The Battle of Waterloo June 18, 1815

A very nice plan of the Battle of Waterloo. During the battle, the French had managed to push the British back. However, the Prussians arrived on the side of the French to reinforce the British.

Umbrellas at Waterloo

Captain Mercer of the British Horse Artillery described the miserable night he and his troop spent on the field of Waterloo before the battle: “My companion (the troop’s second captain) had an umbrella, which by the way afforded some merriment to our people on the march, this we planted against the sloping bank of the hedge, and seating ourselves under it, he on the one side of the stick, me on the other side, we lighted cigars and became-comfortable”.

The Duke, who was indifferent to the way his officers chose to dress, drew the line at umbrellas. “At Bayonne, in December 1814,” writes Captain Gronow of the First Foot Guards, “His Grace, on looking round, saw, to his surprise, a great many umbrellas, with which the officers protected themselves from the rain that was then falling. Arthur Hill came galloping up to us saying, Lord Wellington does not approve of the use of umbrellas during the enemy’s firing, and will not allow the “gentlemen’s sons” to make themselves ridiculous in the eyes of the army.”

Colonel Tynling, a few days afterwards, received a wigging from Lord Wellington for suffering his officers to carry umbrellas in the face of the enemy; His Lordship observing, “The Guards may in uniform, when on duty at St. James’, carry umbrellas if they please, but in the field it is not only ridiculous but unmilitary.”

Standing orders for the army in the Peninsula and in the Waterloo campaign stated categorically “Umbrellas will not be opened in the presence of the enemy.”

However the surgeon of Captain Mercer’s troop of Horse Artillery was seen to be sheltering under the forbidden item during the early part of the Battle of Waterloo.

Waterloo - part two

http://www.britishbattles.com/waterloo/waterloo-june-1815.htm




Battle of Waterloo 18th June 1815 : 4pm Ney's Great Cavalry Attack
Map 2 of 3 by John Fawkes.





Vive L'Empereur : The French Cavalry Attack





The Old Guard Advance



The end of the Battle of Waterloo. Wellington waves his hat for the final advance.





The Duke of Wellington at the end of the Battle of Waterloo by Robert Hillingford





The Line Will Advance




 




The British guards defending Hougoumont






After the battle : Burying the Casualties








The Château of Hougoumont





Closing the gates of Hougoumont

The Light Companies of the 2nd and 3rd foot
guards hold the Chateau of Hougoumont

52nd Attack a French Battery

The King's German Legion under Major Baring fighting to defend La Haye Sante

The farm of La Haye Sante

La Haye Sante from the Waterloo cross roads

La Haye Sante after the Battle of Waterloo

Casualties:The British, Belgians, Dutch and Germans lost 15,000 casualties or 1 in 4 engaged. The Prussians lost 7,000. The casualties of the French army are estimated at 25,000 dead and wounded, 8,000 prisoners and 220 guns lost.

The Prussian Army fights through the village of Plancenoit

Wellington and Blucher meet after the Battle of Waterloo

Waterloo part one

The Duke of Wellington and officers and soldiers of the Allied army at the end of the Battle of Waterloo.  Prince William of Orange lies wounded on the stretcher: picture by Jan Willem Pieneman in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

British Cavalry Charge Background to the battle





The Emperor Napoleon at Waterloo

The Emperor Napoleon addresses his Guard during the Battle of Waterloo

Napoleon resolved to attack the British, Prussian, Belgian and Dutch armies before the other powers could come to their assistance. He marched into Belgium.





Vivien Hussey’s British Hussar Brigade attacking French infantry at the Battle of Waterloo



Battle of Waterloo 18th June 1815 : Order of Battle at the Outset of the Battle
Map 1 of 3 by John Fawkes





French Cuirassiers attacking a Highland square





King's Dragoon Guards attacking French Dragoons











"The Battle of Waterloo at 2pm : D'Erlon's infantry attack past La Haye Sainte"
(this map appears in the best selling book, The Dangerous Book for Boys by
 Gonn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden, in the section Famous Battles-Part Two)











Marshall Ney's massed cavalry attack on the Allied line during the Battle of Waterloo







French Cuirassiers fight it out with a Highland Regiment by John Atkinson 







 Ney's massed cavalry attack on the Allied line at the Battle of Waterloo








French Cuirassiers, during Ney's cavalry attack, tumbling
into the sunken road that ran along the allied position


http://www.britishbattles.com/waterloo/waterloo-june-1815.htm