The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast #34 – The Battle of Waterloo Part 2
Posted on 13. Dec, 2007 by Cameron in Podcast
The Battle of Waterloo, along with the Battle of Wavre, was fought on 18 June 1815, and was Napoleon Bonaparte’s last battle. His defeat put a final end to his rule as Emperor of the French. It is probably one of the most famous battles in history. It has been the subject of much debate for nearly 200 years and we’ll probably still be debating it 200 years hence. We could have spaced this episode out over several more episodes but this show is about providing an introduction to Napoleon, we’re not trying to deliver the definitive commentary on his life, so we’ve covered the battle, as best we can, in a little over 90 minutes. What were the reasons for Napoleon’s defeat? Was it superior strategy on behalf of the Allies? Inferior strategy on behalf of Napoleon? Treachery? Incompetence? Illness? Bad luck? A combination of all of these?
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
This show is based on David’s book “Napoleon For Dummies”. Click on the image below to purchase a copy!
WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE PODCAST
Buy something from our selection of official Napoleon 101 podcast shirts and coffee mugs!
Go into iTunes and vote for the show and leave a comment about how much you enjoy it. CLICK HERE to open up our page in the iTunes store.
We have partnered with a London-based company called Pods in Print to provide written transcriptions of the Napoleon 101 podcast starting at this stage from episode #21. Access to the transcripts requires a subscription. It’s US$12.95 for one month or $120 a year. Check them out here.
You can join our Facebook discussion group by clicking this link –> Napoleon 101 Facebook Group.
Thanks to everyone for your continued support and for all of the terrific comments we get every week!
If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed:
- Subscribe to TPN :: Napoleon 1O1 by Email
- If you use iTunes, click here.
- If you use another aggregator, grab our RSS feed here.
- If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this description in Wikipedia.
- If you stumbled upon this episode of the show and you would like to start from the very beginning, go to our overview page for a full list of episodes.
The theme music is La Marseillaise. Yes, we know it isn’t necessarily relevant to Napoleon but it’s hard to beat when it comes to French themes! The music at the end of today’s show is Marche de la Garde à Waterloo. You can find it, along with many other Napoleonic tunes, on this site. Thanks to Ben for the link!
I was reading about how your going to have the Julius Ceaser podcast be accessible only via premium subscription. I really have nothing against paying for them, but being the young whipper snaper I am, I lack familiarity and to a lesser extent access to bank accounts and credit cards. Paying through Itune cards would be best for me, and I am sure for some others. You could do paypal as well as book the episodes individually and sell them. You may not be familiar with the latter process, but that will only make use of it more profitable to yourself. To clear away a possible misconception, it is not unheard of to book Audio segments between 40 and 80 minutes long.
I am personally against a monthly fee, because then concurrent listeners would have to pay more than people who subscribe at the end, and in the long term you’d make less money.
Hi. This time is taking very long to have a new Pod.
I whish I could ear one more episode from you guys…
Any time soon?
Sheers
Luis, we recorded one last week but there were technical issues with the recording which I’m currently trying to resolve. Hope to have it up soon!
And will this be the last one Cameron?
hell no Colin! We’ve got at least another six months to go.
I am glad to hear it. It will leave a gap in many of our lives when it finishes. Many of us will need counselling.
I have been listening since the first one – I seem to remember that there was a list of the prospective 20 episodes with titles on the website at one point? But I am glad that you have found so much to tell us about. It is a real education.
Thanks for the answer, Cameron
In what concerns me, I could bear another round
Please consider
a) continuing podcasting with Sir David Markham, in Napoleonic issues
b) if he prefers to stick around with only the Napoleonic era, how about to get someone to continue discussing history until our time. I suggest that you and a guess of yours (or several), would take where the great David Markham leaves, and then extrapolate to present day situation… for example, what were the consequences of Napoleon defeat in the long term political scenarios in Europe and elsewhere?
