Waterloo 1815

Exiled on the Mediterranean island of Elba since May 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte, former Emperor of France, escapes on a brig with about 1000 men.

Napoleon and his comrades march from Cannes on the south coast of France to Grenoble, where a regiment is waiting to arrest them. Napoleon approaches them alone, shouting, "Here I am. Kill your Emperor, if you wish!". The soldiers rally to him and they march towards Paris.

At the Congress of Vienna, still dealing with the political fallout of the defeat of France, the Allies declare Napoleon Bonaparte an outlaw. They organise the Seventh Coalition to stop him, consisting of Britain, Prussia, Austria, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, and other principalities. 

Marshal Ney, who had been ordered to arrest Napoleon at Auxerre by King Louis XVIII, and who had said that Napoleon ought to be brought to Paris in an iron cage, joins him with 6000 men – an ultimately fatal act of treason.

Hearing of Napoleon’s escape, Joachim Murat, King of Naples and Napoleon’s brother-in-law, declares war on Austria in a bid to prevent the Coalition from restoring Ferdinand IV to the Neapolitan throne. 

Britain, Russia, Austria and Prussia, members of the Seventh Coalition, agree to mobilise 150,000 men each, to defeat Napoleon.

The Hundred Days of Napoleon's second reign begins

Murat is defeated at the Battle of Occhiobello in Lombardy. Austrian troops, assembled for an invasion of southern France following Napoleon’s return, move south to block Murat, who is forced eastwards towards Ferrara. 

During the two day battle, on 8 April, Murat tries to cross the border via a lightly-held bridge on the River Po at Occhiobello. Austrian artillery defeats repeated charges, causing 2000 casualties and prompting mass desertions in Murat’s 25,000 strong army. Murat is forced to retreat to his original HQ at Ancona.

General Bianchi’s Austrian I Corps crushes Murat at the Battle of Tolentino. At the climax, Murat orders an infantry attack in squares, normally a defensive formation, anticipating a cavalry counter-attack which does not come; instead his troops are devastated by musket fire. 

Joachim Murat flees to Corsica. The pro-Napoleon Neapolitans, now commanded by General Michele Caracosa, sign the Treaty of Casalanza with the Austrians, agreeing to the restoration of Ferdinand IV.

With available forces of 200,000 men, Napoleon decides to go on the offensive to drive a wedge between the advancing Allied and Prussian armies, and crosses the frontier into modern day Belgium.

General Ziethen’s Prussian I Corps are evicted from the city of Charleroi by the French. Napoleon orders Marshal Ney to advance on, and secure, the crossroads at Quatre Bras.

Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, receives word at a ball in Brussels that General Perponcher has concentrated his Netherlands troops at Quatre Bras and is holding against superior French numbers.

The Prince of Orange arrives at Quatre Bras to reinforce General Perponcher.

Wellington and Field Marshal Blucher meet at Brye, where the Duke promises to come to the Prussians aid unless attacked.

Marshal Ney attacks the Anglo-Dutch army, beginning the Battle of Quatre Bras.

The Battle of Quatre Bras rages throughout the afternoon and evening of 16 June, with neither side gaining enough ground for a decisive victory. Checked by British General Picton's arrival, Marshal Ney recalls General D'Erlon's I Corp, who spends the time wandering uselessly between Quatre Bras and Ligny. Their presence on either field might have routed the enemy. By 21:00, the fighting ceases at Quatre Bras, with both sides ending in their original positions. 

Napoleon attacks the Prussians at Ligny leading to a French victory.

As with Quatre Bras, fighting at Ligny continues for hours as the flank attack from General D'Erlon's I Corps fails to materialise. At 20:30, Napoleon's Imperial Guard pierce through the Prussian centre. At approximately the same time, Blucher is unhorsed and command of the Prussian Army passes to his Chief-of-Staff, General Gneisenau. By 21:00, a French victory is certain and the Prussians choose to retreat in good order towards Wavre.

At Quatre Bras, Wellington receives news of Blucher's retreat to Wavre and decides to fall back to the ridge of Mont. St. Jean. Blucher agrees to support Wellington in the coming battle, despite Gneisenau doubting the resolve of the Anglo-Dutch army.

Wellington's army starts to fall back on Waterloo ten miles south of Brussels while Napoleon dispatches Marshal Grouchy and 30,000 men to pursue the Prussians. 

Wellington's army starts to deploy at Mont. St. Jean, garrisoning the farms at Hougoumont and La Haye Saint. By 18:30, Napoleon's advance guard reaches the inn at La Belle Alliance on the southern side of the future battlefield. 

The Allied and French armies deploy on the opposing ridges of Mont St. Jean and La Belle Alliance.

Napoleon sets up his headquarters at the farm of Le Caillou, on the southern edge of the battlefield. Wellington establishes his headquarters at the village of Waterloo to the north, where he receives word that Blucher and the Prussians will march to his aid.

Napoleon states his intention to mount an attack at 06:00 as the previous night’s storm finally stops. Meanwhile, to the east, the Prussian IV Corp under General von Bulow depart Wavre for Waterloo. 

The two armies take breakfast and begin to form up into battle formation. Napoleon postpones his attack until 09:00 as most of his army is still deploying.

At Le Caillou Farm, Napoleon breakfasts with his generals, dismissing Wellington as a ‘bad general’ and the British army as ‘bad troops’. Grouchy, still in pursuit of the Prussians, is delayed at Gambloux due to sodden ground and bad roads.

Wellington completes his deployment of troops along the ridge of Mont St. Jean. Napoleon, from his forward HQ at La Belle Alliance Inn, is obliged to delay his attack until 11:00 as his army is still deploying to battle formation. 

Napoleon stages a review of his troops as they deploy in an attempt to intimidate the enemy, raise morale, and buy time for more units to arrive on the field. 

