By Brendan Simms.
The true story, told minute by minute, of the soldiers who defeated Napoleon.
Europe had been at war for over twenty years. After a short respite in exile, Napoleon had returned to France and threatened another generation of fighting across the devastated and exhausted continent. At a small Belgian village, the Battle of Waterloo would take place and two large, hastily mobilized armies faced each other to decide the future of Europe.
Unknown either to Napoleon or Wellington the battle would be decided by a small, ordinary group of British and German troops given the task of defending the farmhouse of La Haye Sainte. This book tells their extraordinary story, brilliantly recapturing the fear, chaos and chanciness of battle and using previously untapped eye-witness reports. Through determination, cunning and fighting spirit, some four hundred soldiers held off many thousands of French and changed the course of history.
Although a very short read (160) pages, it’s packed with detail about a very specific part of the Battle of Waterloo, which is the fighting in and around La Haye Sainte, farmhouse which was adjacent to the Brussels to Charleroi road where, following a battle at Quatre Bras, the combined British, Dutch, Belgian, German and Prussian forces fought Napoleon and the French army.
Whilst Waterloo was a big battle involving thousands, the book focuses on on a small band of light infantry made up of the 95th Rifles (think Sharpe) and the King’s German Legion that hold off thousands of French attackers.
The book suggests that the farmhouse was pivotal in many ways to the successful outcome and goes minute by minute through events.
There’s plenty of books on the subject but there’s also a great movie:
Here’s a clip of one of the famous cavalry charges:
If you’re interested in reading more about the 95th Rifles, Mark Urban’s book Rifles is a good start. Or if you prefer to watch something then the Sharpe series of books and TV programmes is quite good.
