Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday , 18 June 1815 , near Waterloo in present - day Belgium , then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands . An Imperial French army under the command of Emperor Napoleon was defeated by the armies of the Seventh Coalition , comprising an Anglo - allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington combined with a Prussia n army under the command of Gebhard von Blücher . It was the culminating battle of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleon ' s last . The defeat at Waterloo ended 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 formed the Seventh Coalition and began to mobilise armies . Two large forces under Wellington and Blücher assembled close to the north - eastern border of France . Napoleon chose to attack in the hope of destroying them before they could 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 ) occurred at the Battle of Waterloo . According to Wellington , the battle was " the nearest - run thing you ever saw in your life " . Napoleon delayed 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 , withstood repeated attacks by the French , until , in the evening , the Prussians arrived in force and broke through Napoleon ' s right flank . At that moment , Wellington ' s Anglo - allied army counter - attacked and drove the French army in disorder from the field . Pursuing coalition forces entered France and restored King Louis XVIII to the French throne . Napoleon abdicated , surrendered to the British , and was exiled to Saint Helena , where he died in 1821 . The battlefield is in present - day Belgium , about south by south - east of Brussels , and about from the town of Waterloo . The site of the battlefield is today dominated by a large monument , the Lion ' s 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 . Prelude . On 13 March 1815 , six days before Napoleon reached Paris , the powers at the Congress of Vienna . Four days later , the United Kingdom , Russia , Austria , and Prussia mobilised armies to defeat Napoleon . Napoleon knew that once his attempts at dissuading one or more of the Seventh Coalition allies from invading France had failed , his only chance of remaining in power was to attack before the coalition mobilised . If he could destroy the existing coalition forces south of Brussels before they were reinforced , he might be able to drive the British back to the sea and knock the Prussians out of the war . An additional consideration was that there were many French - speaking sympathisers in Belgium and a French victory might trigger a friendly revolution there . Also , the British troops in Belgium were largely second - line troops ; most of the veterans of the Peninsular War had been sent to America to fight the War of 1812 . Wellington ' s initial dispositions were intended to counter the threat of Napoleon enveloping the Coalition armies by moving through Mons to the south - west of Brussels . This would have cut Wellington ' s communications with his base at Ostend , but would have pushed his army closer to Blücher ' s . Napoleon manipulated Wellington ' s fear of this loss of his supply chain from the channel ports with false intelligence . He divided his army into a left wing commanded by Marshal Ney , a right wing commanded by Marshal Grouchy , and a reserve , which he commanded personally ( although all three elements remained close enough to support one another ) . Crossing the frontier near Charleroi before dawn on 15 June , the French rapidly overran Coalition outposts , securing Napoleon ' s " central position " between Wellington ' s and Blücher ' s armies . Only very late on the night of 15 June was Wellington certain that the Charleroi attack was the main French thrust . In the early hours of 16 June , at the Duchess of Richmond ' s ball in Brussels , he received a dispatch from the Prince of Orange and was shocked by the speed of Napoleon ' s advance . He hastily ordered his army to concentrate on Quatre Bras , where the Prince of Orange , with the brigade of Prince Bernhard of Saxe - Weimar , was holding a tenuous position against the soldiers of Ney ' s left wing . Ney ' s orders were to secure the crossroads of Quatre Bras , so that , if necessary , he could later swing east and reinforce Napoleon . Napoleon moved against the concentrated Prussian army first . On 16 June , with a part of the reserve and the right wing of the army , he attacked and defeated Blücher ' s Prussians at the Battle of Ligny . The Prussian centre gave way under more heavy French assaults , but the flanks held their ground . Ney , meanwhile , found the crossroads of Quatre Bras lightly held by the Prince of Orange , who successfully repelled Ney ' s initial attacks , but was gradually driven back by overwhelming numbers of French troops . First reinforcements and then Wellington himself arrived . He took command and drove Ney back , securing the crossroads by early evening , but too late to send help to the Prussians , who were defeated at the Battle of Ligny on the same day . The Prussian defeat made Wellington ' s position at Quatre Bras untenable , so the next day he withdrew northwards , to a defensive position he had personally reconnoitred the previous year — the low ridge of Mont - Saint - Jean , south of the village of Waterloo and the Sonian Forest . The Prussian retreat from Ligny went uninterrupted , and seemingly unnoticed , by the French . The bulk of their rearguard units held their positions until about midnight , and some elements did not move out until the following morning , completely ignored by the French . Crucially , the Prussians did not retreat to the east , along their own lines of communication . Instead , they too fell back northwards — parallel to Wellington ' s line of march , still within supporting distance , and in communication with him throughout . The Prussians rallied on Bülow s IV Corps , which had not been engaged at Ligny and was in a strong position south of Wavre . Napoleon , with the reserves , made a late start on 17 June and joined Ney at Quatre Bras at 13 : 00 to attack Wellington ' s army , but found the position empty . The French pursued Wellington , but the result was only a brief cavalry skirmish in Genappe just as torrential rain set in for the night . Before leaving Ligny , Napoleon ordered Grouchy , commander of the right wing , to follow up the retreating Prussians with 33 , 000 men . A late start , uncertainty about the direction the Prussians had taken , and the vagueness of the orders given to him meant that Grouchy was too late to prevent the Prussian army reaching Wavre , from where it could march to support Wellington . By the end of 17 June , Wellington ' s army had arrived at its position at Waterloo , with the main body of Napoleon ' s army following . Blücher ' s army was gathering in and around Wavre , around to the east of the city . Armies . Three armies were involved in the battle : Napoleon ' s " Armée du Nord " ; a multinational army under Wellington ; and a Prussian army under Blücher . The French army of around 69 , 000 