1815 : NAPOLEON DEFEATED AT WATERLOO:
At Waterloo in Belgium, Napoleon Bonaparte suffers defeat at the hands
of the Duke of Wellington, bringing an end to the Napoleonic era of
European history.
The Corsica-born Napoleon, one of the greatest military strategists in
history, rapidly rose in the ranks of the French Revolutionary Army
during the late 1790s. By 1799, France was at war with most of Europe,
and Napoleon returned home from his Egyptian campaign to take over the
reigns of the French government and save his nation from collapse.
After becoming first consul in February 1800, he reorganized his
armies and defeated Austria. In 1802, he established the Napoleonic
Code, a new system of French law, and in 1804 was crowned emperor of
France in Notre Dame Cathedral. By 1807, Napoleon controlled an empire
that stretched from the River Elbe in the north, down through Italy in
the south, and from the Pyrenees to the Dalmatian coast.
Beginning in 1812, Napoleon began to encounter the first significant
defeats of his military career, suffering through a disastrous
invasion of Russia, losing Spain to the Duke of Wellington in the
Peninsula War, and enduring total defeat against an allied force by
1814. Exiled to the island of Elba in the Mediterranean, he escaped to
France in early 1815 and set up a new regime. As allied troops
mustered on the French frontiers, he raised a new Grand Army and
marched into Belgium. He intended to defeat the allied armies one by
one before they could launch a united attack.
On June 16, 1815, he defeated the Prussians under Gebhard Leberecht
von Blucher at Ligny, and sent 33,000 men, or about one-third of his
total force, in pursuit of the retreating Prussians. On June 18,
Napoleon led his remaining 72,000 troops against the Duke of
Wellington's 68,000-man allied army, which had taken up a strong
position 12 miles south of Brussels near the village of Waterloo. In a
fatal blunder, Napoleon waited until mid-day to give the command to
attack in order to let the ground dry. The delay in fighting gave
Blucher's troops, who had eluded their pursuers, time to march to
Waterloo and join the battle by the late afternoon.
In repeated attacks, Napoleon failed to break the center of the allied
center. Meanwhile, the Prussians gradually arrived and put pressure on
Napoleon's eastern flank. At 6 p.m., the French under Marshal Michel
Ney managed to capture a farmhouse in the allied center and began
decimating Wellington's troops with artillery. Napoleon, however, was
preoccupied with the 30,000 Prussians attacking his flank and did not
release troops to aid Ney's attack until after 7 p.m. By that time,
Wellington had reorganized his defenses, and the French attack was
repulsed. Fifteen minutes later, the allied army launched a general
advance, and the Prussians attacked in the east, throwing the French
troops into panic and then a disorganized retreat. The Prussians
pursued the remnants of the French army, and Napoleon left the field.
French casualties in the Battle of Waterloo were 25,000 men killed and
wounded and 9,000 captured, while the allies lost about 23,000.
Napoleon returned to Paris and on June 22 abdicated in favor of his
son. He decided to leave France before counterrevolutionary forces
could rally against him, and on July 15 he surrendered to British
protection at the port of Rochefort. He hoped to travel to the United
States, but the British instead sent him to Saint Helena, a remote
island in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa. Napoleon protested but
had no choice but to accept the exile. With a group of followers, he
lived quietly on St. Helena for six years. In May 1821, he died, most
likely of stomach cancer. He was only 51 years old. In 1840, his body
was returned to Paris, and a magnificent funeral was held. Napoleon's
body was conveyed through the Arc de Triomphe and entombed under the
dome of the Invalides.
history.com/tdih.do
1778 : British abandon Philadelphia
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5102
1812 : Second Anglo-American War begins
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5103
1983 : First American woman in space
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5104
#########################################
At Waterloo in Belgium, Napoleon Bonaparte suffers defeat at the hands
of the Duke of Wellington, bringing an end to the Napoleonic era of
European history.
The Corsica-born Napoleon, one of the greatest military strategists in
history, rapidly rose in the ranks of the French Revolutionary Army
during the late 1790s. By 1799, France was at war with most of Europe,
and Napoleon returned home from his Egyptian campaign to take over the
reigns of the French government and save his nation from collapse.
After becoming first consul in February 1800, he reorganized his
armies and defeated Austria. In 1802, he established the Napoleonic
Code, a new system of French law, and in 1804 was crowned emperor of
France in Notre Dame Cathedral. By 1807, Napoleon controlled an empire
that stretched from the River Elbe in the north, down through Italy in
the south, and from the Pyrenees to the Dalmatian coast.
Beginning in 1812, Napoleon began to encounter the first significant
defeats of his military career, suffering through a disastrous
invasion of Russia, losing Spain to the Duke of Wellington in the
Peninsula War, and enduring total defeat against an allied force by
1814. Exiled to the island of Elba in the Mediterranean, he escaped to
France in early 1815 and set up a new regime. As allied troops
mustered on the French frontiers, he raised a new Grand Army and
marched into Belgium. He intended to defeat the allied armies one by
one before they could launch a united attack.
On June 16, 1815, he defeated the Prussians under Gebhard Leberecht
von Blucher at Ligny, and sent 33,000 men, or about one-third of his
total force, in pursuit of the retreating Prussians. On June 18,
Napoleon led his remaining 72,000 troops against the Duke of
Wellington's 68,000-man allied army, which had taken up a strong
position 12 miles south of Brussels near the village of Waterloo. In a
fatal blunder, Napoleon waited until mid-day to give the command to
attack in order to let the ground dry. The delay in fighting gave
Blucher's troops, who had eluded their pursuers, time to march to
Waterloo and join the battle by the late afternoon.
In repeated attacks, Napoleon failed to break the center of the allied
center. Meanwhile, the Prussians gradually arrived and put pressure on
Napoleon's eastern flank. At 6 p.m., the French under Marshal Michel
Ney managed to capture a farmhouse in the allied center and began
decimating Wellington's troops with artillery. Napoleon, however, was
preoccupied with the 30,000 Prussians attacking his flank and did not
release troops to aid Ney's attack until after 7 p.m. By that time,
Wellington had reorganized his defenses, and the French attack was
repulsed. Fifteen minutes later, the allied army launched a general
advance, and the Prussians attacked in the east, throwing the French
troops into panic and then a disorganized retreat. The Prussians
pursued the remnants of the French army, and Napoleon left the field.
French casualties in the Battle of Waterloo were 25,000 men killed and
wounded and 9,000 captured, while the allies lost about 23,000.
Napoleon returned to Paris and on June 22 abdicated in favor of his
son. He decided to leave France before counterrevolutionary forces
could rally against him, and on July 15 he surrendered to British
protection at the port of Rochefort. He hoped to travel to the United
States, but the British instead sent him to Saint Helena, a remote
island in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa. Napoleon protested but
had no choice but to accept the exile. With a group of followers, he
lived quietly on St. Helena for six years. In May 1821, he died, most
likely of stomach cancer. He was only 51 years old. In 1840, his body
was returned to Paris, and a magnificent funeral was held. Napoleon's
body was conveyed through the Arc de Triomphe and entombed under the
dome of the Invalides.
history.com/tdih.do
1778 : British abandon Philadelphia
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5102
1812 : Second Anglo-American War begins
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5103
1983 : First American woman in space
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5104
#########################################
No comments:
Post a Comment