Product Description:
- Exquisitely ornate
- Hand Painted
- 3.25 inch King
- Presented with a beautiful Spanish board
THE PIECES
Fronted by the easily recognizable Bonaparte and Wellington, each King is accompanied by his respective Lady, Josephine and Catherine. With the French adorned in navy and the British in red, the bishops are smartly uniformed officers with the knights as mounted cavalry. The pawns are infantry bearing firearms but represented as cannons with the flag of the relevant countries flying above> The rooks in this set are the most noticeable pieces on the field.
With a beautiful 15.75 inch Walnut and Maple board from Spain this makes a very nice chess set. The Battle of Waterloo Chess Pieces are also available without the board. Either way, this would make a superb gift.
THE HISTORY
At the hands of by the Duke of Wellington and Prince of Wahlstatt (Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher), 18th June 1815 at Waterloo not only saw Bonaparte’s defeat and the end of his rule, but it also marked the end of his Hundred Days return from exile. According to Wellington, the conflict was ‘the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life’.
The battlefield, which at the time was part of the United Kingdom of the Netherland, is located about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the town of Waterloo and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of Brussels. Today the site of the battlefield is marked by the Lion’s Mound. As soil was taken from the original battlefield to construct this large monument, the original site has not been preserved.
