How did Napoleon Lose Waterloo? (ft. AltHistoryHub) | Animated History
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The Battle of Waterloo
AlternateHistoryHub's Video:
• What if Napoleon Never...
Thank you to ThisIsBarris for voice acting Napoleon: / @thisisbarris
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Sources:
Gourgaud, Gaspard Baron. Talks of Napoleon at St. Helena with General Baron Gourgaud: Together with the Journal Kept by Gourgaud on Their Journey from Waterloo to St. Helena. Grant Richards, 1903.
Englund, Steven. Napoleon: a political life. Simon and Schuster, 2010.
Ropes, John Codman. The Campaign of Waterloo: A Military History. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1892.
O'Meara, Barry Edward. Napoleon in exile; or, A voice from St. Helena.. Vol. 1. Philadelphia, 1822.
Malcolm, Clementina Elphinstone, and Sir Arthur Knyvets Wilson. A Diary of St. Helena, 1816-1817: The Journal of Lady Malcolm: Containing the Conversations of Napoleon with Sir Pulteney Malcolm, Ed. by Sir Arthur Wilson. Innes, 1899.
Adkin, Mark. The Waterloo Companion. Stackpole Books, 2001.
Roberts, Adam. Napoleon: A Life. Penguin Random House, 2015.
Zamoyski, Adam. Napoleon: A life. New York: Basic Books, 2018.
Rapp, Jean. Memoires du General Rapp, Aide de Camp de Napoleon. London, 1823.
Pontecoulant, Louis Gustave comte de. Souvenirs historiques et parlementaires du comte de Pontecoulant. 4 vols, Paris, 1861-1865.
Constant, Benjamin. Journal Intime. Monaco, 1945.
van Beurden, Kyle. "‘No troops but the British’: British national identity and the Battle for Waterloo." (2015)
Lipscombe, Nick, ed. Waterloo: The Decisive Victory. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016.
Music:
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"Dawn without End" By Zach Heyde
George Frideric Handel Sarabande
Nomads by The Mini Vandals
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Discord: discord.gg/hSKUbmN
Hi could you do a video on the Finnish war (1808-1809)?
I thought this was a video showing Napoleon winning waterloo?
But it won't actually connect me to the palace in Pyongyang. Pfff! Useless!
Now I can see my great leader. That's funny
1:13 you can't tell me what to do! I'm a god damned American!!!!!! Great video, btw.
Thank you for giving me the chance to voice Napoleon in this great video Griff! It was a true honor.
I actually live right next to Golfe-Juan, the beach where Napoleon with 600 men landed in 1815 following his escape from Elba. They did a recreation of the event last year which was quite fun. Merde to you!
*_Wellington wants to know your location_*
Did you also voice Napoleon in the game Total War: Napoleon? That sounded absolutely the same.
@@JayvH
of course he didn't. it didn't sound the same in my opinion, and it was a different person.
@@JayvH Hhaha no but I wished. Thanks though.
Y did u not speak French in it
Fantastic video! It was great working with you! Can never get enough Napoleon content.
I love your channel and books!
Thank you Cody, Very Cool!
I mean Napoleon should have surrendered..
You know you messed up when the Swiss are in the war
You didn't come along until the end. Oh well, but you gave a good explanation about Napoleon.
Have you read Adam Zamoyski?
1812 :Napoleons Fatal March on Moscow
Napoleon: Napoleon: The man behind the legend
If anyone is wondering about the voice of Napoleon it sounds the way it is because he is Corsican. The voice actor did a good job of doing a Corsican accent, props to you!
Humm, are you sure that the Empereur spoke with an Corsican accent?
Yes he spoke with a Corsican accent. It is a well documented historical fact.
@@mattyb7183 i'm not sure of it...
I've read many testimonials of relatives of Napoleon and none of them talk about an accent.
But he had this accent only when he was stressed and angry.
And it was very limited accent, it was only like confusing words "amnistie/armistice, rentes viagères instead of rentes voyagères" and many other things like this,but not an italian accent like we heard in movies. It was not really perceptible.
So i don't think he had, even if he often spoke corsican with his family, his french sounded pure
@@T60601 On the contrary, French was not his native tongue. He was born speaking Italian and started learning French when he was 10. He was said to butcher it frequently. HIs grammar was fine but, his accent was thick and he couldn't spell very well.
@Aidan Welton-Drake He could speak very well with a light corsican accent. When you start to speak a language at school as a child, you learn fast.
He was in the military school in the continent without his family with french students. He hated France at this time and was for an independant of Corisca until his 17/18, when he embraced the Revolutionary ideal.
If Napoleon had won at Waterloo.....He would lose a week later, the Austrians and the Russians were on the way with hundreds of thousands of reinforcements and Napoleon simply didn't have the capacity to hold such a large front with so few troops.
Waterloo could have been a victorious battle but not a final victory.
Napoleon lost Marengo at 5 but won it back at 7, never underestimate him.
@@HaBenOni "I was in this Position at the battle of Marengo, I lost the Battle at 5 o'clock, BUT I WON IT BACK AGAIN AT SEVEN"
Also, Spanish Troops and troops still loyal to the Bourbon King and Piemontese troops approached from the south. Napoleon had to defeat them one after another with just one army. As we saw in Waterloo, he also had to avoid that two enemy armies would join.
Grouchy actually was engaged with a smaller Prussian Army at Wavre the same day and thus did not only follow Napoleons orders "to the latter", but simply could not come before he had won that battle.
He lost because he didn't use NordVPN and with this Arthur knew his moves, and thus the Defeat at Waterloo
I heard he used Edge as a browser.
