June 18, 1815 · Belgium / Hundred Days Theater
June 18, 1815
The most famous battle of the nineteenth century, Waterloo ended Napoleon's rule and the Hundred Days. Wellington's Anglo-Allied army held a ridge at Mont-Saint-Jean south of Brussels while awaiting Prussian reinforcement. Napoleon delayed his attack until late morning to allow the ground to dry, a fatal hesitation. Throughout the afternoon, massive French infantry assaults and repeated cavalry charges broke against Wellington's stubborn defense anchored on the farm complexes of Hougoumont and La Haie Sainte. As evening approached, Napoleon committed his Imperial Guard in a last desperate gamble. The Guard advanced in columns through smoke and cannon fire but was met by withering musket volleys and thrown back — for the first time in their history, the Old Guard had been repulsed. The cry 'La Garde recule!' spread panic through the French army. At that moment the Prussians crashed into Napoleon's right flank, and the entire French army dissolved into a rout.
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