Battle of Waterloo
Had he—and not Emmanuel, the Marquis of Grouchy—been named a Marshal of France on April 1, 1815, General Count Jean Rapp might have helped the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte win the Battle of Waterloo. Read more
Battle of Waterloo
“And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air …”
That, as most people know, is a line from the American national anthem, words by Francis Scott Key, to the tune of Anacreon in Heaven by John Stafford Smith. Read more
Battle of Waterloo
On April 23, 1809, Prince Jerome Bonaparte, king of Westphalia, a German satellite state given to him by his elder brother Emperor Napoleon I, sat astride a large white horse at the Holland Gate leading into the capital city of Cassel. Read more
Battle of Waterloo
In mid-October 1806, four days after Napoleon had crushed the Royal Prussian Army at the twin battles of Jena and Auerstädt, a distraught Queen Louise sat down with her two sons at the royal castle in Schwedt. Read more
Battle of Waterloo
At 2:30 am on June 15, 1815, tens of thousands of French soldiers around the town of Beaumont, France, were roused from their bivouacs. Read more
Battle of Waterloo
In the face of disaster, few military commanders in history maintained the British stiff upper lip as well as Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Read more
Battle of Waterloo
Two centuries after his catastrophic defeat, historians may well point to Napoleon Bonaparte’s supreme self-confidence as his worst enemy at the Battle of Waterloo, fought June 18, 1815. Read more
Battle of Waterloo
Known as the “bravest of the brave” to the soldiers of the French Army, Marshal Ney was one of the original 18 Marshals of the French Empire. Read more
Battle of Waterloo
A master of the tactical defensive posture, the Duke of Wellington, later known as the “Iron Duke” for his military prowess, chose his ground well at Waterloo. Read more
Battle of Waterloo
An artillery officer early in his military career, Napoleon Bonaparte understood the potential for big guns to influence the outcome of a major battle. Read more
Battle of Waterloo
While the Battle of Waterloo is remembered as one of the most pivotal in history and its date of June 18, 1815, is well known, the actual hour it began is strangely uncertain. Read more
Battle of Waterloo
As the afternoon of June 18, 1815, waned at Waterloo, thousands of men and horses lay dead and dying. Read more
Battle of Waterloo
Few mortals commanded such intense devotion from their troops as did French Emperor Napoleon I, and fewer soldiers still can claim to have had a direct hand in helping to save the life of their commander. Read more
Battle of Waterloo
Political unrest in France and public disenchantment with King Louis XVIII prompted exiled emperor Napoleon Bonaparte to return to his country from the island of Elba in the spring of 1815. Read more
Battle of Waterloo
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, was in Vienna when the news arrived in early March 1815 that Napoleon had escaped from exile on Elba and returned to France. Read more
Battle of Waterloo
Exiled on the island of St. Helena since his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon Bonaparte, once Emperor of France and master of the greatest expanse of European territory since the days of the Roman Empire, died at the age of 51 on May 5, 1821. Read more