John Smith I thought he used Firefox.......
Bob Semple ツ no, no. He lost because he did not watch any war documentary on Curiosity Stream nor did he take any Brilliant courses. Shame he fought unprepared.
Phoenix Uprising True......
And he couldnt see past his eyebrows as he wasnt subbed to $ shave club
Napoleon’s health was also in question during the battle
he had a urinary tract infection and serious hemmoroids, according to a 1968 book i read. Hard to concentrate when your undercarriage is on fire.
Indeed he was ill throughout, which is why Ney took over and launched the large french cavalry charge
I hate this as it's used as an excuse he was fine up until this point but because he was beaten all of a sudden its because he is ill. I'm guessing a lot of people on that day were not 100% Wellington and the allies had to rush around organizing a defense after being caught out.
@@markgrehan3726 wellington would have been exhausted, having to rush from brussels to quatre bras, then rush to mont st jean, hardly sleeping whilst desperately sending messages to blucher, and blucher rode into battle still in bandages after being wounded at Ligny. All of them were suffering as you say
@@martyrobbins5241 Yet, it is fact that Napoleon did give Ney too much leverage on the field. We can speculate if it was due to health issues or not. But the fact is Napoleon was not watching and did not stop Ney from butchering the cavalry. At the same time, both Wellington and Blucher managed to keep a good hold of their forces and none acted crazy under them. So...they may all have been under severe stress. But its quite obvious Napoleon is the one who was not active in leading the battle. And yes, the whole campaign was a fairly well done business, pretty much on par with what Napoleon could do. So it makes it even more obvious that for whatever reasons he was not available on the final day. It is possible he just spent too much time focused on the prussian threat to his right wing and left Ney in charge of the center and left. Thus severely overestimating what Ney could do. But then again…..who else did he have who was able? Lannes, Soult, Davout, Massena, Murat….all missing. And that may well be his biggest disadvantage. He just did not have a competent general who he could leave in independent command.
Napoleon could've won at Waterloo if he had used Nord VPN before sending the old guard
Facts
Union Army at Gettysburg - They had the high ground
British at Waterloo - They had the high ground
Obi-wan on Mustafar - He had the high ground
Lesson..... Don't attack the high ground.
Never. Never ever
Conclusion: don't try to fight Switzerland
Spartan Army at Mantinea- They had the high ground
Craterus Army at Hellespont- They had the high ground
Antigonid Army at Paraitakene- They had the high ground
Labienus Army at Munda- They had the high ground
Harold´s Army at Hastings- They had the high ground
British Army at Toulon- They had the high ground
Coalition Army at Austerlitz- They had the high ground
Austrian Army at Wagram- They had the high ground
French Army at Vitoria- They had the high ground
Prussian Army at Ligny- They had the high ground
American Army at Kasserine- They had the high ground
Jordanian Army at Ammunition Hill- They had the high ground
Syrian Army at the Golan Heights- They had the high ground
Argentinian Army at Stanley- They had the high ground
Lesson..... it is not so easy to say "never"
Your commentary is debunked sir
omar bradley I’m pretty certain Napoleon held the high ground at Toulon, which allowed him to attack the port below
@@omarbradley6807 The English also had the high ground at Hastings. Well, temporarily.
Europe: shots fired
Napoleon: Guess I'll die
Napoleon escape Elba
Europe: Let’s gang bang his majesty
7:24 Fun fact: The majority of the budget for this vid went into this scene!
That transition was smooth as heck though
Cool story bro
How do you know that?
@@paulwilkinson4073 it's a joke because the animation on the scene was a bit lacking lol
@@Frosty469 oh right 😂
Waterloo Movie: “What are you doing? I leave for a minute and he charged Calvary in with no infantry support!” -Napoleon
Yeah to be honest that was a costly charge he didn't even request artillery support which he can use to pin the retreating British infantry down before starting the real attack!
My ancestor was a member of the King German Legion, he guarded the middle farm house until it was obliterated. Just thought I would flex on y'all
that as an ultimate flex, but my great great grandfather was a high ranking ottoman officer (i know that prolly doesn’t even mean anything 😭) during ww1 and he collaborated with the german officers. Just thought it’s cool to know.
@@zakbruh279 Turkey was also allied with the German Reich, so not surprising
My grandfather was part of Patton's 3rd, he was in north africa, took part in the invasion of Sicily, mainland Italy and all the way into Berlin. Loved the stories my grandmother would tell me about him, he died in a car crash when my dad was little and he was my inspiration for enlisting.
Nice flex but y is that a flex? Shouldn’t a persons life be dictated on what they do with it instead of where they came from or who their ancestors are? Nice flex tho I’m sure he’s proud of all u guys
@@DaddyCabby Sry but ima have to call BS. Patton commanded the II corps in North Africa, Seventh army in Sicily. Did not command in Italy, and no American units went all the way into Berlin. Maybe he BS'd your gran, maybe she just got details wrong, but that certainly didn't happen.
Britain has 69k men
Me: Nice
Nice
Noice
Nice.
Nice
Nice
Even if Napoleon could have won Waterloo, he would just be delaying the inevitable. All of Europe versus France is quite overwhelming even for him.
Especially at this point in time, where France had been exhausted from almost 2 decades of almost endless war against ever changing Coalitions of Enemies.
Even for the guy who got his ass handed to him consistently by the Royal Navy.
@@elbeillustration762 I don't think the Royal Navy would have affected much on land, which still is ignoring the fact that France is outnumbered and outgunned.
