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The Waterloo battlefield

— A walk around the 1815 battlefield near Waterloo with a commentary on the key locations.”

• Walking route: Ransbeck – Mont St Jean – Plancenoit – Lasne – Ransbeck
• Distance: 21km

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 between the Belle Alliance coalition and France.

Napoleon’s sudden return had been a rude shock for the other European powers, leading to the conclusion two months earlier that the resurgent Corsican should be immediately defeated.

Taking sides

Napoleon I’s impressive military capabilities had brought him enormous success and by 1804 he ruled France and its dominions. However, a deleterious campaign in Russia and a succession of pyrrhic victories undermined his position forced him into exile in 1814. By February 1815 and ever popular with the military, Napoleon had reinstalled himself and would have to fight to consolidate his position.

At Waterloo, Napoleon would be facing off against an old adversary, Arthur Wellesley, newly created Duke of Wellington at the beginning of the year and at the height of his military powers.

Later in the day Wellington would be joined by Gebhard von Blücher, the aged but still energetic commander of the Prussian forces and another veteran of earlier Napoleonic conflicts.

For all three generals, this would be their last major battle.

So it was at dawn in the soggy fields south of Brussels, ahead of a day that would shape Europe’s future for almost a century to come.

Battle of Waterloo showing the walking route

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Battlefield overview

The battlefield on which Napoleon and Wellington squared off featured a ridge held by the latter that was later levelled to provide materials for the Butte du Lion. Napoleon’s forces in opposition held the Genappe road running south and the cover of woodlands to their rear.

In the centre and at each flank were three fermes en carré (large enclosed farms), all still standing today and key positions the retention of which could be decisive.

Opposite the French left, the British held the château farm of Hougoumont and Napoleon considered this an appropriate target for his opening attack. His intention was to divert British resources away from the centre, the most difficult section of the battlefield. Here, La Haye Sainte farm stands at what was once the foot of the ridge. This ridge would need to be climbed amid crossfire from the British flanks with no natural cover beyond. On the French right, Papelotte farm lay ahead, well-defended and – crucially – guarding the road on which the Prussians would make their approach.

Show as slideshow

Battle of Waterloo

Walking the battlefield of June 1815 in June 2010 where the course of a century of history was set in one day.

Walking the battlefield

The Waterloo battlefield seems always to have been popular with visitors. A Baedeker’s 1891 guide admits that, though an omnibus ride to the Butte du Lion “escapes the importunity of beggars”, a walk that includes all the sights is “far more interesting”. Indeed, one of the uglier aspects of tourism was already well-documented in nineteenth century: “[o]ld bullets, weapons, buttons, and other relics are still occasionally turned up by the plough, but most of those which the traveller is importuned to purchase are spurious.”

Larger map of this route

This route covers most of the key points of interest, but it does not always offer ideal conditions for walking. The N5 major road must be crossed twice and in the centre of the battlefield, the noise of traffic from the N5 and the R0 Brussels Ring is omnipresent. The northwestern section of the route that covers the Anglo-Dutch line is also much frequented by tourism. The second half of the walk that begins at La Belle Alliance and runs along the French right to the Prussian approaches is, by contrast, considerably more peaceful.

From the rear of the church at Ransbeck and with the church ahead, turn right and walk back down beside to the Oratoire to the main road. Turn right, go uphill and carefully cross over at the pedestrian crossing. Take the first left onto the pretty village square and go downhill on the cobbles of the Chemin du Mont. Then take the first right onto the Rue du Mont Lassy then a left fork (Rue de la Sablière) passing from the houses of the village to a track running between fields. At the first fork, go right and gently uphill into trees. When the track forks again under the trees, continue straight. The track gently descends out into the fields, going through a right angle and then running straight again. Eventually, at a t-junction of paths, turn left and the track runs gently uphill before reaching a crossroads. Turn right here.

Marker 1: ahead is the Monastère de Fichermont (appearing as ‘Frichemont’ or ‘Frichermont’ in some texts), now occupied by the Catholic Community “Verbe de Vie”. Below left is the impressive château-farm of Papelotte, the Anglo-Dutch left flank during the battle and today a stables complex. This section of the route traces the Anglo-Dutch starting line, with Wellington keeping the depth of his forces largely unseen behind the line of this ridge as was his wont. During the course of Napoleon’s main attack, which started at about 13:30 and was concentrated on the centre and centre right, the Anglo-Dutch were driven out of both Fichermont and Papelotte and would not regain them until the evening, when the Prussians had weakened or diverted the French right.

