n June 16, 1815, Napoleon not only
overcomes the Prussian army under
Field Marshal Blücher at the Belgian
village of Ligny, he also contains the
British under the Duke of Wellington
at th e n e a r by h a mlet of Q uatr e B r a s.
With Napoleon now on the verge of
victory, it appears Europe could be
on the cusp of a second Napoleonic
era. By the time Wellington and his
army confront the French emperor
two days later at the Belgian village
of Waterloo, there seems to be only
one last hope: that he can join with
Blücher’s Prussian forces. But they
are now 12 hours away and Napoleon
is aware of their impending arrival.
On the morning of June 18, Napoleon
reaches his forward command post
and prepares to attack Wellington
before noon. But the French emperor
has assigned very little importance
to a signifi cant detail: Between his
forces and Wellington’s troops lies
La Haye Sainte, a small farmhouse
where 400 elite soldiers of the King’s
German Legion section of the British
Army are fi rmly entrenched. Despite
th e p r os p e ct of a n a l l ie d def e at, th e
soldiers are determined to alter the
seemingly assured course of history.
JUNE 18, 1815,
NEAR WATERLOO:
In the early morning hours Private
Friedrich Lindau watches from inside
the ba r n of L a Haye Sainte a s a heav y
downpour drenches and softens the
surrounding fi elds, turning the sunken
roads and pathways into tiny rivers.
The 400 sharpshooters of the German
Legion’s 2nd Light Battalion are part
of a spe cial unit that is fi ghting unde r
the British fl ag. Over the past 24 hours
they have been attempting to shield
Wellington’s army before their next
engagement with Napoleon’s forces.
The French have now moved closer
to Wellington’s troops, and Lindau’s
small unit is determined to slow down
their advance. The sentiment on both
sides, as summarized by the French
Corps Commander Count d'Erlon, is:
“ Today we must be vic torious or die!”
GEORG BARING (9:30 AM)
Alone in a hopeless situation...
Major Baring has experienced enough
battles to realize that his chances of
surviving the day are not good. Telling
his men to stay low and out of sight,
the leader of the 2nd Light Battalion
commands them on horseback. He’ll
have several horses get shot out from
under him over the course of the day’s
action. His band of 400 men is trying
to hold off French forces of around
70,000, including 14,000 cavalry as
well as 7,000 artillery with 250 guns.
The Legionnaires are sharpshooters
and highly experienced skirmishers.
Equipped with Baker rifl es, they are
used to working in teams of two and
operating behind enemy lines. Baring
looks to the south, where a rise in the
ground blocks his view of the French
forces. He is aware Napoleon will try
to overrun the Legionnaires’ position,
and he doesn’t expect to stop them.
But he doe s inte nd to make the m pay
dearly with blood.
GEORGE GRAEME (11:30 AM)
The long wait for a quick death...
When Lieutenant Graeme writes his
letters home to Scotland, he always
mentions how brave his comrades
are—and how crazy. In a previous
campaign during the Peninsular War
in Portugal, they became legendary
for their audacity, which borders on
recklessness. If Napoleon had known
more about the force occupying the
small farmhouse of La Haye Sainte,
he might have expended a lot more
resources to take it. Just 15 minutes
earlier, Graeme had seen the fi rst of
the banners rising above the hill-line
to the south, and shortly before that,
the French artillery began its barrage.
Now Graeme sees a large column of
enemy soldiers advancing toward the
ce nte r of Wellington’s position, which
lies a few hundred yards beyond the
farmhouse. He concludes that they
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