Waterloo


in the summer of 1815, napoleon found himself again facing wellington, this time in belgium. he intended to divide the prussian and british armies and destroy them in detail. on june 16th, napoleon led half his army into battle against the prussians at ligny while ney led the other half against the british at quatre bras. two days later, napoleon faced wellington for the last time. after the battle of ligny and quatre bras, napoleon advanced on the british army which was concentrated at mont st. jean, belgium. the british had arrayed their forces in a defensive posture on a slight ridge that overlooked a marshy valley. wellington had anchored his right flank on a stone farmhouse called chateau de hougoumont. in the center of his line was another farmhouse know as la haye saint. both of these farmhouses had almost been converted into fortresses, giving the british excellent defensive strongpoints. on the day of the battle, napoleon launched a three pronged a...