Armies Of Wellington And Bl example essay topic

The Battle of Waterloo was fought thirteen kilometers south of Brussels between the French, under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Allied armies commanded by the Duke of Wellington from Britain and General Bl " uc her from Prussia. Napoleon Bonaparte had always been driven by his desire to make France an European empire and was an experienced warlord and leader. The European powers were meeting in Vienna to re-establish the territorial balance in Europe when news came of Napoleon's escape from Elba on March 1, 1815, and his re-entry into Paris on March 20, 1815. In 1814 Napoleon had been exiled to the Island of Elba. The European powers immediately renewed their declaration of war on Napoleon and the 7th Coalition between Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia was formed on March 25, 1815. They began assembling their troops in readiness for war, intending to attack along the French borders and march on Paris from different directions with enough strength to crush the French.

In the event, only the armies of Wellington and Bl " uc her were in place in Belgium. The Austrians and Russians arrived after Napoleon had been defeated. The Allied army under the Duke of Wellington was a coalition of British, Dutch, Belgian and German soldiers. Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, had never been beaten by the French and had a reputation as a talented coalition general.

He came to prominence in India and then successfully directed the Peninsular Campaign of 1811 when the British went to support Portugal and Spain against Napoleon. He was made a duke at the end of that war and appointed ambassador to the restored Bourbon court in 1814. Gerhard Leberecht von Bl " uc her was the commander of the Prussian army. He was 72 at the time of the Battle of Waterloo and the only man to have beaten Napoleon more than once.

Age and experience meant that Bl " uc her was less afraid of Napoleon than any other commander. His self-confidence and career record had a positive effect on his army. Napoleon's strategy and goal was to capture Brussels. His battle plan was to mount an offensive attack on the Allied troops gathering in Belgium and to destroy them. The armies already clashed before the actual battle took place. Bl " uc her and the Prussian army fought Napoleon at Ligne, a village north east of Charleroi on the June 16, 1815.

However, Bl " uc her and his troops were forced to retreat. A part of the army of the Duke of Wellington tried to drive the French army back at Quatre-Bras, the crossroads of the Brussels-Charleroi and Namur-Nivel les roads. Bl " uc her managed to send a message to Wellington that he would be able to join him on the battlefield at Waterloo, but probably only later in the day. Napoleon thought that the Prussian army had been defeated and that he would only have to face the Wellington troops. On the night before the battle, it had rained heavily and both the French and Allied armies had spent the night in the mud and the pouring rain. The troops of Wellington occupied the northern part of the plains of Mont-Saint-Jean and were situated behind a sunken lane, which later proved to be a strategic advantage for the Duke, because the French infantry and cavalry kept falling inside this sunken land and thereby hindering each other to move further north.

The battlefield was situated around three large farmhouses. On the far left was the Hougomont house, in the middle the Haie Sainte farm and at the extreme right was the Papellotte farm. The French offensive started at 12 0'clock at Hougomont farm. It was never taken. It was garrisoned by British troops before the battle began and was held until the time of the victory.

Later during the day heavy fights took place around the farms of Haie Sainte and Papellotte. La Haie Sainte was taken in late afternoon but for only a short period, because the French for most of the day poured their resources into trying to take Hougomont by the late afternoon the chances for both armies were still fifty-fifty. But around that time the Bl " uc her's troops started to arrive coming from Wave to assist the army of Wellington. By then, the French army was surrounded by the two forces and could no longer withstand the joint attacks of allied troops. By the beginning of the evening Napoleon had to withdraw his troops from the battlefield and start the escape back to France. Later, Bl " uc her and Wellington met each other near the Belle Alliance farmhouse and congratulated each other with the final victory over Napoleon.

On the 18th of June 1815, 91,300 soldiers fought one of the most decisive battles in the history of Europe in only one day. The Wellington army had 67,000 soldiers, Bl " uc her's army 52,300 and Napoleon's army 72,000. A total of 48,500 men fell or were severely wounded. After the battle, the territory of the battlefield was given to the Wellington family by the newly formed state of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Later several monuments were erected in commemoration of the different army divisions who fought the battle of Waterloo. Defeat at The Battle of Waterloo ended Napoleon's hundred days reign; he was exiled to the island of St Helena where he died in 1821.

Bl " uc her was defeated by Davout, the Minister of War, as his army attempted to march on Paris. Wellington fought his last battle at Waterloo and became a hero, throughout Europe. He was Commander-in-Chief during the occupation of France and advocated a non-punitive peace deal. He organized loans to restore French finances and advised the withdrawal of troops after three years. He returned home in 1818 and became Prime Minister in 1828.