Time Astra

Battle plan · Hundred Days (War of the Seventh Coalition)

Battle of Waterloo

All battlesThe event in the chronicleThe schematic from CDB90Wikipedia
Hougoumont woodHougoumontLa Haye SaintePapelotteLa HaieSmohainFrichermontLa Belle AllianceMont-Saint-JeanRossommePlancenoitBois de ParisChantelet woodMont-Saint-Jean ridgeLa Belle Alliance ridgeBrussels roadOhain roadNivelles roadSmohain brookAltenLobauChasséJérômeFoy and BacheluBrunswickersPictonHanoveriansDonzelotClintonYoung GuardGuardsQuiotMarcognetDurutteOld GuardLancers and chasseursGuard cavalryNetherlands horseKellermannBylandtSaxe-WeimarMilhaudMiddle GuardVandeleur and VivianAdamGunsGunsLambertPiréHougoumontLa Haye SainteWellington01 km2 kmN

Napoleon, back from exile, struck at the two armies guarding Belgium before they could join. Two days after beating the Prussians at Ligny he found Wellington's Anglo-allied army drawn up behind a low ridge south of Waterloo, with the farms of Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte held as bastions in front. Delayed by the sodden ground, the French attacked from late morning: a day-long fight for Hougoumont, a great infantry assault broken by British heavy cavalry, hours of massed cavalry charges against squares, and at last the fall of La Haye Sainte. But Blücher's Prussians were marching to Wellington, and from late afternoon they fought their way into Plancenoit, behind the French right. At about half past seven Napoleon sent in the Imperial Guard. Its repulse, as Zieten's corps broke the French right, turned the battle into a rout, and ended the Napoleonic Wars.

The armies

French Army of the North

Napoleon · Michel Ney · Jean-de-Dieu Soult · Jean-Baptiste Drouet d'Erlon · Honoré Reille · Georges Mouton (Lobau)

UnitArmMen
Piré's light cavalry divisionHippolyte PiréLight cavalry1,800
Jérôme's division (II Corps)Jérôme BonaparteInfantry6,500
Foy's and Bachelu's divisions (II Corps)Honoré ReilleInfantry6,500
III Cavalry Corps (cuirassiers and carabiniers)François Étienne de KellermannHeavy cavalry3,400
Cavalry of the Imperial GuardLefebvre-Desnoëttes and GuyotCavalry3,700
1st Division (I Corps)Joachim QuiotInfantry4,000
2nd Division (I Corps)François-Xavier DonzelotInfantry4,500
3rd Division (I Corps)Pierre-Louis MarcognetInfantry4,000
4th Division (I Corps)Pierre François DurutteInfantry4,000
The Grand Battery (about 80 guns)Artillery2,000
IV Cavalry Corps (cuirassiers)Édouard MilhaudHeavy cavalry3,000
Light cavalry of Jacquinot, Domon and SubervieLight cavalry3,800
VI CorpsGeorges Mouton (Lobau)Infantry7,000
Middle Guard (five battalions)Michel NeyHeavy infantry3,000
Old Guard (grenadiers and chasseurs)Heavy infantry4,000
Young GuardPhilibert DuhesmeInfantry4,200
The Emperor NapoleonCommander—
In this plan65,400

Wellington's Anglo-allied army

Duke of Wellington · Earl of Uxbridge · Rowland Hill · Thomas Picton · William · Prince of Orange

UnitArmMen
3rd Netherlands DivisionDavid Hendrik ChasséInfantry6,700
2nd Division (Du Plat and H. Halkett)Henry ClintonInfantry4,200
Adam's light brigade (52nd, 71st and 95th)Frederick AdamLight infantry2,600
Garrison of Hougoumont (Guards light companies, Nassauers and Hanoverian Jäger)James MacdonellInfantry1,500
1st (Guards) Division (Maitland and Byng)George CookeHeavy infantry4,000
3rd Division (C. Halkett, Ompteda and Kielmansegge)Charles AltenInfantry7,000
Brunswick CorpsOlfermannInfantry6,000
Batteries of the right centreArtillery2,500
2nd Light Battalion KGL at La Haye SainteGeorg BaringLight infantry400
Bylandt's brigade (2nd Netherlands Division)Willem van BylandtInfantry3,000
5th Division (Kempt and Pack)Thomas PictonInfantry5,000
Batteries of the left centreArtillery2,500
Hanoverian brigades of Best and VinckeInfantry4,500
Nassau brigade at Papelotte, La Haie and SmohainPrince Bernhard of Saxe-WeimarLight infantry3,000
Household Cavalry BrigadeLord Edward SomersetHeavy cavalry1,300
Union Brigade (Royals, Greys and Inniskillings)William PonsonbyHeavy cavalry1,300
Light cavalry brigades of Vandeleur and VivianLight cavalry2,800
Netherlands Cavalry Division and Hanoverian horseJean-Marie de CollaertCavalry3,500
Lambert's brigadeJohn LambertInfantry2,000
The Duke of WellingtonCommander—
In this plan63,800

