Waterloo is a small town in Belgium that D and I have been intrigued to visit mostly because of the unique and interesting memorial commemorating the battle fought there between Napoleon Bonaparte and the Alliance of the Seventh Coalition (which included the UK, Austria, Prussia, The Netherlands and others).
The memorial is a man-made mountain (ok, really a big hill) that was commissioned and built by the King of the Netherlands, King William I, to commemorate the place where his son William II, the Prince of Orange, was knocked from his horse by a musket ball to the shoulder during the battle. It is called Butte du Lion and it is visible from one of the primary roads we use to get into Brussels. We had seen it multiple times and were curious to see it up close and visit this historical site. More about the memorial later.
So why is this small Belgian town remembered for this battle? Well, it is the final act of the grand and exciting play that was the Napoleonic rule of France. Napoleon seized power in France in late 1799, which is generally believed to be the demarcation point ending the French Revolutionary wars and beginning the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon's desire to rule all of Europe through domination was clear by the use of mass conscription and aggressive military activity. Fast forward several years and a lot of French military success (including the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and Spanish Empire), Napoleon mistakenly invaded Russia in 1812. The overextended logistic lines and harsh Russian winter decimated Napoleon's army and ultimately resulted in his abdication and exile to the island of Elba.
However (and this is where Waterloo comes into the story) less than a year later, Napoleon escaped his prison and returned to power in 1814. This is when the Seventh Coalition formed to fight Napoleon and the decisive blow came at Waterloo. The prussian general Bluecher and british Duke of Wellington successfully routed Napoleon, recapturing him and exiling him to St. Helena, where he died in 1821.
Now, back to the memorial. Its construction was ordered in 1820 and it was completed in 1826. The mound was constructed by using 514,000 cubed yards of soil from the battlefield. The lion, which bares the personal coat of arms of the monarch of the Netherlands, symbolizes courage; its right front paw is resting on a sphere, signifying global victory. It weighs a whopping 31 tons.
There are 226 steps leading to the statue and observation area at the top. Orientation maps documenting the battle are on plaques overlooking affected areas. It is a remarkable site. There is a huge diorama in an adjacent building painted in the early 1900's by a frenchman that helps give perspective on war techniques and tools of the early 1800's. The movement of calvaries and cannons is almost unimaginable today. The human cost of the battle was tremendous. Although the dutch Prince survived, 60,000+ people lost their lives in this battle. Major W.E. Fry described the scene like this, "This morning I went to visit the field of battle, which is a little beyond the village of Waterloo, on the plateau of Mont St Jean; but on arrival there the sight was too horrible to behold. I felt sick in the stomach and was obliged to return. The multitude of carcasses, the heaps of wounded men with mangled limbs unable to move, and perishing from not having their wounds dressed or from hunger, as the Allies were, of course, obliged to take their surgeons and wagons with them, formed a spectacle I shall never forget. The wounded, both of the Allies and the French, remain in an equally deplorable state."
Belgium really has experienced so much death and destruction in the past 200 years. It is easier to understand their love of peace when seen through the eyes of the impact war has had here.
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