Waterloo 200

For me personally the Battle of Waterloo (June 18th 1815) and the others battles connected with this big battle (Quatre Bras, Ligny, both June 16th 1815, and Wavre, also June 18th 1815) are special. I can not remember how it happened but for some reason the Battle of Waterloo got my special attention since I was a little kid. Actually, this battle was the main reason I got interested in History and military affairs in the first place. On my first school notebook I glued a picture of the painting "Napoleon crossing the Alps" by Jacques-Louis David. When I started amature wargaming, my Napoleonic figures were my favorites. My first visit to a battlefield, when  was thirteen, was at Waterloo and during my study I wrote my Bachelor thesis on the Battle of Quatre Bras.

So the Battle of Waterloo was a red line through my life and now, in 2015, we have the bi-centenary. I am really looking forward to the commemoration and therefore I am happy that I've discovered the organization Waterloo 200. 

Waterloo 200 Ltd is an umbrella organisation approved and supported by (UK) Government to oversee the celebration of the 200th annivesary of the Battle of Waterloo. It can bestow official status upon organisations that it feels would make a valuable contribution to the celebrations and, indeed, the general good of the countries involved.

This organization and it's website make it possible to follow all the anniversaries organized and celebrations by different other organizations and countries. Furthermore the website gives information about the battle itself, tips for a visit to the battlefield, information about re-enactment and more.

So if you want to join in the commemoration and/or want to be up-to-date about what's going on, this is the place to be. The link to the website is here: http://www.waterloo200.org/ 

For further reading I can recommend The Battle of Waterloo, Also of Ligny and Quatre Bras, etc. printed in 1817 and available in PDF for free. It's a massive collection of 'all' available eyewitness accounts of the battle and affiliated events, letters, notes by officers, lists of casualties and officers that were present and more. It's a really big piece of work, but as complete and contemporary as it can get.