It was a history changing battle, Iain........... you and I might both be speaking Franglais had Blucher not arrived in time.
Here's what was happening 200 years ago:
16:30
One French cuirassier division, charging at full tilt, is forced to ride straight through the allied chequerboard. They take withering fire from all sides. Cpt Delafosse recalls seeing “men and horses slashed down…covered in blood, black with mud.” Only 30 or 40 of them make it back.
16:25
As the French horsemen get within 30 yards of the first English squares, they fire. Devastating overlapping volleys from several squares at once rake each cavalry squadron. Ensign Macready remembers:
Quote The effect was magical. Through the smoke we could see helmets falling – cavaliers starting from their seats with convulsive springs as they received our balls, horses plunging and rearing in agonies of fright and pain.
16:20
The French are expecting to be shot at, but Wellington’s squares hold fire. This is actually even more alarming.
The leading cavalry squadrons lose their nerve and wheel to the right and left, flowing around the allied formation – or through it, between the squares.