I visited Waterloo's perfectly-preserved battlefield – the reason Napoleon lost is obvious

Telegraph

18-06-2025

In a sun-baked field in Belgium, about 15 miles south of Brussels, an amiable Belgian called Arnaud Springuel is telling me how the Duke of Wellington beat Napoleon here, 210 years ago, at the Battle of Waterloo. In the end, apparently, it all came down to the unpredictable Belgian weather.
Belgium shares our capricious climate. As he gathered his troops a few miles from here, the day before the battle, Napoleon prayed for sunshine. It rained.
On June 18, 1815, Napoleon wanted to attack at dawn, but the battlefield was so sodden that his generals urged him to wait, to let the fields dry out. The mud would slow down his advancing cavalry and infantry – and also severely limit the firepower of his artillery. When cannonballs hit hard ground, they bounced. With troops packed close together, standing shoulder to shoulder, the effect was deadly. When the ground was soft, those cannonballs sank.
Napoleon eventually attacked at around 11am, by which time precious hours had been wasted. The ground was still wet, and now the Prussians, under Field Marshal Blücher, were advancing, eager to attack the French.
As Arnaud explains, as we walk across this windswept battlefield, the Battle of Waterloo was a matter of basic arithmetic. Two armies had been mobilised to fight Napoleon: Wellington's army, with 68,000 men, and Blücher's army, with 50,000.
Napoleon had 74,000 troops. If he could fight Wellington and Blücher separately, he stood a good chance of beating both of them. If the two armies could unite, he'd be hopelessly outnumbered.
Napoleon needed to keep Wellington and Blücher apart, and initially he succeeded, Arnaud tells me. On June 16 he fought the Prussians at Ligny, about 20 miles south of here, and beat them soundly – but the Prussians retreated in good order, remaining within striking distance.
At dawn on June 18, Wellington wrote to Blücher. If he could bring reinforcements, Wellington would fight. If not, he'd retreat to Brussels. Blücher said he'd come, so Wellington said he'd stand and fight. Now the question was how soon Blücher could reach Waterloo, and whether Napoleon could defeat Wellington before he got there.
Napoleon threw everything at Wellington, but when the Prussians arrived, at around 5pm, his army was standing firm. Those lost hours (and the lack of artillery support) proved crucial. Wellington said this battle was 'the nearest run thing you ever saw', and the weather tipped the balance.
A perfectly preserved battleground
As a boy, like countless British schoolboys, I was intrigued by Waterloo, but it was only when I first came here, 10 years ago, for the bicentenary of the battle, that the place really came alive. Since it was so close to Brussels, I'd assumed the battlefield would be obscured beneath a blanket of suburban sprawl.
I was amazed to find it had scarcely changed since 1815. With no modern buildings to spoil the view, I could envisage the shape of the battle. Waterloo is one of the best preserved, most protected battlegrounds in Europe.
I could also see quite clearly what a good place Wellington had chosen in which to fight. He'd positioned his troops along the brow of a long slope, forcing Napoleon to march uphill. His reserves were hidden on the reserve slope, shielded and concealed from the French cannons. 'Wellington knew the characteristics of the battlefield very well,' says Arnaud. 'Wellington chose the battlefield. Napoleon did not. That's the big difference.'
In front of the Allied lines (not just British troops but also Dutch and German soldiers) stood three farmhouses, all still there today. Napoleon knew he'd have to take them all to win the day. Wellington defended them stoutly, and Napoleon poured countless men into a (largely futile) attempt to take them. This bloody diversion had a decisive effect upon the battle.
The art of re-enacting Waterloo
Last time I came here, in 2015, I watched a thrilling re-enactment of the battle. I'd recommend it to anyone, of any age, who's at all interested in Waterloo. It's performed every five years (this year on June 28 and 29, in front of 20,000 visitors).
There are 5,000 re-enactors taking part this year, including 600 British redcoats, alongside re-enactors from all over Europe, and also America and Australia. They do it for the love of it – they only get basic refreshments.
