I really liked the quote by Wellington after the battle of Waterloo, "Nothing except a battle lost can be half as melancholy as a battle won.." A wonderful presentation about the defining moment of European history 👏, well done, amigo. May all of the soldiers on both sides found peace and happiness. Vaya con Dios y en paz descansen.
@christianifechukwu9865. Blücher brought only a portion of his army to Waterloo to support Wellington, while the majority of his forces were still engaged in a rear-guard action against Grouchy and his 30,000 men. This strategic distribution is precisely why Grouchy was unable to prevent Blücher from reaching Waterloo. The entire operation was a testament to the brilliance of timing and planning-truly masterful. It was a carefully orchestrated trap. Wellington had surveyed the area a year prior and even had maps made. He was well aware of Napoleon's propensity for relentless attack. Additionally, the weather played a crucial role, delaying the deployment of Napoleon's artillery.
Thank you again for a solid presentation of this battle, being half Scot and half Dutch I am pleased you mentioned the international component of this battle!
This is the most factual of all the videos I have watched regarding Waterloo. Credit given when due to those that made up the entire force. Well done, and thank you for an honest presentation.
Thank you for another triumph. A great tribute to the allied army under the Duke of Wellingtons command. My third Great Grandfather fought at Waterloo with the King's German Legion. He was from Hagan in Hanover. Cheers Ron
Who the devil are you to gainsay him, @@guaporeturns9472? I trust if you're going to call people a liar, you will bother to do your research first...?
Great video! I seem to remember my history teacher (himself a former Gunner) telling us that Wellington had selected his defensive position after having seen it previously and identified it as a useful piece of terrain.
You made a point I have always believed in; that it was Wellington's leadership that won the battle. In previous battles Napoleon had won because of the lack of competency on the part of the opposing generals. In other battles Napoleon faced armies that had more then one general in charge, but at Waterloo only Wellington was in charge, with no one countermanding his orders. Wellington's calmness steadied his troops and they remained in line despite the horror of the artillery barrage and the massive cavalry charge by Ney. Napoleon frequently criticized Wellington as being only a defensive general, which was totally wrong, but was true at Waterloo, and it was there that Napoleon met his match!
Unsure about the ferocity of the artillery barrage. The wet ground absorbed a lot of the cannonballs as they didn't ricochet as normal and wellington used reverse slopes to protect his soldiers as much as possible,only going to the forward slopes when under direct attack. Any artillery barrage would have been relatively short
The muddy terrain certainly made the barrages less effective, but cannon balls thudding into ground or whistling through the ranks are still bad for troop morale! @@Trebor74
Wellington held the line from an excellent defensive position against a numerically equal opponent until the Prussian army appeared on the battlefield and brought victory. 😉
@@Trebor74 I think the tale is over blown . The casualties of The Dutch having to retreat back and all Regiments suffered 15-25% casualties, A lot of Officers were blow into parts despite standing around a lot in the mud . The right flank shot a lot of cannon at Hougomount and set it on fire,blowing the forest apart , they had to have the Nassau sent in reserve into the walled farm
Recent archaeological work at Waterloo has uncovered burials of horses a few paces from the bones of human legs , arms that had been amputated and close to those theyve uncovered a full human skeleton... I didn't realise that the Prussians used larger bore muskets than the French and English..
Fantastic video and further proof that, whereas Wellington and his accomplishments have passed into British legend, you have to take your hat off to old Blücher (Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prince of Wahlstatt, to give him his full title). By the time of Waterloo he was well into his 70s and his back and hip were giving him a lot of grief but he fortified himself with a very generous amount of brandy to dull the pain, got his men to hoist him onto his horse with a ramrod down his clothing to keep his back straight, yelled "VORWARTS" (FORWARD) and led his men to Wellington's side on the Waterloo battlefield. What a man he was and how lucky we were to have him and all his men on our side on that notable day. Blücher has earned my salutes and deserves those of every free European.
I've made similar comments on other Waterloo videos and had lots of supporting responses. Back in 1960s, we were taught that BoW was an allied army. We were always taught, quite strongly, that it was not a British army and that, with Blucher arriving, it was, primarily, a combined German force (except that Germany didn't exist then so probably best to call it a German-speaking army partnership). The paintings are of the British troops because the paintings we see are in Britain by British artists. Wellington stood because he trusted Blucher to march. Blucher marched (against advice from his chief of staff) because he trusted Wellington to stand. The Prussian recovery from Ligny was a huge achievement. The late arrival of the Prussians due to mud was the same reason the French delayed their assault, so it was the same for both sides (to use sporting parlance). Our teachers were often WW2 (some WW1) veterans who appreciated allies (eg, my father was seconded to a Nigerian regiment from South Wales Borderers in 1940 and went on to Burma where Slim commanded an extremely polyethnic, polyglot, and polyreligious army over a vast area encompassing the lands around the Indian Ocean). We were even taught how Wellington rather shamed himself in later years by over-emphasising Waterloo and his achievement there to the extent of reducing the significance of Blucher and his own Peninsular campaign and its veterans. Waterloo was never taught as a British army or victory in my time. I wonder when things changed? Wellington's brilliance was not just in his command of terrain but in his handling of such a mixed and hurriedly put together army which contained very few Peninsular veterans. As the video says, most of his cavalry was inexperienced and some had barely had any training. The pressure was on Napoleon to attack fast because he was threatened by even larger armies from Russia and Austro-Hungary that were not very far away. As a Corsican who originally hated the French, you could say that Napoleon's career worked out as vengeance against France with so many dead in the wars and the country diminished in the world. The allies described themselves as fighting Napoleon rather than France for a variety of political reasons. While Trafalgar and Waterloo resulted in the dominance of Britain around the world until the triumph of the USA in the 20th century, Waterloo also resulted in the rise of Prussia, later Germany, over mainland Europe for the rest of the 19th century until the end of WW1 as both Spain and France had been reduced.
"Blücher marched (against advice from his chief of staff) because he trusted Wellington to stand" During my research I noticed that Chief of Staff Gneisenau did not speak well of Wellington and the British. That made no sense to me from where he would have gotten this negative assessment. At some point I came across the meeting between Wellington and Blücher around 1:30 p.m. on the day of the Battle of Ligny. Wellington promised Blücher his support for the battle around 4 p.m., whereupon Blücher then decided to fight the battle without his fourth corps. From the memoirs of Major General Karl von Müffling, who served as a Prussian liaison officer at the headquarters of the British Army, it emerged that he was ashamed that he did not inform Blücher at this meeting and that he was aware that it was not possible for Wellington to provide this reinforcement in time to be able to send. One can speculate whether Wellington only wanted to get the Prussians to fight in order to keep Napoleon away from himself and his troops, because after all, Wellington missed the chance to put his army on the march early. Of course, when you think about that, Gneisenau must have felt betrayed by Wellington. The fact that he still marched to Wavre and not to the east to secure his supplies was only due to the Prussian staff quartermaster's report that the army still had enough supplies for another battle.
Thanks Chris for a great portrayal of one of the greatest battles of all time... Wellington's great skill was picking the location to fight ... this battle and my study of it began a whole study of British history
What's so special about choosing a battlefield that you can use to your advantage? 🤔 This is the normal job of a general and nothing really worth mentioning. It was just luck that Wellington knew the terrain beforehand and didn't have to spend a lot of time exploring it.
Hmmm, but the war wasn't over after Waterloo! There were a few more battles before the Prussians entered Paris and the French surrendered, but the British actually had no part in that and that's why this is often omitted ;-)
Thanks Chris. I’ve been interested in the Battle of Waterloo since I saw the film back in 1970. Since that time I have been to Waterloo a number of times and fought on the field as a Napoleonic reenactor in the 80s. I have been fortunate enough to have built up a small collection of genuine Napoleonic swords including two British 1796 Heavy Cavalry swords marked to the 2D Dragoon Guards i.e. Scots Greys and other swords probably used in the battle.
