Waterloo: The crossroads of history

La Gazette du Tour
Written by Jonathan Thompson
Waterloo: The crossroads of history
Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of
Wellington, was attending a
ball in Brussels when the news
reached him on 15 June 1815.
“Napoleon has humbugged me,
by God; he has gained 24-hours
march on me!” he exclaimed when
informed that the French Emperor
had crossed the Belgian border and
was marching in strength towards
his position.
The party was over. In the early
hours of the morning, many of
the English and Allied officers,
including Wellington himself, left
the Duchess of Richmond’s ball
abruptly and headed straight down
the Charleroi road to where their
troops were already assembled in
the undulating countryside around
the pretty town of Waterloo.
Despite his surprise at Napoleon’s speed, Wellington was far from
unprepared. The ‘Iron Duke’ knew
the battlefield intimately, having
had it thoroughly mapped out the
previous summer in a remarkable
act of foresight. Napoleon believed
himself to have the advantage, but
it was his famous English nemesis
who held the upper hand from the
very start.
The feature that had particularly
caught Wellington’s eye was the
ridge that ran from east to west
across the site, near the hamlet of
Mont-St-Jean. His experiences in
Waterloo re-enactement: action! © J. Jeanmart - belgiumtheplaceto.be TM
the Peninsular War had taught him
the possible value of such a site and
he made plans to conceal much of
his force behind the ridge, where it
could take cover from enemy artillery fire, and to place his own heavy
cannon and sharpshooters on the
forward slopes in a bid to prevent
any French attack gaining momentum.
The Battle of Waterloo, which
was to shape the course of modern
European history, was over in the
space of a day. Napoleon’s strategy
was to attack before Wellington’s
Anglo-Dutch-Belgian army could
link up with that of the Prussians
under Marshal Blücher. But Wellington’s masterful deployment of
his outnumbered troops and reinforcement of four key farms at the
heart of the battlefield - Hougoumont to the west, Papelotte and
La Haye to the East and La Haye
Sainte at the centre - ultimately
proved decisive. The Allies were
also assisted by the weather. Rain
had fallen heavily during the night
and the terrain was sodden, making
the high ground at Mont-St-Jean an
even more daunting prospect for the
French attackers.
As the skies cleared shortly after
11.30am on Sunday 18 June, battle was engaged. The fighting was
ferocious - it is said the artillery
could be heard across the Channel
in Kent. But despite wave upon
wave of increasingly frenzied
French attacks, Wellington’s troops
held firm. A number of unexpected
tactics - including the Iron Duke
concealing a large number of sharpshooters in a disused quarry, and
then later ordering a whole British
brigade to lie down behind a ridge,
invisible until the moment they
stood up and fired when Napoleon’s elite Imperial Guard were just
50 paces away - meant the Allies
were still very much in the battle
when Blücher and his Prussians
finally appeared on Napoleon’s
flank in the late afternoon. Crushed
in an almighty pincer move, the
Emperor was roundly defeated by
nightfall. Wellington and Blücher
met near Napoleon’s headquarters at the Belle Alliance Inn to set
their seal on victory, and the French
commander fled for good. An enormously significant victory had been
won, but at the cost of some 40,000
men.
The Battle of Waterloo, followed
by the Congress of Vienna, was the
end of Napoleon, but the beginning
of a period of unparalleled peace
in Europe after two decades of
war - and the start of an embryonic
new sovereign state: ultimately to
become Belgium.
The ‘other’ Duke
at Waterloo
Wellington defeated
Napoleon in the Second
Battle of Waterloo. The first
had taken place more than
a century earlier...
If Waterloo is mostly remembered
for Wellington’s victory over Napoleon in June 1815, it was another
English Duke who had the honour,
110 years earlier, of fighting the
very first Battle of Waterloo during
the Spanish War of succession. And
it was this battle which ultimately
influenced Wellington’s winning
strategy on the same ground more
than a century later.
On 17 August 1705, the troops
of John Churchill, 1st Duke of
Marlborough (a direct ancestor of
Winston Churchill who was later to
become his biographer) were confronted with the army of charismatic
Waterloo-born mercenary Jacques
“Jaco” Pastur, who had been sent to
defend the Charleroi-Brussels road
under the orders of French King
Louis XIV.
