The Waterloo Collection: Ligny and Quatre Bras trailer

• published: 30 Jul 2015
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The Waterloo Collection. This is the first part of a suite of programmes that will cover the Waterloo Campaign as a whole, from the concentration of the Armies astride the north eastern frontier of France, through to the Allied pursuit of Napoleon's defeated army to Paris. Over the coming months the Waterloo Collection of four DVDs, with a running time of nearly six hours, will become the most comprehensive portrayal of the 1815 Campaign ever undertaken on film. An introduction covering the political and strategic situation facing both Napoleon and the Allies, along with detail of the opposing armies and their deployment prior to the Campaign's opening moves, will be followed by programmes on the twin battles of Quatre Bras and Ligny. Waterloo itself will be covered in five programmes each taking a detailed look at one of the recognised phases of the great battle. These are the attack on Hougoumont and its epic defence by the Guards, D'Erlon's infantry attack and the famous charge of the Union Brigade, the fight for the farm of la Haye Sainte in the centre of the battlefield, the final French cavalry attack on the battered British line and the final assault by Napoleon's Imperial Guard and last but not least the arrival of the Prussians at Plancenoit. In the concluding part the battle of Wavre and the aftermath of the great battle, which culminated in Napoleon's surrender and exile in St Helena, will be covered. Included with each programme will be vignette's on an aspect of Napoleonic warfare; weapons, clothing and equipment and, of course battlefield tactics. The collection of programmes will be accompanied by detailed orders of battle, maps and battlefield tour notes. For the first time a Mini Guide will be included with each programme for downloading to most types of modern mobile phone or PDA. This will compliment both the programme and the printable material for the battlefield visitor who likes to travel light. Military historians Tim Saunders, Andrew Duff and Tom Dormer along with experts from the Guild of Battlefield Guides (Graeme Cooper, Mike Peters and Frank Toogood) and members of the Napoleonic Association, travel the roads along which the soldiers of the opposing armies marched to the field of Waterloo and to the Campaign's other three significant battles; Quatre Bras, Ligny and Wavre.