Interesting period in swords, I’m a Georgian sword collector to. I have 2 1796 heavy cavalry troopers swords, one unmodified and another with the modified guard and tip. I also have 4 1803’s, 5 1796 light cavalry sabre’s including a pipeback variant, a 1798 basket hilt and a 1796 infantry spadroon. As well as some 1788 light cavalry’s a 1786 infantry and a number of non regulation swords and more etc. Its nice to have such tangible links to the period.
Thank you, I always learn something new from you. Recently I’ve been touched by the poets and composers (notably George Butterworth) who lost their lives in the Great War. Please consider making a mini series!
Fantastic presentation as always!! The portrait of Fitzroy (Lord Raglan) Somerset at 9:00 struck me as looking very much like Terrence Alexander who played Lord Uxbridge in the 1970 Waterloo movie
@@TheHistoryChap I think its the mildly amused expression on his face. As I recall in the movie, Lord Uxbridge was always pulling off bits of sarcastic wit in his exchanges with Wellington.
Fantastic as always Chris! I've been waiting for this video for the last couple of years, as its my favourite period of history ever since watched the Film Waterloo when I was a kid in the 90s, then loved all the Sharpe dramas 😆 Look forward to more on the peninsula war from you. Keep up the great work 👍
Glad the 52nd got mentioned. Their part at the end has long been overlooked in comparison to the guards, however they played a significant part and took heavy losses in the process. The pre planed Anglo/ Prussian cooperation was also decisive with Quatra Bra and Ligny, the actions taken after these battles are important elements to the outcome of Waterloo.
I remember a visit to Wiesbaden, Germany where I walked out of the train station and walked towards the old city and my hotel. I came across a large monument dedicated to the battle of Waterloo at Luisenplatz.
Or as it was said in Blackadder "The men had a whip around and got you this, well what I mean is I had the men roundly whipped until they got you this. It's a cigarillo case with the regimental Crest of two crossed dead Frenchmen emblazoned on a mound of dead Frenchman motif."
It is always surprising to read British comments (see below) that how great Wellington was as a General even when listening to the video it is 100% clear that Wellington. was beaten and only the Prussians saved him.
Wellington was not beaten, his strategy was for Blucher to join him at Waterloo, Blucher agreed, without that agreement Wellington would not have fought at Waterloo, so Wellingtons tactics worked and Napoleon was beaten, it was an allied victory due to Wellington generalship.
It is evident that Wellington skilfully lured Napoleon into a trap. Having visited the area a year earlier, Wellington had it thoroughly surveyed and was well aware that, from a distance, the forest on his right appeared impenetrable, making it difficult to determine whether it was dense or sparse. This is precisely where he instructed Blücher to advance, relying on perfect timing for the manoeuvre to succeed-and succeed it did, albeit narrowly.
Yet the Brit-haters wanted you to believe that Wellington had been beaten and only the Prussian intervention "saved" him. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Waterloo battle plan was agreed upon by both Wellington and Blücher from the beginning.
Thank you Sir! I was literally on the edge of my seat. Your description of the battle of Waterloo came to life. Your narrative concerning the opponents, Wellington, and Napoleon spot on. The tactics describe accurate, pardon the pun, too a T. Apologies for the use nautical jargon. You video lecture highly enjoyable! Once again thank you for producing another brilliant video lecture.
I’m glad you enjoyed my video and thanks for taking the time to comment. If you haven’t already, please please do subscribe to my channel for more videos.
Crikey what a top rate high quality sterling documentary Chris. Absolutely superb. From a geographically accurate point of view the Battle of Waterloo is actually misnamed. Check out Stephen Fry on the excellent BBC educational/comedy series "QI". I have been to the battlefield and it is awe inspiring. Also over one third of Wellingtons "British" army were actually Irish including native Gaelic speakers. Did"nt a French officer state that the British soldiers with "Castle" badges on their caps were the bravest men he saw. This would be the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers(17th Foot). They took extremely heavy casualties and later Wellington remarked that "they saved my centre". They have a monument at Waterloo. It is also reported that Wellington stated after the battle "Thank goodness my Irish soldiers fought for me and not against me this day". I love the famous painting of the Scots Grey by Lady Elizabeth Butler where they would only have white/light grey horses. The movie "Waterloo" with Rod Steiger as Napoleon and Christopher Plummer as the Duke of Wellington was top rate. Goodness me the leviathan scale. The recent Ridley Scotts "Napoleon" has come in for harsh criticism by historians and purists. Forgive me Chris I dont mean to lower the tone and apologies but did'nt Wellington deliberately sleep with some of Napoleon's former mistresses. Again according to that excellent BBC series "QI" Napoleon was also suffering from piles which might have affected some of his decisions on that fateful day.. No doubt you have seen that wonderful TV series "War Walks" presented by the late great Professor Richard Holmes which had an episode dedicated to Waterloo. When Napoleon was banished to St.Helena one of those in attendance with him besides his own entourages and guards was an Irish doctor. Napoleon was very fond of him and discussed his campaigns with him and the "what if's" in retrospect. Napoleon also believed he was being poisoned by enemeies at St.Helena and the "Discovery Channel" made an excellent documentary a number of years ago trying to find out if there was any truth to this and who would be the probable perpetrators. I am really looking forward to the next documentary you will have dedicated to the Peninsular War which as you know Napoleon labelled the "Spanish Ulcer". Picton would distinguish himself in this campaign with the 3rd Division. Once again Chris a great documentary about one of military histories most famous battles. By the way I remember watching an episode of the "Antiques Roadshow" where someone brought in a relaitves "Waterloo Medal" but goodness me I forget how much it was worth. A hat belonging to Napoleon sold for £1.2 million recently. Crikey I thought it would go for more considering what some artwork goes for. Sorry for the long post. Wishing you continued success in all your future endeavours.
@@expatexpat6531 Another great victory for the British during the Napoleonic Wars was the naval triumph at the Battle of Trafalgar.. Over a quarter of Nelson's sailors(Jack Tars) were Irish and there was also sailors from the Caribbean.The latter appear in faithful paintings of this great British maritime victory.
Good retelling of the battle Chris. I have never understood why Ney did not support his Calvary charges with infantry. Wellingtons infantry squares would have been slaughtered if the French infantry had advanced. I had also believed it was the young guard who assaulted the ridge at Waterloo as the old guard was fighting the Prussians on the flank(May be mistaken in this though) Alessandro Barbero has a very readable account of Waterloo.
It was the middle guard who stormed the Wellington hill. Parts of the old guard were on standby behind them. In Plancenoit the young guard first fought against the Prussians, and this was later reinforced by other parts of the old guard, but both were ultimately defeated by the Prussians.
I liked the video! Always enjoy Waterloo. Just a couple of points if I may? There is firm modern research evidence from Dutch/Belgian sources that show Bijlandt's brigade were given orders to move back behind the ridge before the French artillery opened up and were not left on the forward slope. Secondly, it's an old chestnut, but Waterloo Station in London wasn't named after the battle at all! It's original name was "Waterloo Bridge Station". It was named after Waterloo Bridge. (Which incidentally, was named after the battle).
Not sure about your first question, and you are totally right about the station, being named after the bridge, which in itself was named after the battle
Good one again, credit where credits due, the Netherlands and German troops were first class. It was an excellent example of how a coalition can work. Terrible suffering though amongst men and horses, the horses in particular distress me. Did either have medical care afterwards I wonder?