@@giojacycadalzo752 The Royal Navy were fairly consistently thwarting his ambitions on land. The siege of Acre, is a good example, or the mass blockades across the north sea and med which crippled his economy for a time, and undermined his authority.
Yes, he was against almost everyone by the end, this is what scorched earth policies tend to bring. He brought that on himself by killing almost everything that moved wherever his army went. There were also many prominent republicans in France itself who secretly wanted to see the back of him (with good reason).
My point is, he wasn't actually very good. Saying "even for him" implies that he was. The man had a huge organized army, and seemingly everyone except the Brits were terrified of him. But he was far from a military genius. Indeed his only real "success" seems to have been in killing lots and lots of people.
@@elbeillustration762 no he was a military genius, he revolutionized military warfare, his Armies were fast he used the element of surprise often and effectively, he commanded the total loyalty and respect of his men, and many other factors which made him possibly one of the greatest military commanders in the world.
12:30 well atleast we know that will be the last time in human history that France will throw men at heavily defended positions resulting in massive casualties.
LoL
Verdun ? Somme ? Marne ? Bir Hakeim ? Indochina ? Dunkerque ? Stone ?
@@roms4154 and why do you say that? Im Canadian btw.
@@jacksonmacpherson6101 because you speak like an americans !
@@roms4154 gotcha so no legitimate reason you just got upset. Noted.
I notice that few kudos were given to Wellington, who had a conglomerate army, consisting of many novice units and commanders (many of his Spanish veterans were sent to North America to fight in the War of 1812) and several units of dubious loyalty. In addition to this, it was a coalition force formed from units from 5 different nationalities speaking at least 3 different languages. For Wellington to hold such an army together and fight as well against a unilingual veteran army lead by commanders with multiple victories under their belts was no mean feat. Most people talk about Napoleon's mistakes, but often don't comment on Wellington's masterful handling of his own army. Your comment that Napoleon should have won, and that many replays in the battle result in a French victory all point to one thing, the battle was won because of Wellington's generalship.
This is what three centuries of continuous cope regarding british martial supremacy does to a mf. People, yanks especially, can't handle the idea that the redcoats were good at their jobs and the brits had competent commanders.
@@colbygordon6936 Most Americans who study history understand quite well how both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 were VERY close run affairs, due to the military expertise and brilliance of British Commanders. Though it is a fictitious movie, THE PATRIOT does give high credence and grand praise to the Military Brilliance of Lord Charles Cornwallis. It must also be stated that the only Major French Naval Victory against the British for a century on either side of it was the Battle of the Chesapeake. Had that Battle turned out as the next one did (the Battle of the Saintes), the American Revolution could have ended much differently. Please don't brush all Americans with the wide swath of ignorance towards British Military Expertise, especially in the 18th and 19th Centuries.
@@colbygordon6936 He would lose to Robert E Lee and Washington
Im gonna tell you something, your content about Napoleonic Wars is legendary, I cant wait for Austerlitz.
It will be great, but he is a Coalition Lover
Exactly this guy is a Britain/Prussia fanboy. Don't expect him to cover the French victories.
I hear some of his researchers are big Napoleon fans tho ;)
Wait when did he tell you that he is going to release Austerlitz.
Or Jena
Lets be honest, Waterloo sounds a lot better than Eton
Which song is it?
Eton is a mess.......tasty !
*Waterloo, couldn't escape if I wanted to...*
Eric Grace Eton mess with extra strawberries..... yummy 😋
Belle Alliance
**Nord VPN does not actually allow you to connect to North Korea. 😂
Then who? Have I been video chatting with if it isn't kim Jong un
That wasn't what he was saying lol
@@Wickedonezz
Look back at that scene, it says so in text.
Bullshit.
I am watching on Netflix now “save the soldier kim”
And before I saw wiki how
“How to destroy USA on 10 differents ways”
Bruh XD
For those that don't know why "square formation" is really good against cavalry, its basicly because horses refuse to run into bayonets.
Also the British (infantry) used "volley fire" tactics a lot, feel free to google what that is. These just weren't mentioned in the video and I think they should have been. :)
I understand how the square works against cavalry, but was there a danger of one square firing into/at another square if they were laid out how they are shown in the video?
Yes. But considering there were so many horses, it would be hard.
@@FatRonaldo1 bit late in replying but they deployed in a checker board formation forcing them to run the gauntlet of squares only to get to the other side and forced back through the way they came by allied cavalry.
@@loyalpiper not all hero’s wear capes! Thank you
*Napoleon Returns to France*
*LITERALLY Everyone:* I'm about to *END* this man's career.
Well, not france lol they were like "im about to restart this man's whole career"
love your content mann
@@fynnoleianson8802 You meant "true" ?
@@fynnoleianson8802 I find it very funny, plus, its not just a made up meme, its literally what happened
@@demoiselle_chris9466 "...it's literally what happened" 🤔
Unless you've come from a parallel universe, the Hundred Days did not restart Napoleon's career. He got knocked for six at Waterloo and France spat him back out no sooner than the news of his defeat had reached Paris
10:49 MERDE!!
He really used the clip from the actual movie "MERDE!!!"
Napoleon at Waterloo; 'In the centre they will break. Deploy the Imperial Guard.'
Lee at Gettysburg; 'In the centre they will break. Deploy Pickett's Virginians.'
Cool story bro
Lee study Napoleon. Americans loved Napoleon. Napoleon himself was planning to flee to America after his second defeat.
As an antique British and French military swords collector I salute the amount of efforts you put in the uniforms, weapons and the heavy cavalry "an XIII" and 1796 swords! So rare and precious.
