The forces commanded by the Duke of Wellington at Quatre-Bras and Waterloo included two infantry divisions and three cavalry brigades of the newly unified ('Dutch-Belgian') army of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, mostly led by veteran officers who had served under Napoleon. The part played by these troops - particularly in holding the vital crossroads of Quatre-Bras, at the insistence of their own commanders - has often been unjustly dismissed by British commentators. In this book the history, organisation, uniforms and battle record of the Dutch units of this army are explained and illustrated in detail by two experienced researchers in Continental archives, and illustrated with many rare portraits as well as meticulous colour plates.

Ronald Pawly was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1956 and still lives and works in that city. He is a respected member of several international societies for Napoleonic studies, and an expert on 19th century military portraiture. He is the author of the monumental The Red Lancers: Anatomy of a Napoleonic Regiment (Crowood Press, 1998), and of a study of Napoleonic veterans' tombs in Belgium. He has previously written for Osprey Men-at-Arms 355, Wellington's Belgian Allies 1815; MAA 371, Wellington's Dutch Allies 1815; MAA 371, Napoleon's Red Lancers; MAA 378, Napoleon's Guards of Honour; and Elite 115, Napoleon's Imperial Headquarters (1): Organization & Personnel.