Wellington and Napoleon tells the story of the convergence and final
clash of two of the most brilliant commanders ever to meet on the field
of battle. Wellington, his men said, "didn't know how to lose a battle".
But Wellington himself admired his adversary:
In Portugal and Spain, Wellington helped wreck Napoleon's Continental
System, bled his reserves away and showed the 'unbeatable' French could
be beaten after all. The opposing armies, like their commanders, were
not at all similar. Napoleon's were large conscript armies, living off
the land and led by marshals who rose by merit. Wellington's was a
smaller, volunteer force, ruled by the lash though paid, and his
officers were those the government chose to send.
It was the British infantryman who made the difference. Napoleon never
learned to counter Wellington's infantry, and at the great climax at
Waterloo it cost him dear. Even so, the battle was so near-run that, but
for luck and the Prussians, history might have taken an altogether
different course.