When Bernard Cornwell began writing the excellent novel Sharpe's Waterloo, he scrapped the entire book after writing 60,000 words because he realised it was pointless writing a book about that battle with any character plot whatsoever. The battle WAS the plot. Waterloo could have gone either way right up until the last second and Wellington commented, "It was a close run thing."
The British might have fared better had not, in the interim period, their own veterans from the Peninsular Campaign been scattered to a hundred garrisons around the world.
Reading Sharpe is what brought me here!
"Blücher is in the woods!"
Napoleon: I made one mistake in my life that I should have burned Berlin
He should also have not consolidated the German states. That came back to haunt France in the Franco-Prussian War and either World Wars.
“Blucher”.......some where off in The distance horses neigh....
"Don't you know me!?, I'm Ney, Ney, marshal of France!"
Victoria 2 music is legendary, everytime I hear it I feel like starting a new campaign and waste a day getting more clay.
*_11th French Liberation of Elsaß-Lothringen_*
Facts
Great video! Currently watching your conclusion and was reminded that Napoleon didn't even know what Hougoumont was. On the Ferrarris maps there were just a few houses surrounded by a small forest. The British had transformed the farm into an invisible fortress that the French staff and generals simply didn't know about. Napoleon only found out years later when reading about it in a newspaper brought to him on Saint Helena.
Great video as always.
I couldn’t help but think that if you gave Davout, who Napoleon had crucially left back in Paris, 34,000 troops to “harass” the advancing Prussians, he would have came back with a W after routing them. Which would have changed the dynamic of the battle entirely.
The animations are getting better and better, and you made the battle really intresting by showing both the map and zooming into the figting well done!
Next time on Armchair Historian:
The other 100 days - when Hitler returned from Argentina....
This is so underrated 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
wow the attention of detail in the animation is amazing!! hope to see more of this in the future
Napoleon: You can't defeat me
Wellington: I know, but he can
Blücher:
@George S
The Prussians started to run because at Ligny the Prussians were not helped by the -British- the Dutch-Belgian-German-andalittleofBrits army of Wellington.
While Wellington was rescued and he wouldn't have fight if he was not sure that Prussians would come to save him. He would instead have done what the British usually do when their allies can't carry them: rush to the sea.
Great job with this video. You spared us the many small tactical details of the campaign and the battle (the portrayal of which was clearly not the objective of this work), and pointed out only the crucial elements, that caused Napoleon's defeat in the engagement:
- Wellington's clever deployment of his soldiers
- the French's fateful waste of troops (both around Hougomount and during the great cavalry charge)
- Grouchy's failure to keep away the Prussians, and finally
- the Prussians's arrival itself (which were spotted as early as 1 p.m.), which not only caused Napoleon to deploy two divisions of cavalry and two divisions of infantry (three, if you count in the Young Guard) who did not fire a single shot on Wellington's troops in the whole battle, but which also prevented him from immediately exploiting the capture of La Haye Sainte.
quite definitely your best video ever!!!!!! It was incredible with all the animation and cavalry charges
Great video! Love how all the history themed channels I watch all interact with each other 👍
Britain has 69k men
French: *HEAVY BREATHING INTENSIFIES*
Britain didn't have 69k men but 25k men. Dutch and Germans were under Wellington command but not under British flag.
And it's more the 50k Prussians joining in the middle of the battle that caused "heavy breathing" than the 69k men under Wellington.
💀😱
@@napoleonbonaparte9166 Yes
@@napoleonbonaparte9166
.... and it was only the 50,000 Prussians who arrived on the battlefield by the end of the fight ;-) There must have been 25,000 to 30,000 on the way from Wavre to Waterloo ...
@@raka522 duchy of nassau: *vibing*
This is an amazing work. Perhaps your best until now. Thank you very much!
hey man very good job done. really proud of the work i have seen you put into this i mean you are doing far better than we can ask of you with these kinda animations
Been looking forward to this episode!
He brought a crumbling republic into a Glorious Empire, he turned a disorganized continent into a a blockade from the British, he tamed the sweltering deserts of Egypt, and settled the seas of the Mediterranean. He was to some a hero, a godsend, and a savior, and to others a dictator, a tyrant, and warmonger. But hero, savior, tyrant, warmonger. They will never deny that he was a tactical genius, he was a great leader. And he was....The true Emperor.....Vive L'empereur, Vive la France, Vive.
Well spoken
Didn’t he get beat and leave his men in Egypt, then used propaganda to cover it up? 😅
@@lonefish8128 we don’t talk about that
@@lonefish8128 The Campaign is already lost when Napoleon lost his fleet at the Nile
If you call doing a terrible Alexander impression, failing to take Acre (embarrassing), abandoning his men and his guns, then lying about it. being a "tactical genius", then your bar is low.
If you call consistently being beaten by the Brits (whom along with the other allies had guaranteed the borders of France: their war was personally with Napoleon, not with France), as providing a blockade against them, I'm not sure where to start. It was the Brits blockading him for the most part, not the other way around.
The man killed 4,000,000 people. Leaving aside how utterly evil you need to be to achieve this before mass transit; it is worth noting that a good chunk of those people were French.
Not hero, didn't save a single thing, didn't tame anything, and was kicked out of the Med fairly easily. Made numerous tactical mistakes motivated purely by his own ego.
He was a psychopath, a dictator, and a spectacularly spiteful individual, who delighted in bringing death both in France and abroad.
But he was no tactical genius, he wasn't even tactically good.
These videos are excellent! You really outdid yourself and thank you for sharing the knowledge.
Such a great video! I especially enjoyed the alternative history at the end.
