18 June 1815
Waxing Gibbous, 89% lit
Waterloo
The armies at Waterloo spent the night before the battle soaked to the skin under a 91% moon they mostly could not see.
The downpour turned the fields to mud, which delayed Napoleon's attack by hours while he waited for the ground to dry enough to move artillery. Those hours were roughly the margin by which the Prussians arrived in time.
- Date
- 18 June 1815
- Moon computed for
- 11:00 local time, UTC+0:17
- Phase
- Waxing Gibbous
- Illuminated
- 89%
Source: National Army Museum