Marache Explained

Marache, or historically Smohain, is hamlet of Wallonia in the municipalities of Lasne, district of Plancenoit, and Waterloo, in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium.

It is located in a defile through which runs the Smohain, a stream that rises just to the west of the hamlet.^[1]

Smohain, along with the two farms of Papelotte and La Haye (which are located on the northern bank closer to the head of the same valley about 600m (2,000feet) and 430m (1,410feet) west of the centre of the hamlet) and the now ruined Château Fichermont (on a premonitory 350m (1,150feet) south of the hamlet) formed the eastern bulwark of the Duke of Wellington's Anglo-allied line during the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815.^[2]

This was a strong defensive position as:

Later in the battle it was the location where the Prussian right-hand flank joined forces with the Anglo-allies left-hand flank.

See also

• List of Waterloo Battlefield locations

References

50.6807°N 4.4425°W

Notes and References

1. At the time of the Battle of Waterloo the hamlet was frequently referred to as Smohain and today La Marache is the usual name of the hamlet (see). The postal address of "Route de la Marache" is 1380 Lasne, Belgium. The western end of the Route de la Marache is the Chemin des Cosaques and is located in the commune of Waterloo with the postcode 1410.
2. Papelotte is just over 800m (2,600feet) to the north-west of Fichermont. All these distances are given as the crow flies. The distances along the lanes that join the locations are considerably further and are given as by Jac Weller in Wellington at Waterloo as 900yards, 630yards, 540yards and 1170yards respectively .