Great video but you reallllly need to include the fact that the British cavalry routed D'erlons entire infantry corps and devastated his strength. It was only after this that they were counter charged and suffered so.
To omit this is to cruicialy misrepresent the effect the British cavalry had on the battle overall.
Yes I think you're correct. Its clear the British heavy cavalry was more or less a spent force after their charge, but they're usually seen to have been ineffective, a waste of their strength, which I don't think is true.
I also think it's misrepresentative to say the French Cavalry "fell on their swords". The French cavalry attack ended in a draw with British forces because Ney effectively destroyed and devastated some of those infantry squares with horse artillery and negated Wellington's ability to lead his army during the attack by trapping him in a infantry square. It would be wrong to say the French fell on their swords during the cavalry charge because they pushed the British Allied Army to the breaking point. While it came at the sacrifice of the French cavalry, they did produce significant results during the battle that was not properly exploited by the Imperial Guard. The initiative had shifted in the French Army's favor and it became their battle to lose.
@@Edax_Royeaux don't think the french had horse artillery in the charge though. Although I have heard that they did... wondering if you've got anything more on it?
@@rat_thrower5604 From the wiki "Eventually it became obvious, even to Ney, that cavalry alone were achieving little. Belatedly, he organised a combined-arms attack, using Bachelu's division and Tissot's regiment of Foy's division from Reille's II Corps (about 6,500 infantrymen) plus those French cavalry that remained in a fit state to fight.
With La Haye Sainte captured, Ney then moved skirmishers and horse artillery up towards Wellington's centre. French artillery began to pulverise the infantry squares at short range with canister. The 30th and 73rd Regiments suffered such heavy losses that they had to combine to form a viable square.
The possession of La Haye Sainte by the French was a very dangerous incident. It uncovered the very centre of the Anglo-allied army, and established the enemy within 60 yards of that centre. The French lost no time in taking advantage of this, by pushing forward infantry supported by guns, which enabled them to maintain a most destructive fire upon Alten's left and Kempt's right ...
Along with this artillery fire a multitude of French tirailleurs occupied the dominant positions behind La Haye Sainte and poured an effective fire into the squares. The situation for the Anglo-allies was now so dire that the 33rd Regiment's colours and all of Halkett's brigade's colours were sent to the rear for safety, described by historian Alessandro Barbero as, "... a measure that was without precedent". Wellington, noticing the slackening of fire from La Haye Sainte, with his staff rode closer to it. French skirmishers appeared around the building and fired on the British command"
The Union Brigade committed one of the classic mistake of the contemporary British cavalry: After an inital success, it lost the situational awarness and were counter-attacked.
The final attack was middle guard not old guard. The old guard were deployed to try to hold the prussians on napoleon's right.
Do you have any sources for your claim? If you were right then explain to me why Gen. Chambronne was with these troops while he was commanding old guards units? (1st reg chasseurs) ?
@shaun muppet finder You are stupid.The old guards hold the line to protect the retreat of the french army.
@shaun muppet finder How can I agree with it when it is not even true?The young and the middle guards retreated not the old guards.
ben gerrald Partially correct. The Young Guard did their fighting at Plancenoit (assisted by two battalions of the Old Guard), the Middle Guard led the final assault on Mont St. Jean, and the Old Guard held back (three battalions following the attack and two in reserve). When the Middle Guard broke, the army mostly dissolved (many apparently mistook them for the Old Guard) and assisted by some parts of the Grand Battery, the three battalions of the Old Guard who had advanced with the Middle Guard attempted to fight off the Anglo-Dutch general advance, relatively unsupported; they were overwhelmed and forced to retire. It was there (just South of La Haye Sainte) that Cambronne made his remarks and was subsequently knocked unconscious and captured. The last French units under discipline were the two battalions of the Old Guard that Napoleon had held in reserve around La Belle Alliance, and they made a fighting retreat.
@shaun muppet finder You know...wow. Feel free to cite a source yourself if you think I'm wrong.
The new map brought your already fantastic videos to an all-new level. Love it!
Thank you so much for making this video! So many people I have met say Napoleon didn't stand a chance, but you validate me here! Thank you very much!
Napoleon lost Waterloo two days earlier at Ligny, where Ney had recalled D'Erlon's Corp, which, if they had continued to Ligny, would have destroyed the Prussian army.
Coulda-Woulda-Shoulda. He didn't do it, end of.
@@lizsmith9873 this is a discussion about history you absolute dolt. This is why channels like these, to educate idiots like you who even after their utmost efforts because fools like you are hopeless.
@@waynewayne8419 Hind sight is a wonderful thing but again we can only speculate and theorise how things could have played out. The matter of fact is that they didn't and we must reconcile with this.
@@xaoc6084 I believe everyone knows this? It's a history discussion.
@@waynewayne8419 Yes obviously… that doesn’t detract from the fact that the OP was completely relying on hindsight and somewhat speculation… thanks
Holy crap, your animation game is improving. Great content, too.
Wow you did it again the quality of this video is fantastic and I hope you will be able to continue this level of video making
Quality is greatly improving, keep up the great work!
1. He was sick and Delegated command to less capable Marshall Ney
2. He didnt use his more competent and ablest Marshall Davout
And More Likely
3. His troops were depleted because of the precludinh battles and were not the same experienced Grand Armee that used to be
4. And the most important, Mother Luck Which has played a huge role
in many of Napoleon’s decisive victories Finally Left Him- referring to Blucher arriving in Time to support the Duke of Wellington.
He was outplayed by the allies who had an agreed-upon plan and good old Blucher keeping his word and it looks like he was trying to get a quick hammer blow victory where speed was more important than clever tactics to shore things up before the Russians arrived.
