The defeat that buried his career as a conqueror of territories occurred at the Battle of Waterloo, fought on June 18, 1815 near the city of Waterloo, Belgium. The episode was the final point in more than ten years of constant conflicts between Napoleon and the main Western powers at the time, such as Great Britain and Prussia (part of present-day Germany).
The expansionist intentions of the general proclaimed Emperor of France had already suffered a severe setback in 1812, when the French Army was forced to withdraw from Russia after losing more than 500,000 men. The disaster encouraged the European peoples dominated by Napoleon to attack France and force the abdication of the emperor, who in 1814 was arrested and sent into exile on the island of Elba, off the coast of Italy.
In March 1815, however, Napoleon fled Elba and returned to France, where he was acclaimed by the population and regained power, managing to gather around 124,000 men to form a new army. Alarmed, the powers that had defeated him united again and began to mass troops near the French borders.
Decided to face his enemies, Napoleon marched to Belgium, where he defeated Prussian troops two days before suffering the final defeat at Waterloo, which ended his new reign, known as “The 100 Days”.
He was not captured at the end of the battle, but in Paris the Parliament forced his abdication, which took place on June 22, 1815. He was sent to the distant island of Saint Helena, almost 2 thousand kilometers from the southwest coast of Africa. There, Napoleon died on May 5, 1821, at the age of 51, from controversial causes – some say that the reason for death was stomach cancer, but there are suspicions that the most famous French general was poisoned
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The Battle of Waterloo
DATE – June 18, 1815
LOCATION – Waterloo (Belgium)
THE SIDES OF THE BATTLE
113 THOUSAND ALLIES (PRUSSIANS, AUSTRIAN, BRITISH AND DUTCH)
72 THOUSAND FRENCH
TOTAL DEATHS
23 THOUSAND ALLIES
25 THOUSAND FRENCH
awkward position
Twice, a French general hesitated to attack and ended up defeated in a decisive confrontation
6 am From dawn, French troops were ready to attack. But Napoleon decided to wait for the rain-soaked terrain to dry, facilitating the movements of his cavalry. The delay gave time for more Allied soldiers to arrive at the scene.
10am The battle begins with a small-scale French attack to divert the Allies’ attention. But the Duke of Wellington, commander of the Allied forces, does not fall into the trap and sends only a small detachment, which manages to face the French.
11 am With 80 horse-drawn cannons, Napoleon’s artillery opens fire and provokes combat. But most French guns were heavier than those of the Allies. To make matters worse, the soggy terrain complicates the positioning of the French guns to fire.
3pm A new attack by French cannons causes heavy casualties among the Allied troops. To spare the troops, the Duke of Wellington orders the temporary retreat of his soldiers, who take cover behind elevations of land where they cannot be hit by French fire.
4pm The allies start the counterattack with their infantry (foot troops) in squares with three rows of soldiers who opened fire on the enemy. The soldiers fired in interspersed bursts – as one fired, another reloaded.
4:30 pm To stop the counterattack, 5,000 French knights advance against the allies. But without the support of the infantry, Napoleon’s horses refuse to charge against the squares of the allied troops. The attack fails and the French retreat.
6 pm Taking advantage of the French retreat, Wellington positioned the Allied guns about 90 meters in front of the infantry squares. The guns and gunners opened fire, firing grenades which, when they exploded, caused casualties by scattering steel shards among the French.
6:30 pm The French have a chance to turn the tables by capturing a farmhouse in the middle of the Allied line, causing heavy damage. But, fearing an enemy attack against the French line, Napoleon did not send troops to reinforce the attack, and the house was recovered by the allies.
8 pm With the defense reorganized and reinforced by new Prussian troops coming from another battle, the allies repel two French attacks: first, a diagonal advance to the right sector with six guns; then the frontal advance of 2 thousand soldiers of Napoleon
21h Taking advantage of the French disarticulation, Wellington’s forces began a wide frontal advance and intensified attacks on the right sector of the Napoleonic troops, which led the French to rout. End of the battle: panicked French flee in disorganized retreat