1815 Battle of Waterloo: Napoleon's last battle, how it happened

Using new archaeological findings, first hand accounts of the battle, expert interviews and CGI and 3D animations this program helps us understand the dynamic elements of strategy and weather that led to Napoleon's historic defeat by the Duke of Wellington on the fields of Waterloo.
Directors: Marianne Cramer and Guillain Depardieu

[Ap-cmmx]

Bones are rare. After Waterloo, more than 27K tons of human/animal bones from Napoleonic battlefields were imported through the port of Hull to be processed into fertilizer. The young soldiers still had good teeth and these were used to make dentures, they were called "Waterloo teeth" at the time. The British were called the vampires of Europe when all this happened.

[soultraveller]

Just, wanted to correct something in this documentary, there were no ''English only''in duke of wellington's army, they were british soldiers, meaning collectively all nations in the united kingdom fought as one, under the union jack flag, 🇬🇧
What, you got to remember after the battle which was as gruesome, as the battle itself, and typical of the Napoleonic era of warfare,

There, was no organized retrieval or system to collect the wounded from the battlefield, they were Litter Bearers, but was still a ad hoc, affair, the scale of casualties overwhelmed the litter bears task, they were so many casualties, thousands of dead, dying, and wounded on both sides, that they were unable to be removed for days after,
The lucky ones, if you can describe it as lucky ones, were stretchered off or walked off, , but what awaited them when they got to the field hospital, was another matter,

Army surgeons, had to work quicky, bearing in mind there was no pain- relief drugs, when amputations were performed, the speed and efficiency of the surgeon of cutting the limb off, and trimming the bone, and creating a flap to cover the stump was the best the unfortunate soldier could hope for.
The rest, out there had to wait in the cold, wet conditions, they were left for days, there thousands perished in agony,

At night, came the locals from around the area, the ''scavengers'' they got amongst them, and picked clean the dead and wounded, the horrors didn't stop, the teeth were hacked out and the prized teeth were from the young soldiers because they had a full set, even the wounded were not spared, even killed, theses teeth were worth a lot of money because they were used to make dentures for the wealthy, this is never mentioned in the aftermath of warfare, it's all about glory .

[kaiten]

Британская историография в своем стиле. Это оказывается не противостояние двух величайших держав того времени за господство в мире было причиной войн, а "кровожадность" Наполеона. Если это так, то почему ещё при старом королевском режиме Франция непрерывно воевала с Великобританией напрямую или помогала США? Или республиканская Франция?

[douglasprewer]

Napoleon fielded 72, 000 troops against Wellington's 68, 000. It may not sound much of an advantage but he had 250 cannons and Wellington only had about 140 cannons if accounts are to be believed. If I was Wellington I too would have fought a defensive battle of attrition.

[jaredfleagle]

Just because the archeological remains of the fallen soldier suggest he was "small" and had a birth defect, does not mean he was frail lol. Those dudes would March miles with their gear as foot soldiers. Dude was probably more hard-core than 80% of males now

[JeanGoalin]

What is rather sordid is that the mass graves where the soldiers who died during the battle were buried were desecrated. After the looting of personal belongings, the teeth of the dead were used to supply the market for dentures of the time. Around 1820 several articles in English newspapers refer to the trade of bones from the battlefield, in order to be transformed into agricultural fertilizer. Besides, some isolated bones, like this skeleton of which the video speaks, were found, there are no common graves on the battlefield.

[kriserauw]

As a Belgian I can say my country always has been a battlefield crushed between the great powers France, Germany and England. Napoleon was defeated in 1815 at Waterloo in a decisive battle witch led Europe in almost 100 years of peace until WW1 broke out in 1914 with millions of death on the western front especially around the Ypres salliant with 5 battles and the big offensive at Passchendale in 1917. Now 100 years later they still dig up tons of shells each year in Flanders fields. Then came WW2 with Germany occupying Belgium untill they had to retreat after the landings at Normandy and they had their last counteroffensive at the battle of the bulge in the Ardennes with many casualties again. In a way my country is a graveyard and we have many war cemeteries . We have peace now for many years but with NATO stationed in Brussels we are a target once again. Let’s pray it never comes to a big war again ✌️

[SpicyLunarDust]

Outstanding job my god sir, mhm yess indeed.. But that armor that was pierced by a cannonball was not that of a Rifleman, but that of a French cavalryman. A Cuirassier. Helpful tip mate!

[willvermeer]

The British only had some 25, 000 men at Waterloo, the rest of the 80, 000 odd of Wellington's troops, where Dutch, Belgium and German troops.

[mohithmurthy]

Good narrated story pleasure to watch from banglore

[narayankulkarni]

Thankyou sir for showing this great Emperor documentary

[generalsandnapoleon]

Great video. I really enjoyed this one. Looking forward to visiting Waterloo in the near future.

[joseridaorodrigo]

Magnífico documental. Yo no hablo inglés ni lo entiendo. Pero la transcripción al español
es perfecta, e incluye puntuación. Así que se entiende todo muy bien.

[StephenLuke]

RIP
To the 25, 000 Imperial French soldiers, 15, 000 Wellington’s army soldiers, 1, 144–1, 200 Blücher's army soldiers, and 7, 000 horses who were killed in the Battle of Waterloo

[Andrey-jzxo]

Европейцы в своем репертуаре 😂 Только почему не сказали, что в пределы России зашла армия в 600 000 солдат наполеоновской армии, а когда эта армия убегала, реку Березину пересекли только 20 000 солдат? Где битвы при обороне Смоленска, Красного? Почему ничего не сказано, что вынудило Наполеона после Бородинского сражения убегать по Старой Смоленской дороге (битва при Малом Ярославце)? Очень предвзятое изложение материала.

[TerrorbelliDecuspacis-wf]

Visiting Waterloo in 1827, the Duke of Wellington was said to have been astonished by the complete transformation, exclaiming: “They have ruined my battlefield.”

[alexhayden]

Wellington complained the Mound had ruined His battlefield.
Material for the structure was taken from a critical ridge by a road.

[samkohen]

What is usually ignored is before Nappy took over France, France had the largest population of any country in Europe. However the losses France incurred, especially with Nappys Russian adventure resulted in a demographic disaster from which France never recovered, even today.

[desmondstewart]

An italian man fighting as Emperor of the French fighting an Irishman, the Leader of a British Army in a Flemish area of Belgium

[__sirena__]

I visited Waterloo battlefield, and I had a very bad feeling about the place. It was completely overwhelming, I felt sick, and I just had to leave after a short while. I'm clairsentient so I expect I was feeling something from what had happened there all those years ago ^^