@Mark Grehan
You are exactly right. Blucher arriving was not luck but part of a plan that relied on Wellington holding his nerve and keeping his faith in the Prussians. It was a very successful plan as it turns out. The world is so keen to make excuses for Napoleon and devalue Wellington's and Blucher's success.
Michael J People constantly like to discredit them, yet praise and make excuses for Napoleons blunders.
@mr_ anheuser So I get the feeling you are in a bad mood 😂. Could you please provide the quote of my talking of Wellingtons brilliance? I can neither find it nor remember writing it. Also the answer to your question is yes.
Perhaps you can elaborate on your comment. It comes across as an angry rant with no clear point.
Don't forget the cannonballs getting stuck in the mud.
Yes, Finally! A video on Waterloo. Just what I have been waiting for. Thank you!
Nice use of Handel's Sarabande in the background, as well as the amazing art style and visualizations. Very nice to see the strategies of war in that manner.
You definitely put more time into the details of this one. The cavalry charges gave me goosebumps!
In waterloo the french troop where not superior in quality , the majority of the troop where young soldier who have probably never seen a fight before the campaign .
Yes the nothern army have more canon that the coalised but at waterloo because of the muddy ground the artillery will proove less effective .
So in the paper no Napoléon have not the advantage ^^ .
And the old guard never attack the allied position that was the average guard who lead the attack the old guard(just 1 bataillon) where in the second line and probably never reach the allied position .
The majority of old guard fight in plancenoit to retake the village with the young guard .
The other marshal we can blame is the marshal Soult who will proove to be a incompetent chief of Staff .
THEY HAD OLD GUARD
“Battle of La Belle Alliance” sounds good. Loo water? Sounds dubious at best. Naming rights should have been Blücher’s.
Yes you're right.
La Belle Alliance would have been a better name for three reasons:
1. to honour Blucher and the other Teutonic allies
2. the irony of naming the battle in French
3. it was the name of Napoleon's headquarters at the battlefield.
But alas, Wellington didn't elect to consult me on the matter and then, I hadn't been born yet.
The new animations are brilliant, great work boyy! ;)
The often overlooked element in all this is that though Napoleon might have won Waterloo the allied countries would certainly have regrouped and defeated him soon after. They (especially the British) had more resources and Napoleon was past his prime.
Yes but the same they had think after Ulm, and came Austerlitz, and after Jena and came Friedland, still i agree who Napoleon was the underdog to win the battle the campaign and the war
the british were considering their allies as mercenaries and they had to pay them
That French commander had ONE JOB AND HE MEST UP
Who?Grouchy?
He won his battle at Wavre. A part of the blame should be put on Napoleon for sending him in the wrong direction down a bad path, of course Grouchy is responsible for not pinning more of the Prussians but he did okay all things considered.
@@princeeugeneofsavoy7400 Eh I guess that he did a pretty good job at Wavre but he won that battle because the prussians retreated after learning the results of the battle of Waterloo.
@@princeeugeneofsavoy7400 Also I think that Davout should be at the place of Grouchy.
@@josephchristopherdeboulogn2365 In regards to Davout it's a shame what happened to the French command in 1815 as most of the the best marshals were wasted. Davout was Minister of War, sitting in Paris not doing much. Massena was in retirement, Soult was Chief of Staff and Suchet was in Italy. (?) They were Napoleon's best field commanders yet they were all given wrong posts where they could not shine and be that impactful.
Hey man! Loved the video! Would you consider taking a look at Sherman's March to sea? I think it'd make an awesome video!
Excellently video. Having to be a ruler of an entire empire and having to be such a successful general really took its toll on. Not to mention he NEVER got enough sleep. It’s impressive he even managed to fight so well in the beginning of the campaign at all.
Marvelous! Just marvelous! This was definetly worth the wait!
Note that the Battle of Waterloo was fought *not just* between 'The British' and French forces.
'The British' forces at Waterloo totaled 68,000. Of these *only 25,000* were British forces. 6,000 were of the King's German Legion (Germans), 17,000 were Dutch, 11,000 were from Hannover, 6,000 from Brunswick and 3,000 from Nassau.
So there were 25,000 actual British troops, together with 43,000 German (and Dutch) troops.
Of course, Blücher's army of 50,000 Prussians would arrive later.
I guess Wellington had one helluva PR agent rewriting the history. At the 'Battle of Waterloo,' *the British* stood firm and defeated the hated French oppressors!
If anyone has watched the Sharpe tv-series "Waterloo" episode, it's even more blunt: the French Old Guard start retreating once they come face to face with Sharpe. Then the Prussians arrive and Wellington is heard saying "let's find some use for them…"
USA USA USA
I mean
BRITANNIA BRITANNIA BRITANNIA
I think Wellington was more favourable to his allies than that. Still, you're correct on the pro British revisionism, but equally that shouldn't be taken too far to imply that the British contribution to Napoleon's defeat was insignificant compared to the Prussians.
It's also worth noting that the KGL, while recruited from Germans, were a part of the British Army at the time (like the Gurhkas, who aren't British but are part of the British army). So it's really 31,000 British Troops. Also Hanover was in a personal union with Britain at the time, to the point that several of the Hanoverian Divisions at Waterloo were commanded by British Officers (but I don't know if that was also the case at lower ranks).
This is meant as a bit more context. 'Anglo-Allied' remains probably the most accurate description of Wellington's army at Waterloo.
@@efffvss I guess Muricans have difficulty grasping the concept of one side being more than just a single country. Allies of WW2 = MURICANS
Indeed. Read the Wikipedia page on the Dutch bayonet charge.
