0:00:36 > 0:00:42Waterloo is a crossroads of history. It ended 20 years of European war
0:00:42 > 0:00:47and saw the downfall of Napoleon, the colossus of his age.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50But the battlefield is tiny -
0:00:50 > 0:00:55a couple of miles from side to side and a mile in depth.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58I can cover all of it in a few hours' walk.
0:01:00 > 0:01:07In June 1815, these few acres just south of Brussels decided the fate of Europe.
0:01:07 > 0:01:12The area has changed, with a scatter of monuments and the rise of tourism.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16It is Europe's most visited battlefield.
0:01:16 > 0:01:23Here, you can leave your wellingtons in the boot and find yourself surrounded by an army of Napoleons.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27The diminutive dictator may have lost the battle,
0:01:27 > 0:01:30but he's victorious in the afterlife.
0:01:48 > 0:01:53An extraordinary series of events had brought Napoleon to Waterloo.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58He had made a spectacular comeback from exile, formed a large army
0:01:58 > 0:02:02and threatened to dominate Europe again.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06He marched into Belgium, where two armies,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09one led by the Duke of Wellington, opposed him.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13The battle takes its name
0:02:13 > 0:02:20from the village two miles north of the battlefield, Wellington's headquarters.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23Wellington spent the night before
0:02:23 > 0:02:26in this inn in the village of Waterloo.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30He was 46, the same age as his opponent,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33but very different in temperament.
0:02:33 > 0:02:38Respected, rather than loved, he disapproved of being cheered.
0:02:38 > 0:02:43"If you let them cheer you one day, they might boo you the next."
0:02:43 > 0:02:46When he got up on the 18th of June,
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Wellington knew he faced his sternest test yet.
0:02:50 > 0:02:56It all depended on the staying power of his infantry and the arrival of the Prussians.
0:02:56 > 0:03:01He realised that without the help of the Prussian army
0:03:01 > 0:03:04he had little chance of winning.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08Their commander, Blucher, had promised his support,
0:03:08 > 0:03:13but his army had been badly beaten a day earlier and had retreated.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17On the eve of Waterloo they were ten miles away
0:03:17 > 0:03:21and might never reach the battlefield in time.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24Napoleon's headquarters was at Le Caillou farm,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27three miles south of Wellington.
0:03:31 > 0:03:38The officers who stayed here were the central nervous system of an army of over 70,000 men
0:03:38 > 0:03:43that was outside in the rain, coiled up like some great beast.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46Their names had made Europe tremble,
0:03:46 > 0:03:49but their army was curiously patchy.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53Veterans rubbed shoulders with conscripts,
0:03:53 > 0:03:58supporters of Napoleon with secret supporters of the exiled king.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02The army looked much better than it really was
0:04:02 > 0:04:07and it depended absolutely on the presiding genius of one man -
0:04:07 > 0:04:09Napoleon.
0:04:12 > 0:04:17The campaign was going his way, but Napoleon was not at his best.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21He was sometimes lethargic, sometimes restless,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24certainly unfit, possibly even ill.
0:04:24 > 0:04:29But when he turned out of bed next morning, he seemed confident.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33Marshal Soult, his chief of staff, advised caution.
0:04:33 > 0:04:40But Napoleon said, "Because he has beaten you, you think Wellington is a good general.
0:04:40 > 0:04:45"But he is a bad general and the English are breakfast."
0:04:46 > 0:04:50It was a filthy night.
0:04:50 > 0:04:56While senior officers found shelter, soldiers were left in the rain.
0:04:56 > 0:05:01Private William Wheeler of the 51st Regiment describes the time he had.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05"We sat on our knapsacks until daylight without fires.
0:05:05 > 0:05:12"There was no shelter from the weather. Water ran from the cuffs of our jackets.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16"We were as wet as if we had been plunged in a river.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19"We had one consolation -
0:05:19 > 0:05:22"the enemy were in the same plight."
