The ball took place on the eve of the Battle of Quatre Bras, during the Napoleonic Wars. The guest list included almost every important officer in the Duke of Wellington's army, and therefore many important society figures. Halfway through the ball, word got through that Napoleon had crossed into Belgium - the Dukes of Richmond and Wellington withdrew to a drawing room to plan their response. Many officers took their leave to prepare for the battle, others remained until the early hours - joining the battle still in their eveningwear.

The ball itself has limited historical importance, but became a huge cultural moment. For the poets and writers of the 19th century it became a potent symbol of the close relationship between the martial and the genteel. Thackeray wrote about it in Vanity Fair, Byron also described it.

It has become one of those moments in history which is just famous. A strange quirk where the splendour of a ball merged into the savagery of a battle. It captured the imagination of artists and writers and so has been preserved.