How the Battles at Waterloo, Marathon, Agincourt and Many More Were Won
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History’s Greatest Battles VOL. I How the battles at Waterloo, Marathon, Agincourt and many more were won 001_AAH_DE_GreatestBattlesCover.indd 1 11/08/2014 14:59 04 CONTENTSFrom the earliest days of mankind battles have been used to settle conflicts and as a tool by those with dreams and ambitions of conquering the world. They were often horribly gruesome for those involved, but played pivotal roles in history. Here we take a close look at eight epic battles, examining just how they were won and lost. Andrew Brown Editor Greatest Battles 04 Waterloo 18 Zama Get the inside story on the Two military greats, Hannibal epic showdown between and Scipio, meet on the Napoleon and Wellington battlefield in a contest between two tactical titans 08 M a rat h o n This bloody conflict saw the 20 Agincourt fledgling democracies of Discover Henry V’s greatest Greece take on the mighty moment and a decisive victory Persian forces in the Hundred Years’ War 12 Arsuf 24 G a u g a m e l a Join Richard the Lionheart and Alexander the Great was his Templar knights for one one of the finest military of the Third Crusade’s most commanders to ever walk the decisive battles earth and Gaugamela was one of his crushing victories 14 B o ya c á In 1819 an epic battle would 28 Hastings decide whether Columbia Find out just how the 1066 gained independence from the battle that defined a nation’s Spanish monarchy or not… future was won and lost 14 08 Be part of history www.historyanswers.co.uk /AllAboutHistory @AboutHistoryMag 2 002-003_AAH_GB_Contents.indd 2 11/08/2014 15:01 28 24 12 3 002-003_AAH_GB_Contents.indd 3 11/08/2014 15:01 Greatest Battles NAPOLEON’S BODYGUARD Protecting Napoleon during the battle were his Old Guard – elite veterans of the Imperial Guard that he handpicked based on their combat experience. One of the most common traits was above average height, meaning that they towered over many other units on the battlefield. BATTLE OF WATERLOO WATERLOO, BELGIUM 18 JUNE 1815 he bloody culmination of the Waterloo the Prussians apparently defeated, Napoleon Campaign, the Battle of Waterloo was one turned his attention on Quatre Bras, reaching the of the most explosive of the 19th century, area the following day. By this point, however, with a British-led allied army under the Quatre Bras had been abandoned by both sides; command of Arthur Wellesley, the Duke Wellington could not hold it without the Prussians. Tof Wellington, defeating a French army under the After catching up with his left flank commander, command of Napoleon Bonaparte and ending the Marshal Michel Ney, who was pursuing a retreating latter’s 100-day reign as emperor of France. Wellington towards Waterloo, Napoleon ordered The war had begun after Napoleon I returned his right flank commander, Marshal Emmanuel de from exile on Elba (an island off Tuscany) to Paris Grouchy, to see off the Prussians more definitively. on 20 March 1815. This set into motion a chain By this time, with Napoleon issuing the order of events that would see Napoleon reclaim his late on the afternoon of 17 June, the Prussians had position as emperor, the Congress of Vienna declare already made significant ground and regrouped at him an outlaw and the Seventh Coalition pledge to the town of Wavre – a position from which they field a large army to bring his rule to an end. could easily rejoin Wellington at Waterloo – and With hundreds of thousands of soldiers drafted Marshal Grouchy was unsuccessful in catching to take Napoleon down, it was only a matter them. Despite eventually defeating a solitary of time before blood was spilt – something Prussian Corps at Wavre on 18 June, by this time that occurred two days prior to Waterloo when the Battle of Waterloo was in full swing and Napoleon struck at the Prussian army before it Grouchy was unable to take part. could join up with Wellington’s on 16 June. After Napoleon had issued the order to Marshal The French ruler did this by splitting his army Grouchy he continued to hunt down Wellington into three groups, with two dedicated to the with his remaining forces before making camp Prussians. The following exchange was the Battle south-west of Wellington’s position at Waterloo. The of Ligny and saw Napoleon defeat the Prussians scene was now set for the Battle of Waterloo the by causing their centre to collapse under repeated next day (18 June), which, as we all know, resulted French assaults. While the Prussians lost men, they in a famous victory for the Duke of Wellington and were not routed however and – as we shall see – a final defeat for Emperor Napoleon. were disastrously left to retreat uninterrupted, with As a consequence of Napoleon’s loss at Waterloo, only a cursory French force giving chase. the French monarchy was restored, with King On the same day as the Battle of Ligny, Louis XVIII regaining the throne on 8 July 1815, Napoleon’s army’s remaining left flank had been while the emperor himself was banished to the engaged with some of Wellington’s forces at Quatre volcanic island of Saint Helena in the Atlantic Bras, where they had attempted unsuccessfully Ocean. Napoleon would live on Saint Helena for a to overrun the Prince of Orange’s position. With further six years, before passing away in May 1821. 