The French Grande Batterie opens fire. The first French attacks by General Reille’s II Corps are mounted against Hougoumont farm on Napoleon's left.

The French launch a second attack on Hougoumont Farm. A small group of French soldiers force their way through into the courtyard and are only pushed back when Lieutenant Colonel James MacDonnell and Corporal James Graham bar the gate. 

A third French assault on Hougoumont is launched, supported by a howitzer to shell the infantry taking refuge inside. Napoleon meanwhile spots Bulow’s Prussians advancing on his right flank. He hurriedly drafts an order for Grouchy to march to Waterloo “in order to crush Bulow”. 

General d’Erlon’s I Corps launches a massed infantry attack against the centre of the Allied lines, supported by cavalry.

During heavy fighting in the Allied centre, General Sir Thomas Picton, commanding 7,500 men of the Allied 5th Infantry Division, is shot. D’Erlon’s assault is repulsed but Picton dies – the most senior officer to fall at Waterloo. 

As a fourth assault on Hougoumont Farm is fended off, the French attacks in the centre are routed by charges from the British Household and Union cavalry brigades. Eagles from the French 45th and 105th Regiments are captured.

The Household and Union Brigades career out of control and charge the French lines, including the Grande Batterie. They are counter-charged and badly mauled by 20 squadrons of French cavalry, killing cavalry commander Sir William Ponsonby.

The first Prussian troops arrive on the battlefield from the east. At Hougoumont Farm, a determined fifth French assault is launched by Generals Bachelu and Foy, only to be beaten back by fierce Allied artillery fire.

The Allied strong points of Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte come under further attack, with Hougoumont set alight by French incendiary shells. Napoleon returns to his rear HQ of Le Caillou – either to dictate dispatches or have his piles treated. Marshal Ney is left in tactical command of the battle.

Marshal Ney orders a massed French cavalry charge between La Haye Sainte and Hougoumont, mistakenly believing the Allied army to be in retreat. Wellington instead has his infantry form square, who repulse repeated charges for the rest of the afternoon. 

The Prussian IV Corps, emerging from the Bois de Paris on Napoleon’s right flank, are ordered to attack the village of Plancenoit towards the French rear. The village is bitterly contested until the end of the battle. 

Ney commits his entire cavalry force, with support from General Reille’s infantry, against the Allied lines without success. General von Bulow seizes Plancenoit, forcing Napoleon to commit General Duhesme’s Young Guard to take it back.

General Duhesme and the Young Guard succeed in retaking Plancenoit, while Marshal Ney’s cavalry attacks cease in favour of a heavy cannonade from the Grande Batterie.

La Haye Sainte, defended by the exhausted King’s German Legion under Major Baring, falls to the French and the Allied line is close to splitting in the centre. Ney is keen to exploit this success but is denied reinforcements as they are currently committed to the battle for Plancenoit. 

Colonel Ompteda’s King's German Legion Brigade, on the orders of the Prince of Orange, are launched into a doomed counterattack to retake La Haye Sainte. Casualties are high, leaving a hole in Wellington’s centre.

Wellington reinforces his line with Netherlanders and Brunswickers, as General Ziethen’s Prussian I Corp arrive on the field. Meanwhile, Marshal Grouchy is still embattled with the Prussian rear guard at Wavre 11 miles away from Waterloo. 

An estimated 50,000 Prussians are now engaged at Waterloo as General Bulow launches yet another assault on Plancenoit. Napoleon commits the Imperial Guard reserve, about 3,500 men, as a last chance to break through the Allied centre. 

The Imperial Guard is repulsed by Wellington’s centre – the first and only time the Imperial Guard retreated in battle. As the Prussian I Corp link with the Allied left flank, Napoleon’s defeat is certain, and the French army goes into full retreat.

Seizing the advantage, Wellington orders a general advance and Napoleon’s army attempts to vacate the field -  some in an orderly manner and others as a rabble fleeing up the Charleroi road. 

General Bulow’s Prussians finally secure Plancenoit after some of the bitterest fighting of the day.

As the sun sets over Waterloo, the Old Guard, Napoleon’s elite troops, make a last stand as the emperor quits the field. 

Generals Wellington and Blucher meet at or near La Belle Alliance Inn to congratulate each other. The pursuit of the French army is handed to the Prussians as Wellington and his staff return to their HQ in the village of Waterloo. 

Marshal Grouchy finally overwhelms General Thielman’s Prussians at Wavre, unaware of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo.

The French retreat turns into a rout, becoming bottlenecked around the small bridge at Genappe south of the battlefield. Prussian officer Baron Müffling visits Wellington to inform him of the ruthless pursuit conducted by General Gniesenau, who describes it as “the most glorious night” of his life. 

Grouchy breaks off his battle with the Prussian rearguard at Wavre and retreats into France, while Napoleon crosses the Sambre at Charleroi on his way back to Paris. Only eight hours later, the Prussians enter Charleroi.

Napoleon returns to Paris and abdicates as Emperor of France in favour of his four-year-old son, Napoleon II. Just over a week later, Napoleon leaves Paris for the west of France. 

The Allies occupy Paris and depose Napoleon II, restoring Louis XVIII to the throne and drawing the Hundred Days campaign to a close.

Napoleon, thwarted in his attempt to sail to America by the Royal Navy, surrenders with his entourage to Captain Maitland of HMS Bellerophon. His plea to retire in England and live like a gentleman is refused, and he is exiled to the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic. 

The Treaty of Paris is signed by Britain, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and France. The treaty repudiates ‘the revolutionary system reproduced in France’ and imposes substantial reparations. The Allies also occupy France for the next three years.

Napoleon Bonaparte, former Emperor of France, dies on St. Helena of stomach cancer at the age of 51.