As Hagman and Harris liked to sing... " 'Old Wellington, he scratched his bum; and said 'Boney lad, thee's 'ad thee fun! My Riflemen will win the day, over the hills and far away...' "
one of the best accounts of the Waterloo Campaign was written by Mercer, Royal Horse Artillery, well worth the read. Insights into Wellington and the allies on the ground and considerable respect for the French soldiers.
Hello the history chap! A great video on the battle of Waterloo👍 I don’t know if you cover this era of British history but could you maybe do video about the forty five( the last Jacobite rebellion)? It has three big battles, Prestonpans, Falkirk muir and Drummosie moor/ Culloden. I have heard a lot about Prestonpans and Drummosie but I would really like to learn more about Falkirk muir and the skirmish at Clifton moor. The reasons that they were fought. It isn’t just the battles and skirmishes that matter but also the story behind them, another topic is for example the bad relationship between Cherlie and many of his officers that played a major part in the massacre at Drummosie.
There is a totally different reason why Nappy lost,-the chemistry of gunpowder. British and Dutch gunpowder was made from Chilean saltpetre, potassium nitrate, which is not deliquescent. The saltpetre came from the Atacama Desert, and that is why Britain seized the Falkland Islands from France in 1797. On the other hand, French gunpowder was made from sodium nitrate from horse urine. Sodium nitrate is deliquescent, ie attracts dampness. It rained heavily the night before the battle. Result,- their gunpowder didn’t fire. Result,- defeat. Simple chemistry defeated Nappy.
Actually the fated charge by Ney started because a few men thought they saw someone retreated and began moving in that direction. Ney approached the generals demanding to know why they were moving to which they replied “because we were ordered”. Thus the confusion, and the fog of war.
I would love it if you could do pieces on Naval History in the same way. Would also be nice if there were notes explaining the painting, artists, and battles. One often wonders, whether painting (or videos in more modern context) relate to the events as often images are repeated (general criticism, not of your videos). Thanks. Brilliant piece as usual though
To me the most interesting hypothetical of Waterloo is to replace Ney with Davout, who was performing administrative functions in Paris. Ney was probably not functioning at anything close to his best, and Davout would never have thrown D'Erlon's corps forward in a massive column without cavalry support. Cavalié Mercer's journals of the Waterloo campaign are an incredible read. He was commanding one of the artillery units down with the infantry squares that took Ney's charges.
Irritating comment... Wellington had a brother, they were unofficially known as 'the pair of Wellingtons' ! I got the stick for saying that when I was at school. Lol.
The largest British battalions in Waterloo was The Oxfordshire Light Infantry (52nd Foot) which had over thousand soldiers. The 95th Rifles had member in the three battalions in it battle
WOW, boy have I been in need of a real history lesson at last about this, the EXTREMELY crucial Battle at Waterloo in 1815, where two might commanders, one of whom never lost a single battle he fought and so well and truly is deservedly a true British hero, compared to his French tyrant counterpart who lost more than he won ESPECIALLY when our Naval boy Nelson was alive, met for the one and only time, and the tyrant was bested spectacularly by the hero, and YOU were the one who allowed me it, Chris dear chap. But it is certainly well right to say that not only was the Duke of Wellington the big hero of Waterloo, thanks to his military strategies which allowed possibly the world's first true Allied army (perhaps we could truly call it that, before the term got used more famously in description to the friendly nation armies of both World Wars) to hold out against Napoleon's might the way they did, but so was Blucher of the Prussians, cos if he hadn't chosen to come to our side AND arrived when he did on the battle day itself, god knows what coulda happened otherwise, but France would certainly have suffered more years of hardship under a true tyrant, rather than that tyrant withering his final years of godforsaken life away on St Helena
I like how you note the large advantages of French guns (and more than double the number of cavalry) which were hugely important. Especially given the British & allied force were holding ground so had to stand there in most cases under said artillery for hours softening them up for infantry/cavalry attacks. With the French being so heavily mauled from repeated attacks against the allied lines this also prevented them from being used to outmanoeuvre & attack Blucher too. Waterloo is one of those battles that had so many what ifs & tactical errors & heroics on boths sides.
One should not overestimate the effect of the French artillery that day. Due to the wet ground, it could only have a fraction of the effect that was possible on dry terrain. and about cavalry: It takes about 4 years to train a good cavalryman, i.e. horse and rider. However, Napoleon's cavalry perished in Russia and was no longer of the usual quality at Waterloo. Napoleon threw most of his reserves at the Prussians, which he then lacked to use against Wellington. And while the old guard was only on standby in front of Wellington's lines, Napoleon was forced to let them fight directly against the Prussians in Plancenoit. However, like the young guard, she was defeated by the Prussians.
It does depict that battalion at Quatre Bras as you say. They went on to become the South Gloucestershire Regiment and then joined their North Glos counterpart regiment in the 1880s to become the Gloucestershire Regiment. The Glorious Glosters of Imjin River/Gloster Hill fame.
My maternal 4th & 5th great grandfathers where with the inniskilling dragoons (union brigade) during the battle. While my paternal 4th 5th & 6th grandfathers where with the KGL.
Additional comment, if anyone wants to read a soldiers view apparently a Private Clay wrote down his experiences, I knew a keen ammeter historian who had read them and said they were excellent. He said they start with Clay stuffing his wet great coat into his rucksack since the French were advancing upon them. They had been sleeping under improvised tents made from joining great coats together!
Very enjoyable narrative that. It has been argued by some that the French also won, in the form of Louis XVIII - he got his throne back. He was obviously on the Allies' side and was very pleased that the allied Irish commander won the day ;-).
With your introduction, it is very interesting because when tabletop teams do a reenactment of this battle 8 to 9 out of 10 times the French side will win - maybe playing with hindsight the French make all the correct moves/calls to unlock the defence lead by the allies?
If the French win so often on these tabletop teams, one could almost assume that they might completely ignore the battles in Plancenoit, which are also part of the Battle of Waterloo. These ate up Napoleon's reserves, apart from the fact that when the Prussians arrived, the entire right wing of the French collapsed...
I think it is thought that perhaps as many as 50% of the British red coat infantrymen that fought at the battle were irish born or at least a good portion were.
Not sure about the exact numbers, but you are right that they had a significant contribution. People also forget that the Irish population at this time was very big
@@TheHistoryChap yes I think the numbers of irish in the British Army at the time was reflective of the Size of the Irish population. At the time about 40% of the British Isles population were from Ireland. Lower of course after the famine in the 1840s and therefore less a % of Irish in the British Army after the famine.
This video tells more about Waterloo in detail than some others out there. Marshal Ney was also born in 1769 and at Waterloo, even though he had been described as one the Grande Armee's best tactical commanders, here at Waterloo, he was past his prime and made only one or two smart tactical decisions. As for Wellington and Napoleon, both were military heavyweights but at Waterloo they were different. From a boxer's perspective, Wellesley was in good shape whist Napoleon was past his prime, had put on weight, and was in poor health. He wasn't as involved in command decisions in this battle as he had in the campaigns of his prime days and left the tactical handling of the fighting to Ney. I have said this before and I will say it again, Napoleon was once quoted as saying of Ney, "Good for leading 10,000 men, otherwise a true idiot". Not to mention at Dennewitz in the 1813 campaign he was horribly exposed as inept at army command. It was a shame Napoleon just left those thousands of his men dead and wounded on the battlefield instead of doing anything to help them. He is after all one of the monarchs in European history to rule a country that wasn't of his native blood. Defeating Napoleon was indeed an Allied effort as it took both armies to defeat Napoleon and after all, the Anglo-Allied army under Wellington was hodgepodge while the Prussian army under Blucher was an all experienced force. Once their numbers were brought together, the French didn't stand a chance. Wellington truly deserves his reputation as one of the best British field marshals of the 19th century as he fought well to hold the ridge. On another note, after Blucher there wasn't another Prussian general who fought in a war in his 70s until Karl Friedrich von Steinmetz in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 at 73 unless you count King Wilhelm I who was also in that war at the same age. Hey Chris, would you be willing to do a video on Quatre Bras too? A prelude video to Waterloo would probably be a nice accompaniment to it.
