Napoleon's stunning comeback from exile faced its great test when his French army fought the British
near Waterloo in Belgium. The British line was anchored on the
right at the walled farm known as Hougoumont. The French started
the battle with an attack on the farm designed to draw British
reserves away from the center, where the main French attack was planned.
The farm was defended by a small contingent of Hanoverians, Nassauers, and British Guards. The French plan backfired. It was the French that committed too many men to the attack, and still they could not capture the position. The unexpected arrival of the Prussian army, and the failure of the attack on the British center would doom Napoleon for a second and final time. Wellington, the British commander, credited the defense of Hougoumont with being the key to the victory.
Map
More Battle of Waterloo: Hougoumont 1815
Back to Table of Contents -- Junior General Report #3
Back to Junior General Report List of Issues
Back to MagWeb.com Magazine List
© Copyright 2003 by Matt Fritz.
This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles covering military history and related topics are available at http://www.magweb.com