Before I saw this re-enactment, I was dismissive (I thought it'd be big boys playing soldiers), but it's moving and exhilarating – a heartfelt tribute to the men who fought and died, not just frivolous entertainment.
Arnaud Springuel is Cultural and Scientific Coordinator at Memorial 1815, the foundation which preserves the battlefield. He's also an enthusiastic re-enactor. 'It's physically demanding,' he says. 'You have to be super-fit.'
Re-enactors carry 30kg packs, just like the original soldiers. They learn how to load and fire their muskets (with blanks). They bivouac in open fields the night before the battle, eating authentic food over open fires. Visiting them there is as exciting as seeing them in combat.
'It's the best way to explain the experience of war,' says Arnaud, as we watch a re-enactor dressed as a French soldier putting some Belgian school children through their paces. 'That's something they're not going to forget.' The on-site museum is outstanding (largely buried underground, so as not to spoil the view), but it's hands-on stuff like this that's most impressive.
Feeling the weight of history
We finish up at Hougoumont, the farmhouse which became the battle's focus, the site of some of the fiercest fighting. It was here that a few hundred men decided the fate of Europe.
This is the most atmospheric place of all – the close connection with the past is palpable.
Memorials abound, both French and British. There's a simple chapel in the courtyard, the altar piled high with poppy wreaths. 'You really feel the weight of history here,' says Arnaud. I know exactly what he means.
As we depart, I recall the wise and sombre words of Wellington, surveying Waterloo's bitter, broken aftermath. 'Nothing except a battle lost can be half as melancholy as a battle won.'
Next day I'm back here bright and early, to visit a modest roadside inn called La Belle Alliance, requisitioned by Napoleon as his HQ. The Dernier QG de Napoléon (Napoleon's Last Headquarters) is now an evocative museum. This was where Wellington and Blücher met, at dusk, at the conclusion of the battle. Blücher wanted to call the battle La Belle Alliance, after the alliance which won the day.
It would have been a better name than Waterloo, a town a few miles away. Strictly speaking, the battle was fought in and around Mont-Saint-Jean. Waterloo only became the name of the battle because Wellington retired to that nearby town and wrote his dispatches there, putting the address at the top of every letter.
My last port of call was the handsome house where Wellington wrote those letters, now another excellent museum, the Musée Wellington. It's not so much the artefacts assembled here, interesting though they are, but the sense of being in the spot where these momentous events took place.
Waterloo has been a tourist attraction ever since the battle. Veterans scratched a living guiding visitors around. Arnaud and his colleagues have done a great job preserving these sites and presenting them to the public. It's a place of pilgrimage, not a theme park. 'There were Belgians fighting on both sides at Waterloo,' he tells me. 'We try to have a neutral point of view.'
Arnaud shows me a memorial to the Belgians, 'who fought for the honour arms and the defence of the flag' – a suitably cryptic inscription. 'It's a very good Belgian compromise,' he says, with a wry smile.
'We don't speak about what side the Belgians fought on.' Indeed, judging by the trinkets in the gift shops, you could be forgiven for thinking Napoleon, not Wellington, was the victor. 'Wellington won the military battle but Napoleon won the memory battle,' says Arnaud. 'A lot of British visitors say, 'Don't forget – we won here, not the French!'.'
How to do it
The best way to visit Waterloo is by train and car. Take your own car on Le Shuttle or take the Eurostar from London St Pancras to Brussels (two hours direct) and then hire a car.
Avis and Hertz both have offices at Brussels Midi station. You can do Waterloo in a day trip from Brussels (it's only about half an hour away) but there's so much to see and do, it's nicer to stay the night. Le Côté Vert is a smart modern hotel in leafy grounds, with a good restaurant, just off the high street. Doubles from €155, including breakfast. To buy tickets for the re-enactment, visit La Bataille de Waterloo.