Anyhow, I wish to thank you for the uncountable hours that you, Mr. Markham and the rest of the audience who participated in these debates, have given me.
This has been a fantastic show!!
Sheers
PS
1) sorry for my occasional typos
2) some ideas expressed here were already expressed by others above
when said “bear” I meant “bare”
You may laugh!! I do… Christ
Astonished, yes.
Wellington was not aware of the French advance, because Napoleon and the Imperial Guard were in Paris on the 14th June, the Army of the North was mobilised and manoeuvered in secrecy to the Belgian border, and all crossing points were sealed. The French attack was therefore a surprise to both Wellington and Blucher. Napoleon only arrived with the army du Nord by travelling overnight from Paris.
Hougomount, How could the Artillery dismantle cannon , the smallest cannon barrel 6 pounders weighed just under 1 ton, take through an dense forest, are remount in the face of enemy fire?
Let alone transportation of the ammunition? A 6 pounder took 4 horses to move on wheels???
Acre, Hot air ballons can only be used where the ambient air temperature of the air is several degrees less than the air in the ballon. In the Middle East the ambient air temperature is much higher than in Europe, and therefore the balloon could not be inflated.
The Scots Greys were a fine unit, they took the 45th Eagle, but they were not attacked by the Imperial Gds they were shattered by Chevau Leger lancers of D’Erlons Corp. Was this charge so successful, there were 16 battalions in the Ist Corp attack. The British Heavy Cavalry Brigade was however badly mauled.
The British Cavalry had one weakness, their formation did not have the essential discipline to re-form effectively after a charge, and they did not have a reserve to fall back on and the defend their reforming squadrons. The French charge doctrine for Cavalry always had this reserve formation.
Only one French Eagle (45th) was taken at Waterloo I believe, even though they were in a chaotic retreat? – was this such a bad defeat as it is claimed to be? If it were would not more eagles have been abandoned and lost.
At Quatre Bras, the British lost a standard, when a square was broken in forming. But only the Dutch/Belgian militia squares after they had been severely mauled by the French Artillery, were broken at Waterloo. The French cannon could not be moved forward due to the state of the ground.
The British Army itself may well have been well ordered after the collapse of the Middle Gd attack, but more than half were militia units or conscript units, and they had been badly battered at Quatre Bras and Waterloo. Was the retreat so chaotic, a really dis-organised retreat maybe, but the British Army was so badly mauled it could’nt move for several days after the battle.
The eventual arrival of 2 corps of Prussians raised the numbers of allied troops by approximately 40,000 plus bayonets, and up to 50 plus cannon. A relatively fresh Prussian corps arrived in the battle which had not been engaged at Ligny, or Wavre, it was this corp that followed the French armis retreat.
The Prussian started arriving on the field at 2pm, D’Erlons Ist corp after the charge of the British Heavy Cavalry, had to reform and take on a defensive stance against the Prussians advance on the right. The VI corp the young Guard and the Old Guard defended Plancenoit against the Prussians. 24,000 Prussian Bayonets against 6,000 French Bayonets.
Had not the Prussian arrived, on the field of battle, the VI corp, the Young Guard and the Old Guard as well as the Ist Corp would have been able to attack the British line.
The Imperial Gd that attacked were the middle Guard, and were only formed in the previous few weeks, as they were completely disbanded in 1814 (30 Grenadiers were sent from every line unit to form the Middle Guard). So the attack of the Imperial Gd west (left) of La Haye Sainte was not the real Imperial Gd, as they only had had a few days to train together and establish a corp d’esprit. They performed well at Ligny though.
The Old Guard that followed Napoleon to Elba, were sent to retake Plancenoit by bayonet, which they did.
The French Left wing retreated on the VI corps 21st division, which had been kept in reserve south of Quatre Bras, which stopped the Prussian from following the French retreat. The army reformed on the French/Belgian Border, and on the 20th consisted of 30,000 formed troops. Grouchy led a very professional retreat back to France and Grouchys 33,000 men wing was able to reach France un-defeated.
