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The French numbered about 75,000, the allies 68,000 commanded by Wellington plus around 45,000 under Blucher. This was shadowed by Grouchy’s 30,000 who never joined the action. Attached is a summary of of events.
Casualties amounted to 25,000 French killed or wounded and 8,000 captured, while the Allied forces under the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshal Blücher roughly 22,000 to 23,000 casualties.
It was a brutal battle. The key to it was: The weather. It had been so wet that Napoleon was not able to utilise his superior artillery until much later than planned.
Blucher, unimaginative but ridiculously loyal and brave, keeping his army intact after defeat at Ligny a few days before and keeping his promise to support Wellington.
Wellington’s knowledge of the ground and management of his allied army that varied in quality and strength. He was a great commander, especially in defence, and was not known to unnecessarily waste men.
Napoleon was past his prime. Still a genius but health wise unwell and his best subordinates were either not there or dead.
Several mistakes were made. For example he wanted the assault of Hougemont farmhouse to be a diversion. It wound up sucking far more men in than planned. The heavy cavalry attacked infantry without infantry/artillery support. Fatal for the Cuirassiers. Most important, Grouchy failed to March his 30,000 to the noise of the battle allowing Blucher to outflank the main French army.
Napoleon’s aim was to break the allied army before the Prussians arrived. He failed to do that and once Blucher hit the flank of the French, they broke and for the ogre of Europe, it was all over.
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Happy Waterloo Day on 15:29 - Jun 18 with 841 views
The French numbered about 75,000, the allies 68,000 commanded by Wellington plus around 45,000 under Blucher. This was shadowed by Grouchy’s 30,000 who never joined the action. Attached is a summary of of events.
Casualties amounted to 25,000 French killed or wounded and 8,000 captured, while the Allied forces under the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshal Blücher roughly 22,000 to 23,000 casualties.
It was a brutal battle. The key to it was: The weather. It had been so wet that Napoleon was not able to utilise his superior artillery until much later than planned.
Blucher, unimaginative but ridiculously loyal and brave, keeping his army intact after defeat at Ligny a few days before and keeping his promise to support Wellington.
Wellington’s knowledge of the ground and management of his allied army that varied in quality and strength. He was a great commander, especially in defence, and was not known to unnecessarily waste men.
Napoleon was past his prime. Still a genius but health wise unwell and his best subordinates were either not there or dead.
Several mistakes were made. For example he wanted the assault of Hougemont farmhouse to be a diversion. It wound up sucking far more men in than planned. The heavy cavalry attacked infantry without infantry/artillery support. Fatal for the Cuirassiers. Most important, Grouchy failed to March his 30,000 to the noise of the battle allowing Blucher to outflank the main French army.
Napoleon’s aim was to break the allied army before the Prussians arrived. He failed to do that and once Blucher hit the flank of the French, they broke and for the ogre of Europe, it was all over.
Got love Blücher, he pioneered the tactic, later perfected by the Americans, of turning up late and claiming the credit.
The French numbered about 75,000, the allies 68,000 commanded by Wellington plus around 45,000 under Blucher. This was shadowed by Grouchy’s 30,000 who never joined the action. Attached is a summary of of events.
Casualties amounted to 25,000 French killed or wounded and 8,000 captured, while the Allied forces under the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshal Blücher roughly 22,000 to 23,000 casualties.
It was a brutal battle. The key to it was: The weather. It had been so wet that Napoleon was not able to utilise his superior artillery until much later than planned.
Blucher, unimaginative but ridiculously loyal and brave, keeping his army intact after defeat at Ligny a few days before and keeping his promise to support Wellington.
Wellington’s knowledge of the ground and management of his allied army that varied in quality and strength. He was a great commander, especially in defence, and was not known to unnecessarily waste men.
Napoleon was past his prime. Still a genius but health wise unwell and his best subordinates were either not there or dead.
Several mistakes were made. For example he wanted the assault of Hougemont farmhouse to be a diversion. It wound up sucking far more men in than planned. The heavy cavalry attacked infantry without infantry/artillery support. Fatal for the Cuirassiers. Most important, Grouchy failed to March his 30,000 to the noise of the battle allowing Blucher to outflank the main French army.
Napoleon’s aim was to break the allied army before the Prussians arrived. He failed to do that and once Blucher hit the flank of the French, they broke and for the ogre of Europe, it was all over.
Not forgetting Christopher Plummer's critical decisions on the battle field, especially as he had just recovered from traveling around the Austrian hills singing songs
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Happy Waterloo Day on 15:41 - Jun 18 with 835 views
Happy Waterloo Day on 15:29 - Jun 18 by GeoffSentence
Got love Blücher, he pioneered the tactic, later perfected by the Americans, of turning up late and claiming the credit.
Haha, I see the resemblance! He was nicknamed Marshall Forward because he was so aggressive. Tough and brave too. At the battle before Waterloo he wound up trapped under a horse and ridden over by cavalry. Wounds were dabbed with rhubarb and garlic and dealt with from the inside by consuming Schapps. And off he went again to Mont St Jean.
