Marache (), or historically Smohain, is hamlet of
Wallonia
Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...
in the municipalities of
Lasne, district of
Plancenoit
Plancenoit (; ) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Lasne, located in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium.
The hamlet of Marache is on its territory.
The village was a key strategic point during the Battle of Wa ...
, and Waterloo, in the province of
Walloon Brabant
Walloon Brabant ( ; ; ) is a province located in Belgium's French-speaking region of Wallonia. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the province of Flemish Brabant (Flemish Region) and the provinces of Liège, Namur and Hainaut. Walloon Br ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
.
It is located in a
defile through which runs the Smohain, a stream that rises just to the west of the hamlet.
Smohain, along with the two farms of
Papelotte and
La Haye (which are located on the northern bank closer to the head of the same valley about and west of the centre of the hamlet) and the now ruined Château
Fichermont (on a premonitory south of the hamlet) formed the eastern bulwark of the
Duke of Wellington's Anglo-allied line during the
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...
on 18 June 1815.
[Papelotte is just over to the north-west of Fichermont. All these distances are given as the crow flies. The distances along the lanes that join the locations are considerably further and are given as by Jac Weller in ''Wellington at Waterloo'' as , , and respectively .]
This was a strong defensive position as:
Later in the battle it was the location where the Prussian right-hand flank joined forces with the Anglo-allies left-hand flank.
See also
*
List of Waterloo Battlefield locations
The Waterloo Battlefield is located in the municipalities of Braine-l'Alleud and Lasne and Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo, about south of Brussels, and about from the town of Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo. The ordering of the places in the list is ...
Notes
References
*
*
{{coord, 50.68073, N, 4.44252, E, display=title
Lasne
Populated places in Walloon Brabant
Waterloo Battlefield locations