Blücher's Prussian army

Gebhard von Blücher · August von Gneisenau · Friedrich von Bülow · Hans von Zieten · Georg von Pirch

UnitArmMen
15th Brigade (IV Corps)Michael von LosthinInfantry6,000
16th Brigade (IV Corps)Johann von HillerInfantry6,000
13th and 14th Brigades and reserve cavalry (IV Corps)Friedrich von BülowInfantry12,000
II Corps (5th and 7th Brigades)Georg von PirchInfantry8,000
I Corps (1st Brigade and reserve cavalry)Hans von ZietenInfantry9,000
Field Marshal BlücherCommander—
In this plan41,000

What the sources report

FrenchWellingtonPrussians
Strength, this plan73,000 (72,000–73,000)48,950–50,600 infantry, 14,390–15,765 cavalry, about 8,000 gunners, 246–252 guns68,000British, King's German Legion, Hanoverian, Dutch-Belgian, Brunswick and Nassau troops, 156 guns50,000 (41,000–52,000)IV Corps and parts of I and II Corps; 126 guns
Losses, this plan33,000 (26,000–41,000)25,000 killed or wounded and 8,000 captured; 15,000 more deserted after the battle17,0003,500 killed, 10,200 wounded, 3,300 missing7,000 (6,604–7,000)
Strength, Wikipedia72,000–73,00048,950 to 50,600 infantrymen14,390 to 15,765 cavalrymen8,050 gunners and engineers7,232 gunners246–252 gunsTotal: 118,000–120,00091,000 infantrymen21,500 cavalrymen7,500 gunners282–288 gunsWellington's army: soldiers31,00017,00011,0006,0003,000156 gunsBlücher's army: soldiers126 gunsTotal: 118,000–120,00091,000 infantrymen21,500 cavalrymen7,500 gunners282–288 gunsWellington's army: soldiers31,00017,00011,0006,0003,000156 gunsBlücher's army: soldiers126 guns
Casualties, Wikipedia26,000–27,00025,000 killed or wounded8,000 captured (including 6,000–7,000 wounded)15,000 deserted after the battle220 guns lostTotal: 24,000Wellington's army:17,0003,500 killed10,200 wounded3,300 missingBlücher's army: 6,604–7,0001,144–1,200 killed4,155–4,400 wounded1,305–1,400 missingTotal: 24,000Wellington's army:17,0003,500 killed10,200 wounded3,300 missingBlücher's army: 6,604–7,0001,144–1,200 killed4,155–4,400 wounded1,305–1,400 missing

Infobox figures from “Battle of Waterloo” on Wikipedia (revision 1380652941), CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 145, “Waterloo”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
10 hours
Winner
the defender
Terrain
Rolling, Mixed
Weather
Wet, Light precipitation, Temperate, Summer, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense, Prepared defense
Front width
4 km (attacker), 6.4 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Franceattacker68,26525,00015,489266Frontal attack; Repulse; Withdrew with heavy losses
Great Britain & Prussiadefender137,54722,50023,880196Defensive/offensive plan; Frontal attack; Single envelopment; Penetration; Pursued

Attacker’s advantages momentum +1 · initiative +1

CDB90 (US Army Concepts Analysis Agency, 1990), tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold; data under ODC-BY 1.0.

