| La Haye Sainte | |
|---|---|
 La Haye Sainte as seen from the road | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Location | N5 road (Belgium), near Waterloo, Belgium |
| Coordinates | 50°40′40″N 4°24′43″E / 50.677906°N 4.412066°E |
| Owner | Private |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Sandstone and red brick |
| Known for | Battle of Waterloo |
La Haye Sainte (named either after Jesus' crown of thorns or a nearby bramble hedge[1]) is a walled farmhouse compound at the foot of an escarpment near Waterloo, Belgium, on the N5 road connecting Brussels and Charleroi. It has changed very little since it played a crucial part in the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815.
La Haye Sainte was defended by about 400 King's German Legion troops during the Battle of Waterloo. Being greatly outnumbered by attacking French forces, the defenders held out until the late afternoon when they retired as their ammunition had run out. If Napoleon Bonaparte's army had captured La Haye Sainte earlier in the day, he would have almost certainly broken through the allied centre and defeated the Duke of Wellington's army.[2]
The capture of La Haye Sainte in the early evening then gave the French the advantage of a defensible position from which to launch a potentially decisive attack on the Allied centre. However, Napoleon was too late—by this time, Blücher and the Prussian army had arrived on the battlefield and the outnumbered French army was defeated.
- ^ Simms, Brendan (2014). The Longest Afternoon, The Four Hundred Men who Decided the Battle of Waterloo. Allen Lane. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-241-00460-9.
- ^ Simms, Brendan (2014). The Longest Afternoon, The Four Hundred Men who Decided the Battle of Waterloo. Allen Lane. pp. 63–64. ISBN 978-0-241-00460-9.