In this exclusive book extract marking the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, Gareth Glover explores its history through artefacts that remain
Geoff Body & Roy Gallop
Authors of Any Muddy Bottom
The Battle of Waterloo, fought
in Belgium on 18 June 1815,
exactly 200 years ago, was
completely deci sive, ending
Napoleon’s hopes forever. Nine hours
of bitter fighting set the course of
europe and indeed the entire world
for a century. However, it must be
understood that the battle does not
stand alone: it was the culmination of
a rapid campaign in Belgium but the
allies still had to march to Paris to end
Napoleon’s reign again.
Despite such cataclysmic results,
few people now know much about
this short campaign. I have met many
who thought that the battle occurred
in London, assuming that the train
station stands on the battle site; or
they have assumed it was fought in
France because they remember that
Napoleon was defeated there, possibly
basing their knowledge on the famous
Abba song of that name. Few will know the generals who opposed him,
although arguably Britain’s greatest
ever general fought here, and they will
almost certainly know nothing of the
men of other countries who fought
and died there: the Prussians, the
Dutch, Belgians, Brunswickers,
Nassauers and Poles, and even a
couple of Americans.
The Battle of Waterloo was both a
fascinating and a terrible thing. War is
never glorious or pretty and certainly
never comes without great pain and
loss for all sides engaged. But
sometimes war is unavoidable and
necessary as the lesser of evils, and it
can change the course of history. Such
was Waterloo.
Because of its significance,
everybody sought to own a memento
from the battlefield or a commemorative
piece commissioned in its
aftermath. This has meant that a huge
mass of this material is still to be seen
in museums and private collections
across the globe; indeed, many
families still lovingly treasure items
relating to their forebears who fought
in this momentous campaign. Many
of them help tell the fascinating story
in an engaging way: some macabre,
others sad, a few may seem too
incredible to be true, but they are, and
others simply help us understand the
trials of life and death for a soldier
200 years ago.
A brief understanding of the
reasons why Waterloo occurred is
perhaps necessary for those unacquainted
with the history. The French
Revolution had seen the guillotining
of King Louis XvI of France in 1793
and the monarchies of Europe turning
on France to avoid the revolutionary
spirit spreading and threatening their
own thrones. Fortunes see-sawed
until one man, Napoleon Bonaparte,
took his chance to make his name and
captured northern Italy and then
Egypt for France. Once he had the
army on his side, he duly organised a
military takeover, becoming First Consul and within a few years
emperor of France. He transformed
the war against the european
monarchies, defeating the three great
continental military powers, Austria,
Prussia and Russia, in succession. At
its height, the French empire reached
from Oporto to Warsaw. Britain
remained his only constant foe;
Britain ruled by sea, Napoleon by
land. However, in 1812 he overstretched
himself and his army of half
a million men reached Moscow, but
died almost to a man in the snows of a
Russian winter. By 1814 France was
overwhelmed and Paris fell; Napoleon
was forced to abdicate and was exiled
to the tiny Mediterranean island of
Elba.
However, Napoleon continued to
plot from his mini kingdom, and
when he judged the time right he
sailed with only one thousand men
and landed in France on 1 March
1815. As his small force marched on
Paris, the Royalist armies sent against
him simply switched allegiance and
Napoleon was swept into Paris on a
tide of adulation.
The great powers of Europe were
still in congress at Vienna, deciding
how to produce a balance of power in
Europe after the break-up of the
French empire, when Napoleon
returned, and they unanimously
declared war against him, not France.
Realising that he stood no chance
against the combined armies of
Europe, Napoleon hastily formed his
army and launched a sur prise attack
on Belgium, aiming to destroy the
armies of Britain and the Netherlands
(Holland and Belgium being one
kingdom) under the Duke of
Wellington and a Prussian army
under Field Marshal Blücher, before
the Austrians, Russians and Spanish
could enter the war. If he could
destroy these armies and effectively
knock those countries out of the war,
he hoped the others might be brought
to the peace table.
At Waterloo, over 180,000 men with
over 40,000 horses fought on a
battlefield no wider than three square
miles, and by the end over 50,000 men and 20,000 horses were killed or
severely maimed. Wellington,
supported by the arrival of the
Prussians, destroyed the French army,
and Napoleon’s dreams of a renewed
French empire were quashed forever.
Napoleon was forced to abdicate once
again and was exiled to the South
Atlantic island of St Helena, where he
died; Britain effectively turned its
back on Europe and used its
domination of the seas to further
expand its empire, while Europe
looked for a new way forward to try
to avoid these seemingly interminable
wars. The Age of Congress was born
and at every crisis all the heads of
Europe would meet to debate and
attempt to find a peaceful solution.
War was not avoided completely, but
local wars were prevented from
escalating into pan-European conflict
for 100 years, until the Germans
refused to attend a congress in 1914.
This is the compelling drama that
was Waterloo.
In the print edition
Read first-hand accounts of Waterloo
in Issue 4 of Discover Your Ancestors: discoveryourancestors.co.uk
Intriguing article?
Subscribe to our newsletter, filled with more captivating articles, expert tips, and special offers.