The Duke of Marlborough established his headquarters at the Chateau of Frischermont, from where he
had written that if Brussels needed
to be defended from the south, then
the ridge at Mont-St-Jean was the
place to do it. He failed to achieve
the decisive victory he predicted,
but his detailed observations of the
battlefield were to prove more useful to the future English cause than
he could possibly imagine.
During his time soldiering in
India, the Duke of Wellington had
read Marlborough, whom he greatly
admired. It is thought that this was
a key reason why he chose to thoroughly research and map the ridge
and its surrounding area in 1814,
suspecting they might have a crucial role to play in future European
battles, with Brussels situated as it
was, permanently at the crossroads
of Europe. It was a remarkable act
of foresight, leading to a glorious
victory for which his fellow Duke
deserves no little credit too.
The Duke of Marlborough. Oil by Adriaen van der Werff.
Hougoumont Farm, Waterloo
Waterloo:
Bicentenary
Commemorations
The Battle of Waterloo
was such a fundamental
turning point in the future
of Europe that historians
universally accept it as the
beginning of what we now
dub ‘modern history’.
Next year sees the bicentenary of
this epic victory over the Emperor
Napoleon, and the lengthy period
of European peace it ushered in.
To mark the occasion, a number of
significant events are taking place at
present day Waterloo.
Perhaps the most significant of
these is the inauguration of the
newly renovated Hougoumont
Farm, and its memorial to the British soldiers who fought at Waterloo.
Often referred to as “the farm that
won Waterloo”, this was considered
by Wellington himself as the anchor
that held his line, despite seeing
some of the bloodiest fighting of the
entire battle. Even today you can
still clearly see the loopholes the
English troops made in the walls as
they sought firing positions, and the
scars left by French musket balls in
the brickwork.
Major rebuilding work has been
taking place here over recent years
under the auspices of the multi-million pound ‘Project Hougoumont’
(sponsored by, among others, the
current Duke of Wellington and the
British government) to secure the
site as a world class museum for
future generations and a centrepiece
of the bicentennial celebrations. It
will open to the world on 17 June
2015.
The official festivities will run
from 18-21 June, including a series
of the largest battle re-enactments
ever seen in Europe, with 5,000
combatants taking part in historically accurate costumes. These will
be sparked by a spectacular sound
and light show over Waterloo’s
famous Butte de Lion (the famous
131ft memorial mound here, crested
by a lion, marking the spot where
the Prince of Orange was knocked
from his horse by a musket ball) on
the evening of Thursday 18 June,
and continue throughout the weekend.
All of this will, of course, serve
to complement the already excellent selection of memorials and
museums in the area, which are also
gearing up for June 2015 in a big
way. These include the state-of-theart Waterloo Battlefield Visitor Centre at the towering Butte de Lion
(also being significantly revamped
for next Summer), Napoleon’s last
headquarters (at Vieux-Genappe)
and the Brabant Inn, where the
Duke of Wellington had his command; now home to the fascinating
‘Musée Wellington’. To stay up to
speed on precise timings and events
as they’re announced, keep a close
eye on belgiumtheplaceto.be.
Napoleonic Fours
The course of history might not run smoothly but these stunning golf courses do. Pack your clubs and
aim to “do a Wellington” by triumphing over your rivals
on the fields of Waterloo
© Royal Waterloo
1. The Royal Waterloo
Situated at Lasne - the epicentre of
the battlefield of Waterloo - this is
the oldest golf club in the whole
of Belgium, having been founded
more than 90 years ago. A sprawling 45-hole complex in rolling parkland, it’s exceptionally well tended
and ranks among Europe’s top 100
courses. If you only have time to
play 18 holes while visiting Royal
Waterloo, the course to plump
for is the wooden, trap-laden ‘La
Marache’, which underwent extensive redevelopment in 2007, restoring it to championship standard. For
more info: www.rwgc.be
2. The Pierpont
A relatively young course (it only
opened in 1992) the Golf Club de
Pierpont has already managed to
© Golf Club de Pierpont
make a serious name for itself.
