“Nearly 71,000 men were killed or wounded in the battle of Waterloo and its immediate aftermath, to which horrific toll must be added 2,600 casualties in frontier clashes on 15 June, the 32,500 at Ligny, 8,800 at Quatre Bras, 400 on the retreat from Quatre Bras and 5,000 at Wavre – making a total of 120,300.”ĭefinitely not Napoleon’s ‘l’affaire d’un déjeuner’. We should not leave the battlefield without reflecting on the terrible cost in lives. Hindsight is twenty-twenty and Roberts is careful to point out how both sides in an early 19th century battle faced considerable “fog of war” obstacles, especially when it came to communications, logistics, unfavorable weather, observation of the enemy and terrain, intelligence gathering and coordination of command. Nevertheless, Napoleon’s errors should not exculpate his Marshals who, at critical moments in the battle, did not serve either their commander, or those under their command, well.īut armchair generals shouldn’t be too critical, either. Moreover, for Napoleon to blame his Marshals for his own mistakes, which he did, was like a chess master blaming the pieces for failing to extricate themselves from the bad positions in which he had placed them. In the final analysis, while Wellington wasn’t perfect-no general, or human being for that matter, ever is-most of the questionable moves were made by Napoleon. In a chess game, each side can make questionable moves or blunders that the other side may or may not take advantage of. In his analysis, the author sticks to the known facts and his own observations, cutting through the fog of inaccuracies, distortions and propaganda promulgated over the centuries by advocates on both sides. Roberts’ conclusion is an after-action report supported by facts and evidence developed from two centuries of examination of the battle.

These excerpts from personal histories lend immediacy and authenticity to the narrative. His description of the campaign and battle is engaging, detailed and interspersed with excerpts from the memoirs and letters of men who fought on both sides, from the commanders down to the private soldiers. Roberts has written a compelling narrative of one of the most consequential battles in the history of Western Civilization. The Duke of Wellington describing his victory at Waterloo ‘a damned nice thing – the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life’.

Napoleon to his senior commanders the morning of the battle of Waterloo But I tell you that Wellington is a bad general and the English are bad troops.’ The whole business would be, he assured them, ‘l’affaire d’un déjeuner’ (a picnic). Just because you have been beaten by Wellington,’ he told them, ‘you think he’s a good general.

Napoleon the great andrew roberts