Note:
Project # 4 : Bringing History to Life
Title : Waterloo
Delivered at : PICPA Riyadh Toastmasters Club
Evaluated by : ACS/ALB Ramed Borja
Target Norm : Advance Communicator Bronze
* * * * * *
Have you ever heard of the idiomatic word “Waterloo”? This is commonly used in an expression such as “and finally, he met his Waterloo”. The idiomatic expression often means an unexpected defeat.
Good evening, fellow toastmaster and guest.
Tonight, let me share the story of the famous battle in Waterloo which marks the end of the Napoleon’s dream to become the grand emperor of Europe.
<<Slide 2>>
June 15, 1815. Napoleon Bonaparte was riding on his restless white horse.
<<Slide 3>>
With him is the 105,000 strong French Grand Armee with General Ney commanding his left flank and General Grouchy commanding his right flank.
<<Slide 4>>
On his right, he can see the small town of Ligny where the main force of the 89,000 Prussians is under the command of Field Marshall Blucher.
On his far left, he can see the 68,000 British Allied forces under the command of the Duke of Wellington.
<<Slide 5>>
The strategy was simple: attack the two forces in between and drive them away from each other and defeat each enemy one by one.
June 16, 1815
Napoleon instructed General Ney to advance to Quarte-Bras to engage the Prince of Orange, to disable the encampment and establish their headquarters.
With General Grouchy, Napoleon speed off to Ligny and engaged Field Marshall Blucher in a bloody battle. Blucher, upon realizing that he cannot win with too many losses, he retreated far north.
Napoleon won the battle of Ligny and overestimated his victory thinking he defeated the Prussians totally. Little did he knew, Blucher moved northward towards Waterloo.
At 6pm that day, Napoleon match westward towards Quarte-Bras and found General Ney still fighting the Allied forces. It took them until late evening before forcing the Allied to retreat at Mont St Jean, south of the town of Waterloo.
More than 12 hours of fighting took a toll on Napoleon’s Grand Armee. They decided to rest on the 17th of Jun, beside it was raining heavily. A fatal mistake because it gave the Duke of Wellington enough time to march the entire British army to south of Waterloo.
Early morning of 18th June,
Napoleon was again looking at his enemy. On his center is La Haye Sainte with heavy guns and cavalry. At the left is Mont St Jean the weaker force of only the infantry and artillery.
Napoleon confident that he can route the Allied forces, postponed the attached until 11am. He thought that the ground was too wet and muddy for a grand frontal infantry assault. His general tried to convince him to barrage the enemy with artillery and cannons before marching the main force. With Napoleon’s misplaced confidence plus his arrogance, he insisted to proceed with ground attack.
Oh, this is where the phrase “Napoleonic Complex” originated.
1:00pm
Napoleon signal an attack
General Grouchy joined the central force and led the initial march to Mont St Jean. Under heavy fire of cannons and artillery, Grouchy captured Mont St Jean but lost more than half of his forces.
<<Slide 9>>
3:00pm
With Mont St Jean capture and the Duke of Wellington forces trapped in La Haye Sainte like sitting ducks, Napoleon could already see victory at hand.
Again with his arrogance, he made a fatal miscalculation.
<<Slide 10>>
He ordered General Ney to launch the entire cavalry forward in his vain to show off for a grand victory.
General Ney with 25,000 cavalry thundered towards La Hay Sainte. He easily trampled the battalion of artillery and saw from a fog of war the forces of the Duke of Wellington running and started making squares of infantry.
Confused because the soldiers were not firing their muskets, General Ney made a bad call and ordered a full attacked on the infantry.
<<Slide 11>>
The Allied Infantry knelt to the ground and used their musket with fixed bayonet as pikes to stop the charging horses. With the horses dead, they easily shot the cavalry at point blank.
It was a very close quarter combat that the cavalry is not trained for fighting – the strength of the infantry. As a result, there was chaos and confusion among the French cavaliers forcing them to retreat.
4:00pm
Knowing General Ney would lose his cavalry against the infantry of the Duke of Wellington, Napoleon ordered his main infantry in Mont St Jean to assault towards La Haye Sainte.
Upon seeing the advancing infantry, The Duke of Wellington centralized all his infantry and took a last stand.
5:00pm
But there was too much fog of war, and too much bloody mud on the ground, the French Armee failed to rush towards the Duke of Wellington
6:00pm
Napoleon received news that Field Marshal Blucher is fast approaching from his right. He readily dispatched Gen Grouchy to meet the Prussians but with only small cavalry left Gen Grouchy failed to stop the charging Prussians.
7:00pm
The French Grand Armee was caught in the middle. In front is square infantry the British forces and at their back is the charging Prussians.
9:00pm
In less than two hours, Napoleon lost a war that was supposed to be a victory.
In the retrospect, Napoleon could have easily won the battle in Waterloo. He had a brilliant strategy and he has a motivated army who is willing to die for him. Yet it was his supreme arrogance that cost him the battle. If only he listened to his generals.. the idiomatic word “Waterloo” would not mean a crushing defeat but a resounding victory.