I hadn't realised that 20% of all the French infantry were hurled at Huegemont Farm, that's a huge loss with nothing to show for it. I have to think that stubbornness played a big part in Napoleon's loss at Waterloo. If he had rationally surveyed the territory and conditions I think perhaps he would have disengaged and found a better location to fight from? Fighting up hill in the mud against a force covered by dead ground and able to manoeuvre unseen seem like folly to me and possibly hubris.
I think, at waterloo French forces were very weak by financial and many other aspects like poor / not so strong cavelry, artillary, amunitions and above all British, German, Austrian, Russian and many other European countries were fighting against Nepolian Bonaprte. Otherwise in one to one battle He was strong enough to defeat any single nation in Europe. Again at the peak of his career Nepolian made mistake by attaccking Russia (the most vast nation now a days too ) and due to Spanish cancer Nepolian really come to a bad end. In fact in a book on Nepoian i read that Nepolian say " I misjudged my strenghts and weaknesses ".
Sharpe also had a nice chat with the soldiers in La Haye Saint in the episode 'Waterloo', but it's just stupid that it wouldn't have worked because there were only Germans there. Incidentally, the uniforms and weapons of the 2nd Light Battalion of the KGL stationed there were identical to those of the ´95th Rifles´.
Didn't Wellington make a commitment/promise to Blucher to remain in the field while Blucher brought his Prussian army back into the battle. Did both men have any idea how the other was doing in keeping his word?
Damn me Uxbridge, if I ever saw thirty thousand men run a race before! The entire line shall advance! In which direction your Grace? Why, straight ahead to be sure.
You don't need to be a hindsight armchair general to realize Cavalry is better used to delay Blucher's convergence with the British than charging fortified positions covered by infantry squares and artillery.
The Oxfordshire LI fight the French Imperial Guards, the Oxfordshire LI fight the German Imperial Guards at Nun's Woods on 11th November 1914. The Oxfordshire Light Infantry is the only British Battalion against Imperial Guards
Come to see what the same old tales are rolled out. Plenty of battles after Waterloo -and towards Paris where Prussia and and England chased the Grouchy Corps and stragglers . Napoleon was on HMS Bellerophon and ended up at Portsmouth . Interesting How he ended up at St Helena
Napoleon did not just fight one opponent. Wellington played a vital part but no doubt his allies contributed heavily to the victory. If Wellington met Napoleon earlier in his career. Napoleon would have crushed him. Wellington to his credit said Napoleon was the greatest past, present, and future. I admire that about Wellington gracious in victory. But no doubt Napoleon was a titan. Wellington a fine soldier. God bless.
I really liked the quote by Wellington after the battle of Waterloo, "Nothing except a battle lost can be half as melancholy as a battle won.." A wonderful presentation about the defining moment of European history 👏, well done, amigo. May all of the soldiers on both sides found peace and happiness. Vaya con Dios y en paz descansen.
It was a very human comment from the iron Duke
Legend has it that Grouchy is still looking for Blucher till this day...
Thanks for watching my video
@christianifechukwu9865.
Blücher brought only a portion of his army to Waterloo to support Wellington, while the majority of his forces were still engaged in a rear-guard action against Grouchy and his 30,000 men. This strategic distribution is precisely why Grouchy was unable to prevent Blücher from reaching Waterloo. The entire operation was a testament to the brilliance of timing and planning-truly masterful. It was a carefully orchestrated trap. Wellington had surveyed the area a year prior and even had maps made. He was well aware of Napoleon's propensity for relentless attack. Additionally, the weather played a crucial role, delaying the deployment of Napoleon's artillery.
Thank you again for a solid presentation of this battle, being half Scot and half Dutch I am pleased you mentioned the international component of this battle!
Thanks for watching my video, glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks. The use of maps is the only way to do justice to the reporting of this battle. You have done it in a very clear and easy to understand way. 👏
Thanks for watching my video, glad you enjoyed it.
This is the most factual of all the videos I have watched regarding Waterloo. Credit given when due to those that made up the entire force.
Well done, and thank you for an honest presentation.
Very kind of you, thank you for watching and for taking the time to comment
Thank you for another triumph. A great tribute to the allied army under the Duke of Wellingtons command. My third Great Grandfather fought at Waterloo with the King's German Legion. He was from Hagan in Hanover. Cheers Ron
No he didn’t 🤥
Fascinating. Thanks for sharing Ron.
Who the devil are you to gainsay him, @@guaporeturns9472?
I trust if you're going to call people a liar, you will bother to do your research first...?
Great video! I seem to remember my history teacher (himself a former Gunner) telling us that Wellington had selected his defensive position after having seen it previously and identified it as a useful piece of terrain.
I’m glad you enjoyed the video, thanks for watching
His Surveyor General had seen it on the map on the march to Quatre Bras
@@Rusty_Gold85glad to know a Sapper was responsible :)
You made a point I have always believed in; that it was Wellington's leadership that won the battle. In previous battles Napoleon had won because of the lack of competency on the part of the opposing generals. In other battles Napoleon faced armies that had more then one general in charge, but at Waterloo only Wellington was in charge, with no one countermanding his orders. Wellington's calmness steadied his troops and they remained in line despite the horror of the artillery barrage and the massive cavalry charge by Ney. Napoleon frequently criticized Wellington as being only a defensive general, which was totally wrong, but was true at Waterloo, and it was there that Napoleon met his match!
Unsure about the ferocity of the artillery barrage. The wet ground absorbed a lot of the cannonballs as they didn't ricochet as normal and wellington used reverse slopes to protect his soldiers as much as possible,only going to the forward slopes when under direct attack. Any artillery barrage would have been relatively short
The muddy terrain certainly made the barrages less effective, but cannon balls thudding into ground or whistling through the ranks are still bad for troop morale! @@Trebor74
Thanks for watching my video and for taking the time to post a really detailed comment
Wellington held the line from an excellent defensive position against a numerically equal opponent until the Prussian army appeared on the battlefield and brought victory. 😉
@@Trebor74 I think the tale is over blown . The casualties of The Dutch having to retreat back and all Regiments suffered 15-25% casualties, A lot of Officers were blow into parts despite standing around a lot in the mud . The right flank shot a lot of cannon at Hougomount and set it on fire,blowing the forest apart , they had to have the Nassau sent in reserve into the walled farm
This will be worth waiting for! Like you Joe, the poor horses, I'm so glad they are no longer used this way.
Hope you enjoyed it.
Recent archaeological work at Waterloo has uncovered burials of horses a few paces from the bones of human legs , arms that had been amputated and close to those theyve uncovered a full human skeleton...
I didn't realise that the Prussians used larger bore muskets than the French and English..
Fantastic video and further proof that, whereas Wellington and his accomplishments have passed into British legend, you have to take your hat off to old Blücher (Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prince of Wahlstatt, to give him his full title). By the time of Waterloo he was well into his 70s and his back and hip were giving him a lot of grief but he fortified himself with a very generous amount of brandy to dull the pain, got his men to hoist him onto his horse with a ramrod down his clothing to keep his back straight, yelled "VORWARTS" (FORWARD) and led his men to Wellington's side on the Waterloo battlefield. What a man he was and how lucky we were to have him and all his men on our side on that notable day. Blücher has earned my salutes and deserves those of every free European.
