Battle of Waterloo, 1815

Coloured aquatint by J C Stadler after William Heath, published by Thomas Tegg, 1 April 1818. Illustration for a narrative poem by Dr Syntax, 1818.

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 (1769-1852), 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.