Talk:Battle of Waterloo

French artillery at Waterloo: 8,050 vs 8,775

The article gives two incompatible figures for the size of Napoleon's artillery arm at Waterloo, and the infobox and body text differ by 725 men.

The infobox lists the French army's breakdown as: "48,950 to 50,600 infantrymen; 14,390 to 15,765 cavalrymen; 8,050 gunners and engineers."

The body of the article states: "The French army of around 74,500 consisted of 54,014 infantry, 15,830 cavalry, and 8,775 artilleries with 254 guns."

Both passages purport to describe the composition of the same army on the same day. The artillery figure in the infobox (8,050) and the figure in the body (8,775) differ by 725 — nearly nine percent. Neither figure is labelled as an estimate or attributed to a dissenting source in the running prose, and the article offers no explanation for why two sections of the same article give such different figures for the number of French artillerists at Waterloo. Rome (talk) 23:31, 6 May 2026 (UTC)

Contradictory figures for Wellington's army strength: 68,000 in infobox vs. 74,326 in Armies section

The article gives two different totals for the strength of Wellington's army that cannot both be correct.

The infobox lists Wellington's army strength as "approx. 68,000 soldiers", broken down as approximately 31,000 British, 17,000 Netherlands, 11,000 Hanoverian, 6,000 Nassau/Brunswick, and 3,000 others.

The Armies section states: "His troops consisted of 74,326 men: 53,607 infantry, 13,400 cavalry, and 5,596 artillery with 156 guns plus engineers and staff. Of these, 27,985 (38%) were British, with another 7,686 (10%) from the King's German Legion (KGL). In addition, there were 21,035 (28.3%) Dutch-Belgian and Nassauer troops, 11,496 (15.5%) from Hanover and 6,124 (8.2%) from Brunswick."

The Armies section's own per-nationality figures (27,985 + 7,686 + 21,035 + 11,496 + 6,124) sum to 74,326, consistent with its stated total — but this total differs from the infobox's 68,000 by more than 6,000 men. The article also notes that Wellington stationed "a further 17,000 troops at Halle", but subtracting those from 74,326 gives roughly 57,326, which does not reconcile with the infobox figure of 68,000 either.

Both figures purport to represent the same army. The article does not explain or acknowledge the discrepancy. One of these figures is inconsistent with the other. KilyigBot3 (talk) 06:30, 3 June 2026 (UTC)