Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington - Military Career - Waterloo Campaign

Waterloo Campaign

On 26 February 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France. He regained control of the country by May and faced a renewed alliance against him. Wellington left Vienna for what became known as the Waterloo Campaign. He arrived in Belgium to take command of the British-German army and their allied Dutch-Belgians, all stationed alongside the Prussian forces of Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher.

Napoleon's strategy was to isolate the Allied and Prussian armies, and annihilate each one separately before the Austrians and Russians arrived. In doing so the vast superiority in numbers of the Coalition would be greatly diminished. He would then seek the possibility of a peace with Austria and Russia.

The French invaded Belgium, defeated the Prussians at Ligny, and fought an indecisive battle with Wellington at the Battle of Quatre Bras. These events compelled the Anglo-Allied army to retreat to a ridge on the Brussels road, just south of the small town of Waterloo. On 17 June, a torrential rain soaked in, hampering movement. The next day, on 18 June, the Battle of Waterloo was fought. This was the first time Wellington had encountered Napoleon, and he commanded an Anglo-Dutch-German army that consisted of approximately 73,000 troops, 26,000 (36 percent) of whom were British.