Waterloo

by Peter Hofschröer

1815. La campaña de Waterloo. Una victoria alemana. Este libro analiza la última campaña del Imperio napoleónico, desde los acuerdos suscritos por las potencias aliadas en el Congreso de Viena para oponerse al retorno de Napoleón de su exilio en la isla de Elba, hasta la ocupación de París por las tropas prusianas en julio de 1815. Peter Hofschroer analiza críticamente los planes de campaña de los ejércitos francés, prusiano y británico, remarcando los errores estratégicos y tácticos de Napoleón y Wellington, y el papel determinante de las directrices de los prusianos Blücher y Gneisenau en la victoria aliada. Desmitificadora tanto del heroísmo de las tropas francesas en la derrota, como del genio militar de Wellington de quien demuestra cómo reescribió la historia del conflicto para ocultar sus errores, replantea en función de material inédito procedente de los archivos alemanes y de la correspondencia de la época, la visión tradicional de la batalla de Waterloo como una victoria estrictamente británica. El papel secundario concedido tradicionalmente al ejército prusiano en la resolución del drama cambia totalmente al analizar la composición de los contingentes aliados –mayoritariamente alemanes-, y las decisiones tomadas –hora por hora- por sus comandantes entre los días 14 y 18 de junio de 1815, cuando en los campos de Ligny, Quatre-Bras, Wawre y Waterloo se dirimió el futuro de Europa. Una nueva y apasionante visión de conjunto de la campaña de Los Cien Días como nunca se había planteado hasta ahora. “Waterloo no es sólo una batalla, es el cambio de frente del universo” (Víctor Hugo). Peter Hofschroer es uno de los mejores expertos sobre el ejército prusiano en el período de las guerras napoleónicas. Es autor de numerosos libros entre Lepizig (1813), Prussian Line Infantry of the Napoleonic Wars 1792-1815; y The Hannoverian Army of the Napoleonic Wars.

896 pages, Hardcover

Published November 15, 2005

Reviews

[Malquiviades · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a thorough and in depth study of the events that put into an end the last Hundred Days of Napoleon.
It recounts the last battles fought by the Allies (at that time, mainly Great Britain, Prussia, Austria and Russia, plus the more or less independent and German states that populated the today Germany and the Netherlands which also played a very important role).

There are many works devoted to Waterloo and the role of the Duke of Wellington (and therefore, the British) as becoming the hero of the day.

This book, this thesis, approaches those events by researching the "German" sources available, so bringing some new light upon those days and battles. And by doing so, a new reading of the History is made.

Many years ago, when I had the time to play war games extensively with my friends, we came across a simple but very addictive one: Napoleon's Last Battles (from NAC, if I remember correctly). It covered the battles of Ligny-Quatre Bras, Wavre and Waterloo, but it could also be played as a campaign starting on June 15th 1815, with the Ligny-Quatre Bras engagement.
That was my first approach in detail to Waterloo. And the most revealing part (if you only have a very shallow knowledge on History as I had at that time) was that -actually- the British were very few and that the main part of the forces involved were Prussian and a long list of small units from strange origins as Nassau, Hannover...

Playing once and again that war-game I become fond of the Prussians and of Blucher, the old general that despite being beaten at Ligny made the ultimate effort to join Wellington at Waterloo and, by doing so, to incline the balance on the allied side.

Some years later I have the opportunity to visit the Waterloo battlefield. I spent a happy and sunny day on Eastern holidays just going around there. And I could not help to present my respects to the memorial to the Prussians at Plancenoit, which is as far from the main points of interests as could be, mostly forgotten to the standard guides to the main site and almost unkempt. But it was just right to visit.

The book (the thesis, actually, two volumes merged in one big book for this edition) reviews and confronts the established view of the events by adopting a the Prussian (mainly) and German point of view. The sources were the original reports and documents of those days and all the events were meticulously and scrupulously reconstructed. Besides, the political background is given and also the aftermath, with the race to Paris and the sizing of the remaining Napoleonic fortresses.

The main conclusion, for me, was not surprising at all, although it might be so for someone not familiar with the events or heavily relying on the British account of the campaign: the Prussians and Germans endured the worst of the battles and marches, accounting for the 75% of the total losses and they were the real ones who stop the French.

But there are also another (mostly known and accepted) conclusions...:
* That the Duke of Wellington did not react promptly and effectively against the thrust of Napoleon against the Prussians around Charleroi; that he dismissed their first reports thinking them to be a distraction, waiting for a main move on the Duke's right; this was a wrong judgement from his part;


...and revelations that did surprise me:
* That the Duke of Wellington cheated his allies the Prussians by assuring and re-assuring them a help that he knew was impossible to reach the battlefield on time; therefore, the Prussians presented battle at Ligny on the hope of Wellington appearing on the left side of Napoleon's forces, which obviously did never happened;
* that the Duke actively lied, cheated and deceived his fellows and historians by omitting facts (position of forces and their timing) and even producing false reports and -presumably- make some original and enlightening reports to disappear, in order to cover his faults and lies during the campaign.

The author went to any length proving them to be right conclusion under the light of the available information, profusely presenting and comparing multitude of sources.

However, this is not a book against Wellington (as the author mentioned a behaviour like his on trying t,o protect his reputation, is not unknown for the historians and was not worse than many others). It did just dismantle the myth of Wellington and the British winning the battle and being the saviours of the day. But, again, this is not a book written against them; it is a positive book, which carefully reconstructs the events in order to reveal the true heroes hidden in the mud of the myth and placing them to the light for all to see and praise.

Because, at the end all is about placing everyone in the place in History they deserve. And the role of the Prussians is usually belittled and minimized.

I am quite happy to come across this book. It was not writing for the mass public, because the lengthy and exhaustive details given are able to promptly discourage anyone not having a real interest, but are presented for the scholar in History so it can be checked and reviewed. However, the reading is easy enough.

There were, however, some petty details that annoyed me, although that did not spoiled the book as a whole:
* Maps are many and mostly enlightening true; however, the big maps that comprises two side-by-side pages have the real interesting topics right in the centre, where the binding is, making it difficult to see what you want.
* Sometimes, the operational maps lack the desired annotations of troop movements.
* The narrative assumes that the reader is well acquainted with the position and names of the towns, villages and terrain all around the area, so sometimes (if you are not so well familiar with them) you can get lost when the maps do not cover them.
* The occasional dramatization of some fights concerning actual people is not well obtained. Happily there are few of them.

Summarizing: a very interesting reading, worthy to be reread carefully in detail.