Not only has it hosted a number
of national competitions, but also
the first-ever Senior PGA Tour
event to be held in Wallonia, at the
end of May 2003. The 18-hole par
72-championship course, which
encircles a converted 17th Century
courtyard farmhouse, is located
just 15 minutes from the town
of Waterloo. For more info:
www.pierpont.be
3. L’Empereur
Within sight of the iconic Butte de
Lion at Waterloo, L’Empereur Golf
and Country Club encompasses
much of the former battlefield,
amid a course that also contains
plenty of stunning flora and fauna.
The clubhouse, a restored 18th
century farmhouse, is surrounded
© Golf de l’Empereur
by hills and dales as well as several wide fairways, clusters of trees
and a number of impressive bunkers springing the element of surprise on unsuspecting players. The
kind of topography that the Duke
of Wellington himself would have
heartily approved of. For more info:
www.golfempereur.com
The road to destiny
In June 1815, Napoleon and his
Grande Armée took four days to
march from the French border
to their final destination: a battlefield just south of Brussels, near the
then little-known town of Waterloo. Their 100km trek took them
through a number of Walloon towns
- and three other major battles - en
route to their ultimate showdown
with the Duke of Wellington.
Now a brand new GPS route,
which can be followed by car, bus,
bike or - for the truly dedicated - on
foot, will steer you along exactly
the same course as the Emperor and
his devotees. “The Napoleon Trail
in Wallonia” travels from the border
town of Beaumont to the battlefield
of Waterloo, via Thuin, Charleroi,
Fleurus and finally Ligny, where
Napoleon won his last battle as
Emperor of France, two days before
finally meeting his match at Waterloo.
A series of signs have been created to make it easier for visitors
to navigate their way along this
fateful trail, with crucial landmarks
noted en route, as it snakes through
the Belgian provinces of Hainaut,
Namur and Walloon Brabant, on its
way to one of the most famous dates
- and locations - in modern history.
For more on the Napoleon Trail
and how to follow it, visit
belgiumtheplaceto.be
Remnants of a Revolution
Situated in a pretty dell on the
outskirts of Villers-la-Ville near
Waterloo are the superb, ivy-clad
ruins of the Abbaye de Villers.
Dating back to 1146, this magnificent abbey near Nivelles was
once one of Belgium’s largest and
most important monastic establishments, until it was destroyed
in the wake of the French Revolution.
With grounds of more than 36
hectares, there is plenty happening
at the site today, from guided discovery walks of the statuesque ruins
(once home to more than 400 of the
Faithful) to open air concerts and
Shakespearean theatre set against
the backdrop of the magnificent,
shattered Church.
Even now, 220 years after its
destruction, the Abbaye de Villers
gives a marvellous impression of
what it was like to live as a monk of
the Cistercian Order all those centuries ago. As well as the Church,
with its surviving arches and rose
windows, visitors can easily make
out the remains of a number of key
outbuildings including the kitchen,
refectory, dormitories and the old
warming room (the only part of the
original monastery to have winter
heating). Plus, of course, the all
important brewing house - which
lent its name (and recipes) to the
popular “Villers” Trappist beer that
is still sold across Belgium today.
Villers-la-Ville Abbeye
© OPT-Kouprianoff
was assigned to Bomber Command
in Britain, where he formed part of
an elite group providing weather
forecasts for the D-Day landings.
Godart is attributed with proposing
6 June 1944 for the attack after the
official date, 5 June, looked unfavourable. He went on to become
director of the Belgian Air Force’s
meteorological service, spending
most of his adult life in Bousval,
near Waterloo, where he died in
1996 aged 83.
KEY PLAYERS
Famous faces
from Waterloo
1. Augustin Demulder
There were “Belgians” on both
sides at the Battle of Waterloo - an
estimated 6,000 apiece. This was
because the country as we know it
did not exist at this stage, freeing up
the locals to side with the Dutch, the
Prussians... or the French.
