Waterloo, Battle of

The Battle of Waterloo is fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, at this time part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

An Imperial French army under the command of Emperor Napoleon is defeated by the armies of the Seventh Coalition, comprising an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington combined with a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von Blücher.

It is the culminating battle of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleon's last.

The defeat at Waterloo ends his rule as Emperor of the French, marking the end of his Hundred Days return from exile.Upon Napoleon's return to power in 1815, many states that had opposed him form the Seventh Coalition and begin to mobilize armies.

Two large forces under Wellington and Blücher assemble close to the northeastern border of France.

Napoleon chooses to attack in the hope of destroying them before they can join in a coordinated invasion of France with other members of the coalition.

The decisive engagement of this three-day Waterloo Campaign (16–19 June 1815) occurs at the Battle of Waterloo.

Napoleon delays giving battle until noon on 18 June to allow the ground to dry.

Wellington's army, positioned across the Brussels road on the Mont-Saint-Jean escarpment, withstands repeated attacks by the French, until, in the evening, the Prussians arrive in force and break through Napoleon's right flank.

At that moment, Wellington's Anglo-Allied army counterattacks and drives the French army in disorder from the field.

Pursuing coalition forces enter France and restore King Louis XVIII to the French throne.

Napoleon abdicates, surrenders to the British, and is exiled to Saint Helena, where he died in 1821.The battlefield is in present-day Belgium, about 8 miles (13 km) south by southeast of Brussels, and about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the town of Waterloo.

The site of the battlefield is today dominated by a large monument, the Lion Mound.

As this mound was constructed from earth taken from the battlefield itself, the contemporary topography of the part of the battlefield around the mound has not been preserved.

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