page_title: Waterloo campaign
section_title: Waterloo (18 June)
hierarchical_section_title: Waterloo campaign / Waterloo (18 June)
caption_attribution_description: English: Plas Newydd (Anglesey). "Waterloo" - Painting by Denis Dighton: British 1st Foot Guards. Deutsch: Plas Newydd (Anglesey). "Waterloo" - Gemälde von Denis Dighton &#160;(1792&#8211;1827)&#160;&#160;Alternative names Dighton; DeightonDescriptionEnglish painterDate of birth/death 1792&#160; 8 August 1827&#160;Location of birth/death London&#160; Saint-Servant&#160;Authority control : Q5257201 VIAF:&#8201;10121446 ISNI:&#8201;0000 0000 6660 2945 ULAN:&#8201;500019407 LCCN:&#8201;n2002079523 Oxford Dict.:&#8201;7641 WorldCat creator QS:P170,Q5257201 Britische 1st Foot Guards.
context_page_description: The Waterloo Campaign was fought between the French Army of the North and two Seventh Coalition armies, an Anglo-allied army and a Prussian army. Initially the French army was commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte, but he left for Paris after the French defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. Command then rested on Marshals Soult and Grouchy, who were in turn replaced by Marshal Davout, who took command at the request of the French Provisional Government. The Anglo-allied army was commanded by the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian army by Prince Blücher.
  The war between France and the Seventh Coalition came when the other European Great Powers refused to recognise Napoleon as Emperor of the French upon his return from exile on the island of Elba, and declared war on him, rather than France, as they still recognised Louis XVIII as the king of France and considered Napoleon a usurper. Rather than wait for the Coalition to invade France, Napoleon decided to attack his enemies and hope to defeat them in detail before they could launch their combined and coordinated invasion.
context_section_description: It was at Waterloo on 18 June 1815 that the decisive battle of the campaign took place. The start of the battle was delayed for several hours as Napoleon waited until the ground had dried from the previous night's rain. By late afternoon the French army had not succeeded in driving Wellington's forces from the escarpment on which they stood. Once the Prussians arrived, attacking the French right flank in ever increasing numbers, Napoleon's key strategy of keeping the Seventh Coalition armies divided had failed and his army was driven from the field in confusion, by a combined coalition general advance.
  On the morning of 18 June 1815 Napoleon sent orders to Marshal Grouchy, commander of the right wing of the Army of the North, to harass the Prussians to stop them reforming. These orders arrived at around 06:00 and his corps began to move out at 08:00; by 12:00 the cannon from the Battle of Waterloo could be heard. Grouchy's corps commanders, especially Gérard, advised that they should "march to the sound of the guns". As this was contrary to Napoleon's orders ("you will be the sword against the Prussians' back driving them through Wavre and join me here") Grouchy decided not to take the advice. It became apparent that neither Napoleon nor Marshal Grouchy understood that the Prussian army was no longer either routed or disorganised. Any thoughts of joining Napoleon were dashed when a second order repeating the same instructions arrived around 16:00.
caption: Battle of Waterloo
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