0:05:25 > 0:05:29The weather was a disaster for Napoleon.
0:05:29 > 0:05:34Because of the Prussian threat, he needed to beat Wellington quickly.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38But the ground was too wet to move his guns
0:05:38 > 0:05:42so he was forced to delay the battle for several hours.
0:05:42 > 0:05:49It was easy, when Frenchmen were looking for some excuse for his failure, to blame this.
0:05:49 > 0:05:56Victor Hugo wrote, "A few drops of water, more or less, were what decided Napoleon's fate."
0:05:59 > 0:06:02The armies formed up early.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09From his observation point, Napoleon could see
0:06:09 > 0:06:13much of Wellington's army of over 60,000 men.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17The need to delay must have been agonising.
0:06:17 > 0:06:23This is one of his observation points. It gives a good view of Wellington's position.
0:06:23 > 0:06:31Wellington had a wonderful eye for the ground. His position wasn't perfect, but it had natural strength.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33On Wellington's left
0:06:33 > 0:06:36was the farm complex of Papalotte.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39In his centre, La Haye Sainte.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45Behind those trees, Hougoumont.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49The farms had been fortified the day before.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54British foot guards had prepared the defences of Hougoumont
0:06:54 > 0:06:59and La Haye Sainte was strongly garrisoned by German troops.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03These farms were crucial to Wellington's battle plan.
0:07:03 > 0:07:09His army was partly shielded by the high corn that grew here in 1815
0:07:09 > 0:07:13and also protected by the slope of the ridge.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17The lion monument was built in the 1820s
0:07:17 > 0:07:22and stands pretty well in the centre of Wellington's position.
0:07:26 > 0:07:31The Brussels road bisects the battlefield, just as it did in 1815.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34It's no coincidence that the road is here.
0:07:34 > 0:07:41If Napoleon could break through Wellington's line, he was just a few hours from Brussels.
0:07:41 > 0:07:48And if he could take Brussels, he'd have struck a telling blow at the European alliance opposing him.
0:07:49 > 0:07:56Napoleon was an artillery officer by training, and he put 84 12-pounder guns here.
0:07:56 > 0:08:01Known as "the emperor's favourite daughters", they fired these -
0:08:01 > 0:08:0312lb round shot.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07Gunners tried to bounce them in front of the enemy,
0:08:07 > 0:08:14so they'd ricochet through his entire formation, causing death and destruction.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18At close range, gunners switched to this.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23This is case shot - a tin box filled with smaller balls.
0:08:23 > 0:08:29This burst, turning the cannon into a gigantic shotgun.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32It was a real killer on such a battlefield.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Napoleon's guns opened fire at 11.30.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41BOOM!
0:08:42 > 0:08:44BOOM!
0:08:45 > 0:08:48CRASH! BOOM!
0:08:49 > 0:08:52 At the same time,
0:08:52 > 0:08:56over 5,000 French infantry advanced on Hougoumont.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02MILITARY-STYLE DRUMMING
0:09:16 > 0:09:24There were about 1,500 troops in the house and orchard, and the French attackers were badly mauled.
0:09:26 > 0:09:31The strong walls of Hougoumont made it a natural fortress.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34The garrison of British foot guards,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37firing through loopholes like this, caused havoc.
0:09:37 > 0:09:44Throughout the day, wave after wave of French broke against these walls like a torrent against a boulder.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49The French had to get in, regardless of cost.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59The attackers and defenders carried flintlock muskets like this.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04They were very inaccurate - I'd be hard-pressed to hit that back wall.
0:10:04 > 0:10:11To load, you took a cartridge with a musket ball at one end and powder at the other, bit the end off...
0:10:13 > 0:10:17..and poured powder into the priming pan...
0:10:19 > 0:10:22..closed off the frizzen...
0:10:22 > 0:10:27then tipped the rest of the powder down the muzzle...
0:10:27 > 0:10:30followed it with the musket ball...