consisted of 48 , 000 infantry , 14 , 000 cavalry , and 7 , 000 artillery with 250 guns . Napoleon had used conscription to fill the ranks of the French army throughout his rule , but he did not conscript men for the 1815 campaign . All his troops were veterans of at least one campaign who had returned more or less voluntarily to the colours . The cavalry in particular was both numerous and formidable , and included fourteen regiments of armoured heavy cavalry and seven of highly versatile lancers . Wellington claimed that he himself had " an infamous army , very weak and ill - equipped , and a very inexperienced Staff " . His troops consisted of 67 , 000 men : 50 , 000 infantry , 11 , 000 cavalry , and 6 , 000 artillery with 150 guns . Of these , 25 , 000 were British , with another 6 , 000 from the King ' s German Legion . All of the British Army troops were regular soldiers but only 7 , 000 of them were Peninsular War veterans . In addition , there were 17 , 000 Dutch and Belgian troops , 11 , 000 from Hanover , 6 , 000 from Brunswick , and 3 , 000 from Nassau . Many of the troops in the Coalition armies were inexperienced . The Dutch army had been re - established in 1815 , following the earlier defeat of Napoleon . With the exception of the British and some from Hanover and Brunswick who had fought with the British army in Spain , many of the professional soldiers in the Coalition armies had spent some of their time in the French army or in armies allied to the Napoleonic regime . Wellington was also acutely short of heavy cavalry , having only seven British and three Dutch regiments . The Duke of York imposed many of his staff officers on Wellington , including his second - in - command , the Earl of Uxbridge . Uxbridge commanded the cavalry and had carte blanche from Wellington to commit these forces at his discretion . Wellington stationed a further 17 , 000 troops at Halle , away to the west ; they were not recalled to participate in the battle but were to serve as a fallback position should the battle be lost . They were mostly composed of Dutch troops under Prince of Orange ' s younger brother Prince Frederik of the Netherlands . The Prussian army was in the throes of reorganisation . In 1815 , the former Reserve regiments , Legions , and " Freikorps " volunteer formations from the wars of 1813 – 1814 were in the process of being absorbed into the line , along with many " Landwehr " ( militia ) regiments . The " Landwehr " were mostly untrained and unequipped when they arrived in Belgium . The Prussian cavalry were in a similar state . Its artillery was also reorganising and did not give its best performance – guns and equipment continued to arrive during and after the battle . Off - setting these handicaps , however , the Prussian Army did have excellent and professional leadership in its General Staff organisation . These officers came from four schools developed for this purpose and thus worked to a common standard of training . This system was in marked contrast to the conflicting , vague orders issued by the French army . This staff system ensured that before Ligny , three - quarters of the Prussian army concentrated for battle at 24 hours notice . After Ligny , the Prussian army , although defeated , was able to realign its supply train , reorganise itself , and intervene decisively on the Waterloo battlefield within 48 hours . Two and a half Prussian army corps , or 48 , 000 men , were engaged at Waterloo – two brigades under Friedrich von Bülow , commander of IV Corps , attacked Lobau at 16 : 30 , while Zieten ' s I Corps and parts of Georg von Pirch s II Corps engaged at about 18 : 00 . Battlefield . The Waterloo position was a strong one . It consisted of a long ridge running east - west , perpendicular to , and bisected by , the main road to Brussels . Along the crest of the ridge ran the Ohain road , a deep sunken lane . Near the crossroads with the Brussels road was a large elm tree that was roughly in the centre of Wellington ' s position and served as his command post for much of the day . Wellington deployed his infantry in a line just behind the crest of the ridge following the Ohain road . Using the reverse slope , as he had many times previously , Wellington concealed his strength from the French , with the exception of his skirmishers and artillery . The length of front of the battlefield was also relatively short at . This allowed Wellington to draw up his forces in depth , which he did in the centre and on the right , all the way towards the village of Braine - l ' Alleud , in the expectation that the Prussians would reinforce his left during the day . In front of the ridge , there were three positions that could be fortified . On the extreme right were the château , garden , and orchard of Hougoumont . This was a large and well - built country house , initially hidden in trees . The house faced north along a sunken , covered lane ( usually described by the British as " the hollow - way " ) along which it could be supplied . On the extreme left was the hamlet of Papelotte . Both Hougoumont and Papelotte were fortified and garrisoned , and thus anchored Wellington ' s flanks securely . Papelotte also commanded the road to Wavre that the Prussians would use to send reinforcements to Wellington ' s position . On the western side of the main road , and in front of the rest of Wellington ' s line , was the farmhouse and orchard of La Haye Sainte , which was garrisoned with 400 light infantry of the King ' s German Legion . On the opposite side of the road was a disused sand quarry , where the 95th Rifles were posted as sharpshooters . This position presented a formidable challenge to an attacker . Any attempt to turn Wellington ' s right would entail taking the entrenched Hougoumont position ; any attack on his right centre would mean the attackers would have to march between enfilading fire from Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte . On the left , any attack would also be enfiladed by fire from La Haye Sainte and its adjoining sandpit , and any attempt at turning the left flank would entail fighting through the streets and hedgerows of Papelotte , and some very wet ground . The French army formed on the slopes of another ridge to the south . Napoleon could not see Wellington ' s positions , so he drew his forces up symmetrically about the Brussels road . On the right was I Corps under d ' Erlon with 16 , 000 infantry and 1 , 500 cavalry , plus a cavalry reserve of 4 , 700 . On the left was II Corps under Reille with 13 , 000 infantry , and 1 , 300 cavalry , and a cavalry reserve of 4 , 600 . In the centre about the road south of the inn " La Belle Alliance " were a reserve including Lobau ' s VI Corps with 6 , 000 men , the 13 , 000 infantry of the Imperial Guard , and a cavalry reserve of 2 , 000 . In the right rear of the French position was the substantial village of Plancenoit , and at the extreme right , the " Bois de Paris " wood . Napoleon initially commanded the battle from Rossomme farm , where he could see the entire battlefield , but moved to a position near " La Belle Alliance " early in the afternoon . Command on the battlefield ( which was largely hidden from his view ) was delegated to Ney . Battle . Preparation . Wellington rose at around 02 : 00 or 03 : 00 on 18 June , and wrote letters until dawn . He had earlier written to Blücher confirming that he would give battle at Mont - Saint - Jean if Blücher could provide him with at least one corps ; otherwise he would retreat towards Brussels . At a late - night council , Blücher ' s chief of staff , August Neidhardt von Gneisenau , had been distrustful of Wellington ' s strategy , but Blücher persuaded him that they should march to join Wellington ' s army . In the morning Wellington duly received a reply from Blücher , promising to support him with three corps . From 06 : 00 Wellington was in the field supervising the deployment of his forces . At Wavre , the Prussian IV Corps under Bülow was designated to lead the march to Waterloo as it was in the best shape , not having been involved in the Battle of Ligny . Although they had not taken casualties , IV Corps had been marching for two days , covering the retreat of the three other corps of the Prussian army from the battlefield of Ligny . They had been posted farthest away from the battlefield , and progress was very slow . The roads were in poor condition after the night ' s heavy rain , and Bülow ' s men had to pass through the congested streets of Wavre and move up 88 artillery pieces . Matters were not helped when a fire broke out in Wavre , blocking several streets along Bülow ' s intended route . As a result , the last part of the corps left at 10 : 00 , six hours after the leading elements had moved out towards Waterloo . Bülow ' s men were followed to Waterloo first by I Corps and then by II Corps . Napoleon breakfasted off silver plate at " Le Caillou " , the house where he had spent the night . When Soult suggested that Grouchy should be recalled to join the main force , Napoleon said , " Just because you have all been beaten by Wellington , you think he ' s a good general . I tell you Wellington is a bad general , the English are bad troops , and this affair is nothing more than eating breakfast " . However , Napoleon ' s surprisingly dismissive statements should not be taken at face value , given the Emperor ' s maxim that " in war , morale is everything " and that praising the enemy is always wrong , as it reduces one ' s morale . Indeed , he had been seen engaging in such pre - battle , morale - boosting harangues on a number of occasions in the past and on the morning of the battle of Waterloo he had to deal with his chief of staff ' s pessimism and nervousness and had to respond to several persistent and almost defeatist objections from some of his senior generals . Later on , being told by his brother , Jerome , of some gossip overheard by a waiter between British officers at lunch at the ' King of Spain ' inn in Genappe that the Prussians were to march over from Wavre , Napoleon declared that the Prussians would need at least two days to recover and would be dealt with by Grouchy . Surprisingly , Jerome ' s overheard gossip aside , the French commanders present at the pre - battle conference at " Le Caillou " had no information about the alarming proximity of the Prussians and did not suspect that Blücher ' s men would start erupting onto the field of battle in great numbers just five hours later . Napoleon had delayed the start of the battle owing to the sodden ground , which would have made manoeuvring cavalry and artillery difficult . In addition , many of his forces had bivouacked well to the south of " La Belle Alliance " . At 10 : 00 , in response to a dispatch he had received from Grouchy six hours earlier , he sent a reply telling Grouchy to " head for Wavre [ to Grouchy ' s north ] in order to draw near to us [ to the west of Grouchy ] " and then " push before him " the Prussians to arrive at Waterloo " as soon as possible " . At 11 : 00 , Napoleon drafted his general order : Reille ' s Corps on the left and d ' Erlon ' s Corps to the right were to attack the village of Mont - Saint - Jean and keep abreast of one another . This order assumed Wellington ' s battle - line was in the village , rather than at the more forward position on the ridge . To enable this , Jerome ' s division would make an initial attack on Hougoumont , which Napoleon expected would draw in Wellington ' s reserves , since its loss would threaten his communications with the sea . A " grande batterie " of the reserve artillery of I , II , and VI Corps was to then bombard the centre of Wellington ' s position from about 13 : 00 . D ' Erlon ' s corps would then attack Wellington ' s left , break through , and roll up his line from east to west . In his memoirs , Napoleon wrote that his intention was to separate Wellington ' s army from the Prussians and drive it back towards the sea . Hougoumont . The historian Andrew Roberts notes that " It is a curious fact about the Battle of Waterloo that no one is absolutely certain when it actually began " . Wellington recorded in his dispatches that at " about ten o ' clock [ Napoleon ] commenced a furious attack upon our post at Hougoumont " . Other sources state that the attack began around 11 : 30 . The house and its immediate environs were defended by four light companies of Guards , and the wood and park by Hanoverian " Jäger " and the 1 / 2nd Nassau . The initial attack by Bauduin ' s brigade emptied the wood and park , but was driven back by heavy British artillery fire , and cost Bauduin his life . As the British guns were distracted by a duel with French artillery , a second attack by Soye ' s brigade and what had been Bauduin ' s succeeded in reaching the north gate of the house . Some French troops managed to enter its courtyard before the gate was re - secured . The 2nd Coldstream Guards and 2 / 3rd Foot Guards then arrived and repulsed the attack . Fighting continued around Hougoumont all afternoon . Its surroundings were heavily invested by French light infantry , and coordinated attacks were made against the troops behind Hougoumont . Wellington ' s army defended the house and the hollow way running north from it . In the afternoon , Napoleon personally ordered the house to be shelled to set it on fire , resulting in the destruction of all but the chapel . Du Plat ' s brigade of the King ' s German Legion was brought forward to defend the hollow way , which they had to do without senior officers . Eventually they were relieved by the 71st Foot , a British infantry regiment . Adam ' s brigade was further reinforced by Hugh Halkett ' s 3rd Hanoverian Brigade , and successfully repulsed further infantry and cavalry attacks sent by Reille . Hougoumont held out until the end of the battle . The fighting at Hougoumont has often been characterised as a diversionary attack to draw in Wellington ' s reserves which escalated into an all - day battle and drew in French reserves instead . In fact there is a good case to believe that both Napoleon and Wellington thought that holding Hougoumont was key to winning the battle . Hougoumont was a part of the battlefield that