I would contend that the political battlefield defeated Napoleon, not the might of the allied armies, yes a reversal but was this the end. Leipzig, 1813, and 1814 showed what Napoleon was capable of with a severely outnumbered army, given the right political support.
The battle of Waterloo was an allied victory there is no doubt, and the political ramifications led the French to remember the 1814 campaign which demonstrated that even Napoleons Military capabilities were unable to defeat multitude of allied armies, no matter how many times he could out manouvre them. The writing was on the wall.
He did the honourable thing in the end, his one opportunity to regain France by defeating the enemy in detail had been lost, and he had in doing so lost the political support he so badly needed.
Interesting note: the “Nemo me impune lacessit” motto appears in Poe’s classic story, “Cask of Amontillado.”
I love this series and you have convinced me that Napoleon was one of the greatest leaders in recorded history. That being said I can not understand why you are so dismissive of Wellington.
1. He is the only general that beat Napoleon. Granted it was with a defensive line but that makes it even more remarkable. France had the larger army and all of the initiative. You suggest that it was won just by chance yet both Generals suffered mistakes/mishaps with their cavalry and communications. Each also had to address the weather yet at the end of the day Wellington won.
2. Wellington I would agree was not a Napoleon but as a leader his war record was outstanding. Not sure of the exact number, I think there was only one loss early on in his career vs 19 wins. Considering what he was working with during the Peninsular War and at Waterloo it makes it that more remarkable. Who during this period has record even close.
Now my biggest issue was your comments regarding AW behavior before the battle. If Wellington was at a dance or a rugby match do you really think he knew Napoleon was on the field. Don’t you think that it may be more fair to assume that he thought he had another 24 hours. He was leading a combined force of multiple nations and the politics would have been exceptionally difficult to manage. Maybe he felt he had to go to the party just like Napoleon had get back to Paris (leaving the Army) after the Russian withdrawal. To assume otherwise suggests incompetence from a man who simply does not deserve it.
Drew,
I think Wellington had a reasonable military career, but I wouldn’t call it ‘outstanding”. What he was “working with” at Waterloo was the ENTIRE ARMED FORCES OF EUROPE against one man – Napoleon. I’m sorry, I just cannot compare a guy who worked for a government which was trying to overturn the decision of a sovereign people by amassing the combined forces of Europe against those people for 20 years to a guy who successfully defended his country against the onslaught for 15 of those 20.
As for his behaviour before Waterloo, I still think it is incomprehensible and inexcusable that he partied while the greatest general the world had seen for 1800 years was marching on him. Luckily for him, Napoleon wasn’t at his best and Wellington got away with it. That doesn’t excuse it though. I have no doubts that if the battle had occurred 2 or 3 years earlier, Wellington would have been defeated and, if he survived the battlefield, courtmartialed for his display of arrogance.
Wellington’s unpopularity back home in England during his brief reign as Prime Minister is something else interesting to compare to Napoleon’s massive popularity in France. There are no stories of Napoleon’s windows being shattered by stones thrown by the people on a regular basis.
I know my position is unpopular, particularly with our wonderful British audience, but it’s my honest feelings. I don’t Wellington was a bad general, but I don’t think he deserves the pedestal he’s been put on by the British either.
Had Napoleon won Waterloo, it is doubtful if the Russians and Austrians, who had a dismal record on the battlefield against Napoleon would have carried on the fight.
Probably the long sought after peace would have been achieved.
As it was with Napoleon safely held in St Helena, Louis came back on the throne, and there was peace in europe. Thr Royalistsd tried to recapture their lost privileges, but thet were gone forever.
I can only wonder what Napoleon might have achieved had he completed his reforms.
Thanks for offering this show for our enjoyment. People like you make the difference. Your podcast has inspired me and I plan on including the following quote made by Napoleon into my thesis:
Men are Moved by two levers only: fear and self interest
Does anybody know the source? Thanks in advance for any help!