4 004_007_AAH_GB_Waterloo.indd 4 11/08/2014 15:05 SCOTS GREYS SEVENTH COALITION Greatest Battles The charge of the Royal Scots Greys at Waterloo While the primary antagonists of the became symbolic of the courage demonstrated Battle of Waterloo were the UK and by Coalition forces in the face of the might France, a host of other nations played of Napoleon’s army. Their charge famously a part, joining with the British to form repelled a key French advance, caused the a coalition against the new emperor of complete destruction of a large French infantry France. These included the Netherlands, column and led to the capture of Napoleon’s Hanover, Nassau, Bavaria and Prussia – 45th Regiment of the Line’s eagle standard. the latter contributing most significantly. HEAVY LOSSES While Waterloo was not a medieval meat- grinder of a battle, with tactics very firmly on display, it still had a huge casualty list. Of Napoleon’s 72,000 troops, around 25,000 were killed outright or wounded, 8,000 were taken prisoner and 15,000 went missing. The total for Wellington and his allies’ soldiers killed, wounded or missing came to around 24,000. 5 004_007_AAH_GB_Waterloo.indd 5 11/08/2014 15:05 Greatest Battles First foray 10 French army retreats 01 Between 10 and 11.30am on 18 June the Battle of With the French left, right and centre now Seventh Waterloo began with a French attack on a Coalition position at disintegrating, the only cohesive force left Coalition Hougoumont, a large farmhouse that served as a tactical outpost. available to Napoleon were two battalions of his Old Guard. Despite hoping to rally his This fighting was low key at first with few troops from each side remaining troops behind them, the strength TROOPS 118,000 engaged, but by the early afternoon it had become a bloody of the Coalition’s forces left this untenable, epicentre for much of the fighting, with the Coalition forces and all Napoleon could do was order a CAVALRY 11,000 holding out against numerous French assaults. retreat. His exit was covered by the Old Guard, many of whom died holding back CANNONS 150 the Coalition’s advance. 02 GRANDE BATTERIE Around midday Napoleon ordered his grande batterie of 80 cannons to open fire upon Wellington’s position. The cannons DUKE OF WELLINGTON caused many casualties 04 LEADER Rising to prominence in the in Wellington’s cavalry, Napoleonic Wars, Arthur Wellesley opening a potential remained commander-in-chief of the British Army until his death in 1852. weak point in the Strengths Very confident and energetic leader defending lines. Weakness Not the most tactically astute of generals 06 01 08 INFANTRY 05 IMPORTANT UNIT Among the best on the planet, the 03 infantry dug in deep at Waterloo to deny many French cavalry charges. Strength Versatile troops that could fight at close to medium range Weaknesses Easily outflanked by cavalry and vulnerable to cannons 10 CANNON 03 French infantry attack British heavy cavalry attack KEY WEAPON After the Coalition’s lines had been weakened, Very destructive, the Coalition’s Napoleon began his attack proper, with numerous 04 Seeing their infantry was about to buckle, artillery helped slow the French infantry corps advancing. The initial fighting went the Wellington’s First and Second Brigade of heavy forces and break up their lines. way of the French, with the left’s infantry pressing cavalry charged and smashed into the French Strengths Cannons had excellent Wellington’s forces back. However, just when it looked infantry. By the time they reached the bottom of range and could do a lot of damage like Napoleon would make a decisive break, he was the hill, they had completely halted the infantry’s Weaknesses Needed supporting informed that Prussian troops were fast approaching. troops for protection as fairly fragile He tried to send word to Marshal Grouchy to engage advance. In doing so, however, they had left under fire and few in number with them, but his commander was in Wavre. themselves exposed and without backup. 6 004_007_AAH_GB_Waterloo.indd 6 11/08/2014 15:05 Greatest Battles 08 Imperial Guard 09 PLANCENOIT RECAPTURED attacks Wellington With his forces temporarily holding off France The Prussian army retook Plancenoit and targeted the Prussians at Plancenoit, Napoleon went on one last major offensive.