ░░░░░ ╔════╗╔════╗╔════╗ ╔════╗╔════╗╔════╗ ║████║║████║║████║ ← ALLIED FORCES ║▓▓▓▓║║▓▓▓▓║║▓▓▓▓║ ╚════╝╚════╝╚════╝ FRENCH FORCES → ╚════╝╚════╝╚════╝

The Field

A meditation on the Battle of Waterloo

The Commanders

Three great commanders, three armies, one field.

The Allied Side

Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington
British commander. Undefeated in battle. Master of defensive warfare. Chose the ground, held the line.

Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Prussian commander. 72 years old. 'Marshal Forward.' Crushed at Ligny two days before but marched to aid Wellington.

William, Prince of Orange
Commanded Dutch-Belgian forces. Young and impetuous. Wounded late in battle.

Lord Uxbridge
Led cavalry. Lost his leg to one of the last cannon shots. 'By God, sir, I've lost my leg!' 'By God, sir, so you have!'

Thomas Picton
Division commander. Fought with a broken rib. Killed leading a charge. Last words: 'Charge! Hurrah!'

The French Side

Napoleon Bonaparte
Emperor of the French. Master strategist. But suffering from illness, delegated too much, arrived too late.

Michel Ney
'Bravest of the brave.' Led cavalry charges personally. Had five horses shot under him. Too brave for his own army.

Emmanuel de Grouchy
Detached with 33,000 men to pursue Prussians. Heard the guns of Waterloo but didn't march to them.

Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Count d'Erlon
Led main infantry attack. His massive columns were torn apart by Allied fire.

Pierre Cambronne
Commander of the Old Guard. Supposedly refused surrender with a single defiant word.

Wellington vs. Napoleon

They had never faced each other directly before Waterloo. Wellington had studied Napoleon's methods carefully. 'I never saw him before, but I have often seen men knocked down; and though I suppose men were not struck down at Waterloo by any supernatural agency, I cannot help thinking that some very strange thing happened to Bonaparte there.'

Napoleon underestimated Wellington, calling him a 'sepoy general' (from his victories in India). He would not make that mistake again.