The End of the Napoleonic Era

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On the night before the battle of Waterloo in June of 1815, it rained heavily and both the French and Allied forces spent the night in the rain and mud. Because of the heavy rain that night, Napoleon wasn't able to attack immediately as his artillery could not move until the ground dried. This forced him to delay the attack until eleven o'clock the next morning; a delay that cost him the entire battle. Wellington and his forces were able to secure higher ground and repulse continued frontal assaults until Napoleon’s surrender came less than twelve hours later. Napoleon was exiled from France and never returned to power.

Weather and Warfare Next Installment: The Defeat of the Spanish Armada