Napoleon could see clearly , and he continued to direct resources towards it and its surroundings all afternoon ( 33 battalions in all , 14 , 000 troops ) . Similarly , though the house never contained a large number of troops , Wellington devoted 21 battalions ( 12 , 000 troops ) over the course of the afternoon in keeping the hollow way open to allow fresh troops and ammunition to reach the buildings . He moved several artillery batteries from his hard - pressed centre to support Hougoumont , and later stated that " the success of the battle turned upon closing the gates at Hougoumont " . First French infantry attack . The 80 guns of Napoleon ' s " grande batterie " drew up in the centre . These opened fire at 11 : 50 , according to Lord Hill ( commander of the Anglo - allied II Corps ) , while other sources put the time between noon and 13 : 30 . The " grande batterie " was too far back to aim accurately , and the only other troops they could see were skirmishers of the regiments of Kempt and Pack , and Perponcher ' s 2nd Dutch division ( the others were employing Wellington ' s characteristic " reverse slope defence " ) . Nevertheless , the bombardment caused a large number of casualties . Though some projectiles buried themselves in the soft soil , most found their marks on the reverse slope of the ridge . The bombardment forced the cavalry of the Union Brigade ( in third line ) to move to its left , as did the Scots Greys , to reduce their casualty rate . At about 13 : 00 , Napoleon saw the first columns of Prussians around the village of Lasne - Chapelle - Saint - Lambert , four or five miles ( three hours march for an army ) away from his right flank . Napoleon ' s reaction was to have Marshal Soult send a message to Grouchy telling him to come towards the battlefield and attack the arriving Prussians . Grouchy , however , had been executing Napoleon ' s previous orders to follow the Prussians " with your sword against his back " towards Wavre , and was by then too far away to reach Waterloo . Grouchy was advised by his subordinate , Gérard , to " march to the sound of the guns " , but stuck to his orders and engaged the Prussian III Corps rear guard under the command of Lieutenant - General Baron Johann von Thielmann at the Battle of Wavre . Moreover , Soult ' s letter ordering Grouchy to move quickly to join Napoleon and attack Bülow wouldn ' t actually reach Grouchy until after 18 : 00 . A little after 13 : 00 , I Corps ' attack began . D ' Erlon , like Ney , had encountered Wellington in Spain , and was aware of the British commander ' s favoured tactic of using massed short - range musketry to drive off infantry columns . Rather than use the usual nine - deep French columns deployed abreast of one another , therefore , each division advanced in closely spaced battalion lines behind one another . This allowed them to concentrate their fire , but it did not leave room for them to change formation . The formation was initially effective . Its leftmost division , under François - Xavier Donzelot , advanced on La Haye Sainte . While one battalion engaged the defenders from the front , the following battalions fanned out to either side and , with the support of several squadrons of cuirassiers , succeeded in isolating the farmhouse . The Prince of Orange saw that La Haye Sainte had been cut off , and tried to reinforce it by sending forward the Hanoverian Lüneberg Battalion in line . Cuirassiers concealed in a fold in the ground caught and destroyed it in minutes , and then rode on past La Haye Sainte almost to the crest of the ridge , where they covered d ' Erlon ' s left flank as his attack developed . At about 13 : 30 , d ' Erlon started to advance his three other divisions , some 14 , 000 men over a front of about against Wellington ' s left wing . At the point they aimed for they faced 6 , 000 men : the first line consisted of the Dutch 1st " Bijlandt " brigade of the 2nd Dutch division , flanked by the British regiments of Kempt and Pack on either side . The second line consisted of British and Hanoverian troops under Sir Thomas Picton , who were lying down in dead ground behind the ridge . All had suffered badly at Quatre Bras . In addition , the Bijlandt brigade had been ordered to deploy its skirmishers in the hollow road and on the forward slope . The rest of the brigade was lying down just behind the road . At the moment these skirmishers were rejoining their parent battalions the brigade was ordered to its feet and started to return fire . On the left of the brigade , where the 7th Dutch Militia stood , a " few files were shot down and an opening in the line thus occurred " . The battalion had no reserves and was unable to close the gap . D ' Erlon ' s troops pushed through this gap in the line and the remaining battalions in the Bijlandt brigade ( 8th Dutch Militia and Belgian 7th Line Battalion ) were forced to retreat to the square of the 5th Dutch Militia , which was in reserve between Picton ' s troops , about 100 paces to the rear . There they regrouped under the command of Colonel Van Zuylen van Nijevelt . A moment later the Prince of Orange ordered a counterattack , which actually occurred around 10 minutes later . Bylandt was wounded and retired of the field , passing command of the Brigade to Lt . Kol . De Jongh . In the mean time , d ' Erlon ' s men began to ascend the slope , and as they did so , Picton ' s men stood up and opened fire . The French infantry returned fire and successfully pressed the British troops ; although the attack faltered at the centre the line in front of d ' Erlon ' s left started to crumble . Picton was killed after ordering the counter - attack and the British and Hanoverian troops also began to give way under the pressure of numbers . Charge of the British heavy cavalry . At this crucial juncture , Uxbridge ordered his two brigades of British heavy cavalry , formed unseen behind the ridge , to charge in support of the hard - pressed infantry . The 1st Brigade , known as the Household Brigade , commanded by Major - General Lord Edward Somerset , consisted of guards regiments : the 1st and 2nd Life Guards , the Royal Horse Guards ( the Blues ) , and the 1st ( King ' s ) Dragoon Guards . The 2nd Brigade , also known as the Union Brigade , commanded by Major - General Sir William Ponsonby , was so called as it consisted of an English , the 1st ( The Royals ) ; a Scottish , 2nd ( ' Scots Greys ' ) ; and an Irish , 6th ( Inniskilling ) ; regiment of heavy dragoons . More than 20 years of warfare had eroded the numbers of suitable cavalry mounts available on the European continent ; this resulted in the British heavy cavalry entering the 1815 campaign with the finest horses of any contemporary cavalry arm . They also received excellent mounted swordsmanship training . They were , however , inferior to the French in manoeuvring in large formations , cavalier in attitude , and unlike the infantry had scant experience of warfare . According to Wellington , they had little tactical ability or common sense . The two brigades had a combined field strength of about 2 , 000 ( 2 , 651 official