After Fichermont, continue straight on the gravelly edge of the cobbled road (Rue de la Croix) towards the main road and the mound of the Butte du Lion ahead. There is a path to the left just before the crossroads with the main road, that runs under the trees and gives access to some of the memorials, but the main road itself will have to be crossed at the top right of the crossroads.

Marker 2: at the centre of the battlefield, these trees now cover what was in 1815 a sandpit and the scene of heavy fighting. Napoleon’s opening strategy was to divert Wellington’s forces to the latter’s left by way of an attack on Hougoumont Farm (see Marker 6) so that he could direct an overwhelming attack by the Comte d’Erlon’s corps here at the centre. The plan seems to have backfired, as we shall see in due course. In this sandpit, Wellington had installed a battalion of British Rifles to support the garrison of La Haye Sainte farm on the opposite side of the main road.

Marker 3: D’Erlon’s attack succeeded in isolating La Haye Sainte farm and clearing the sandpit opposite but though the farm was overrun, the veteran of the Peninsular War was unable to capitalise on his initial successes and the farm was later reoccupied by Wellington’s army. There are several conspicuous memorials in this area, to the Hanoverians, to Sir Thomas Picton and to Sir Alexander Gordon, Wellington’s aide-de-camp.

Cross over the N5 on the north side of the crossroads and then head down the opposite side of the Rue de la Croix in the direction of the Butte du Lion. Pass the Butte du Lion (Marker 4) and at the Panorama building, take the left fork and follow the Chemin des Vertes Bornes.

Marker 5: following the early afternoon attack aimed at the centre around La Haye Sainte, Maréchal Ney appeared to misread Anglo-Dutch movements as a retreat and, with much of his infantry was already engaged at Hougoumont and on his right, he ordered his cavalry forward. Wellington’s forces holding the Mont St Jean above La Haye Sainte responded by forming a series of squares which, though vulnerable to artillery and infantry, were all but impervious to cavalry. Every one of Ney’s sallies ended in failure at the hands of the unshakeable squares and Napoleon himself, seeing that his right finally holding up against the Prussians, decided to commit his Imperial Guard to the centre at 19:30. The Guard’s unbeaten record was broken as the infantry advance crumbled and collapsed under an Anglo-Dutch campaign of concerted defence and counterattack. Napoleon’s trump card became the joker in the pack.

Continue straight until a track appears on the left, at the point that the road ahead is about to run downhill and be swallowed by trees. Between the track on the left and the road ahead, follow a narrow path that runs along the edge of the trees, entering the woods itself before emerging again at Hougoumont.

Marker 6: moreso than La Haye Sainte, Hougoumont farm was “the battle within the battle”. At the beginning of the battle – at about 11:30 – Napoleon’s opening, diversionary attack focused on drawing Wellington into a costly infantry defence of Hougoumont, on Wellington’s right flank. Ironically, Hougoumont cost Napoleon far more than it ever cost Wellington. When the initial sally failed, wave after French wave was engaged in the torrid task of taking the farm, long after the original value of the exercise had been spent. Unlike La Haye Sainte, Hougoumont never fell and some historians now believe that both sides actually took Hougoumont more seriously than was previously thought.

At Hougoumont, continue straight and gently uphill as far as the road (Chemin de la Maison du Roi), onto which turn left and continue as far as the first farm on the left, at which turn left onto a track and follow this to its end.

Markers 7 and 8: the French left was heavily committed throughout the day to the Hougoumont objective. About 14,000 troops in all were sent to take the farm complex, as much as a fifth of Napoleon’s entire strength. The recent history of the Aigle Blessé (Injured Eagle) at the junction with the main road gives some indication of the general situation at the Waterloo battlefield. The local authorities recently declared themselves unwilling to restore it, highlighting the particularly high cost in an area containing an enormous number of such monuments. With the 19:30 attack of the Imperial Guard turning into a full retreat, the Eagle commemorates the last stand of Napoleon’s élite, which was defeated by the Anglo-Dutch as the Prussians pressed in from the east.

