In Spring of 1815 the exiled Napoleon Bonaparte, one of history's most accomplished generals, escaped his jailers and returned to Paris in what is known as the 'Hundred Days'. After receiving the news, the powers of Europe formed the Seventh Coalition to remove Napoleon from the French throne and raised a huge army. Napoleon responded by marching into Belgium with the objective of splitting Allied forces and capturing Brussels. He pushed a Prussian army back at the Battle of Ligny on 15 June 1815, and three days later attacked an Anglo-Allied force led by the Duke of Wellington near the village of Waterloo. The battle that followed would be a watershed moment in European history, finally ending Napoleon's military career and ushering in a new era of relative peace.
Up Next in Napoleon
-
Waterloo Uncovered: The Bones of the ...
A major breaking story filmed by History Hit.
Incredibly rare bones of men and horses have been discovered in July 2022 at the Waterloo Battlefield - and History Hit has been there to record the excavations as they unfold.
The veterans support charity 'Waterloo Uncovered' returned to the Water...
-
The Sharp End: Episode 2
What was it like to be on the frontline of a historic battlefield?
Filmed at the Royal Armouries, Leeds, Dan Snow gets hands on with the weapons that helped define history, handled by ordinary soldiers on the frontline - from Anglo-Saxon swords to World War I machine guns.
In part 2, Dan gets t...
-
Austerlitz: Napoleon's Greatest Victory
The night was freezing cold. The hard ground shrouded in mist. By dawn the soldiers were on the move. It was 2 December 1805 and just outside what is now Brno, 3 mighty armies were about to fight one of the greatest battles in history. By the time the sun set, the French Emperor Napoleon Bonapart...
