For a decade Europe measured its generals against Napoleon Bonaparte. Only one British general ever beat him in person, and, with Blücher's Prussians, ended the Hundred Days: the Duke of Wellington. The emperor and the duke were near-opposites in style, and remarkably they met in battle only once, on a muddy ridge in Belgium in 1815, in a fight that ended an age.
| Napoleon | The Duke of Wellington | |
|---|---|---|
| Lived | 1769 to 1821 | 1769 to 18521 |
| Role | Emperor of the French and general | British general, later Prime Minister2 |
| Style | Bold offensive manoeuvre and massed artillery | Careful defence and the reverse slope |
| Greatest victory | Austerlitz, 1805 | Vitoria, 1813 |
| Head to head | They met in battle only once, at Waterloo | Beat Napoleon at Waterloo, 1815 |
| Battle record | Won most of his battles, then lost the last | Never lost a pitched battle3 |
| Lasting legacy | The Napoleonic Code and modern warfare | The soldier who ended Napoleon; later Prime Minister |
Key points
- Napoleon was the master of the offensive: speed, concentration and the decisive blow.
- Wellington was the master of the defensive: careful ground, patience and the reverse slope.
- The two never faced each other in battle until Waterloo, on 18 June 18154.
- Wellington's line held until the Prussians arrived, and together they ended Napoleon's career.
Napoleon: the emperor of manoeuvre
Napoleon reshaped warfare by moving faster than his enemies could react. He marched his corps by separate roads, concentrated them at the decisive point, and sought a single crushing battle, as at Austerlitz in 1805, often called his masterpiece5. His genius was operational as much as tactical: he beat coalitions by defeating their armies one at a time before they could unite.
Wellington: the master of defence
Wellington fought the other way. Cautious and meticulous, he chose strong ground, sheltered his infantry behind ridgelines to protect them from artillery4, the famous reverse slope, and let attackers break themselves against his lines before counter-attacking. Hardened in the Peninsular War against Napoleon's marshals1, he rarely gambled and rarely lost.
The emperor sought the knockout blow; the duke made sure it never landed.
Waterloo: their only meeting
The two met for the first and only time at Waterloo on 18 June 1815. Napoleon attacked Wellington's ridge all day, and Wellington's line held, thinned but unbroken, until the Prussians under Blucher arrived on the French right flank6 and turned the battle into a rout. It was Napoleon's last battle.7 Read the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, or see the campaign among the greatest Napoleonic battles.
