Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was one of the greatest military leaders of all time. Napoleon had many successful battles during his reign, he invaded most of Europe with his brilliant tactics.
In the history of world wars and modern history, the battle of Waterloo is considered a famous battle, where the military genius Napoleon was defeated, and also marked the end of the Napoleonic wars throughout Europe.
So why did Napoleon lose at Waterloo and then be exiled after this battle? So far, there are many explanations.
Darlon Missed the Clear Opportunity
In the spring of 1815, Napoleon returned from the island of Elba to Paris, quickly controlling the government of all of France. Receiving this news, the kings of European countries were on a knife edge because they knew that Napoleon's ambition was great. They immediately formed the Seventh Coalition with the desire to quickly defeat Napoleon.
Napoleon also quickly reorganized his army to fight the Coalition. He wanted to use force to destroy the Anglo-Prussian Coalition before the Russian-Austrian troops reached the battlefield. But the situation turned out contrary to his expectations.
Marshal Ney received orders to immediately capture Brussels (Belgium's capital) to curb the British. But he acted slowly, not completing the task as planned.
Later, when the two sides were arranging their forces, Napoleon ordered the Darlon corps (under Marshal Ney) from Frasne to move behind the Prussians and cooperate with the main force attacking the Prussians. But for some reason, Darlon marched into Fletai, the rear of the French army. This missed almost two hours of the decisive attack on the Prussians. When Darlon turned around and entered the Prussian rear, for some reason, Field Marshal Ney ordered him somewhere.
At this time, the British retreating was within range of Darlon's artillery, but he mechanically obeyed Ney's orders, causing the British to avoid the risk of being completely annihilated and the French to miss the opportunity to get a decisive win. Everyone knows how good the French artillery was.
At that time, if Darlon had used his two artillery regiments, the situation on the battlefield would have been completely different, especially since in the retreating British army there was a skilled cavalry division. Many historians later said that that decisive moment allowed the British to preserve their forces, withdraw safely, and change the fate of history after the Battle of Waterloo.
In addition, God seems to be against Napoleon (?). The day before the Battle of Waterloo, when Napoleon was commanding the pursuit of the British troops who were forced to withdraw, it suddenly rained heavily. For a moment, the road was muddy and the fields were flooded. The French cavalry was forced to stop pursuing. The British troops who were fleeing for their lives were saved.
Early the next morning, the French could not launch the attack as planned because it rained heavily all night. As a man who was good at maneuvering tactics, Napoleon also had no way of promoting the mobility effects of artillery and cavalry. The fight had to be pushed back until noon before it started. This gave the British army time to fortify the battlefield. After retreating, the British entrenched themselves on high points such as the Hougoumont ranch and the Haye Alliance at Waterloo to await reinforcements.
Dramatic Battle
The Battle of Waterloo, a prominent battle in the history of world wars, was also the last battle of Napoleon's military career. A place to show the genius ways of manipulating soldiers, and also the military arts.
At 11:30 a.m. on a day in 1815, after three cannon explosions, the Battle of Waterloo began. According to Napoleon's intended battle plan, the French left-wing first pretended to aggressively attack Hoaugomont; the purpose was to make General Wellington focus on the British right-wing, thereby finding opportunities to attack Blucher. The intention of the French army—to break through the Prussian army of Blucher, to separate the Anglo-Prussian battlefields, to occupy Hall Mountain from here—could completely destroy the British army with artillery.
But Napoleon underestimated his opponent. Wellington, through many failures, understood Napoleon's tactical thinking style. He quickly realized the true intentions of the French left-wing attack. Immediately, Wellington sent only a small number of bodyguards to rescue Hoaugomont, while the great army remained motionless waiting for the main French army on the main front.
As a result, the French pretended to attack Hoaugomont with such a small force that it became a long and costly battle. Due to the failure to capture Hoaugomont, the French right wing was also unable to attack. After a few hours, there were huge casualties on both sides.
Faced with this situation, Napoleon forced a change of plans. He ordered the main force to attack the center of the line at the farm of the Haye Alliance.
13:30 pm, 80 French cannons simultaneously fired, reinforcing cavalry, and infantry launched an attack. Very quickly, the French captured the orchard in front of the farm, but when they entered, they were strongly resisted and heavily defended by the British. The French central army was also blocked. One great advantage of the British on the farm was the maintenance of high points. From here, the British inflicted a great deal of damage on the French when they tried to attack without success.
While the fierce fighting raged at the center, Napoleon suddenly spotted a large army moving in the forest northeast of the battlefield for about 6 miles. It was the Bilu corps of the Prussian army. Obviously, if that force were to come to support the British, Napoleon had no hope of victory.
Faced with that perilous situation, Napoleon ordered General Grouchy to stop attacking Wavre and immediately switch to fighting the Prussian army, not allowing it to join the British army.
General Grouchy, a marshal very loyal to Napoleon but weak, obeys orders blindly and inflexibly. When he brought a quarter of his army in pursuit of the scattered Prussians, he did not return to the main battlefield at the end of the battle. This caused the French forces to be reduced, especially after many hours of fighting with great casualties.
Before the battle, Napoleon also hesitated to appoint Grouchy as marshal, but because there were no more generals, he appointed Grouchy.
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