Under the town of Bruxelles in Belgium is a small village called Waterloo. Near this village the battle was fought  on Sunday 18 June, 1815 between the allied and French forces. Napoleon new that al large army was drawn together to destroy him and his forces once and forever.

After some skirmishes in a few small villages the French troops made a rapid march during the night in the direction of Bruxelles. Napoleons plan was to create a corridor between the British and Prussian forces and then to beat the separately. De British troops were under command of the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian under command of Blucher. It is really worth to see the movie The Battle of Waterloo. Although there is always a lot of commend on the movie about uniforms and that kind of things, I think it is a film worth to see. One of the highlights in the film is the arriving of Napoleon from the isle of Elba. With a small force of troops he sets foot on land and is going to march direction of Paris. Marshall Ney has th assignment to arrest him and he promises the king to bring Napoleon back in an iron cage.

The meeting of these two comrades in arms is nearly going to end in a disaster. But to see their emperor, ( for a lot of soldiers probably the first time in their life ) again for so many soldiers is enough to burst out in a large cheering and Ney has no other choice than to offer Napoleon his surrender. I think this is one of the most interesting parts. If this meeting took really place in this way,  it is no wonder why this small man was an idol in his time under soldiers and the common people.

During the night it must have been terrible weather. It is most interesting how all the men spend the night under this condition. Completely soaked, tired, hungry...just imagine to start a battle in this way. I often asked myself the question when I was painting  my gala uniforms for my miniature battlefield how these men must have looked that day. What I understand from the stories you read about Waterloo is that most of the uniforms where completely covered with dirt and mud after this night. The shirts, the breeches, normally impeccable white...it must have been a completely other sight that my mini Waterloo. Also you can read that there never was a battlefield so small which was covered with so many death and dying men and horses than the Waterloo battlefield.

And then the way the Prussians came in with the remark of Blucher...make no prisoners. You can imagine what kind of massacre this must have been.

My battlefield is exactly like in the old days. Wonderful lines of beautiful dressed men and horses. Blinking cannons,  sun in the sky, this is a great day to fight a battle. Of course there are no death and dying men. This is a gentleman’s game.

The story that you read after the battle is completely different. The sight of this acres full of screaming and dying men and horses was so horrible that even the greatest soldiers where overcome with grief.

I think that it is a sum of all these things together that attracts me and thousands of other men to everything that has to do with Napoleon and this war. It is not that we worship Napoleon or the battle, but it is the thought that anything so cruel is possible.