Defeated by Rain

History records that on the Waterloo battlefield, some 21 kilometers south of Brussels, Belgium, more than 70,000 men were killed or wounded in just a few hours.

The British Duke of Wellington chose the field of battle and held the high ground. Although Napoleons' French army outnumbered Wellingtons' troops, Napoleon needed to defeat the enemy before nighfall.

A torrential rain fell during the night before the battle.

Most soldiers remembered that night as the most miserable one of their life. Even when some were able to erect small tents, one soldier lamented that the beds inside seemed as wet as they were at the bottom of a lake. The ground, filled with rain water was softened to a quagmire.

The attack wanted by Napoleon at first light was delayed because of the wet ground. The wet ground absorbed energy and reduced the range of fire by the cannons. The army of Napoleon was defeated.