strength ) ; they charged with the 47 - year - old Uxbridge leading them and a very inadequate number of squadrons held in reserve . There is evidence that Uxbridge gave an order , the morning of the battle , to all cavalry brigade commanders to commit their commands on their own initiative , as direct orders from himself might not always be forthcoming , and to " support movements to their front " . It appears that Uxbridge expected the brigades of Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur , Hussey Vivian and the Dutch cavalry to provide support to the British heavies . Uxbridge later regretted leading the charge in person , saying " I committed a great mistake " , when he should have been organising an adequate reserve to move forward in support . The Household Brigade crossed the crest of the Allied position and charged downhill . The cuirassiers guarding d ' Erlon ' s left flank were still dispersed , and so were swept over the deeply sunken main road and then routed . The sunken lane acted as a trap , funnelling the flight of the French cavalry to their own right and away from the British cavalry . Some of the cuirassiers then found themselves hemmed in by the steep sides of the sunken lane , with a confused mass of their own infantry in front of them , the 95th Rifles firing at them from the north side of the lane , and Somerset ' s heavy cavalry still pressing them from behind . The novelty of fighting armoured foes impressed the British cavalrymen , as was recorded by the commander of the Household Brigade . Continuing their attack , the squadrons on the left of the Household Brigade then destroyed Aulard ' s brigade . Despite attempts to recall them , however , they continued past La Haye Sainte and found themselves at the bottom of the hill on blown horses facing Schmitz ' s brigade formed in squares . To their left , the Union Brigade suddenly swept through the infantry lines ( giving rise to the legend that some of the 92nd Gordon Highland Regiment clung onto their stirrups and accompanied them into the charge ) . From the centre leftwards , the Royal Dragoons destroyed Bourgeois ' brigade , capturing the eagle of the 105th " Ligne " . The Inniskillings routed the other brigade of Quoit ' s division , and the Greys destroyed most of Nogue ' s brigade , capturing the eagle of the 45th Ligne . On Wellington ' s extreme left , Pierre François Joseph Durutte ' s division had time to form squares and fend off groups of Greys . As with the Household Cavalry , the officers of the Royals and Inniskillings found it very difficult to rein back their troops , who lost all cohesion . James Hamilton , commander of the Greys ( who were supposed to form a reserve ) ordered a continuation of the charge to the French " grande batterie " . Though the Greys had neither the time nor means to disable the cannon or carry them off , they put very many out of action as the gun crews were killed or fled the battlefield . Napoleon promptly responded by ordering a counter - attack by the cuirassier brigades of Farine and Travers and Jaquinot ' s two Chevau - léger ( lancer ) regiments in the I Corps light cavalry division . The result was very heavy losses for the British cavalry . All figures quoted for the losses of the cavalry brigades as a result of this charge are estimates , as casualties were only noted down after the day of the battle and were for the battle as a whole . Some historians believe the official rolls tend to overestimate the number of cavalrymen present in their squadrons on the field of battle and that the proportionate losses were , as a result , considerably higher than the numbers on paper might suggest . The Union Brigade lost heavily in both officers and men killed ( including its commander , William Ponsonby , and Colonel Hamilton of the Scots Greys ) and wounded . The 2nd Life Guards and the King ' s Dragoon Guards of the Household Brigade also lost heavily ( with Colonel Fuller , commander of the King ' s DG , killed ) . However , the 1st Life Guards , on the extreme right of the charge , and the Blues , who formed a reserve , had kept their cohesion and consequently suffered significantly fewer casualties . A counter - charge , by British light dragoons under Major - General Vandeleur and Dutch - Belgian light dragoons and hussar s under Major - General Ghigny on the left wing , and Dutch - Belgian " carabinier s " under Major - General Trip in the centre , repelled the French cavalry . Many popular histories suggest that the British heavy cavalry were destroyed as a viable force following their first , epic charge . Examination of eyewitness accounts reveal , however , that far from being ineffective , they continued to provide very valuable services . They counter - charged French cavalry numerous times ( both brigades ) , halted a combined cavalry and infantry attack ( Household Brigade only ) , were used to bolster the morale of those units in their vicinity at times of crisis , and filled gaps in the Anglo - allied line caused by high casualties in infantry formations ( both brigades ) . This service was rendered at a very high cost , as close combat with French cavalry , carbine fire , infantry musketry and – more deadly than all of these – artillery fire steadily eroded the number of effectives in the two brigades . At the end of the fighting the two brigades , by this time combined , could muster one squadron . Some 20 , 000 French troops had been committed to this attack . Its failure cost Napoleon not only heavy casualties – 3 , 000 prisoners were taken – but valuable time , as the Prussians now began to appear on the field to his right . Napoleon sent his reserve , Lobau ' s VI corps and two cavalry divisions , some 15 , 000 troops , to hold them back . With this , Napoleon had committed all of his infantry reserves , except the Guard , and he now had to beat Wellington not only quickly , but with inferior numbers . The French cavalry attack . A little before 16 : 00 , Ney noted an apparent exodus from Wellington ' s centre . He mistook the movement of casualties to the rear for the beginnings of a retreat , and sought to exploit it . Following the defeat of d ' Erlon ' s Corps , Ney had few infantry reserves left , as most of the infantry been committed either to the futile Hougoumont attack or to the defence of the French right . Ney therefore tried to break Wellington ' s centre with cavalry alone . Initially Milhaud ' s reserve cavalry corps of cuirassiers and Lefebvre - Desnoëttes ' light cavalry division of the Imperial Guard , some 4 , 800 sabres , were committed . When these were repulsed , Kellermann ' s heavy cavalry corps and Guyot ' s heavy cavalry of the Guard were added to the massed assault , a total of around 9 , 000 cavalry in 67 squadrons . Wellington ' s infantry responded by forming squares ( hollow box - formations four ranks deep ) . Squares were much smaller than usually depicted in paintings of the battle – a 500 - man battalion square would have been no more than 60 feet ( 18 m ) in length on a side . Vulnerable to artillery or infantry , squares that stood their ground