The WW1 and2 ships named after him were not so lucky. Both were sunk.
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Happy Waterloo Day on 15:46 - Jun 18 with 831 views
The French numbered about 75,000, the allies 68,000 commanded by Wellington plus around 45,000 under Blucher. This was shadowed by Grouchy’s 30,000 who never joined the action. Attached is a summary of of events.
Casualties amounted to 25,000 French killed or wounded and 8,000 captured, while the Allied forces under the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshal Blücher roughly 22,000 to 23,000 casualties.
It was a brutal battle. The key to it was: The weather. It had been so wet that Napoleon was not able to utilise his superior artillery until much later than planned.
Blucher, unimaginative but ridiculously loyal and brave, keeping his army intact after defeat at Ligny a few days before and keeping his promise to support Wellington.
Wellington’s knowledge of the ground and management of his allied army that varied in quality and strength. He was a great commander, especially in defence, and was not known to unnecessarily waste men.
Napoleon was past his prime. Still a genius but health wise unwell and his best subordinates were either not there or dead.
Several mistakes were made. For example he wanted the assault of Hougemont farmhouse to be a diversion. It wound up sucking far more men in than planned. The heavy cavalry attacked infantry without infantry/artillery support. Fatal for the Cuirassiers. Most important, Grouchy failed to March his 30,000 to the noise of the battle allowing Blucher to outflank the main French army.
Napoleon’s aim was to break the allied army before the Prussians arrived. He failed to do that and once Blucher hit the flank of the French, they broke and for the ogre of Europe, it was all over.
Napoleon thought he needed to smash the Allies while they were still uncoordinated. He thought he had to be bold and aggressive*. Wellington knew this too and hence chose suitably defensible ground. Wellington sometimes gets harshly judged as a general who just sets up on a hill and waits for the other guy compared to Napoleon's brilliant attacks and manoeuvres. However there is skill in reading the land to find the defensible positions and if strategically, you know your enemy needs to attack, you make sure to give him a bloody hard task.
*There is an argument that even if Napoleon had pulled off a stunning and complete victory that utterly shattered Wellington, then on a subsequent day smashed Blücher, it would still only have delayed the inevitable. France was a broken country and had bled so many men in practically 3 decades of constant war. Plus the fact that 100,000s of Russians and Austrians would eventually assemble to face Napoleon, along with reformed British, Prussian and other German forces, his strategic defeat was already assured. Waterloo just ensured it occurred early enough to save 100,000s more lives.
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Happy Waterloo Day on 16:38 - Jun 18 with 784 views
Not forgetting Christopher Plummer's critical decisions on the battle field, especially as he had just recovered from traveling around the Austrian hills singing songs
Brian Rix, ‘I think I’ve lost my leg’. Plummer ‘I think you have Sir’, or similar! What a film!
Not forgetting Christopher Plummer's critical decisions on the battle field, especially as he had just recovered from traveling around the Austrian hills singing songs
And getting badly burned in The Battle of Britain fighting the Luftwaffe after spending a little time with Susannah York!
Busy man Mr Plummer
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Happy Waterloo Day on 17:51 - Jun 18 with 679 views
Not only was he lucky to survive the amputation, he lived to 86! In the film he was played by Terence Alexander.
Just about all Wellington’s staff was killed or wounded at Waterloo while he was completely unscathed.
I like the Jack Hawkins character General Thomas Picton. He actually did go into battle in a frock coat, his uniform not having turned up. Foul mouthed, bad tempered and feared. He led his Division’s counter attack on D’Erlon’s Corps and was shot through the head.
[Post edited 18 Jun 17:54]
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Happy Waterloo Day on 20:17 - Jun 18 with 617 views
Not only was he lucky to survive the amputation, he lived to 86! In the film he was played by Terence Alexander.
Just about all Wellington’s staff was killed or wounded at Waterloo while he was completely unscathed.
I like the Jack Hawkins character General Thomas Picton. He actually did go into battle in a frock coat, his uniform not having turned up. Foul mouthed, bad tempered and feared. He led his Division’s counter attack on D’Erlon’s Corps and was shot through the head.
[Post edited 18 Jun 17:54]
Uxbridge, that’s it! So was Brian Rix there, or did I imagine that?
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Happy Waterloo Day on 20:25 - Jun 18 with 613 views
A high percentage of RAF pilots who suffered facial burns were on Hurricanes (an underrated excellent aeroplane). The problem was that there was a small reserve fuel tank behind the dashboard in line with the pilots face. It was not armoured. Basically a tin box. If it was hit the pilot got a face full.
There was a solution (self sealing vulcanised tank) that could be retro fitted, but to do that meant taking too many out of service at a critical time during the battle, so it had to wait. Not good for the pilots but I guess it shows just how desperate the times were.
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