Changes

Napoleon as ever was in a hurry and decided to attack the British and their allies before the Prussians arrived. He decided to attack the British the day after arriving at Waterloo. He scheduled the attack to begin in the early morning of the 18th of June, but he delayed it because of the sodden ground. The wet conditions meant that the cavalry could not conduct any charges. At 11 in the morning Napoleon ordered his forces to attack the village of Mont-Saint-Jean as he believed that here was the main concentration of Wellington’s army. In fact, the British were stationed below the village on some high ground. When the French saw the position of the British they commenced to bombard their lines.<ref> Barbero, p. 114</ref> After an hour the French began their assault and their goal was to seize the Hougoumont farmhouse. There was fierce fighting at this farmhouse all day but the British managed to hold out. Wellington was obliged to divert some of his reserves into this battle. This weakened his centre and Napoleon decided to launch a massive attack on the British lines. The French after another bombardment charged up the slopes to the British lines and after an hour of fierce fighting, they had forced Wellington’s lines back. It seemed that the British were on the verge of defeat.

Then the British commander ordered his Heavy Cavalry Brigade to stage a counterattack.<ref> Barbero, p. 156</ref> This managed to push back the French advance, although at a very heavy cost. Napoleon ordered his cavalry to attack the British line and then ordered repeated infantry charges. This resulted in very high French casualties. The British under the leadership of Wellington held firm. Suddenly, the Prussians appeared on Napoleon’s right flank and they had arrived sooner than anyone had anticipated. Napoleon knew that his situation was precarious and he ordered his best troops, the Imperial Guard forward, in an effort to rout the British. However, once again despite the heroism of the Imperial Guard the allied forces under Wellington held firm. The Prussians under Blucher began to arrive in ever greater numbers and as they did the French army began to disintegrate. The Old Guard, composed of veterans of many battles, fought to the last man and this allowed the remaining French forces to flee the battle. That night Blucher and Wellington met and that is considered the end of the Battle. Waterloo was a victory for the allies but as Wellington himself asserted afterwards it was a narrow victory.<ref> Adkin, p. 178</ref>