Thanks for watching and for taking the time to share your thoughts on Blucher.
I've made similar comments on other Waterloo videos and had lots of supporting responses. Back in 1960s, we were taught that BoW was an allied army. We were always taught, quite strongly, that it was not a British army and that, with Blucher arriving, it was, primarily, a combined German force (except that Germany didn't exist then so probably best to call it a German-speaking army partnership). The paintings are of the British troops because the paintings we see are in Britain by British artists. Wellington stood because he trusted Blucher to march. Blucher marched (against advice from his chief of staff) because he trusted Wellington to stand. The Prussian recovery from Ligny was a huge achievement. The late arrival of the Prussians due to mud was the same reason the French delayed their assault, so it was the same for both sides (to use sporting parlance). Our teachers were often WW2 (some WW1) veterans who appreciated allies (eg, my father was seconded to a Nigerian regiment from South Wales Borderers in 1940 and went on to Burma where Slim commanded an extremely polyethnic, polyglot, and polyreligious army over a vast area encompassing the lands around the Indian Ocean). We were even taught how Wellington rather shamed himself in later years by over-emphasising Waterloo and his achievement there to the extent of reducing the significance of Blucher and his own Peninsular campaign and its veterans. Waterloo was never taught as a British army or victory in my time. I wonder when things changed? Wellington's brilliance was not just in his command of terrain but in his handling of such a mixed and hurriedly put together army which contained very few Peninsular veterans. As the video says, most of his cavalry was inexperienced and some had barely had any training.
The pressure was on Napoleon to attack fast because he was threatened by even larger armies from Russia and Austro-Hungary that were not very far away. As a Corsican who originally hated the French, you could say that Napoleon's career worked out as vengeance against France with so many dead in the wars and the country diminished in the world. The allies described themselves as fighting Napoleon rather than France for a variety of political reasons. While Trafalgar and Waterloo resulted in the dominance of Britain around the world until the triumph of the USA in the 20th century, Waterloo also resulted in the rise of Prussia, later Germany, over mainland Europe for the rest of the 19th century until the end of WW1 as both Spain and France had been reduced.
I really appreciate the time you have taken to write this long comment sharing lots of information and perspectives. Thank you
"Blücher marched (against advice from his chief of staff) because he trusted Wellington to stand"
During my research I noticed that Chief of Staff Gneisenau did not speak well of Wellington and the British.
That made no sense to me from where he would have gotten this negative assessment.
At some point I came across the meeting between Wellington and Blücher around 1:30 p.m. on the day of the Battle of Ligny.
Wellington promised Blücher his support for the battle around 4 p.m., whereupon Blücher then decided to fight the battle without his fourth corps.
From the memoirs of Major General Karl von Müffling, who served as a Prussian liaison officer at the headquarters of the British Army, it emerged that he was ashamed that he did not inform Blücher at this meeting and that he was aware that it was not possible for Wellington to provide this reinforcement in time to be able to send.
One can speculate whether Wellington only wanted to get the Prussians to fight in order to keep Napoleon away from himself and his troops, because after all, Wellington missed the chance to put his army on the march early.
Of course, when you think about that, Gneisenau must have felt betrayed by Wellington.
The fact that he still marched to Wavre and not to the east to secure his supplies was only due to the Prussian staff quartermaster's report that the army still had enough supplies for another battle.
Thanks Chris for a great portrayal of one of the greatest battles of all time... Wellington's great skill was picking the location to fight ... this battle and my study of it began a whole study of British history
I’m glad you enjoyed this video. Thanks for subscribing to my Members Only channel.
What's so special about choosing a battlefield that you can use to your advantage? 🤔
This is the normal job of a general and nothing really worth mentioning.
It was just luck that Wellington knew the terrain beforehand and didn't have to spend a lot of time exploring it.
@@raka522 your opinion.not mine.
Another totally enthralling video, Chris. Brilliant stuff and very educational.
Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you for telling the story of the Battle of Waterloo. I have learned so much. It has given me a clearer understanding of this historical battle.
Thanks for watching my video, glad you enjoyed it.
Brilliant!!!! An Excellent and Outstanding Recounting of the Battle that Ended Napoleon’s Reign of Terror!!!!!
Thanks for watching my video. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to my channel
Hmmm, but the war wasn't over after Waterloo!
There were a few more battles before the Prussians entered Paris and the French surrendered, but the British actually had no part in that and that's why this is often omitted ;-)
It wasn't a reign of Terror. Do some reading.
Thanks Chris. I’ve been interested in the Battle of Waterloo since I saw the film back in 1970. Since that time I have been to Waterloo a number of times and fought on the field as a Napoleonic reenactor in the 80s. I have been fortunate enough to have built up a small collection of genuine Napoleonic swords including two British 1796 Heavy Cavalry swords marked to the 2D Dragoon Guards i.e. Scots Greys and other swords probably used in the battle.
@@Iwishiwasanoscarmeyerweiner How very amusing.
@@IwishiwasanoscarmeyerweinerEat it
Interesting period in swords, I’m a Georgian sword collector to. I have 2 1796 heavy cavalry troopers swords, one unmodified and another with the modified guard and tip. I also have 4 1803’s, 5 1796 light cavalry sabre’s including a pipeback variant, a 1798 basket hilt and a 1796 infantry spadroon. As well as some 1788 light cavalry’s a 1786 infantry and a number of non regulation swords and more etc. Its nice to have such tangible links to the period.
Thanks for watching my video & for your interesting feedback.
Beautifully explained once again; thank you Chris!
My pleasure. Glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you, I always learn something new from you. Recently I’ve been touched by the poets and composers (notably George Butterworth) who lost their lives in the Great War. Please consider making a mini series!
George Butterworth is on my list. Please make sure you subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss it.
Great summary of the battle, beautifully presented.
Very kind of you, thanks
Fantastic presentation as always!!
The portrait of Fitzroy (Lord Raglan) Somerset at 9:00 struck me as looking very much like Terrence Alexander who played Lord Uxbridge in the 1970 Waterloo movie
That’s a really good point
@@TheHistoryChap
I think its the mildly amused expression on his face. As I recall in the movie, Lord Uxbridge was always pulling off bits of sarcastic wit in his exchanges with Wellington.
Nice to see you tackling the more obscure chapters in military history.
Thank you
Fantastic as always Chris!
I've been waiting for this video for the last couple of years, as its my favourite period of history ever since watched the Film Waterloo when I was a kid in the 90s, then loved all the Sharpe dramas 😆
Look forward to more on the peninsula war from you.
Keep up the great work 👍
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching and more to come
Like always, fantastic video into a fascinating yet terrifying battle , thank you!
My pleasure, thanks for watching
Glad the 52nd got mentioned. Their part at the end has long been overlooked in comparison to the guards, however they played a significant part and took heavy losses in the process.
The pre planed Anglo/ Prussian cooperation was also decisive with Quatra Bra and Ligny, the actions taken after these battles are important elements to the outcome of Waterloo.
Thanks for watching my video, and for also taking the time to add your thoughts as to Wellington success at Waterloo
Thank you Chris for another fascinating History lesson.
Glad you enjoyed it
I have too many books (what’s too many?), and have watched so many programs about Waterloo, but I really enjoyed this episode.
That’s very kind of you. Thanks for watching
Well done Chris!😊
Thank you for watching and for supporting my members channel
Great video and so interesting, thank you and stay well.
