'The Duke of Wellington ordering the Last Grand Charge which completed the Defeat of the French Army', Battle of Waterloo, 1815

Engraving by Samuel Mitan after Captain George Jones, one of a series published by Thomas Kelly, 26 Apr 1817.

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.