How about you fellow toastmasters? Have you met your Waterloo? I did, and many of you know what it is. Shh… keep quiet, the first lady is here!
<<Slide 14>>
Back to you evening master
- I have started three Advance Manuals at the same time; two intended for ACB and the other for ACS.
- This is my graduation speech for the Educational Award of Advance Communicator Bronze
* * * * * *
Advance Manual : 226-K Story TellingProject # 4 : Bringing History to Life
Title : Waterloo
Delivered at : PICPA Riyadh Toastmasters Club
Evaluated by : ACS/ALB Ramed Borja
Target Norm : Advance Communicator Bronze
* * * * * *
Introduction
<<Slide 1>>
Good evening, fellow toastmaster and guest.
Tonight, let me share the story of the famous battle in Waterloo which marks the end of the Napoleon’s dream to become the grand emperor of Europe.
<<Slide 2>>
June 15, 1815. Napoleon Bonaparte was riding on his restless white horse. <<Slide 3>>
With him is the 105,000 strong French Grand Armee with General Ney commanding his left flank and General Grouchy commanding his right flank.<<Slide 4>>
On his right, he can see the small town of Ligny where the main force of the 89,000 Prussians is under the command of Field Marshall Blucher. On his far left, he can see the 68,000 British Allied forces under the command of the Duke of Wellington.
<<Slide 5>>
The strategy was simple: attack the two forces in between and drive them away from each other and defeat each enemy one by one.June 16, 1815
Napoleon instructed General Ney to advance to Quarte-Bras to engage the Prince of Orange, to disable the encampment and establish their headquarters.
With General Grouchy, Napoleon speed off to Ligny and engaged Field Marshall Blucher in a bloody battle. Blucher, upon realizing that he cannot win with too many losses, he retreated far north.
Napoleon won the battle of Ligny and overestimated his victory thinking he defeated the Prussians totally. Little did he knew, Blucher moved northward towards Waterloo.
<<Slide 6>>
More than 12 hours of fighting took a toll on Napoleon’s Grand Armee. They decided to rest on the 17th of Jun, beside it was raining heavily. A fatal mistake because it gave the Duke of Wellington enough time to march the entire British army to south of Waterloo.
<<Slide 7>>
Napoleon was again looking at his enemy. On his center is La Haye Sainte with heavy guns and cavalry. At the left is Mont St Jean the weaker force of only the infantry and artillery.
Napoleon confident that he can route the Allied forces, postponed the attached until 11am. He thought that the ground was too wet and muddy for a grand frontal infantry assault. His general tried to convince him to barrage the enemy with artillery and cannons before marching the main force. With Napoleon’s misplaced confidence plus his arrogance, he insisted to proceed with ground attack.
Oh, this is where the phrase “Napoleonic Complex” originated.
<<Slide 8>>
Napoleon signal an attack
General Grouchy joined the central force and led the initial march to Mont St Jean. Under heavy fire of cannons and artillery, Grouchy captured Mont St Jean but lost more than half of his forces.
<<Slide 9>>
3:00pmWith Mont St Jean capture and the Duke of Wellington forces trapped in La Haye Sainte like sitting ducks, Napoleon could already see victory at hand.
Again with his arrogance, he made a fatal miscalculation.
<<Slide 10>>
He ordered General Ney to launch the entire cavalry forward in his vain to show off for a grand victory.General Ney with 25,000 cavalry thundered towards La Hay Sainte. He easily trampled the battalion of artillery and saw from a fog of war the forces of the Duke of Wellington running and started making squares of infantry.
Confused because the soldiers were not firing their muskets, General Ney made a bad call and ordered a full attacked on the infantry.
<<Slide 11>>
It was a very close quarter combat that the cavalry is not trained for fighting – the strength of the infantry. As a result, there was chaos and confusion among the French cavaliers forcing them to retreat.
4:00pm
Knowing General Ney would lose his cavalry against the infantry of the Duke of Wellington, Napoleon ordered his main infantry in Mont St Jean to assault towards La Haye Sainte.
Upon seeing the advancing infantry, The Duke of Wellington centralized all his infantry and took a last stand.
5:00pm
But there was too much fog of war, and too much bloody mud on the ground, the French Armee failed to rush towards the Duke of Wellington
<<Slide 12>>
Napoleon received news that Field Marshal Blucher is fast approaching from his right. He readily dispatched Gen Grouchy to meet the Prussians but with only small cavalry left Gen Grouchy failed to stop the charging Prussians.
7:00pm
The French Grand Armee was caught in the middle. In front is square infantry the British forces and at their back is the charging Prussians.
9:00pm
In less than two hours, Napoleon lost a war that was supposed to be a victory.
<<Slide 13>>
In the retrospect, Napoleon could have easily won the battle in Waterloo. He had a brilliant strategy and he has a motivated army who is willing to die for him. Yet it was his supreme arrogance that cost him the battle. If only he listened to his generals.. the idiomatic word “Waterloo” would not mean a crushing defeat but a resounding victory.How about you fellow toastmasters? Have you met your Waterloo? I did, and many of you know what it is. Shh… keep quiet, the first lady is here!
<<Slide 14>>
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