were deadly to cavalry , because they could not be outflanked and because horses would not charge into a hedge of bayonets . Wellington ordered his artillery crews to take shelter within the squares as the cavalry approached , and to return to their guns and resume fire as they retreated . Witnesses in the British infantry recorded as many as 12 assaults , though this probably includes successive waves of the same general attack ; the number of general assaults was undoubtedly far fewer . Kellermann , recognising the futility of the attacks , tried to reserve the elite " carabinier " brigade from joining in , but eventually Ney spotted them and insisted on their involvement . A British eyewitness of the first French cavalry attack , an officer in the Foot Guards , recorded his impressions very lucidly and somewhat poetically : In essence this type of massed cavalry attack relied almost entirely on psychological shock for effect . Close artillery support could disrupt infantry squares and allow cavalry to penetrate ; at Waterloo , however , co - operation between the French cavalry and artillery was not impressive . The French artillery did not get close enough to the Anglo - allied infantry in sufficient numbers to be decisive . Artillery fire between charges did produce mounting casualties , but most of this fire was at relatively long range and was often indirect , at targets beyond the ridge . If infantry being attacked held firm in their square defensive formations , and were not panicked , cavalry on their own could do very little damage to them . The French cavalry attacks were repeatedly repelled by the steadfast infantry squares , the harrying fire of British artillery as the French cavalry recoiled down the slopes to regroup , and the decisive counter - charges of Wellington ' s light cavalry regiments , the Dutch heavy cavalry brigade , and the remaining effectives of the Household Cavalry . At least one artillery officer disobeyed Wellington ' s order to seek shelter in the adjacent squares during the charges . Captain Mercer , who commanded ' G ' Troop , Royal Horse Artillery , thought the Brunswick troops on either side of him so shaky that he kept his battery of six nine - pounders in action against the cavalry throughout , to great effect : For reasons that remain unclear , no attempt was made to spike other allied guns while they were in French possession . In line with Wellington ' s orders , gunners were able to return to their pieces and fire into the French cavalry as they withdrew after each attack . After numerous costly but fruitless attacks on the Mont - Saint - Jean ridge , the French cavalry was spent . Their casualties cannot easily be estimated . Senior French cavalry officers , in particular the generals , experienced heavy losses . Four divisional commanders were wounded , nine brigadiers wounded , and one killed – testament to their courage and their habit of leading from the front . Illustratively , Houssaye reports that the " Grenadiers à Cheval " numbered 796 of all ranks on 15 June , but just 462 on 19 June , while the Empress Dragoons lost 416 of 816 over the same period . Overall Guyot ' s Guard heavy cavalry division lost 47 per cent of its strength . Eventually it became obvious , even to Ney , that cavalry alone were achieving little . Belatedly , he organised a combined - arms attack , using Bachelu ' s division and Tissot ' s regiment of Foy ' s division from Reille ' s II Corps ( about 6 , 500 infantrymen ) plus those French cavalry that remained in a fit state to fight . This assault was directed along much the same route as the previous heavy cavalry attacks . It was halted by a charge of the Household Brigade cavalry led by Uxbridge . The British cavalry were unable , however , to break the French infantry , and fell back with losses from musketry fire . Uxbridge recorded that he tried to lead the Dutch Carabiniers , under Major - General Trip , to renew the attack and that they refused to follow him . Other members of the British cavalry staff also commented on this occurrence . However , there is no support for this incident in Dutch or Belgian sources , Meanwhile , Bachelu ' s and Tissot ' s men and their cavalry supports were being hard hit by fire from artillery and from Adam ' s infantry brigade , and they eventually fell back . Although the French cavalry caused few direct casualties to Wellington ' s centre , artillery fire onto his infantry squares caused many . Wellington ' s cavalry , except for Sir John Vandeleur ' s and Sir Hussey Vivian ' s brigades on the far left , had all been committed to the fight , and had taken significant losses . The situation appeared so desperate that the Cumberland Hussars , the only Hanoverian cavalry regiment present , fled the field spreading alarm all the way to Brussels . At approximately the same time as Ney ' s combined - arms assault on the centre - right of Wellington ' s line , rallied elements of D ' Erlon ' s I Corps , spearheaded by the 13th " Légère , " renewed the attack on La Haye Sainte , and this time were successful ( partly because the defenders ' ammunition ran out ) . Ney then moved horse artillery up towards Wellington ' s centre and began to pulverise the infantry squares at short - range with canister . This all but destroyed the 27th ( Inniskilling ) Regiment , and the 30th and 73rd Regiments suffered such heavy losses that they had to combine to form a viable square . Arrival of the Prussian IV Corps : Plancenoit . The first Prussian corps to arrive was Bülow ' s IV Corps . His objective was Plancenoit , which the Prussians intended to use as a springboard into the rear of the French positions . Blücher intended to secure his right upon Frichermont using the Bois de Paris road . Blücher and Wellington had been exchanging communications since 10 : 00 and had agreed to this advance on Frichermont if Wellington ' s centre was under attack . General Bülow noted that the way to Plancenoit lay open and that the time was 16 : 30 . At about this time , as the French cavalry attack was in full spate , the 15th Brigade IV Corps was sent to link up with the Nassauers of Wellington ' s left flank in the Frichermont - La Haie area with the brigade ' s horse artillery battery and additional brigade artillery deployed to its left in support . Napoleon sent Lobau ' s corps to intercept the rest of Bülow ' s IV Corps proceeding to Plancenoit . The 15th Brigade threw Lobau ' s troops out of Frichermont with a determined bayonet charge , then proceeded up the Frichermont heights , battering French Chasseurs with 12 - pounder artillery fire , and pushed on to Plancenoit . This sent Lobau ' s corps into retreat to the Plancenoit area , and in effect drove Lobau past the rear of the " Armee Du Nord ' s " right flank and directly threatened its only line of retreat . Hiller ' s 16th Brigade also pushed forward with six battalions against Plancenoit . Napoleon had dispatched all eight battalions of the Young Guard to reinforce Lobau , who was now seriously pressed . The Young Guard counter - attacked and , after very hard fighting , secured