Not a big fan of huns but this one kinda grabbed me.
Battle of Waterloo
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Battle of Waterloo
Part of the War of the Seventh Coalition
Wellington at Waterloo by Robert Alexander Hillingford.
Date 18 June 1815
Location Waterloo, present-day Walloon Brabant in Belgium south of Brussels
Result Decisive Coalition victory
Belligerents
French Empire Seventh Coalition:
United Kingdom
Prussia
United Netherlands
Hanover
Nassau
Brunswick
Commanders and leaders
Napoleon I Duke of Wellington
Gebhard von Bl?cher
Strength
72,000[1] 118,000
(Anglo-allies: 68,000[1]
Prussians: 50,000[2])
Casualties and losses
25,000 killed and wounded
8,000 captured
15,000 missing[3] Confederation: 24,000 killed, wounded and missing
Anglo-allies: 3,500 killed; 10,200 wounded; 3,300 missing.[4]
Prussians: 1,200 killed; 4,400 wounded; 1,400 missing.[4]
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Waterloo Campaign
Coordinates: 50?40′45″N 4?24′25″E The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. An Imperial French army under the command of Emperor Napoleon was defeated by combined armies of the Seventh Coalition, an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington combined with a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von Bl?cher. It was the culminating battle of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleon's last. The defeat at Waterloo put an end to Napoleon's rule as Emperor of the French and marked the end of his Hundred Days' return from exile.
Upon Napoleon's return to power in 1815, many states that had opposed him formed the Seventh Coalition and began to mobilise armies. Two large forces under Wellington and von Bl?cher assembled close to the northeastern border of France. Napoleon chose to attack in the hope of destroying them before they could join in a coordinated invasion of France with other members of the Coalition. The decisive engagement of this three-day Waterloo Campaign (16?19 June 1815) occurred at the Battle of Waterloo. According to Wellington, the battle was "the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life."[5]
On the first day Napoleon fell on the Prussians before they could join Wellington and the English. The Prussians were crushed & routed at the Battle of Ligny. Napoleon turned to crush Wellington at Waterloo.
Near the end of the day it was a stalemate but French success near a key farmhouse could still leave Napoleon victorious.
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Napoleon was convinced that Blucher, after his defeat, would be careful not to risk his already battered army a second time. He declared that the Prussians would need at least 2 days to recover.
Napoleon arrived at the chateau called 'Peace Castle' but was too tired to receive Grouchy who came for orders to pursue Prussians. Napoleon believed that the mere appearance of Grouchy's troops would cause the Prussians to accelerate their retreat. In the early morning Napoleon ordered Grouchy: "Follow him [Blucher] closely, with your sword against his back."
But Field Marshall Blucher's horse had been hit and he spent the night trapped under it. In the morning he found his troops retreating to the North convinced all was lost. Nearly 80 the old Marshal quickly wheeled them to move on Waterloo and you know the rest.
Wellington got the credit but Blucher won Waterloo.
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Wellington claimed to have watched the Prussian defeat at Ligny through his telescope from the crossroads at Quatre Bras. It must have been an "extraordinary telescope", wrote British author Siborne in his History of the War in France and Belgium in 1815 (1844), "to be able to see through a hill - in the dark".
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