No, the Kings German Legion was part of the British army, so there were 31,000 British.
I made one mistake in my life, I should have burned Berlin!- Napoleon
Just a couple of mistakes it was actually the middle guard that attacked the British and were defeated by the 1st Foot Guards and the 52nd regiment also General Chasse a dutch general also repulsed an attack by the Imperial Guard against his brigade.
Napoleons big mistake was his delay after LIgny in pursuing the Prussians ,by the time this order was given to Grouchy they had already had half a days march on the French, Napoleon would've been better off using those men as a screening force while his main army moved north thus ensuring that Grouchy was always between the Prussians and the main french army.
There was also on that day a whole french corps that marched between Quatre Bras and Ligny all day,had he used these men at either battle that day victory would have been more decisive , instead the Allied army were certainly able to reinforce the crossroads.
Amazing video👍 I have learned more about the Napoleon . Thank you
One possible reason for Ney's optimism, often missed by historians, is that Ney was the only one of Napoleon's generals who had beaten Wellington on not one, but two previous occasions in Spain. This may have affected his judgement at Waterloo.
Which I think also played into Wellingtons cards, he knew how Ney thinks and adjusted his tactics accordingly
Really ? What when
I only heard about the british failure of the siege of burgos in 1812 and ney was not there
No credit given to Wellington at all. Napoleon was not in a vaccuum. He was only as effective as he was allowed to be.
mr_ anheuser And if Wellington hadn't held at Waterloo? Perhaps you could list all the other successful defensive battles against Napoleon? I don't know if you are ignorant of the event or being deliberately misleading, but Wellington wasn't planning to defeat Napoleon at Waterloo by himself. It was always meant to be a joint effort with the Prussians, each relying on each other for success.
To say they decided the battle is misleading. If they attacked Napoleon at Waterloo without Wellington they would have been defeated, as they had been a short time earlier. Had Wellington only fought Napoleon without the Prussians, he probably would have lost, but that wasn't the plan. The Prussian attack against a weakened defence at Waterloo was pretty much a guarantied success at that point. Wellingtons ability to arrange a successful defence for as long as he did, was not. Which was more decisive?
Wellington chose that spot not only for its defensive possibilities, but because he new he would be able to successfully withdraw if need be and had sizeable reserves should he have to.
Credit should be given to both Wellington and Blucher. Blucher for sticking to the agreed plan even though some of his generals wanted to withdraw after their earlier defeat and Wellington for the trust he held in Blucher to still arrive and risk his army in a holding action. You come across as being very ingenious with what limited 'credit' you give to Wellington but the fact is he was a major factor ultimately, in Napoleons defeat.
@mr_ anheuser You'll find that throughout history, the commanders with a better grasp of logistics will outperform those with a better grasp of tactics. If you are in the right place at the right time with the right stuff, winning is easy, so why make it hard?
As for experience Wellington was in fact very experienced officer and is possible was on par even with a young Napoleon as It was Wellington who was behind the defeat of Napoleon armies in the Iberian Peninsula War so if anyone knew how Napoleon mind works it was Wellington. Yes I like the armchair historian and the way it present history but I do think there is a little anti-British feeling with it. Try doing history with a little less bias.
@@frankanderson5012 Blücher also had no intention of defeating Napoleon in Ligny alone!
He trusted Wellington's promise to support him in battle.
That was the reason why he set up his troops as he did and why he took up the fight against Napoleon, even though a quarter of his army was not yet there to fight.
And the fact that Gneisenau didn't think much of the British after the battle goes without saying.
hey mate, I really appreciate your work....would really appreciate it if you do more videos on the battles of the Napoleonic wars....with this same type of illustration.....its really awesome to watch it
AMAZING VIDEO AS ALWAYS. BY FAR THE ABSOLUTE BEST
I have always enjoyed the Naploeonic War era. Thxs for making this vid.
Maybe just maybe if you ate your cereal properly he would've won
boy eat your cereal
He was let down by his generals right. Who picked his generals?
I find it really interesting that Napoleon named his final battle after a popular song by a group from Sweden of all places. Incredibly prescient.
You mention it briefely at the start of the video but I strongly believe that what made the french army so strong in the past was it's general staff. We tend to focus on the general of the army but without a good general staff his effectiveness is limited, it's a team effort. Putting the best battle commander he had ( Soult and Davout ) on desk job ( chief of staff and minister of war) surely didn't help. Some would say that he had no choice to use them as such but their skills were deeply missed on the battlefield.
Rather than the standard use of fortified farmhouses or villages, Wellington appears to have used these positions more as outerworks for a fortification. These strongpoints served to blunt attacks, steer attacks into identified kill zones where they could be hit from three sides at once, and limited Napoleon's ability to launch attacks at weak points of the line. Hougoumont in particular was important in this regard because it prevented Napoleon from easily moving his troops laterally around the Anglo-Dutch right flank. It also explains why both sides committed as many troops as they did to the battle around Hougoumont (Wellington to deny Napoleon space to maneuver, Napoleon to gain that mobility). So, the French attack was not a feint, but as Wellington later obliquely acknowledged, an attack on a vital part of his defense line.
Napoleon: I'm going to win the Battle of Waterloo!
Grouchy: *Did somebody say something?*
7:16 I believe this is Lieutenant Le Gros (the huge French soldier) breaking through the gate of Hougoumont. Amazing detail in the animations!
That death sound at 9:38 is from the Command and Conquer.
So it is! The standard infantry death scream. Good catch.
