The Battle of Waterloo was a conflict on June 18, 1815, during the Hundred Days, the period from Napoleon’s escape from exile to the return of Louis XVIII. Fought near Waterloo village, Belgium, it pitted Napoleon's 72,000 French troops against the duke of Wellington’s army of 68,000 (British, Dutch, Belgian, and German soldiers) aided by 45,000 Prussians under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. Napoleon was defeated, and he was exiled for the final time.