The most high profile of the latter group was a local man, Augustin
Demulder. Born in nearby Nivelles,
he fought with Napoleon throughout his adult life, rising to become
a Knight of the Legion d’Honneur
- France’s Highest Decoration. He
died at the age of 30 a short distance from his birthplace, during
a cavalry charge in the Battle of
Waterloo. A poignant monument to
Demulder and “all the cavalry that
charged with him on 18 June 1815”
stands near the site today.
2. Albert Goblet
A Walloon who signed up with
Napoleon’s Grand Armée at the
age of 21 in 1811, Goblet served
the Emperor with distinction in his
Spanish campaigns. But the young
man was, at heart, a Belgian patriot
and in 1815 he switched sides, seeing the Allies as the best possible
ticket for Belgian independence.
Subsequently Goblet - later to
become the Prime Minister of an
independent Belgium in the 1830s
- fought alongside the Prince of
Orange at the Battle of Waterloo.
After helping to secure victory and later Belgian independence - he
lived until 1873, and is remembered
in a touching monument near his
family home at Court Saint-Etienne,
southeast of Waterloo.
Allied Camp re-enactement at Hougpumont © J Jeanmart.eu - belgiumthepalceto.be TM
3. Cardinal Désiré Mercier
A focal point for Belgian defiance
during the First World War, Cardinal
Mercier was born near Waterloo in
1851. By the start of the First World
War he had risen to the position of
Archbishop of Mechelen - the most
senior clergyman in Belgium.
Mercier’s now infamous Pastoral
Letter of Christmas 1914, entitled
“Patriotism and Endurance”, was a
bold, fearless and very public rejection of German occupation.
“Germany has violated its oath
(to respect Belgian neutrality),” he
wrote to the heavily Catholic population. “You owe it neither respect,
nor attachment, nor obedience.”
Cardinal Mercier’s words were
repeated over and again from pulpits across the country, giving hope
to the people of Belgium, but resulting in the outspoken Archbishop
spending the rest of the conflict
under house arrest.
4. Odon Godart
One of the finest astronomers and
meteorologists of his generation,
Godart returned from Harvard to
help with the war effort following
the invasion of his native Belgium
in 1940. After a stint with the meteorological service of the RAF, he
5. Michel (‘Mike’) Donnet
One of the most legendary Allied
flying aces of the Second World
War, Donnet was captured in 1940,
but subsequently escaped occupied Belgium in an old, sabotaged
biplane he’d discovered in a garage
and repaired. Landing in a field in
Essex, he immediately volunteered
for the RAF and began flying Spitfires.
In 1943, after multiple successful missions and German hits, he
was given command of the RAF’s
No.64 squadron, escorting bombers on raids and attacking German
U-Boats. Later in the war, he was
given command of the all-Belgian
350th Squadron, which provided
aerial cover during the D-Day landings.
Donnet led a formation of 12
Spitfires over Brussels to celebrate
its liberation in late 1944, but continued to fly missions until the very
end of the war. By VE Day he had
flown an almost inconceivable 375
missions, and his multiple honours
- including the Distinguished Flying Cross, Commander of the Royal
Victorian Order, Belgian Croix de
Guerre and Knight of the French
Legion d’Honneur to name just a
few - are testament to his incredible courage and ability. He died a
Lieutenant-General at his home in
Waterloo last summer, a legend of
both the RAF and the Belgian Air
Force.
bers. The battle was fought at the
strategically important crossroads
here, where the Charleroi-Brussels
Road meets the Nivelles-Namur
Road. It should have been an easy
victory for Ney, but the opportunity
was wasted by his indecisiveness,
confusion over a series of seemingly contradictory orders, and the
timely arrival of Allied reinforcements during the afternoon, led by
the Duke of Wellington. Historians
believe that the entire campaign
could have ended with a French victory had Ney been more aggressive
at Quatre Bras on the morning of
16 June. Instead, the battle ended in
stalemate and the Allied lines held.
3. BATTLE OF WAVRE
When: 18-19 June 1815
Combatants: Marshal Grouchy
v Prussian army
Napoleon’s final glory
It wasn’t just bitter defeat
for Napoleon in Wallonia.
