WATERLOO, BATTLE OF. The decisive bat tle, the culmination of a series of engagements constituting a brief campaign, which finally an nihilated the power of Napoleon. It was fought June IS, 1815, about two miles from the village of Waterloo, in Belgium, and twelve miles south of Brussels. Napoleon escaped from Elba at the close of February and made his entry into Paris on March 20th. His professed devotion to peace made no impression upon the Allies, who suspended negotiations at Vienna (see VIENNA, CONGRESS OF) to prepare for a re newal of the struggle. Napoleon made the best preparation possible to recover and hold his empire, but although he was able to count on paper an army of over 500,000 men, there were but 198.000 actually ready for service when the decisive moment arrived. Opposed to him were the English, Dutch, Belgian, and Hanoverian forces, with those of Brunswick and Nassau, all commanded by the Duke of Wellington, and those of Prussia, Saxony, and other smaller Ger man States, under the veteran .INIarshal Ildicher. These two armies were distributed in the Belgian Netherlands, Wellington having his headquar ters at Brussels and Blucher at Namur. The Austrians gathered an army on the eastern frontier of France, which was to be joined by the Russian contingent, the united force to be commanded by Prince Schwarzenberg. Napoleon intended to follow the tactics of rapid and ag gressive action that had won him his early suc cesses. He planned to destroy his enemies on the north before the Austrian and Russian forces could be made effective and to dispose of Well ington and Ildicher separately. Ile would con centrate near Charleroi, and expected to meet the Germans first, counting on Bliicher's ag gressive character to bring him into action be fore the more deliberate Wellington. The forces under Wellington were distributed in numerous eantonments, covering a considerable area about Brussels and to the west of the highway lead ing south from that city. They had the seacoast for their base by way of Antwerp and Ostend. The Rhine, by way of Liege and Maestricht. was Bliieher's base. Thus if either army met with reverses compelling it to fall back on its base the Allies would be separated, and Napoleon seems to have expected by attacking Blucher on the right of that general's line to bring about such a result.
The French forces on the eve of the campaign, exclusive of non-eombatants, consisted of 124,588 men-89,415 infantry, 23,595 cavalry, and 11, 5i8 artillery with 344 guns. They were dis tributed as follows: First Corps (D'Erlon), 19, 9:19 men: Second Corps (Mlle), 24.3(31; Third Corps (Vandamme), 19,160: Fourth Corps ((1(1rard), 15,9951 Sixth Corps (Loban), 10,465; Imperial Guard (the comma nder, .Marshal Mort ier, being ill, orders were given through the adjutant-general. Dronot), 20.884; reserve cav alry (Grouchy, four corps. with horse artillery), 13,784. There seems to have been uneertainty up to the last minute regarding the wing con manders. Marshal Ney was summoned on June 15th and assigned to the command Of the corps of 1)'Erlon and Reille. Grouchy was taken from his command of the reserve cavalry after the campaign had opened and given command of the right wing, comprising the corps of Vandamme and (16rard. Marshal Soult served as Napoleon's chief of staff, his old chief, Iterthier, having ad hered to the Bourbons. Soult had held in dependent commands too long to be well placed in a stair position; but Napoleon's stair was always the weakest part of his armyorganiza tion, and its errors on many previous occasions had been counterbalaneed only by the initiative of some of Napoleon's brilliant field officers.
The army under Bliicher, who had Gneisenau for his chief of staff, numbered 120,954 men 99,715 infantry, 11,879 cavalry, and 9360 artil lery, with 312 guns. Of these the First Corps (Ziethen), 32,692 men, was at Charleroi; the Second (Pireh), 32.704, at Namur; the Third ('hielmag), 24.456, at Ciney; and the Fourth (Billow), 31,102, at Liege. The line was largely veterans, and Mueller was an experienced old campaigner, not brilliant, but brave, hard-beaded and reliable. The army of Wellington numbered 93,717 men-09,829 infantry. 14,842 cavalry. 8166 artillery with 190 guns, and 1240 engineers, etc. Of these the British numbered 31,253 man; the King's German Legion, 6387; the lIanoverians. 15,935; the Dutch and Belgians, with one body of Nassauers, 29,214; the Brunswickers, 6808; and another regiment of Nassaners, 2880. It was a very miscellaneous body of troops, probably the least efficient in its rank and file of any of the three armies.