The Surrender of Napoléon Bonaparte to the British in 1815
At around 7:30 in the evening of Sunday, 18 June 1815, Napoléon ordered his army to launch one final, desperate assault on the Anglo-Allied troops who stood between him and the town of Waterloo. His objective was to break through Wellington's defences before the growing pressure from the Prussian troops arriving on the battlefield on his right flank grew too much to bear. The Emperor personally rode alongside his Imperial Guard as its band played patriotic tunes until he was some 500 metres away from the British lines. He then sent them on their way and rode back south to await the results of his attack. It was an utter failure. The French troops, including the previously-unbeatable Guard, were hurled back in disarray. Their retreat spread panic among the rest of the army, and soon almost all of them (with the famous exception of the unit commanded by Marshal Cambronne) were fleeing headlong from the battle. Napoléon himself made a hasty exit, accompanied by a handful of companio...