The famous battle in 1815 that marked the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte was the Battle of Waterloo. Fought near the town of Waterloo in present-day Belgium, this pivotal conflict involved Napoleon's French forces against a coalition army led by the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. The defeat ended Napoleon's rule as Emperor of the French and led to his exile to Saint Helena, altering the course of European history and signaling the end of the Napoleonic Wars.