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The Rolling Hills of Waterloo | Sutori

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The Rolling Hills of Waterloo

Jonathan Ketchell

Battle of Waterloo

I spent a lot of my teenage years in and around Waterloo. 20 odd kilometres south of Brussels, Waterloo has always been to me an uneventful town, too bourgeois for anything exciting to happen, too neat and clean for creativity to arise. Towering high above my years of prickly wilderness was the imposing Mound and its roaring lion. At the time it was just part of the scenery for me, a curiosity for the tourist, a place to sneak up to and drink beers at nightfall. I didn't think or care much for what it represented; the destructive battle that took place here some distant event that had no impact on my youthful concerns.

Today though, liberated from my teen ennui, I see the battle in a different light. What a fabulous and terrifying site it must have been to see the smoke of the artillery fire, the relentless charges of the French cavalry, the stubborn defence of the Haye Sainte Farm by the allies. But how does the Battle of Waterloo speak to us today? What lessons can we take from it?

As Waterloo burst from its slumber for the upcoming 200th anniversary celebrations of the battle, I set out on my bike across the fields to find out.


In BlĂĽcher's Steps


Our love of whole numbers has a strange effect on human behaviour. Last year's 199th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo did not raise any particular interest, but this year hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world are flocking in, major reenactments are organised, a new state-of-the-art museum is unveiled... I'm the last to complain though as the old museum, honestly, had no panache.

I start off in Lasne, a peaceful and charming village outside Waterloo. Unlike 15 June 1815, the day is warm and bright. 200 years ago, pouring rain had hampered movements, tired the bones, wearied the minds. The night before the battle, soldiers in makeshift bivouacs had slept in terrible conditions as the rain incessantly fell. Furthermore, hardly any new supplies had made their way that night, even water was a scarce resource. Inevitably, there were no such problems for the Generals and other men of importance who slept in the dry and were served cooked food.

What is often forgotten is that the French and Prussian soldiers, having exhausted the food supplies they had received at the start of the campaign 3 days earlier, had to resort to plundering nearby houses and villages.


Cows and Fields

View from the village of Lasne. Fields, cows, cottages… not much has changed in 200 years.


Without realising it, I'm following in the steps of General BlĂĽcher, the Prussian Commander who arrived late in the day on the battlefield. I laugh as I pass over the Lasne river, nothing more than a stream today that had back in the day seriously delayed the Prussians. I can only imagine how difficult it would have been in the mud and pouring rain to cross with heavy cannons pulled by horses. During the Napoleonic wars, soldiers from all backgrounds in all kinds of wars spent a lot of time cleaning their uniform and muskets, if keeping clean a musket is obviously a practical task (they fired better), an advancing army with immaculate clothes was undoubtedly more impressive than one with battered dirty uniforms.

It does not take me long to reach Plancenoit. Taken and retaken several times by the Prussians and French, Plancenoit was where some of the most ruthless and violent fighting took place at the Battle of Waterloo. It's also at Plancenoit that the Monument of the Wounded Eagle stands. Dedicated to the French who died on that famous day, it is located approximately where the "last square" of the French Imperial Guard made their stand. The bravery of these men must not be forgotten, the heroic stand they made protected the core of the fleeing French army, sparing the life of many.


Wounded Eagle

Napoleon’s wounded eagle. I hope they give it a scrub before the anniversary. Photo by EmDee in 2013 (Wikimedia)


My thoughts wonder as I cycle across the rolling fields. How brave must those men have been? All soldiers as a matter of fact? Certain death or injury awaited those on the front line, infantrymen waited until there were at close range before firing, men were asked to stand still and keep in line as limb crushing cannonballs tore through the ranks. And what about the horses and their cavalrymen who had to face a barrage of bayonets? There was nowhere to hide on the battlefield. We often speak of the war leaders and generals, but we forget the plight of the ordinary soldier.


Rolling Eagles

Rolling hills... Wellington used the hills to his advantage at several times during the battle. First early on in the battle by placing his troops behind them as the French unleashed the artillery. Secondly, by hiding behind them later as the Imperial Infantry made its move on the allied lines, the French unexpectedly meeting a barrage of destructive musket fire.


Speaking of Generals, Wellington was a very hands-on Commander. Unlike Napoleon, he moved from one position to the next, sometimes at his own peril, giving precise orders and always seeking out a better position to see through the smoke and confusion. Napoleon, on the other hand, was a more detached Commander, observing the battlefield at a safe distance on top of his famous white horse. He also gave more freedom to his Generals. In fact, the beginning of the battle, the attack on Hougoumont farm, was not the result of a direct order from Napoleon, but of one his brother, Prince Jerome Bonaparte, took.

No doubt though, that Napoleon had an unbelievable effect upon his soldiers. Up until the disastrous campaign in Russia, Napoleon had crushed all opposition. Even when facing superior numbers, his astute military nouse enabled him to win battles. But he had also been an innovator, reforming in depth France's economy, judicial system, education and military. Men were ready to die for the one that had brought about the French Empire.


Mound and Fields

To the left, the Haye Sainte Farm, to the right, the mighty Waterloo Lion Mound built by the Kingdom of the Netherlands to honour the location where the Prince of Orange was wounded.


As I gaze up at the Mound in the distance, it strikes me that this battle that opposed some 190,000 men, did not just oppose the French to the rest of Europe, but the tumultuous country that had risen from the ideals of the French Revolution to the old order of Europe. The first had the unbridled spirit of youth, the other lived in the fear of similar popular uprisings. If the French had won, what would have become of the European monarchies? The American and French Revolutions had sown the seeds for a shift. Irrespective of who had won at Waterloo, power was slowly taken out of the monarchies' hands and placed into the hands of elected bodies. In any case, the French defeat led to a long period of peace in Europe before trouble erupted again on the old Continent at the beginning of the 20th century.


200 Years On

View from the Top

View from the top of the mound. I’m glad the site has kept its natural beauty. Photo by Johan in May 2005 (Wikimedia)


After climbing the 226 steps to the top of the Mound, I imagine the formidable site the battlefield must have been from up here. We see past wars with rose tinted glasses, a story of bravery and heroic camaraderie, but in truth, wars are horrible. On the night of 18 June, the battlefield was a graveyard, corpses of horses and men strewn across the bloody earth. The casualty list was so great some injured had to wait three days before being attended to. The stench - we always forget the stench - must have been horrible. Wars are absurd, always. I thank our generation of European leaders to not be warmongers, for turning to cooperation and development in the best of times, to diplomacy and sanctions in the worst. How long will it last? The threats to a peaceful and unified Europe are there for all to see.

Learning about history only makes sense if it affects our perception of the present. Walking on the steps of these brave soldiers has made me question today's world while reminding me just how sweet the taste of peace is.

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We’ve made some timelines of the Battle of Waterloo. Up on the website, we have one which takes the perspective of Wellington and - a Sutori first! - one in French through the eyes of Napoleon. Both of these are available on the platform to share with your classes, as well the battle seen through the lesser known perspective of General Blücher.

If you have any questions or comments, then please don’t hesitate to reach out to us via Twitter (@Sutori) or else you can contact our editor-in-chief directly at jonathan@sutori.com.

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