Napoleon had finally succumbed to the power of his enemies and abdicated the French throne in April 1814. He was banished to Elba, a small island off the coast of Italy, and, in his place, Louis XVIII, the younger brother of the guillotined Louis XVI, was installed as king.
The new French monarch, bumbling and arrogant, won few friends, and it wasn't long before moves were made to liberate the ex-emperor. Finally on 26 February 1815, Napoleon escaped Elba and landed near the French city of Cannes. At the head of an army of 105,000, he began the campaigns that are known today as 'The Hundred Days'.
Napoleon wanted to pick off his opponents one by one, before they could combine their forces for a mass attack against him. Only two Allied armies, encamped in Belgium, posed an immediate threat: a British force of 68,000 under Arthur Wellesley, the duke of Wellington, and a Prussian one of 89,000 under Field Marshal Blücher. At first, Napoleon was successful. On 16 June, he routed the Prussians at Ligny, but at a high cost. Then, on 18 June, he turned his attention to the British army who were near the small town of Waterloo, a few miles south of Brussels.
The heavy rains of the previous days had turned the ground into a quagmire, so the battle was postponed until midday. Then Napoleon let rip with an artillery barrage and one of the most terrible and important battles of all time began.
Each side played to their strengths: the French attacked with brio; the British doggedly resisted in defensive formations. 'Let's see who can pound longest,' said Wellington. In the event, the British did and held out until the arrival of Blücher's Prussians gave them an overwhelming advantage. At the end of the day, 25,000 French and 22,000 Allied soldiers lay dead or wounded, and a further 8,000 French had been taken prisoner.
The French retreat turned into a rout. On 22 June, Napoleon abdicated for the second time; on 3 July, an armistice was agreed; on the 6th, the Allies entered Paris; and on the 13th, Napoleon wrote the most remarkable letter of his life. It was addressed to George, the prince regent.
'Altesse Royale [Royal Highness],' it began:
I have terminated my political career … I put myself under the protection of British laws, which I entreat of Your Royal Highness as from the most powerful, the most constant, and the most generous of my foes.
In this contest of the imperial eagle and the royal popinjay, the popinjay, it seemed, had won. This time, Napoleon was exiled as far from civilisation as it was possible to transport him: on the tiny island of St Helena in the middle of the south Atlantic, where he died in 1821.
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 The Battle of Waterloo
www.britishbattles.com/waterloo/waterloo
-june-1815.htm
Comprehensive account of the battle, accompanied by a large number of contemporary prints and paintings.
Waterloo Interactive Battle Simulator
www.pbs.org/empires/napoleon/flash/n_war
/ibs/index.html
A battle simulation game from American public broadcasting. Considered superior to the BBC version, this one has seven possible outcomes.
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The Waterloo Companion: The complete guide to history's most famous land battle by Mark Adkin (Aurum Press, 2001)
The Campaign describes the dramatic events of the '100 days', and analyses the problems faced by the three commanders-in-chief – Napoleon, Wellington and Blücher. Orders of Battle details the organisation of the armies, down to battalion and battery level. Command and Control explores the command structures, backgrounds and careers of the commanders. The Battlefield covers the critical features of the terrain, plus a series of panoramic photographs showing the deployment of forces. Other sections are The Infantry, The Cavalry, The Artillery and Other Arms and Service.
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