Thank you for your ongoing support
Hi , Chris i really enjoyed this story .... You make History a pleasure to watch ... Thank you ... 😃😀🙃😉 Cheers Simon
Simon, thanks for your support
@@TheHistoryChap enjoy your Saturday night Chris
Great episode from the history chap 😁 always a pleasure to listen to you 👍🏻
That’s very kind of you. I’m sure you already have, but please do subscribe to my channel here on UA-cam
Thanks so much Chris
You are so welcome
Fascinating! Thank you!
Fascinating, thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video - extremely informative and interesting.
I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for your support.
This is fantastic well done
Glad you enjoyed it & thanks for watching my video
I remember a visit to Wiesbaden, Germany where I walked out of the train station and walked towards the old city and my hotel. I came across a large monument dedicated to the battle of Waterloo at Luisenplatz.
Thanks for watching my video & for your interesting comment.
Or as it was said in Blackadder "The men had a whip around and got you this, well what I mean is I had the men roundly whipped until they got you this. It's a cigarillo case with the regimental Crest of two crossed dead Frenchmen emblazoned on a mound of dead Frenchman motif."
🤣
An excellent video.
Glad you enjoyed it
It is always surprising to read British comments (see below) that how great Wellington was as a General even when listening to the video it is 100% clear that Wellington. was beaten and only the Prussians saved him.
Thanks for your feedback
Wellington was not beaten, his strategy was for Blucher to join him at Waterloo, Blucher agreed, without that agreement Wellington would not have fought at Waterloo, so Wellingtons tactics worked and Napoleon was beaten, it was an allied victory due to Wellington generalship.
A brilliant video
Very kind of you. If you haven’t already please please make sure you subscribe to my channel for more videos.
I regularly play my French cousin at backgammon online i think the score at the moment 18-15.
A poetic score i think.
Thanks for your comment & for watching my video
Well explained
Many thanks
Brilliant video Chris, I have read a lot on the subject and yours is the most comprehensive, detailed and accurate of all. Thanks 🙏
That’s very kind of you, thanks
I’ve read numerous accounts including Bernard Cornwell’s excellent book, but I still managed to learn a thing or two.
I’m glad you did, thanks for taking the time to watch my video
It is evident that Wellington skilfully lured Napoleon into a trap. Having visited the area a year earlier, Wellington had it thoroughly surveyed and was well aware that, from a distance, the forest on his right appeared impenetrable, making it difficult to determine whether it was dense or sparse. This is precisely where he instructed Blücher to advance, relying on perfect timing for the manoeuvre to succeed-and succeed it did, albeit narrowly.
Thanks for watching my video & your feedback.
Yet the Brit-haters wanted you to believe that Wellington had been beaten and only the Prussian intervention "saved" him. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Waterloo battle plan was agreed upon by both Wellington and Blücher from the beginning.
Brilliant 👏
Very kind of you.
Thank you Sir! I was literally on the edge of my seat. Your description of the battle of Waterloo came to life. Your narrative concerning the opponents, Wellington, and Napoleon spot on. The tactics describe accurate, pardon the pun, too a T. Apologies for the use nautical jargon. You video lecture highly enjoyable! Once again thank you for producing another brilliant video lecture.
I’m glad you enjoyed my video and thanks for taking the time to comment. If you haven’t already, please please do subscribe to my channel for more videos.
Crikey what a top rate high quality sterling documentary Chris. Absolutely superb. From a geographically accurate point of view the Battle of Waterloo is actually misnamed. Check out Stephen Fry on the excellent BBC educational/comedy series "QI". I have been to the battlefield and it is awe inspiring. Also over one third of Wellingtons "British" army were actually Irish including native Gaelic speakers. Did"nt a French officer state that the British soldiers with "Castle" badges on their caps were the bravest men he saw. This would be the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers(17th Foot). They took extremely heavy casualties and later Wellington remarked that "they saved my centre". They have a monument at Waterloo. It is also reported that Wellington stated after the battle "Thank goodness my Irish soldiers fought for me and not against me this day". I love the famous painting of the Scots Grey by Lady Elizabeth Butler where they would only have white/light grey horses. The movie "Waterloo" with Rod Steiger as Napoleon and Christopher Plummer as the Duke of Wellington was top rate. Goodness me the leviathan scale. The recent Ridley Scotts "Napoleon" has come in for harsh criticism by historians and purists. Forgive me Chris I dont mean to lower the tone and apologies but did'nt Wellington deliberately sleep with some of Napoleon's former mistresses. Again according to that excellent BBC series "QI" Napoleon was also suffering from piles which might have affected some of his decisions on that fateful day.. No doubt you have seen that wonderful TV series "War Walks" presented by the late great Professor Richard Holmes which had an episode dedicated to Waterloo. When Napoleon was banished to St.Helena one of those in attendance with him besides his own entourages and guards was an Irish doctor. Napoleon was very fond of him and discussed his campaigns with him and the "what if's" in retrospect. Napoleon also believed he was being poisoned by enemeies at St.Helena and the "Discovery Channel" made an excellent documentary a number of years ago trying to find out if there was any truth to this and who would be the probable perpetrators. I am really looking forward to the next documentary you will have dedicated to the Peninsular War which as you know Napoleon labelled the "Spanish Ulcer". Picton would distinguish himself in this campaign with the 3rd Division. Once again Chris a great documentary about one of military histories most famous battles. By the way I remember watching an episode of the "Antiques Roadshow" where someone brought in a relaitves "Waterloo Medal" but goodness me I forget how much it was worth. A hat belonging to Napoleon sold for £1.2 million recently. Crikey I thought it would go for more considering what some artwork goes for. Sorry for the long post. Wishing you continued success in all your future endeavours.
Wellington was also Irish, born there at least.
Thanks for reminding me of war walks. Outstanding programme.
@@expatexpat6531 Another great victory for the British during the Napoleonic Wars was the naval triumph at the Battle of Trafalgar.. Over a quarter of Nelson's sailors(Jack Tars) were Irish and there was also sailors from the Caribbean.The latter appear in faithful paintings of this great British maritime victory.
@@johnroche7541 Just checked if Nelson was Irish - sadly not 🙂.
Thank you for your kind comment about my video, and then for taking the time to pen a really interesting post
"the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life"
- Wellington
Thanks for the feedback.
Good retelling of the battle Chris. I have never understood why Ney did not support his Calvary charges with infantry. Wellingtons infantry squares would have been slaughtered if the French infantry had advanced. I had also believed it was the young guard who assaulted the ridge at Waterloo as the old guard was fighting the Prussians on the flank(May be mistaken in this though) Alessandro Barbero has a very readable account of Waterloo.
Thanks for watching my video and taking the time to comment
It was the middle guard who stormed the Wellington hill.
Parts of the old guard were on standby behind them.
In Plancenoit the young guard first fought against the Prussians, and this was later reinforced by other parts of the old guard, but both were ultimately defeated by the Prussians.
I liked the video! Always enjoy Waterloo. Just a couple of points if I may? There is firm modern research evidence from Dutch/Belgian sources that show Bijlandt's brigade were given orders to move back behind the ridge before the French artillery opened up and were not left on the forward slope. Secondly, it's an old chestnut, but Waterloo Station in London wasn't named after the battle at all! It's original name was "Waterloo Bridge Station". It was named after Waterloo Bridge. (Which incidentally, was named after the battle).
Not sure about your first question, and you are totally right about the station, being named after the bridge, which in itself was named after the battle
Good one again, credit where credits due, the Netherlands and German troops were first class. It was an excellent example of how a coalition can work. Terrible suffering though amongst men and horses, the horses in particular distress me. Did either have medical care afterwards I wonder?
