Historical instance where someone showing up late lost them the battle

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Napoleon’s Lost Battle at Waterloo
On 18th June 1815, a coalition of German, Dutch-Belgian, British, and Prussian forces defeated Napoleon at the Waterloo’s Battle because of the latter’s late preparation (History.com Staff n.p. and Cathcart 46). This defeat led to the ouster of Napoleon from power in France, forcing him to resort to exile in St. Helena, South Atlantic Island. While at St. Helena, Napoleon took most of his time reflecting on how he lost a battle that he should have won. Major General Napoleon was used to winning all wars he ever fought, but his lateness in the Battle of Waterloo, 1815 made him lose conquest to Field Marshal Gebhard von Blucher and Duke of Wellington.
Born on 15th August 1769 in Corsica, Napoleon grew up to become one of the most respected military schemers in history. During the 1790s, Napoleon quickly rose through the ranks of the French Army. In 1799, Europe waged war against France; Napoleon felt the need to take leadership and save his country from collapsing (History.com Staff n.p.). After rising to the consul position in 1800, Napoleon reorganized the French army to take on Europe and other enemies of France. Napoleon’s military tactics and organization could not be matched with any warrior or General of his time (Barbero and Cullen 234). According to Barbero and Cullen, Napoleon’s brilliant battlefield tactics and the modernity of his army enabled him to win nearly all the wars that he fought and that made the most powerful person in France in the 19th century (p.

238).
Unlike many commanders, Napoleon fought and won several battles under different conditions. He defeated almost the entire Europe using his French Revolution Army. When it became apparent that Napoleon was determined to conquer and convert the whole of Europe to French territory, powerful nations allied against Napoleon. Famous in this alliance were the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Russia, Spain, Austria, and several other small countries. Napoleon mastery of mass warfare enabled him to sail through and continue his intention. Nevertheless, like any other great Army General, Napoleon made a single mistake that cost him his victory at Waterloo.
Both Wellington and Napoleon were aware of the indefeasibility of Butcher’s Prussian Army. Wellington recognized that Napoleon would defeat him if Blucher’s Army would fail to come to his rescue. Napoleon knew as well that he would have trouble conquering the Prussians and the British on the same front. Despite this fact, Napoleon was in a dilemma, compelling him to make a hard choice. Two days before the war at Waterloo, Napoleon had fought and won against Blucher’s Prussian Army at Ligny (Cathcart 67). His soldiers were still tired, and it had rained throughout the night before the Waterloo’s Battle. Thus, Napoleon had to decide whether to convince his troops to face the weather and take an early lead in the Battle or wait for the ground to dry up so that he could take on his assailants (British Army) on the following day. Nevertheless, waiting for another day meant that Napoleon would risk the reinforcement of the British Army by the Prussians’.
Napoleon overlooked this risk of lateness and decided to wait for one more day so that the ground could dry. Blutcher reinforced Wellington’s British Army with over 50, 000 soldiers, doubling the Napoleon’s French Revolution Army (Cathcart 69). The British-Prussian Army also marked their territories and launched an attack on the French Army earlier than Napoleon had expected. As a result, Napoleon did not get time to regroup and re-organize his army against the coalition, leading to his unexpected defeat. Had Napoleon attacked British Army earlier in the morning or at night, Blucher’s Prussian soldiers would not have found it easy to come to the Waterloo battleground.

Work Cited
Barbero, Alessandro, and John Cullen. The Battle: A New History of Waterloo. New York, N.Y: Walker & Co, 2006. Internet resource.
Cathcart, Brian. The News from Waterloo: The Race to Tell Britain of Wellington’s Victory. , 2015.
History.com Staff. “Napoleon Defeated at Waterloo.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2010, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/napoleon-defeated-at-waterloo.