Napoleon’s Mistakes in the Battle of Waterloo 

Nov 22, 2023, 19:54 IST

Manas Joshi

Napoleon Bonaparte was a military genius. He took France to glory as the nation dominated Europe under him. 

However, Battle of Waterloo was Napoleon’s decisive defeat. The genius strategist made a few errors.

Not bringing his best general to battle

To start with, Napoleon left his best general Louis-Nicolas Davout in Paris.

Delaying his attack

Napoleon waited for hours before attack. This gave Prussian army time to join the British. 

Wrong choice of cavalry commander

Napoleon made Michel Ney in-charge of cavalry. Ney made costly mistake of charging at the British without artillery support. 

The charge of the Imperial Guard   

Imperial Guard consisted of Napoleon’s elite soldiers. But he ordered them to attack where the British were strongest. 

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