0:10:32 > 0:10:35..took out the ramrod...
0:10:38 > 0:10:42..and rammed it all home good and tight.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46You then remembered to return the ramrod.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51Clumsy soldiers sometimes forgot to do this and fired it at the enemy.
0:10:51 > 0:10:56Then, with luck, you were ready to fire.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05If all else failed, there was the bayonet.
0:11:05 > 0:11:10The prospect of 20,000 of these approaching
0:11:10 > 0:11:15would often compel people to seek an urgent appointment elsewhere.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19DRUMS BEAT
0:11:21 > 0:11:27One of the dozens of French attacks got to the north gate of Hougoumont.
0:11:27 > 0:11:33It was led by Second Lieutenant Legros, a giant of a man, nicknamed "the Smasher".
0:11:33 > 0:11:40He took an axe and beat down the wooden gates which used to stand there,
0:11:40 > 0:11:43then led a charge into the courtyard.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56The fate of Hougoumont hung in the balance
0:11:56 > 0:12:00in a few minutes of vicious fighting,
0:12:00 > 0:12:07as Lieutenant Colonel James Macdonell and his men tried to close the gates and kill the French.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12Private Matthew Clay tells us just what it was like.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16"In the entrance lay many dead bodies of the enemy.
0:12:16 > 0:12:21"I saw Lieutenant Colonel Macdonell carrying the trunk of a tree.
0:12:21 > 0:12:27"He was hurrying to bar the gates against the enemy's renewed attack,
0:12:27 > 0:12:29"which was vigorously repulsed."
0:12:29 > 0:12:32Wellington later said
0:12:32 > 0:12:39the battle of Waterloo had depended on the closing of the gates of Hougoumont.
0:12:49 > 0:12:55Legros, and the men who charged with him, were killed almost to a man.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58The sole survivor was an unarmed drummer boy,
0:12:58 > 0:13:01who the British spared.
0:13:07 > 0:13:12I find Hougoumont the most moving spot on the field of Waterloo.
0:13:12 > 0:13:18Indeed, it affects me more than almost any other battlefield.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22It makes me glad I'm a military historian.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27I can almost reach out and touch the past.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46Not a lot of Frenchmen got in during the battle,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49but today the place is full of them.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23ALL SHOUT: Vive l'empereur!
0:14:24 > 0:14:29- Jan, what's the attraction in Waterloo?- It's special.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34It's a turnaround in Europe in 1815.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38It changed very much things in those times,
0:14:38 > 0:14:45yet we have followed the things of those...of this battle, today.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47How did you become interested?
0:14:47 > 0:14:52It's a long time ago, when I was a little boy around eight years old.
0:14:52 > 0:14:58I was always interested in little tin soldiers of the Napoleonic era,
0:14:58 > 0:15:00because they were full of colour.
0:15:00 > 0:15:07Those colours attracted me and now I am 1:1 scale soldier!
0:15:08 > 0:15:14- Goodbye, and good luck with the war! - Have a nice way back to England.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47This is good Waterloo weather - rain and shine in equal portions.
0:15:47 > 0:15:52From the lion monument, I've a good view of the field.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Down there is Hougoumont.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59There's the Brussels road and La Haye Sainte.
0:16:00 > 0:16:08By early afternoon, Napoleon had hammered Wellington's centre, by the crossroads, with his artillery.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11He then sent 18,000 infantry along the road
0:16:11 > 0:16:16to strike what he hoped would be the battle-winning blow.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20DRUMS BEAT A MARCH
0:16:23 > 0:16:27The French infantry marched along here
0:16:27 > 0:16:31under artillery fire pretty well the whole way.
0:16:31 > 0:16:37The impact of shot sent muskets, knapsacks and limbs flying up into the air,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40but the French kept coming.
0:16:40 > 0:16:46It looked very much as if they'd break the line and win the battle.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49Lord Uxbridge, Wellington's cavalry commander,
0:16:49 > 0:16:56had kept two brigades of cavalry just over this ridge, ready for just this moment.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00They charged, and hit the French about here.
