One of my greatest ironies is how little I will defend Napoleon. Most of the time I will speak highly of his generals and coolly on the Emperor. This has more to do with my own view of Napoleon (being a skilled commander but poor diplomat) but also recognizing how everything was given to Napoleon. However, if there was a battle where Napoleon had the least amount of mistakes but resulted in his defeat, it would be Waterloo.

First and foremost, it has a lot to do with Napoleon's own personal style of command. He did little to encourage the growth of independent command skill and had to make do with what he had. During the Hundred Days, the Marshalate was divided; some like Davout and Outinot were waiting for Napoleon in Paris during his return while others like Marmont sided with the King, while others like Massena simply let Napoleon go forth and did nothing to support or resist him.

Second, he didn't have the best of the best. Marshal Soult was Napoleon's Chief of Staff, making many mistakes and generally showing that Berthier was an under appreciated genius. Further he promoted others like Grouchy whom had little experience outside of the cavalry corps and Ney, whom was an ideal Division commander but a mediocre Corps commander. Even worse, Davout, his best Marshal, was Minster of War in Paris as Napoleon hoped he could organize the conscription as best as possible.

Back to Ney and Grouchy. In another post I wrote that I cannot get right now, Ney was suffering from PTSD and did many poor commands, particularly the cavalry attack on the British guns. These types of acts ruined Napoleon's ability to defeat Wellesley. Worse, Grouchy wad nowhere to be seen during the campaign. He failed to hold the Prussians away from Napoleon and when needed, wasn't anywhere near Waterloo, where he could have proven useful. Further, a pox on Soult for poorly recommending the usage of the Guard.

The problem is that Waterloo was the climax to a campaign that didn't have enough time to be fully realized. Davout was loyal to the end and did a masterful defense of Paris until he was ordered to stand down. Grouchy was nowhere when necessary and Ney took his punishment with the bravery of a lion.