Battle of Waterloo (Napoleon's World)

The Battle of Waterloo was a battle in the War of Napoleonic Succession fought between August 30-September 1, 1845 near the village of Waterloo in present-day Wallonia. The battle pitted the pro-Napoleonic divisions of the Grand Armée under Giscard Scarainge and Baron Theodosius von Kiel against the pro-Louisian forces under Paul Seychard, Ricard Murburrien and Otto Franken. While fought to a draw the first two days, on September 1 the Louisian forces broke through the right flank of von Kiel's IV Corps with heavy artillery fire and a cavalry charge authorized by Murburrien and led by Gerhardt Behrmann and Pascal Giles. Von Kiel surrendered his IV Corps that afternoon, ostensibly to cover Scarainge's retreat out of Wallonia.

The battle is significant as it prevented the Imperial counterattack against Brussels, which was near Waterloo by road, from succeeding, buying time for the seven Russian divisions under Prince Marcel Bonaparte to safely arrive into France without fear of an attack from the north through Wallonia or Holland. In defeating the IV and VII Corps at Waterloo, Seychard and Murburrien effectively ended the war, although this significance was unknown at the time, for the Imperial Grand Armée remained in retreat towards Paris up until the final battle at Dugny a month later.