18 June 2011

18 June - Ember Day; Battle of Waterloo

Weather: EMBER DAY - weather today foretells the weather of September

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Today in 1815, on open farmland about 8 miles south-southeast of Brussels, the Allied Army under Wellington, combined with Blucher's Prussian troops, fought the decisive battle against Napoleon's Grande Armée of France - and in spite of the odds against them, won.  Field Marshal Prince Blucher called it "La Belle Alliance".  The Duke of Wellington named it after the hamlet nearby where he had spent the night before the battle - Waterloo.

This important battle is far too involved for a five-minute condensed version, so I shall send you to:
British Battles.com, with maps of troop movements, lists of the British Regiments involved, and some nice depictions of the uniforms (although not my favorite jack-a-dandy Green Jackets).
Napoleon Battles.com, for a virtual tour of the battle site.
The Waterloo Interactive Battle Simulator courtesy of PBS - who knows? Napoleon might win this time.
Famous Historical Events and Wikipedia, for lengthy overviews

and, if it seems like these are all biased in favor of the British, read:
Napoleonic Literature (the author attempts to counteract the bias)

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So does anyone else remember Mr. Peabody taking the Wayback Machine and finding Wellington sitting in a spa breaking bones?

"My orders were to come  to Waterloo and take bone apart."