Visit to Waterloo Battlefield Museum and Lion’s Mound, Belgium

Beyond the ticket counter of Waterloo Museum is the Lion’s mound, the sight gets better only after you make the entry with expensive tickets. Lion’s Mound was built in 1823 and 1826 in dedication to soldiers who died on June 18, 1815, the day of the battle of Waterloo. It marks the spot where Prince Guillaume of Orange, the heir to the throne and commander in chief of the first corps of Wellington’s army, was wounded.

Lion’s Mound Waterloo

Its location is intended to recall the place where the Dutch Prince of Orange suffered a wound to his shoulder. Erected in 1823, it took three years to finish the construction of this monument situated at a height of 40.5 m and a circumference of 520 m.

The lion symbolises the victory of the allied armies defying France. The cast iron Lion protects the globe and symbolizes the return of peace to Europe.

Lion's Mound

Lion’s Mound

The artificial hill rises more than 40 meters above the battlefield, 226 stairs lead to the top.

Visit to Waterloo Battlefield

View of Waterloo battlefield from the Lion’s Mound.

Plenty of detailed information presented all along the 14 rooms of the museum. Then in another building across the garden the battle scene depicted: wax statues, pictures, objects that once belonged to Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington, maps of the different battles and armies…a really comprehensive museum. Though I didn’t enjoy this visit much, my daughters could relate to their history lessons.

Visit to Waterloo Battlefield Museum

Visit to Waterloo Battlefield Museum

Waterloo – composed of water (“water”) +‎ loo (“light forest, wood”). (Utrecht) Named after Waterloo in Belgium in memory of the Battle of Waterloo. The choice of name may have been influenced by nearby Austerlitz.

Waterloo Battlefield Interesting Facts:

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on 18 June 1815 between Napoleon’s French Army and a coalition led by the Duke of Wellington and Marshal Blücher.

Napoleon lost the Battle of Waterloo—here’s what went wrong. Napoleon made a bold return from exile in 1815 only to lose his last shot at empire in a crushing defeat delivered by the Duke of Wellington and the combined forces of Europe.

The battle of waterloo was a devastating event for the armies involved as well as the village itself. The combined number of men killed or wounded reached nearly 50,000, with close to 25,000 casualties on the French side and approximately 23,000 for the Allied army.

The long-held explanation of what happened to all the dead at Waterloo is grisly: according to reports made soon after the conflict, the bones were collected, pulverised and turned into fertiliser for agricultural use.

While the French referred to the military clash as the Battle of Mont Saint-Jean, it became known in most of the world as the Battle of Waterloo because the Duke of Wellington, who led the victorious forces, made his headquarters in the Waterloo village and the dateline written on the official report he sent back to Britain.

Which troops fought in Waterloo Battlefield? Napoleon’s 72,000 French troops were pitted against the duke of Wellington’s army of 68,000 (British, Dutch, Belgian, and German soldiers) aided by 45,000 Prussians under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. Napoleon was defeated, and he was exiled for the final time.

Battle of Waterloo was lost as a result of an avalanche of misunderstandings. Napoleon knew he must defeat Wellington and his troops before Blücher arrived. The entire French cavalry launched an attack, and Napoleon was powerless to stop it. Its ineffective charges hopelessly impaled themselves on Wellington’s defensive square formations.

An oft asked question is: What Would Happen If Napoleon Won the Battle of Waterloo? If Napoleon Bonaparte had won the war at Waterloo, the Russian force had been crushed by the French army, Poland would have been extended at the cost of Russia in 1814, and the war of peninsula would have ended.

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