June 18 is the anniversary of the 1815 Battle of Waterloo: history, quotes a Lego re-enactment

VA Viper ^ | 06/17/2018 | Harpygoddess

[harpygoddess]

June 18 is the anniversary of the battle of Waterloo in 1815, in which British forces under the Duke of Wellington and the Prussians under Field Marshal Blücher decisively defeated the French under Napoleon to end the "Hundred Days Campaign." After the allies took Paris in March 1814, Napoleon was initially exiled to Elba. A year later, however, he returned to France amid great acclaim, re-entered Paris, declared himself emperor again, and retook command of the French armies to renew the struggle.

Four days after the debacle at Waterloo - which Wellington described as "the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life" - Napoleon abdicated again and was sent into final exile on St. Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died in 1821.

[harpygoddess]

The village sleeps, a name unknown till men

With life-blood stain its soil, and pay the due

That lifts it to eternal fame, -- for then

'Tis grown a Gettysburg or Waterloo.

~ Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe, Distinction

[Afterguard]

To read some great historical “fiction” about the Battle of Waterloo read Bernard Cornwell’s book “Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies, and Three Battles.” Also worth reading if you’re interested in the Royal Navy aspects of Napoleon’s 100 days campaign, read “The Hundred Days” by Patrick O’Brian.

[pgkdan]

Two great books by two of my favorite authors. Cornwell also treated Waterloo very well in his Sharpe series, “Sharpe’s Waterloo”.

[Sans-Culotte]

I thought “The Hundred Days” was probably the worst of the Aubrey/Maturin books. It was all based on the idea that there would be a mideast uprising in 1815 based on Bonaparte’s fake conversion to Islam in 1798. The muzzies weren’t fooled in 1798 and they certainly would not have believed it in 1815. Obviously, O’Brian had run out of plots by then.

[Afterguard]

You’ll get no argument from me on that. But it did have some merit. I admit that it’s been years since I read it, so your mileage may differ.

[Bull Snipe]

“Up Guards, and at them again.” Sir Arthur Wellesley

[minnesota_bound]

My my
At Waterloo Napoleon did surrender
Oh yeah
And I have met my destiny in quite a similar way…

Abba - Waterloo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj_9CiNkkn4

[daltec]

A non-fiction account, but one that reads as well as a novel, is Capt. Cavalie Mercer's Journal of the Waterloo Campaign. It's his actual journal, done in a fairly terse style.

Another great eyewitness account, albeit from the Peninsular Campaign, is Recollections of Rifleman Harris. Harris was a common foot soldier and so presents a very different account of life in the British Army during the Napoleonic wars than that of Mercer.

[BlueLancer]

Thomas Flashman is the uncle of the Victorian "hero" Harry Flashman ... and of similar stripe ...

[SunkenCiv]

“Bonaparte’s Retreat” ~ William H. Stepp, 1937
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yeQucos9-M