Plancenoit , but were themselves counter - attacked and driven out . Napoleon sent two battalions of the Middle / Old Guard into Plancenoit and after ferocious bayonet fighting – they did not deign to fire their muskets – this force recaptured the village . Zieten ' s flank march . Throughout the late afternoon , Zieten ' s I Corps had been arriving in greater strength in the area just north of La Haie . General Müffling , Prussian liaison to Wellington , rode to meet I Corps . Zieten had by this time brought up his 1st Brigade , but had become concerned at the sight of stragglers and casualties , from the Nassau units on Wellington ' s left and from the Prussian 15th Brigade . These troops appeared to be withdrawing , and Zieten , fearing that his own troops would be caught up in a general retreat , was starting to move away from Wellington ' s flank and towards the Prussian main body near Plancenoit . Müffling saw this movement away and persuaded Zieten to support Wellington ' s left flank . Zieten resumed his march to support Wellington directly , and the arrival of his troops allowed Wellington to reinforce his crumbling centre by moving cavalry from his left . I Corps proceeded to attack the French troops before Papelotte and by 19 : 30 , the French position was bent into a rough horseshoe shape . The ends of the line were now based on Hougoumont on the left , Plancenoit on the right , and the centre on La Haie . Durutte had taken the positions of La Haie and Papelotte in a series of attacks , but now retreated behind Smohain without opposing the Prussian 24th Regiment as it retook both . The 24th advanced against the new French position , was repulsed , and returned to the attack supported by Silesian " Schützen " ( riflemen ) and the F / 1st " Landwehr " . The French initially fell back before the renewed assault , but now began seriously to contest ground , attempting to regain Smohain and hold on to the ridgeline and the last few houses of Papelotte . The 24th Regiment linked up with a Highlander battalion on its far right and along with the 13th " Landwehr " regiment and cavalry support threw the French out of these positions . Further attacks by the 13th " Landwehr " and the 15th Brigade drove the French from Frichermont . Durutte ' s division , finding itself about to be charged by massed squadrons of Zieten ' s I Corps cavalry reserve , retreated from the battlefield . I Corps then advanced to the Brussels road and the only line of retreat available to the French . Attack of the Imperial Guard . Meanwhile , with Wellington ' s centre exposed by the fall of La Haye Sainte , and the Plancenoit front temporarily stabilised , Napoleon committed his last reserve , the hitherto - undefeated Imperial Guard . This attack , mounted at around 19 : 30 , was intended to break through Wellington ' s centre and roll up his line away from the Prussians . Although it is one of the most celebrated passages of arms in military history , it is unclear which units actually participated . It appears that it was mounted by five battalions of the Middle Guard , and not by the Grenadiers or Chasseurs of the Old Guard . Three Old Guard battalions did move forward and formed the attack ' s second line , though they remained in reserve and did not directly assault the allied line . Marching through a hail of canister and skirmisher fire , the 3 , 000 or so Middle Guardsmen advanced to the west of La Haye Sainte , and in so doing , separated into three distinct attack forces . One , consisting of two battalions of Grenadiers , defeated Wellington ' s first line of British , Brunswick and Nassau troops and marched on . Chassé ' s relatively fresh Dutch division was sent against them and a battery of Dutch horse - artillery , commanded by captain Krahmer de Bichin fired into the victorious Grenadiers ' flank . This still could not stop the Guard ' s advance , so Chassé ordered his first brigade ( colonel Detmers ) to charge the outnumbered French with the bayonet , who faltered and broke . Further to the west , 1 , 500 British Foot Guards under Maitland were lying down to protect themselves from the French artillery . As two battalions of Chasseurs approached , the second prong of the Imperial Guard ' s attack , Maitland ' s guardsmen rose and devastated them with point - blank volleys . The Chasseurs deployed to answer the fire , but began to waver . A bayonet charge by the Foot Guards then broke them . The third prong , a fresh Chasseur battalion , now came up in support . The British guardsmen retired with these Chasseurs in pursuit , but the latter were halted as the 52nd Light Infantry led by John Colborne wheeled in line onto their flank and poured a devastating fire into them and then charged . Under this onslaught they too broke . The last of the Guard retreated headlong . A ripple of panic passed through the French lines as the astounding news spread : " " La Garde recule . Sauve qui peut " ! " ( " The Guard retreats . Save yourself if you can ! " ) . Wellington now stood up in Copenhagen ' s stirrups , and waved his hat in the air to signal a general advance . His army rushed forward from the lines and threw themselves upon the retreating French . The surviving Imperial Guard rallied on their three reserve battalions ( some sources say four ) just south of La Haye Sainte , for a last stand . A charge from Adam ' s Brigade and the Hanoverian " Landwehr " Osnabrück Battalion , plus Vivian ' s and Vandeleur ' s relatively fresh cavalry brigades to their right , threw them into confusion . Those left in semi - cohesive units retreated towards " La Belle Alliance " . It was during this retreat that some of the Guards were invited to surrender , eliciting the famous , if apocryphal , retort " " La Garde meurt , elle ne se rend pas ! " " ( " The Guard dies , it does not surrender ! " ) . Capture of Plancenoit . At about the same time , the Prussian 5th , 14th , and 16th Brigades were starting to push through Plancenoit , in the third assault of the day . The church was by now on fire , while its graveyard — the French centre of resistance — had corpses strewn about " as if by a whirlwind " . Five Guard battalions were deployed in support of the Young Guard , virtually all of which was now committed to the defence , along with remnants of Lobau ' s corps . The key to the Plancenoit position proved to be the Chantelet woods to the south . Pirch ' s II Corps had arrived with two brigades and reinforced the attack of IV Corps , advancing through the woods . The 25th Regiment ' s musketeer battalions threw the 1 / 2e Grenadiers ( Old Guard ) out of the Chantelet woods , outflanking Plancenoit and forcing a retreat . The Old Guard retreated in good order until they met the mass of troops retreating in panic , and became part of that rout . The Prussian IV Corps advanced beyond Plancenoit to find masses of French retreating in disorder from British pursuit . The Prussians were unable to fire for fear of hitting Wellington ' s units . This was the fifth and final time that Plancenoit changed hands . French forces not retreating with the Guard were surrounded in