June 18th 1815: Battle of Waterloo

On this day in 1815, French troops under Napoleon Bonaparte were defeated by the seventh coalition led by British Duke of Wellington and Prussian von Blücher at the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon was then forced to abdicate the French throne for the second and last time, thus signalling the end of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars which had raged since 1792. The coalition was finally able to defeat him at Waterloo when the French (whose backup failed to arrive) were driven from the field by the numerically superior and better led allies. The battle was a major success and victory for the coalition forces, and became legendary. Despite his ultimate defeat, Napoleon is still considered one of the greatest generals of all time.