When the track reaches the main road next to the Aigle Blessé, cross it very carefully and follow the narrow path as it continues straight beside a building and then into the fields before joining a road. Turn left at the road and follow the pavement, passing Napoleon’s vantage point (Marker 9), before turning right onto a track at La Belle Alliance.

Marker 10: La Belle Alliance is an inn, just as it was in 1815. Napoleon had made it his headquarters during the battle and it was the meeting point at around 21:00 for Wellington and Blücher that signalled the end of the battle.

The track roughly follows the French right and affords an excellent view of the Mont St Jean ridge opposite, from the Butte du Lion in the centre to Fichermont and Papelotte in the east.

Markers 11 and 12: the French right played less of a role against the Anglo-Dutch than had probably been expected. While Ney’s cavalry was rolling up from La Haye Sainte against the Anglo-Dutch left on the Mont St Jean ridge (see Marker 5), Napoleon was dismayed to learn that the Prussians were emerging from the Bois de Paris (Marker 14) off his right flank. The Prussians wasted no time in engaging the French, allowing Wellington to move some of his left against Ney at the hard-pressed centre. Prussian forces had retaken Papelotte farm by the time that Napoleon committed his Imperial Guard.

The track descends to a crossroads under tree cover. Turn right and go uphill as far as the next crossroads and turn right again here. Follow the track to the end as it arrives at the edge of Plancenoit and turn left on a road (Chemin de Camuselle), going straight at a fork at the edge of some trees beyond a large kennels complex.

Marker 13: the Prussian army and artillery had to march to the Waterloo battlefield from Wavre on small, muddy tracks only arriving in the late afternoon from the east. Engaging the French immediately with the intention of surrounding them, Blücher executed the plan he had earlier agreed with Wellington. After forcing the French back as far as Plancenoit, a frantic battle for the village ensued and it changed hands between the Comte de Lobau and the incoming Bülow until the latter was joined by his fellow commander Zieten, approaching from the northeast above Papelotte farm. The success of this Prussian flank attack proved decisive to the Battle of Waterloo. As the Baedeker’s guide reports: “… shortly after 8 o’clock the gallant efforts of the Prussians were crowned with success. Planchenois [sic] was captured, Lobau and the Young Guard defeated after a most obstinate and sanguinary struggle, the French retreat became general, and the victory was at length completely won.”

The track starts to rise gently and at a fork, take the trail to the left. The trail narrows and passes beside two sets of woodland, the latter being the Bois de Fichermont. At a t-junction of tracks, go right and uphill and at the road cross over, taking a narrow path straight through the field and beside the farm opposite. This part of the route now follows a very similar path to another walk starting and ending in Ohain. At the farm, turn left and go downhill under tree cover.

On reaching the road (Rue de Genleau), cross over and head uphill on the pavement, taking the first left (Chemin du Cheval de Bois). At the end of the road, go over the crossroads and continue as the road bends to the right. As the road straightens out, take the narrow path on the left that runs beside a field. The path eventually emerges at a road (Rue Pechère), turn left onto it as it bends to the right and at its end, take a narrow path running to the right of a driveway and then beside a large duckpond before reaching another road (Rue d’Aquinot). Turn left onto it and at the end, cross over and go straight between a golf course at left and a stables on the right. The track runs straight uphill between woodlands and a field, doing a right angle to the left through the field and heading into woodland on a fenced path.

Go straight (breaking with the Ohain route) and eventually the path leaves the wood, reaching a cobbled road (Chemin du Pêque) onto which turn left and continue as far as a crossroads with an old chapel. Cross straight over onto the Chemin des Messes, which also has a signpost for the Royal Brussels Cricket Club. Pass this cricket club as the road becomes a rougher, cobbled track and climbs gently before descending again through trees, emerging on the outskirts of Ransbeck. Continue straight and take the first right (Rue du Mont Lassy) until it reaches the main road. Turn right for a moment then cross the main road carefully. The first left climbs gently to the church at Ransbeck.

Resources

• Holmes, Richard (2008) Fatal Avenue: A Traveller’s History of the Battlefields of Northern France and Flanders 1346-1945, second edition, Vintage Books
• Baedekers’ Guide Books (1891), Belgium and Holland: Handbook for Travellers, 2nd Ed, from archive.org