Description
The Franklin Mint Waterloo Chess Set.
Offered here is an original Franklin Mint Waterloo Chess Set. The chess set contains 32 Pewter portrait sculptures mounted atop Red and Blue enameled and cushioned pedestals. The pewter-finished playing area has a dark hardwood encasement. The top of chess board lifts up to reveal separate storage compartments for each of the thirty-two chess pieces. The Chess Board Measures 13.5″ x 13.5″. The chess pieces are complete and in excellent condition.
The French Army consists of the following characters.
- The King: Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte
- The Queen: Empress Marie-Louise
- The Bishops: Marshall Emanuel Marquis De Grouchy; Marshall Michael Ney, Prince of the Moskowa
- The Knights: Lieutenant-General Francois-Etinenne Kellermann, Lieutenant-General Claude Pajol
- The Rooks: The Imperial Eagle
- The Pawns, Various French Military Units
- The King: Arthur R. Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
- The Queen: Catherine, Duchess of Wellington
- The Bishops: Marshall Gebhard Leberecht Vvn Blücher, Prince of Wahlstadt; William, Prince of Orange-Nassau
- The Knights: Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton; Lieutenant-General The Earl of Uxbridge
- The Rooks: The Heraldic Lion of Flanders and England
- The Pawns, Various Military Units
History:
The Battle of Waterloo, which took place near Waterloo in present day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The battle was joined on Sunday, June 18, 1815. It marked the final defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte, who conquered much of Europe in the early 19th century. Napoleon rose through the ranks of the French army during the French Revolution. He seized control of the French government in 1799 and became emperor in 1804. Through a series of wars, he expanded his empire across western and central Europe. The Battle of Waterloo, in which Napoleon’s forces were defeated by the British and Prussians, marked the end of his reign and of France’s domination in Europe. The French army, under the command of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, was defeated by two armiers. The armies were the Seventh Coalition: a British-led Allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington, and a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prince of Wahlstadt. The battle marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The defeat at Waterloo ended Napoleon’s rule as Emperor of the French, and marked the end of his Hundred Days return from exile. This ended the First French Empire, and set a chronological milestone between serial European wars and decades of relative peace.
The battlefield is located about 2 kilometers from the town of Waterloo. The site of the battlefield today is dominated by a large monument, the Lion’s Mound. Since this mound was constructed from earth taken from the battlefield itself, the topography of the battlefield near the mound has not been preserved.