Plans and pictures

Battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815: sheet 2nd., crisis of the battle. A.K. Johnston F.R.G.S. William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London. (to accompany) Atlas to Alison's history of Europe ... MDCCCLII (1852).<be> Engraved hand colored battle plan. Shows the position of the Allies, Prussians and French cavalry, infantry and artillery. In lower right margin: W. & A.K. Johnston, Edinr. ReliPlanBattle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815 - sheet 1st, morning of the battle (Alison)Alison, Archibald, Sir, bart., 1792-1862; Johnston, Alexander Keith 1804-1871 · Public domainCommons ↗Battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815: sheet 2nd., crisis of the battle. A.K. Johnston F.R.G.S. William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London. (to accompany) Atlas to Alison's history of Europe ... MDCCCLII (1852). Engraved hand colored battle plan. Shows the position of the Allies, Prussians and French cavalry, infantry and artillery. In lower right margin: W. & A.K. Johnston, Edinr. Relief shown bPlanBattle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815 - sheet 2nd, crisis of the battle (Alison)Alison, Archibald, Sir, bart., 1792-1862; Johnston, Alexander Keith 1804-1871 · Public domainCommons ↗Map of the Battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815, showing major movements and attacks.PlanBattle of WaterlooIpankonin · Public domainCommons ↗Situation at the Battle of Waterloo from 5:30 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.PlanBattle of Waterloo mapGregory Fremont-Barnes (main editor) · AttributionCommons ↗A portion of northern and eastern France and the colour coded lines of advance of five different Seventh Coalition armies.PlanInvasion of France in 1815William Siborne and engraved by J. Kirkwood in Dublin · Public domainCommons ↗Strategic Situation of Western Europe, 1815PlanStrategic Situation of Western Europe 1815Public domainCommons ↗The battle of Waterloo -Plan of Brussels and the country 25 miles to the southPlanWaterloo.1816.02Thomas Kelly editor · Public domainCommons ↗Map of force movements and major engagements during the Waterloo Campaign, June 15-18, 1815.PlanWaterloo Campaign map-alt3Ipankonin · CC BY-SA 3.0Commons ↗The painting "Wartime Suffering" symbolizes and recalls the suffering that war brings. J.J. Eeckhout painted it in 1826. It is a classical, romanticized depiction in which the suffering of war is personified in a market woman. She mourns her fallen husband who lies at her feet. This soldier is a flanker from a Battalion of Infantry of Line of the Dutch force, which took part in the battle of WaterPicture'Oorlogsleed', woman and child at the Battle of WaterlooJacobus Josephus Eeckhout · Public domainCommons ↗Dutch-Belgian carabiniers at WaterlooPictureAlphonse+Lalauze-P.+Eugene+OfAlphonse Lalauze · Public domainCommons ↗Oil painting "Battle of Waterloo. 18th of June 1815"PictureAndrieux - La bataille de WaterlooClément-Auguste Andrieux · Public domainCommons ↗The artillery in Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815). From Geo Jones 1816 // S. Mitan Aquafe // 13 // Published by J. Booth, Decr 23, 1816.PictureArtillery in Battle of Waterloo by Jonesartist JONES, George (1786-1869) · Public domainCommons ↗Battle of Waterloo 1815.PNGPictureBattle of Waterloo 1815William Sadler · Public domainCommons ↗A panoramic view of the battlefield.PictureBelgium-6773 - Battlefield View (14152126362)Dennis G. Jarvis · CC BY-SA 2.0Commons ↗

Notes

On this reconstruction

Formations are shown by division and brigade, not by battalion; squares stand for the many battalion squares of each division. The hours follow the usual reconstruction from the timed accounts, though even the start of the battle is uncertain (Wellington says about ten, others half past eleven). Strengths are approximate, after the order of battle of the campaign. Farms, villages and roads stand at their real coordinates, and the positions were checked against Johnston's plates of the morning and the crisis of the battle in Alison's atlas. The hours are approximate, from the order of events in the accounts.

Sources

  • Duke of Wellington, Waterloo Dispatch to Earl Bathurst, 19 June 1815 · public domain
  • William Siborne, History of the War in France and Belgium in 1815 · public domain
  • US Army Concepts Analysis Agency; tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold, CAA Database of Battles (CDB90), no. 145 · ODC-BY-1.0Strength, losses, duration, terrain and weather in machine-readable form.
  • Wikipedia contributors, Battle of Waterloo · CC-BY-SA-4.0Deployments, times and sequence as summarised in the article.
  • Alexander Keith Johnston, for Archibald Alison's Atlas of the History of Europe, Battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815: morning of the battle; crisis of the battle · public domainThe two plates the positions were checked against.
  • Wikidata (CC0) and OpenStreetMap contributors, Landmark positions · ODbL-1.0Coordinates of the farms, villages and hills the plan is laid out on.
  • Wikipedia contributors, Waterloo campaign order of battle · CC-BY-SA-4.0

Facts gathered from Wikidata (CC0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikimedia Commons (licence per file); the plan and its text are timeastra’s own.