I doubt the horses had much medical care. I understand there was medical care of a fashion for the soldiers, but it was pretty rudimentary.
As Hagman and Harris liked to sing...
" 'Old Wellington, he scratched his bum; and said 'Boney lad, thee's 'ad thee fun!
My Riflemen will win the day, over the hills and far away...' "
Thanks for your comment.
one of the best accounts of the Waterloo Campaign was written by Mercer, Royal Horse Artillery, well worth the read. Insights into Wellington and the allies on the ground and considerable respect for the French soldiers.
Thank you for taking the time to share. Much appreciated.
Hello the history chap! A great video on the battle of Waterloo👍
I don’t know if you cover this era of British history but could you maybe do video about the forty five( the last Jacobite rebellion)? It has three big battles, Prestonpans, Falkirk muir and Drummosie moor/ Culloden.
I have heard a lot about Prestonpans and Drummosie but I would really like to learn more about Falkirk muir and the skirmish at Clifton moor. The reasons that they were fought. It isn’t just the battles and skirmishes that matter but also the story behind them, another topic is for example the bad relationship between Cherlie and many of his officers that played a major part in the massacre at Drummosie.
The 1745 rising will be covered next year. Please make sure you subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss it.
That sounds great!👍
You don’t have to worry about me subscribing, I’ve been a subscriber since at least half a year ago😀
There is a totally different reason why Nappy lost,-the chemistry of gunpowder. British and Dutch gunpowder was made from Chilean saltpetre, potassium nitrate, which is not deliquescent. The saltpetre came from the Atacama Desert, and that is why Britain seized the Falkland Islands from France in 1797. On the other hand, French gunpowder was made from sodium nitrate from horse urine. Sodium nitrate is deliquescent, ie attracts dampness. It rained heavily the night before the battle. Result,- their gunpowder didn’t fire. Result,- defeat. Simple chemistry defeated Nappy.
Thanks for watching my video & for your interesting feedback
Actually the fated charge by Ney started because a few men thought they saw someone retreated and began moving in that direction.
Ney approached the generals demanding to know why they were moving to which they replied “because we were ordered”. Thus the confusion, and the fog of war.
Thanks for watching and for your interesting comment.
I would love it if you could do pieces on Naval History in the same way. Would also be nice if there were notes explaining the painting, artists, and battles. One often wonders, whether painting (or videos in more modern context) relate to the events as often images are repeated (general criticism, not of your videos). Thanks. Brilliant piece as usual though
Thanks for the suggestion I will add it to my list for the future
would love to have a wellington overview video of his birth, life and death
I’m planning one, but it might be for the New Year
There's a line about Waterloo in that movie, 'Zulu.' It's between Waterloo and Trafalgar for Britain. Those were the days.
“The Imperial Guard fought to the end…..” I prefer the Guards reply when requested to surrender involving the “word of Cambronne.”
Thanks for your feedback.
To me the most interesting hypothetical of Waterloo is to replace Ney with Davout, who was performing administrative functions in Paris. Ney was probably not functioning at anything close to his best, and Davout would never have thrown D'Erlon's corps forward in a massive column without cavalry support.
Cavalié Mercer's journals of the Waterloo campaign are an incredible read. He was commanding one of the artillery units down with the infantry squares that took Ney's charges.
Thanks for your interesting feedback.
Impressive 😮
Thanks for watching my video
Are there any videos on Harry Smith?
Not yet in my collection, but watch this space.
Where did the term "beef Wellington" for steak wrapped in dough come from?
Great question. Unfortunately I don't know the answer. Anyone else out there who can help?
Perhaps you could cover Trafalgar?
I have please check out my channel, you’ll find it there
It all hinged on Blucher and his Prussians showing up on time, which they did.
Indeed. Thanks for commenting.
That was Wellington's plan.
He the anvil, Blücher the hammer.
Boney pretty much obliged.
Germans in extra time … as always …..until recently….
Alexander the dwarf simply didn't know when to stop.
Thanks for watching my video and for taking the time to comment
'It was a damn close run thing'.
Irritating comment...
Wellington had a brother, they were unofficially known as 'the pair of Wellingtons' !
I got the stick for saying that when I was at school. Lol.
Thanks for taking the time to comment
The largest British battalions in Waterloo was The Oxfordshire Light Infantry (52nd Foot) which had over thousand soldiers. The 95th Rifles had member in the three battalions in it battle
Thanks for the feedback.
WOW, boy have I been in need of a real history lesson at last about this, the EXTREMELY crucial Battle at Waterloo in 1815, where two might commanders, one of whom never lost a single battle he fought and so well and truly is deservedly a true British hero, compared to his French tyrant counterpart who lost more than he won ESPECIALLY when our Naval boy Nelson was alive, met for the one and only time, and the tyrant was bested spectacularly by the hero, and YOU were the one who allowed me it, Chris dear chap. But it is certainly well right to say that not only was the Duke of Wellington the big hero of Waterloo, thanks to his military strategies which allowed possibly the world's first true Allied army (perhaps we could truly call it that, before the term got used more famously in description to the friendly nation armies of both World Wars) to hold out against Napoleon's might the way they did, but so was Blucher of the Prussians, cos if he hadn't chosen to come to our side AND arrived when he did on the battle day itself, god knows what coulda happened otherwise, but France would certainly have suffered more years of hardship under a true tyrant, rather than that tyrant withering his final years of godforsaken life away on St Helena
Thanks for watching my video, glad you enjoyed it.
I like how you note the large advantages of French guns (and more than double the number of cavalry) which were hugely important.
Especially given the British & allied force were holding ground so had to stand there in most cases under said artillery for hours softening them up for infantry/cavalry attacks.
With the French being so heavily mauled from repeated attacks against the allied lines this also prevented them from being used to outmanoeuvre & attack Blucher too.
Waterloo is one of those battles that had so many what ifs & tactical errors & heroics on boths sides.
Thanks for taking the time to watch and also to share your views. You’re right it is littered with errors like many other battles for that matter.
One should not overestimate the effect of the French artillery that day. Due to the wet ground, it could only have a fraction of the effect that was possible on dry terrain.
and about cavalry: It takes about 4 years to train a good cavalryman, i.e. horse and rider.
However, Napoleon's cavalry perished in Russia and was no longer of the usual quality at Waterloo.
Napoleon threw most of his reserves at the Prussians, which he then lacked to use against Wellington.
And while the old guard was only on standby in front of Wellington's lines, Napoleon was forced to let them fight directly against the Prussians in Plancenoit.
However, like the young guard, she was defeated by the Prussians.
Can anyone tell me the name of the painting at 3:18? I believed it was the 28th at Qatre Bras but google isnt very helpful
It does depict that battalion at Quatre Bras as you say. They went on to become the South Gloucestershire Regiment and then joined their North Glos counterpart regiment in the 1880s to become the Gloucestershire Regiment. The Glorious Glosters of Imjin River/Gloster Hill fame.
I believe it was painted by the future lady, Butler
My maternal 4th & 5th great grandfathers where with the inniskilling dragoons (union brigade) during the battle. While my paternal 4th 5th & 6th grandfathers where with the KGL.
What’s an amazing family History, thanks for sharing
Additional comment, if anyone wants to read a soldiers view apparently a Private Clay wrote down his experiences, I knew a keen ammeter historian who had read them and said they were excellent. He said they start with Clay stuffing his wet great coat into his rucksack since the French were advancing upon them. They had been sleeping under improvised tents made from joining great coats together!
Thank you very much for sharing that information
ive always wondered why did napoleon risked everything when he couldn't see anything but wellington could from the height advantage he got?