0:17:00 > 0:17:05PIPE BAND PLAYS A MARCH
0:17:42 > 0:17:49They were moving fast, their blood was up and they rode right into the columns.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53A French officer tells us just what it was like.
0:17:53 > 0:17:58"We found ourselves defenceless against a relentless enemy,
0:17:58 > 0:18:03"who sabred even our fifers and drummers without mercy.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07"Our eagle was captured and I saw death close at hand,
0:18:07 > 0:18:12"for my friends fell around me and I expected the same fate,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15"while wielding my sword mechanically."
0:18:15 > 0:18:22The cavalry charged too far. They got on to the far ridge and were counterattacked.
0:18:22 > 0:18:29But the charge had done its job. Napoleon's first proper infantry attack was stopped in its tracks.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37His infantry's failure to break Wellington's line was a setback.
0:18:37 > 0:18:44The allied army had been badly damaged and a properly co-ordinated attack might have beaten it.
0:18:44 > 0:18:49Instead, the French launched a series of spasmodic cavalry charges.
0:18:49 > 0:18:54The horsemen must have looked splendid in their plumes and armour
0:18:54 > 0:18:58and they were very serious opponents.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01This gentleman isn't just decorative.
0:19:01 > 0:19:08He's a French cuirassier, trained to ride down and break enemy infantry and cavalry
0:19:08 > 0:19:11by the sheer momentum of his armoured charge.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14They were respected adversaries.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17A British officer being charged by them said,
0:19:17 > 0:19:24"By God! Those fellows deserve Bonaparte. They fight so nobly for him."
0:19:56 > 0:19:59- Philippe, merci et au revoir.- Merci.
0:20:03 > 0:20:09At about 3.30, over 4,000 French horsemen swept across the field.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12Their objective was simple -
0:20:12 > 0:20:17hit Wellington's infantry hard, break it and win the battle.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20The infantry had been in lines,
0:20:20 > 0:20:23but as the French cavalry bore down,
0:20:23 > 0:20:28they had to move fast into square formations to keep the horsemen out.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32PIPE BAND PLAYS
0:20:36 > 0:20:42Although the square was a good defence against cavalry,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45it was vulnerable to artillery.
0:20:45 > 0:20:50For three long hours, the French sent in wave after wave of cavalry,
0:20:50 > 0:20:54forcing the infantry to stay in their squares.
0:20:54 > 0:21:00Between the charges, the infantry were hammered by French artillery.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03BOOM!
0:21:03 > 0:21:06BOOM!
0:21:06 > 0:21:09BOOM!
0:21:09 > 0:21:16The cruellest trial for the infantry came standing up here in square with round shot crashing in,
0:21:16 > 0:21:20because they were an easy artillery target.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22The 27th Regiment stood here.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26It went into battle 747 men strong.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30By the end of the day, it had lost almost 500.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34One eyewitness said that it was lying dead in square.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36This is its memorial.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07The French attacked La Haye Sainte throughout the day
0:22:07 > 0:22:10and were repulsed each time.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13It was right in front of the line.
0:22:13 > 0:22:19If he could take it, Napoleon could attack from very close range.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23At 6.30, the French attacked again, in strength.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27This time, they took the farm.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30Of the entire allied garrison,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33a mere 42 men escaped with their lives.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37At last, the battle seemed to be going Napoleon's way.
0:22:37 > 0:22:43Then the young Prince of Orange, one of Wellington's generals,
0:22:43 > 0:22:47ordered the veteran Colonel Ompteda to counterattack.
0:22:47 > 0:22:53Ompteda knew that it was impossible, protested, but attacked anyway.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56He was shot almost immediately.
0:22:57 > 0:23:02Lieutenant Edmund Wheatley charged with Colonel Ompteda.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07He was knocked unconscious and then dragged into La Haye Sainte.