Great video. One thing I've heard of regarding Napoleon at Waterloo is that he was sick with a bad flu the final day of the battle and was physically unable to command the battle the way he had previously, and had to rely on the generals who let him down. If so, that would explain his uncharacteristic caution on that day as he may not have been able to issue the commands from his sickbed that he would have issued if he were healthy.
I think that's an important point to consider with this battle as well, what if Napoleon had not gotten sick with the flu at that critical moment and had been well enough to command the battlefield himself?
true but a myriad of ??? exist some of which were ... 1) the weather ... massive rain the night before ... 2) sending Grouchy with nearly 1/3 of the French Army on a wild goose chase ... so many more .............
Napoleon could have won if he had Nord VPN.
If the Old Guard only had AK-47s...
Nice job with the animations
I love the quote reading!
Who also heard that right after he said that " they would rather die than surrendering " we can hear the shout " merde " from movie " Waterloo".
time cap :10:47.
le mot de Cambronne!
You are right.
Kyle Whitehead *both*
@@federicovalsecchi8531 Ummm cambronne did not say that
Another excellent video!
Thank you for making this video
*napoleon takes control of france*
Europe: ''wait, that's illegal.''
3:36 Partly false, he was on the defensive. It's the 7th Coalition who landed in Belgium and was marching toward France.
Napoléon just didn't want to fight in France so the French people doesn't suffered and so the British and the Prussian can't gather to form 1 big army. So he decided to stop the ofensive of the Coalition in Belgium. Fight the enemies separatly, that's how Napoléon always managed to win outnumbered.
4:40 False, the French were far less experienced than the "Allies" because of the disaster of Russia where 95% of the veterans died, and all their good officers died against the 6 previous Coalitions.
IroV ok smartypants, where did u find this?
false napolian made sure to bring his veteran guards to waterloo
You are not right napoleons forces were conscripts but those conscripts were posted on different front on the belgian front the cavalry and the gaurd were veterans of russia amd germany and the rest were veterans from spain dont forget napoleon's most experienced men come from the peninsular war
Great video!! Subscribed
I didn't realize you had such a large team. Great content!
One day perhaps the Duke of Wellington will be given a little credit for the victory at Waterloo...
Didnt he just defend all day ?
@@ovydeusisa6412 Yes basically. The history of the Napoleonic wars should tell you just how easy it is to defend against Napoleon.
@@michaelj132 yea thats why almost all his battles won were on the offensive
@@michaelj132 im sure mister Wellington was aware about more details!
@@ovydeusisa6412 Your response is rather vague. I am not sure what exactly you are trying to say.
At Quatre Bras, the British... *and the Dutch and the Brunswickers*"
the army was dominated by the British, while the Dutch and others were not really representing their own countries which were not so independent as of then. The Kingdom of the Netherlands only came into formation after this with William of Orange II surviving the battle and becoming the king of the Netherlands. Belgium only came into formal existence in 1830.
@@SantomPh Sure the German states weren't independent! And the Dutch Republic never existed.
'Dominated by the British.' In reality, Britain, following 1688, was dominated by the Dutch. After Willem II died childless, the British went out of their way to find another family member who was Protestant. That's how they ended up with the Germans.
Following George I, Britain was very much dominated by German nobility.
AudieHolland and that showed Dutch domination how? Or German domination how?
@@jamiengo2343 Was also thinking the same lol. Still waiting for the answer on how were the british dominated by the dutch, maybe he forgot to explain that part in his post lol.
@@SantomPh The dutch stopped the French for hours at Quatre Bras before any British even appeared eventhough they were fastly outnumbered. So yes, de Dutch and other nations did do their own part. btw after the loss of the British cavalry, most of the heavy cavalry was Dutch too (at waterloo)
+The Armchair Historian
I really liked you're vide here it was incredibly informative and I am impressed by your video making style. Since you do seem quite knowledgeable on this subject I would like to request you to answer this question on Quora:
www.quora.com/unanswered/Is-Napoleon-overrated-as-a-military-genius
Great video. Always love to see the good guys win :)
Even if Napoleon had won at Waterloo he would have lost at least half of his army (down to roughly 36,000 ), if time was on his side then yes he could have replenished his forces. However, there were other allied armies (Austrian, Prussian and Russian) in close proximity to Paris. So time was not on Napoleon's side, and 36,000-50,000 was not really an effective enough army to fight off an army which was way more than double or even triple his own size (if you combine 2 of the 3 allied armies you get roughly 130,000 troops - or 190,000-200,000 with all 3 armies combined). Napoleon had impressive victories against larger armies in his earlier years - but as many (and even Napoleon himself suggested) his successful career was at an end and that he was not the same man who won at Austerlitz.
Also he marched 400,000 men into Russia in 1812, and only 22,000 came out - his career was fading years before Waterloo.
Indeed, and by then winning the war was impossible for Napoleon he was against much better forces than in the previous coalitions, the russians and austrians outnumbered his forces 5 to 1 and then you have the british and prussians who could muster up about 200.000 men each
@@aver_nestress4570 I'm not familiar with those sources - however I am not doubting you. It's very possible - because anyone who has done their homework on Napoleon knows that as his campaigns continued he increasingly recruited troops from outside France. I read somewhere (cant find the source unfortunately) that when he invaded Russia only about 1/3 of his army was actually "French" , the rest were recruited from captured territories and puppet states etc.
We need more Napoleon videos!!!!!
One other thing to point out with awaiting the ground to dry was, Using the bounce of cannonballs when firing for better precision and also the mud put out the fuses of Artillary shells when they landed.
Great job sir, your videos are epic.