Wellington at Waterloo, 1815

Coloured lithograph after 'Wellington at Waterloo' by Robert Alexander Hillingford, 1815 (c).

The Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815 was the last great battle of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) and marked the end of France's attempt to dominate Europe. The Allied commander-in-chief at the battle, the Duke of Wellington, called it 'the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life', a reference to a victory that was in doubt all day until the arrival of Field Marshal Blucher's Prussian Army.

In this print, Wellington is depicted addressing a British infantry square while the guns of the Royal Horse Artillery are visible to the left.