Sean Bean on Waterloo: Napoleon's Greatest Defeat Explained

Hollywood actor Sean Bean tells the story of Waterloo, one of the most decisive battles in history. Sean's journey of discovery was inspired by his own experiences playing Napoleonic soldier Richard Sharpe in TV films based on Bernard Cornwell's bestselling novels. In his programs, he draws on the eyewitness accounts of the soldiers who fought at Waterloo to recount the dramatic events of June 18, 1815 as they were experienced by the ordinary soldiers who fought. He reconstructs the chronology of the battle and visits some of the legendary places where the outcome was decided, notably the buildings of Hougoumont which witnessed the most violent fighting. He also meets the descendants of some of the soldiers who fought at Waterloo, to find out how they remember the exploits of their ancestors.

To bring their stories to life, he works alongside current British Army soldiers and military history experts and stages practical experiences that bring him closer to the reality of fighting at Waterloo. At the Royal Armories, Leeds, he fired an original Waterloo musket, loaded with live ammunition, and took part in an experiment to test the damage caused by original Waterloo cavalry swords. He works with reenactors from the Napoleonic Association to learn more about the infantry and artillery tactics used in the battle. He also witnesses the damage caused by an original Waterloo cannon using live ammunition.

In Belgium, he meets the archaeologist responsible for the unique discovery of the skeleton of a Waterloo soldier who died during the battle and whose remains remained unknown on the battlefield for almost 200 years, at the precise location where the soldier is dead.

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