Zuran Hill

It was a very short, if a very wet, walk from The Gravelpit to Zuran Hill. This was Napoleon’s command post for the early phases of the battle. The large tree makes it very easy to find, and the map on the stone plinth makes it easy to orientate the battlefield.

As we approached we were delighted to see the mini bus waiting at the command post. We had thought perhaps a hot drink, or even a lift to the next location. But we were soon put right on both scores.

This simplified map shows Zuran Hill on the left. It’s right beside the main road which runs through the battlefield to the Post House. Just to the left is Santon Hill. It would hard to find a better viewpoint of the left and centre of Napoleons battle line. The far right is out of sight, and while under attack during the opening stages of the battle was not critical. The main attack would be delivered just to the right of Zuran Hill towards The Pratzen Heights.

I like this line drawing which shows Napoleon directing the battle from Zuran Hill.

This view is from Santon Hill. The road in the centre is the main road to the Post House. We would walk to the right of this road towards Blasowitz and then on to Holnbilz.

If my smile looks a tad fixed, it might well be because we have just been told that we are going to walk to Blosowitz. And then we will carry on to Holnbilz where we would meet up with the mini bus.

Despite Alan Rooney’s best efforts to explain the fighting in this area, my memory of the next hour or so is of being wet and chilled, tramping through the worse mud I have ever encountered. It stuck to our shoes in layers so that they soon felt really heavy and walking became quite difficult. It was a reality check to what it must have been like for your average infantryman in this period. It was tiring to walk a couple of hundred yards, let along dash around the battlefield. It also made me realise why the battle of Waterloo was delayed because it was difficult to position the guns.

The village in the centre is probably Krug and the one behind Holubitz. This is the ground we walked over.

The same view on our wet and windy September morning

The area to the right, and the scene of the large cavalry battle.

Same area as we neared Holubitz.

The mini bus was waiting as we reached Holubitz. Alan offered us a lift to the Post House where we would have lunch. But by now the rain had ceased, and we were determined to finish the morning’s planned walk. So we all voted to walk the last half mile to the Post House.