their positions and eliminated , neither side asking for nor offering quarter . The French Young Guard Division reported 96 per cent casualties , and two - thirds of Lobau ' s Corps ceased to exist . Disintegration . The French right , left , and centre had all now failed . The last cohesive French force consisted of two battalions of the Old Guard stationed around " La Belle Alliance " ; the final reserve and personal bodyguard for Napoleon . He hoped to rally the French army behind them , but as retreat turned into rout , they too were forced to withdraw , one on either side of " La Belle Alliance " , in square as protection against Coalition cavalry . Until persuaded that the battle was lost and he should leave , Napoleon commanded the square to the left of the inn . Adam ' s Brigade charged and forced back this square , while the Prussians engaged the other . As dusk fell , both squares withdrew in relatively good order , but the French artillery and everything else fell into the hands of the allies . The retreating Guards were surrounded by thousands of fleeing , broken French troops . Coalition cavalry harried the fugitives until about 23 : 00 , with Gneisenau pursuing them as far as Genappe before ordering a halt . There , Napoleon ' s abandoned carriage was captured , still containing diamonds left in the rush . These became part of King Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia ' s crown jewels ; one Major Keller of the F / 15th received the Pour le Mérite with oak leaves for the feat . By this time 78 guns and 2 , 000 prisoners had also been taken , including more generals . Historian Peter Hofschröer has written that Wellington and Blücher met at Genappe around 22 : 00 , signifying the end of the battle . Other sources have recorded that the meeting took place around 21 : 00 near Napoleon ' s former headquarters at " La Belle Alliance " . Aftermath . Waterloo cost Wellington around 15 , 000 dead or wounded , and Blücher some 7 , 000 ( 810 of which were suffered by just one unit , the 18th Regiment , which served in Bülow ' s 15th Brigade , had fought at both Fichermont and Plancenoit , and won 33 Iron Cross es ) . Napoleon lost 25 , 000 dead or wounded , with 8 , 000 taken prisoner . At 10 : 30 on 19 June General Grouchy , still following his orders , defeated General Thielemann at Wavre and withdrew in good order though at the cost of 33 , 000 French troops that never reached the Waterloo battlefield . Wellington sent his official dispatch describing the battle to England on 19 June 1815 , and it arrived in London on 21 June 1815 and was published as a " London Gazette Extraordinary " on 22 June . Wellington , Blücher and other Coalition forces advanced upon Paris . Napoleon announced his second abdication on 24 June 1815 . In the final skirmish of the Napoleonic Wars , Marshal Davout , Napoleon ' s minister of war , was defeated by Blücher at Issy on 3 July 1815 . Allegedly , Napoleon tried to escape to North America , but the Royal Navy was blockading French ports to forestall such a move . He finally surrendered to Captain Frederick Maitland of HMS " Bellerophon " on 15 July . There was a campaign against French fortresses that still held out ; Longwy capitulated on 13 September 1815 , the last to do so . The Treaty of Paris was signed on 20 November 1815 . Louis XVIII was restored to the throne of France , and Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena , where he died in 1821 . Maitland ' s 1st Foot Guards , who had defeated the Chasseurs of the Guard , were thought to have defeated the Grenadiers ; they were awarded the title of Grenadier Guards in recognition of their feat , and adopted bearskins in the style of the Grenadiers . Britain ' s Household Cavalry likewise adopted the cuirass in 1821 in recognition of their success against their armoured French counterparts . The effectiveness of the lance was noted by all participants and this weapon subsequently became more widespread throughout Europe ; the British converted their first light cavalry regiment to lancers in 1816 , their uniforms , of Polish origin , were based on those of the Imperial Guard lancers . Analysis . Historical importance of Waterloo . Waterloo was a decisive battle in more than one sense . It definitively ended the series of wars that had convulsed Europe , and involved many other regions of the world , since the French Revolution of the early 1790s . It also ended the political and military career of Napoleon Bonaparte , imperial monarchist and one of the greatest commanders and statesmen in history . Finally , it ushered in almost half a century of international peace in Europe ; no further major conflict occurred until the Crimean War . A French view of the reasons for Napoleon ' s defeat . General Antoine - Henri , Baron of Jomini one of the leading military writers on the Napoleonic art of war , had a number of very cogent explanations of the reasons behind Napoleon ' s defeat at Waterloo . The battlefield today . Some portions of the terrain on the battlefield have been altered from their 1815 appearance . Tourism began the day after the battle , with Captain Mercer noting that on 19 June " a carriage drove on the ground from Brussels , the inmates of which , alighting , proceeded to examine the field " . In 1820 , the Netherlands ' King William I ordered the construction of a monument on the spot where it was believed his son , the Prince of Orange , had been wounded . The Lion ' s Hillock , a giant mound , was constructed here , using of earth taken from the ridge at the centre of the British line which effectively removed the southern bank of Wellington ' s sunken road . Other terrain features and notable landmarks on the field have remained virtually unchanged since the battle . These include the rolling farmland to the east of the Brussels - Charleroi Road as well as the buildings at Hougoumont , La Haye Sainte , and La Belle Alliance . Apart from the Lion Mound , there are several more conventional but noteworthy monuments throughout the battlefield . A cluster of monuments at the Brussels - Charleroi and Braine L ' Alleud - Ohain crossroads marks the mass graves of British , Dutch , Hanoverian and King ' s German Legion troops . A monument to the French dead , entitled " L ' aigle Blessé " ( " The Wounded Eagle " ) , marks the location where it is believed one of the Imperial Guard units formed a square during the closing moments of the battle . A monument to the Prussian dead is located in the village of Plancenoit on the site where one of their artillery batteries took position . The Duhesme mausoleum is one among the few graves of the fallen . It is located at the side of Saint Martin ' s Church in Ways , a hamlet in the municipality of Genappe . Seventeen fallen officers are buried in the crypt of the British Monument in the Brussels Cemetery in Evere . The remains of an unknown soldier were discovered in 2012 . He was a slightly hunchbacked infantryman , tall , and was hit in the chest by a French bullet . His rifle , coins , and position on the battlefield led experts to believe he was Hanoverian .