Waterloo Essays - France, Waterloo Campaign, Battle Of Waterloo

Waterloo BATTLE OF WATERLOO The Battle of Waterloo was the final and decisive action of the Napoleonic Wars, the wars that effectively ended French domination of the European continent and brought about drastic changes in the political boundaries and the power balance of Europe. Fought on June 18, 1815, near Waterloo, in modern Belgium, the battle ranks as a great turning point in European history. After raising France to a position of preeminence in Europe , Napoleon met defeat in 1814 by a coalition of major powers, notably Prussia, Russia, Britain, and Austria. Napoleon was then deposed and exiled to the island of Elba1, and Louis XVIII was made ruler of France. In September 1814, the Congress of Vienna convened to discuss problems arising from the defeat of France. On February 26, 1815 while the congress was in session, Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France. Many veterans of his former campaigns flocked to his side, and on March 20, 1815, he again took the throne. The Congress of Vienna, alarmed by Napoleon's return to power, had reacted quickly to the crisis. On March 17 Austria, Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia each agreed to contribute 150,000 troops to an invasion force to be assembled in Belgium near the French border.2 A majority of other nations present at the congress also pledged troops for the invasion of France, which was to be launched on July 1, 1815. Napoleon, learning of the invasion plan, was determined to attack the allies on their own ground before their army could form. He mobilized an army of 360,000 trained soldiers within two months. He deployed half of these troops within France as a security force and sent the remainder into attack units. On June 14, 1815, Napoleon, moving with speed and secrecy, reached the Franco-Belgian border with 124,000 of his troops. Another 56,000 men were left behind in supporting positions. On June 15, 1815, Napoleon moved across the border of Belgium, and his sudden arrival caught the allied command unprepared. Napoleon ordered his left wing, under Marshal Michel Ney, to attack a brigade of Wellington's cavalry at Quatre-Bras, north of Charleroi. He next ordered the right wing, to move eastward against a Prussian brigade stationed in the town of Gilly. By nightfall on that first day of fighting, Napoleon's armies held the strategic advantage. The emperor had succeeded in placing his army between the advance elements of the armies of both Wellington and Bl?cher, and his main force was in a position to swing either left against the Anglo-Dutch army or right to fight the Prussian forces. On June 16 Napoleon moved with his reserve from Charleroi to Fleurus. There he assumed command of General Grouchy's army and easily defeated the Prussian forces. He then drove north to the Ligny area to engage Bl?cher, who with his army had hastened west from Namur hoping to intercept the French. Early in the afternoon of June 16, Napoleon heard the sound of Ney's artillery at Quatre-Bras. He then brought his force of 71,000 into action against Bl?cher's army of 83,000. After an hour of inconclusive fighting, Napoleon dispatched an urgent message to Marshal Ney ordering him to send his First Corps, a force totaling 30,000 men, to the battlefield at Ligny.3 Instead of delivering the order through Marshal Ney's headquarters, Napoleon's courier took it directly to General D'Erlon, the First Corps commander. D'Erlon left immediately for Ligny. When Ney later learned of D'Erlon's departure, however, he dispatched a message ordering the corps back to Quatre-Bras. The message was delivered to D'Erlon just as he reached the Ligny battlefield. Again D'Erlon obeyed instructions, taking part in neither of the battles. Napoleon was able to defeat Bl?cher after an action lasting three hours. That evening the Prussians withdrew, leaving 12,000 troops dead or wounded. Because of D'Erlon's failure to enter the fighting the main body of Bl?cher's army, about 70,000 men, were able to retreat. Meanwhile, at Quatre-Bras, Ney had waited several hours to begin his attack on the Anglo-Dutch force, this delay enabled Wellington to reinforce Quatre-Bras with several divisions of cavalry and infantry. Ney finally attacked at 2 PM but was firmly held. Successive attempts on the Anglo-Dutch position were similarly unsuccessful, Ney was severely handicapped by the absence of D'Erlon's troops. At about 7 PM Wellington counterattacked strongly and drove Ney back to the town of Frasnes, a few miles south of Quatre-Bras. Ney lost 4,300 troops and Wellington lost 4,700 troops in the action. D'Erlon, however, joined Ney in Frasnes at