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  • Essay / Napoleon at Waterloo - 1448

    On March 20, 1815, Napoleon returned to Paris from his exile on the island of Elba. This day marked the beginning of "Napoleon's 100 Days", as many historians have dubbed this brief episode, which ended on July 8, 1815 when Louis XVIII was reinstated as king of France. Within two months, Napoleon, capitalizing on France's enormous population, conscripted an army of approximately 280,000 men. Napoleon Bonaparte's forces outnumbered the Anglo-Allied forces by 50,000 men, led by the Duke of Wellington, Marshal Blucher and the Prince of Orange. Napoleon's numerical advantage and gift for military strategy would not be enough to prevent his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo and his second exile to Saint Helena. The Emperor's lack of military communication, his inability to draw the small English forces into battle, his underestimation of the Prussian forces and the lack of morale of the second "Grande Armée" would prove Napoleon's downfall at the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon's strategy of crushing the Anglo-Allied forces in Belgium, as they were gathering, would have proven effective if these problems had not occurred. Napoleon's strategy relied on overwhelming numbers and attacking the Anglo-Allied forces while they were still assembling. To do this, Napoleon attempted to capture Brussels in Belgium, which was then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The strategy was to rush the enemy into a moment of weakness in order to divide the forces, with emphasis on pushing the English towards the Belgian coast and the Prussians towards the east. This distribution of forces was to be done at Quatre Bras under the direct direction of Marshal Ney. After preventing the forces from joining, Napoleon intended to...... middle of paper ......erloo.htm "Campaigns and battles". Napoleon at war. Accessed March 14, 2011. http://www.pbs.org/empires/napoleon/n_war/campaign/page_15.htmlLiberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution. Nd George Mason University. Accessed March 21, 2011. http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/528/.Lynn, John A. “Toward an Army of Honor: The Moral Evolution of the French Army, 1789-1815” . French historical studies. Flight. 16. No. 1 (spring 1989) p. 152-173. Accessed March 21, 2011. www.jstor.org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/stable/info/286437Moore, Richard. “100 Days Campaign”. Napoleonic Guide (1999). Accessed April 1, 2011. http://www.napoleonguide.com/campaign_100days.htm. “Wellington’s Dispatches.” The wartime diary. Accessed March 21, 2011. http://www.wtj.com/archives/wellington/1815_06e.htm