0:23:07 > 0:23:12He gives us a wonderful description of just what it was like.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15"The inside I found completely destroyed,
0:23:15 > 0:23:19"nothing but the rafters and props remaining.
0:23:19 > 0:23:24"The bodies of German infantry and French tirailleurs were everywhere.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28"The carnage had been very great in this place."
0:23:38 > 0:23:43La Haye Sainte is still a working farm, owned by Paul Van Achter.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46- Bonjour. - Bonjour.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Oh, excellent. Ca, c'est un morceau de pipe.
0:24:20 > 0:24:26This is a piece of French pipe with a grenadier's moustache on it.
0:24:27 > 0:24:33Musket balls - a rather small French one and a larger English one.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39This is a piece of canister shot from a cannon...
0:24:39 > 0:24:42A real killer, particularly at close range.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46It gives some idea of how intense the fighting was,
0:24:46 > 0:24:50if things like this are still being ploughed up.
0:24:50 > 0:24:55- Tres interessant. Merci. - De rien. Au revoir et bon retour.
0:25:00 > 0:25:05La Haye Sainte was a boost to French morale but rejoicing was short-lived.
0:25:05 > 0:25:11The Prussians had arrived and were already attacking the right flank.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14Time was running out for the emperor.
0:25:15 > 0:25:20At seven o'clock, Napoleon played his last card.
0:25:20 > 0:25:25He sent about 6,000 of his imperial guards up this slope.
0:25:26 > 0:25:33Part of the column came this way, approaching a British Guards brigade lying down along the crest line.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37Wellington was just behind the line
0:25:37 > 0:25:43and he couldn't resist giving the crucial orders himself.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45Stand up, Guards!
0:25:45 > 0:25:47Make ready! Fire!
0:26:00 > 0:26:06Even these veterans couldn't stand that sort of punishment and they were pushed back.
0:26:06 > 0:26:11When Wellington saw them retreat, he doffed his cap
0:26:11 > 0:26:13and motioned his army forward.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17He knew the battle was won.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24As the victorious allies advanced,
0:26:24 > 0:26:27Napoleon's great army fled,
0:26:27 > 0:26:31leaving the field littered with dead and dying.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35Many of the wounded lay out overnight,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38and often simply died where they lay.
0:26:39 > 0:26:44The fortunate were brought to an improvised field hospital,
0:26:44 > 0:26:48where surgeons operated without anaesthetic...
0:26:48 > 0:26:51laying open deep muscle wounds...
0:26:51 > 0:26:54probing for musket balls
0:26:54 > 0:26:58and amputating shattered limbs.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Some soldiers bore all this surprisingly well.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05They came from a hard world where stoicism was admired.
0:27:05 > 0:27:10Sergeant Michael Connolly reprimanded a man for groaning.
0:27:10 > 0:27:15"For God's sake", he said, "die like a man before these Frenchies."
0:27:15 > 0:27:21And in these terrible surroundings that's exactly what many did.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32Nearly 50,000 of the men who fought at Waterloo were killed or wounded.
0:27:32 > 0:27:37Artists managed to romanticise death on the battlefield,
0:27:37 > 0:27:42but most of the dead were simply tumbled into huge gravepits.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47This wounded eagle, by the busy Brussels road,
0:27:47 > 0:27:51marks where some of the guard fought long enough
0:27:51 > 0:27:55to enable Napoleon to escape amongst his broken army.
0:27:55 > 0:28:01Victor Hugo said Waterloo was a change in the direction of the world.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05Napoleon was packed off to a rocky island
0:28:05 > 0:28:08and kept there till he died.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11Waterloo ushered in 50 years of peace in Europe
0:28:11 > 0:28:18and it was 99 years before a British soldier next fired a shot in Europe.
0:28:18 > 0:28:24Ironically, it was just a few miles down this road, in August 1914.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57Subtitles on 888 by Mairi Macleod BBC Scotland - 1996