On June 18th, 1815, one of the bloodiest and most famous battles in history was fought in the fields southeast of Brussels, the present-day capital of Belgium. At the Battle of Waterloo, Lord Wellington and his allies defeated the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte once and for all.
At the time of the battle, Belgium was still a part of the Netherlands. The senior Dutch (and therefore Belgian) officer to take part at Waterloo was William, Prince of Orange. In commemoration of the Prince being wounded in the left shoulder by a musket ball during the battle, an enormous conical mound crowned with a massive cast iron lion was constructed on the spot.
Ever since, the Lion’s Mound has dominated the peaceful farmland that was once the site of such a vicious battle.
You can read all about my adventures on the Waterloo Battlefield (including climbing The Lion’s Mound) in Jaspa’s Journey 3: Jaspa’s Waterloo.
Expand the minds of you and your children by travelling the World with Jaspa’s Journey adventure novels! The first three – The Great Migration, The Pride of London and Jaspa’s Waterloo – are now available in both paperback and ebook formats. Click here for more information.
Jaspa’s Journey: Perfect for Kids 8 – 80!
This post was inspired by the photo themes of Piles or Stacks from Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, Afar from Debbie’s Travel With Intent, and Clouds from Patrick’s Pix To Words.
Jaspa's Journal 
Wonderful post Jaspa 😀
Thanks, Cee!
I saw you thought your pingbacks weren’t working, but they do appear to be now, as that is how I got here 🙂
Nice post 🙂
Thanks!
Good to see this Jaspa. Interesting afar shots with farmland in forefront, and your slightly less afar one show the mound at its best.
Glad you enjoyed them, Debbie!
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Nice work! However, “At the time of the battle, Belgium was still a part of the Netherlands. The senior Dutch (and therefore Belgian) officer to take part at Waterloo was William, Prince of Orange” is an odd way of putting things. The battle of Waterloo took place in 1815 whereas Belgium, as a state, was only created in 1830. So, ‘Belgium’ was never part of the Netherlands. It’s a little country with a very complicated history!
Thanks for your comment, Lina. Looking back at it now, you’re right that my sentence is a little unclear. In my defense, I was trying to convey a lot of information in as few words as possible. Maybe I overdid it!
You’re obviously also correct that Belgium as a state officially came into being in 1830. That being said, if you read many history books concerning the Battle of Waterloo, most refer to ‘Belgian troops’ coming from the ‘province of Belgium’ (or similar), to distinguish French-speaking Dutch soldiers originating from the part of the Netherlands that would become modern Belgium 15 years later. However, I’m sure this a huge oversimplification of a much more complicated situation (as you say, Belgium is a little country with a very complicated history).
The bottom line is, I hope I didn’t cause offence in my attempt to be brief.