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Weapons and Tactics. Napoleon's plan at Waterloo was fairly standard in terms of the tactics of the day: an extended artillery bombardment, followed by cavalry attacks to force the enemy into square and then further attack by artillery and musket to reap the benefit of the dense formation.
- Weapons and Tactics, Cavalry
Weapons. Generals. Tactics. Infantry. Artillery. Cavalry....
- Weapons and Tactics, Artillery
Guns came in huge variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from...
- Weapons and Tactics, Cavalry
Weapons. Generals. Tactics. Infantry. Artillery. Cavalry. The Scots Greys in full gallop at Waterloo. It is clear that cavalry played a very important part in the outcome of the battle. On both sides, poor command of the cavalry resulted in them being utilised to less than their full potential.
It is necessary to understand the weaponry available to the Napoleonic soldier and the tactics enforced on them by the limitations of these weapons before one can fully understand the options available to a general, fighting a battle in the era of Waterloo.
The Battle of Waterloo (Dutch: [ˈʋaːtərloː] ⓘ) was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two armies of the Seventh Coalition.
Guns came in huge variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from 4 pdr horse guns up to 24 pdr siege guns. The most common type of ammunition used was round shot. This was a solid iron ball, useful for smashing through walls and other defensive structures.
In many ways, the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 constituted a crucial turning point in the tactics of land warfare. Until then, even though weapons and methods had varied greatly, land battles had essentially been single events, taking up a few square miles and lasting no more than a few hours or a day at most.
The three armies at Waterloo — the French under the overall command of Napoleon, the Anglo-Allied forces commanded by Wellington, and the Prussian forces commanded by Field Marshal Blücher — were broadly organised along similar lines. Corps and divisions.