Thanks for the comment. & for watching my video
There's some good books out there of personal experience
Thanks for sharing
Very enjoyable narrative that. It has been argued by some that the French also won, in the form of Louis XVIII - he got his throne back. He was obviously on the Allies' side and was very pleased that the allied Irish commander won the day ;-).
Thank you for watching and for taking the time to comment
With your introduction, it is very interesting because when tabletop teams do a reenactment of this battle 8 to 9 out of 10 times the French side will win - maybe playing with hindsight the French make all the correct moves/calls to unlock the defence lead by the allies?
thanks for that insight . Interesting.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing.
If the French win so often on these tabletop teams, one could almost assume that they might completely ignore the battles in Plancenoit, which are also part of the Battle of Waterloo. These ate up Napoleon's reserves, apart from the fact that when the Prussians arrived, the entire right wing of the French collapsed...
No mention of Major Richard Sharpe! Surely he swung it.
Like the comment. Thanks for watching.
I think it is thought that perhaps as many as 50% of the British red coat infantrymen that fought at the battle were irish born or at least a good portion were.
Not sure about the exact numbers, but you are right that they had a significant contribution. People also forget that the Irish population at this time was very big
@@TheHistoryChap yes I think the numbers of irish in the British Army at the time was reflective of the Size of the Irish population. At the time about 40% of the British Isles population were from Ireland. Lower of course after the famine in the 1840s and therefore less a % of Irish in the British Army after the famine.
instant like!
Very kind of you, thanks
As a point of information.
Ridley Scott's film, Napoleon, will be available on Betamax on January 3rd 2024, available in all good pound stores.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Thank you for sharing
Betamax ? That went out with Black Forrest Gateau !
@@ronmacro3648 Lazerdisc is the way forward!🙂
This video tells more about Waterloo in detail than some others out there. Marshal Ney was also born in 1769 and at Waterloo, even though he had been described as one the Grande Armee's best tactical commanders, here at Waterloo, he was past his prime and made only one or two smart tactical decisions. As for Wellington and Napoleon, both were military heavyweights but at Waterloo they were different. From a boxer's perspective, Wellesley was in good shape whist Napoleon was past his prime, had put on weight, and was in poor health. He wasn't as involved in command decisions in this battle as he had in the campaigns of his prime days and left the tactical handling of the fighting to Ney. I have said this before and I will say it again, Napoleon was once quoted as saying of Ney, "Good for leading 10,000 men, otherwise a true idiot". Not to mention at Dennewitz in the 1813 campaign he was horribly exposed as inept at army command. It was a shame Napoleon just left those thousands of his men dead and wounded on the battlefield instead of doing anything to help them. He is after all one of the monarchs in European history to rule a country that wasn't of his native blood. Defeating Napoleon was indeed an Allied effort as it took both armies to defeat Napoleon and after all, the Anglo-Allied army under Wellington was hodgepodge while the Prussian army under Blucher was an all experienced force. Once their numbers were brought together, the French didn't stand a chance. Wellington truly deserves his reputation as one of the best British field marshals of the 19th century as he fought well to hold the ridge. On another note, after Blucher there wasn't another Prussian general who fought in a war in his 70s until Karl Friedrich von Steinmetz in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 at 73 unless you count King Wilhelm I who was also in that war at the same age. Hey Chris, would you be willing to do a video on Quatre Bras too? A prelude video to Waterloo would probably be a nice accompaniment to it.
Blucher was even more past his prime - he was 73 at the time of the battle. George Foreman maybe against Wellington's Tyson Fury.
Thanks so much for taking the time to add some really interesting information. I will add Quatre Bras to my list. Watch this space!
"Now Maitland.... now's your time..."
thanks for the feedback
I hadn't realised that 20% of all the French infantry were hurled at Huegemont Farm, that's a huge loss with nothing to show for it. I have to think that stubbornness played a big part in Napoleon's loss at Waterloo. If he had rationally surveyed the territory and conditions I think perhaps he would have disengaged and found a better location to fight from? Fighting up hill in the mud against a force covered by dead ground and able to manoeuvre unseen seem like folly to me and possibly hubris.
Thanks for watching my video and for taking the time to make your comment. If you haven’t already, please do subscribe to my channel.
I think, at waterloo French forces were very weak by financial and many other aspects like poor / not so strong cavelry, artillary, amunitions and above all British, German, Austrian, Russian and many other European countries were fighting against Nepolian Bonaprte.
Otherwise in one to one battle He was strong enough to defeat any single nation in Europe.
Again at the peak of his career Nepolian made mistake by attaccking Russia (the most vast nation now a days too ) and due to Spanish cancer Nepolian really come to a bad end.
In fact in a book on Nepoian i read that Nepolian say " I misjudged my strenghts and weaknesses ".
Thanks for watching my video & for your interesting feedback.
Great video! What are your thoughts about the Napoleon movie?
Pretty poor. Only saving grace was that everything else on offer at the cinema was even worse 🤣
Sharpe called him Silly Billy
And I guess at the age of just 22, he wasn’t the most experienced commander on the field
@@TheHistoryChap I left silly billy comment before I finished watching
Sharpe also had a nice chat with the soldiers in La Haye Saint in the episode 'Waterloo', but it's just stupid that it wouldn't have worked because there were only Germans there.
Incidentally, the uniforms and weapons of the 2nd Light Battalion of the KGL stationed there were identical to those of the ´95th Rifles´.
Didn't Wellington make a commitment/promise to Blucher to remain in the field while Blucher brought his Prussian army back into the battle.
Did both men have any idea how the other was doing in keeping his word?
Not sure how they kept in touch during the battle...if indeed they did.
They both did their job pretty well. They've kept their word.
Damn me Uxbridge, if I ever saw thirty thousand men run a race before! The entire line shall advance!
In which direction your Grace?
Why, straight ahead to be sure.
Thank you so much for sharing.
You don't need to be a hindsight armchair general to realize Cavalry is better used to delay Blucher's convergence with the British than charging fortified positions covered by infantry squares and artillery.
Thank you for taking the time to share your insight.
The Oxfordshire LI fight the French Imperial Guards, the Oxfordshire LI fight the German Imperial Guards at Nun's Woods on 11th November 1914. The Oxfordshire Light Infantry is the only British Battalion against Imperial Guards
Thanks for the feedback.
'Twas a lunchtime affair for croaking Frogs.
🤣
As Napolian said the victor writes history. Actually he beat wellington but then lost to the combined army's it was 2 battles ask the french they know
Thanks for watching my video & for your comment.
Come to see what the same old tales are rolled out. Plenty of battles after Waterloo -and towards Paris where Prussia and and England chased the Grouchy Corps and stragglers . Napoleon was on HMS Bellerophon and ended up at Portsmouth . Interesting How he ended up at St Helena
Thanks for your feedback
I know this is a stupid question,but why did Britain and France fight in Belgium
Because the allies had gathered an Anglo Dutch Army in Belgium, which, at that point was ruled by the Dutch
Plus the major European nations usually fight their battles in Belgium to save ruining their own lands 😉
It was the Oxfordshire LI to fight the Imperial Guards in Waterloo not the British Guards.
Thanks for your feedback
Napoleon did not just fight one opponent. Wellington played a vital part but no doubt his allies contributed heavily to the victory. If Wellington met Napoleon earlier in his career. Napoleon would have crushed him. Wellington to his credit said Napoleon was the greatest past, present, and future. I admire that about Wellington gracious in victory. But no doubt Napoleon was a titan. Wellington a fine soldier. God bless.
Thanks for watching my video & for taking the time to comment
Thanks, i didn't realise Ceasar left no military presence in UK.....
Thanks for watching my video