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[[File: Waterloo 2.jpg|thumbnail|left|350px|British Cavalry charging at Waterloo]]
Napoleon was declared an outlaw by the allies, and they decided not to negotiate with him. They were focused on defeating him so that he could never threaten the peace of Europe. Napoleon decided to target the British in the Low Countries. He wanted to secure a quick and rapid victory.<ref> Adkin, Mark, <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811718549/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0811718549&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=69ebff713071f7b1b7139c25d1dbe244 The Waterloo Companion]</i>, (Aurum, London, 2001), p. 6 </ref>
The French army aimed to destroy the British before joining the Prussian army, which was rapidly making its way to Belgium. Had Napoleon succeeded in destroying the army of General Wellington, located south of Brussels before it was reinforced, he might have been able to drive the British back to the sea. This would allow Napoleon to turn his focus on the Prussians and knock them out of the war and enable the French to concentrate all their armies on the Austrians and Russians.<ref>Adkins, p. 17</ref>
Napoleon also knew that many in Belgium's French-speaking community were sympathetic to him, and a French victory could trigger a revolution in that country. French Intelligence was very well-informed of the strengths and weaknesses of the British troops in Belgium. Napoleon knew that the army under General Wellington was mostly second-line troops as most veterans had been dispatched to fight in North America. Napoleon gathered his forces together in a rapid period. Many of his old soldiers and generals rallied to his cause, and soon they were on the march.
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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 hefty 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, to rout the British. However, once again, despite the Imperial Guard's heroism, the allied forces under Wellington held firm. The Prussians under Blucher began to arrive in ever-higher 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, allowing the remaining French forces to flee the fighting. 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 afterward, it was a narrow victory.<ref> Adkin, p. 178</ref>
====Outcome of the Battle====
Waterloo cost the British army around 14,500 dead or wounded, and the Prussians under Blücher suffered some 7,200 casualties. The French army had some 25,000 to 26,000 killed or wounded. Some 6000 to 7000 French soldiers were taken prisoner, and another 15,000 men deserted. Waterloo was a decisive victory for the allies.<ref> Chandler, David, <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0025236601/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0025236601&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=ad13ccb381f4beab1b23a17089c55271 The Campaigns of Napoleon]</i>, (New York: Macmillan, 1966), p. 156</ref> Napoleon’s army was no longer an organized fighting force, and the British and Prussians were about to invade France, which was practically defenseless. It was evident that the situation was hopeless, and after a failed suicide bid, Napoleon was sent to the island of St Helena, where he would die.
If Bonaparte had won, it seems likely that Europe would have once again experienced a series of wars.<ref> Barbero, p. 178</ref> Waterloo ended the career of Napoleon - one of the greatest generals in history. It also ended the last serious attempt by France to dominate Europe. The battle was to bring four decades of international peace to Europe. In the aftermath of Napoleon's defeat, the great powers organized an international system that provided Europe with much-needed stability. At the Congress of Vienna, the great powers except for Britain established principles that provided some stability for Europe until the Crimean War, in a period of significant change.<ref> Palmer, p. 234</ref>
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====Related DailyHistory.org Articles====
If the French had been able to attack in the early hours, they could have swept the British from the field before their Prussian allies' arrival. Then there was Napoleon’s mistake in organizing the first attack on the British center. The formation of the First French Corps was not suitable for a swift attack, and this meant that it was relatively ineffective. According to an official French investigation into the battle, the ‘inconceivable formation of the first corps, in masses very much too deep for the first grand attack.’<ref> Comte d'Erlon, Jean-Baptiste Drouet (1815), Drouet's account of Waterloo to the French Parliament, p. 3</ref>
Then the British cavalry was superior. Because of the constant wars, the European armies could not access good horses. The British were able to secure excellent horses from England and especially Ireland, which meant that they were more effective at Waterloo. On the other hand, the French cavalry horses were not as good, which was a real disadvantage.<ref>Adkin, p. 212</ref> The charge of the British Heavy Brigade was particularly important at a most dangerous stage in the battle for the British and when they seemed on the verge of defeat. The superior horses of the British gave them an ‘important advantage on the battlefield.’<ref> Fletcher, Ian, <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811707032/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0811707032&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=be1e5cee696a739afca24453fc1f9afd Galloping at Everything: The British Cavalry in the Peninsula and at Waterloo 1808–15]</i>, (Staplehurst, Spellmount, 1999), 201</ref>
====Conclusion====
