Champ de Bataille

Champ de Bataille Review

The actual Champ de Bataille (battlefield) is south of Waterloo (signposted "Butte de Lion"). Here Wellington's troops received the onslaught of Napoléon's army. A crucial role in the battle was played by some of the ancient, fortified farms, of which there are many in this area. The Hogoumont farm was fought over all day; 6,000 men, out of total casualties of 48,000, were killed here. Later in the day, fierce fighting raged around the farms of La Sainte Haye and Papelotte. In the afternoon, the French cavalry attacked, in the mistaken belief that the British line was giving way. Napoléon's final attempt was to send in the armored cavalry of the Imperial Guard, but at the same time the Prussian army under Blücher arrived to engage the French from the east, and it was all over. The battlefield, made up of rye fields, is best surveyed from the top of the Butte de Lion, a pyramid 226 steps high and crowned by a 28-ton lion, which was erected by the Dutch 10 years later.

The visitor center offers an audiovisual presentation of the battle, followed by a mood-setting film of the fighting seen through the eyes of children. You can buy souvenirs here, too—from tin soldiers and T-shirts to soft toy lions and model cannons. There are also plenty of books, some highly specialized, about the battle and the men who led the fighting. The adjacent Panorama de la Bataille, first unveiled in 1912, contains a vast, circular painting of the charge of the French cavalry, executed with amazing perspective and realism.