During that fateful month
of June 1815, his Grande
Armée fought three other
crucial battles here,
with considerably more
success
1. THE BATTLE OF LIGNY
When: 16 June 1815
Who: Napoleon v Blücher
Napoleon first engaged the Prussian army at the village of Ligny, in
a pre-emptive bid to prevent them
from linking up with Wellington’s
forces to form a super-army. After
heavy fighting all day, Napoleon’s
killer move was concealed by a
heavy thunderstorm. Using this to
his advantage, he ordered his artillery to open fire on the beleagured
Prussians. He shattered their lines
at around 7pm, and Blücher himself
was lucky to escape with his life.
By nightfall, the French held the
field and the Prussians were withdrawing in varied states of disorder.
Undoubtedly the Battle of Ligny
was a French victory (history now
remembers it as the last official triumph for Napoleon I himself) but
because of the state of the terrain,
a good proportion of the Prussian
army escaped destruction - a factor that was to cost the Emperor
dear two days later at the Battle of
Waterloo.
2. THE BATTLE OF
QUATRE BRAS
When: 16 June 1815
Combatants: Marshall Ney
v Allied forces
While Napoleon was winning the
Battle of Ligny, his right hand man
Marshall Ney faced a weakened
Dutch-Belgian force at Quatre Bras,
with vastly superior French num-
The Maca, Wavre Mascotte © OPT - JP Remy
Officially the final major military
action of the Napoleonic Wars,
the Battle of Wavre continued on
the morning of 19 June 1815, with
the French Commander Marshal
Grouchy unaware that Napoleon
had been defeated at nearby Waterloo the previous evening.
Grouchy had been commanded by
the Emperor to attack the Prussian
rearguard, which he did with some
success: by the evening of 18 June,
his forces had taken two strategic
hamlets from their adversaries. By
10am on 19 June, Grouchy had the
Prussians in full retreat, but it was
a hollow victory that lasted a pitiful 30 minutes. At 10:30, Grouchy
learned that Wellington had triumphed over Napoleon at Waterloo.
He had won the Battle of Wavre, but
the war was lost.
Wavre Street Life © OPT - JP Remy
What to eat and drink in
and around Waterlooo
1. Tarte
al D’jote
A speciality of
Nivelles, this
much-loved
savoury tart
comes in two
distinct types:
“verte” (green) and “mitoyenne”
(half green and half white).
Traditionally served in this part of
Wallonia since the 13th Century,
its key ingredients are swiss chard
(a leafy green vegetable), round
lumps of Nivelles cheese and lots
and lots of butter, melted across
the surface of the tart. As the local
saying goes, a tarte al d’jote should
always be served “hot, ripe and
dripping in butter.”
2. La Tarte au
sucre de Waterloo
Eaten warm or
cold, the famous
‘brown sugar
pie’ of Waterloo
was originally
invented by working class women
to be served at local festivals. Relatively simple to make, it is notoriously hard to perfect - especially
the pastry. Go for the easy option
and pick one up from a specialist
local patisserie, like the excellent
Lonbois on Waterloo’s Chaussée de
Bruxelles.
3. Pie Stofé
Wavre
This is a cheese
tart with a difference - it contains
a cheeky layer of
apple compote.
The sweetness
of the sugared fromage blanc set
against the acidity of pommes
reinettes (pippin apples) gives this
Walloon speciality, from the little
town of Wavre, some real zing.
4. Boudin Vert
The lesser known
half-brother of
the more famous
Boudin Blanc
and Boudin
Noir, this “green
sausage” contains
equal amounts of leafy kale and
fresh pork. Eaten hot or cold, it’s
also heavily seasoned with salt,
pepper, ground cloves and nutmeg,
giving it a unique flavour.
5. Villers Beer
A rich, fruity
Trappist beer
taking its name
from the 12th
Century Abbaye
de Villers, near
Waterloo. Still
created to the local monks’ ancient
recipes, Villers is currently being
manufactured elsewhere in Belgium, with a new brewery set to
be opened on the site of the ruined
abbey in the very near future.
The Lion Mound gives an impressive panoramic view of the battlefield © OPT - JL Flemal
217 Marsh Wall, London E14 9FJ
Tel. Trade: 020 7531 0391
[email protected]
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