The Battle of Waterloo was one of the last major battles of the Waterloo Campaign, and the first of three decisive battles in the War of the Seventh Coalition. Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte, fresh off of his victories at Quartre Bras and Ligny (the latter of which resulted in the near-destruction of the Prussian army), brought his army to bear against a weakened force under the Duke of Wellington and defeated him in detail. Napoléon's success at this battle effected the destruction of two Coalition armies, and significantly bolstered his position both as newly-returned Emperor in France and within Europe as a whole. Napoléon's stunning success here was quickly followed up with his bloody success at the Battle of Fürth, which is often regarded as the starting point of the Napoleonic Age. The subsequent Battle of Wavre of 20 June cemented Napoléon's control of the north and allowed him to shift his attention east to face the Austrians and Russians.
