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It stands along the Chaussée de Charleroi (N5), a few meters from the boundary between Plancenoit and Braine-l’Alleud (about 500 meters from the Lion’s Mound, next to the Gordon Monument and opposite the Hanoverian Monument).
So named because it is surrounded by hedges and belongs to the Sainte family.
On June 18, 1815, during the Battle of Waterloo, La Haie-Sainte Farm was the defensive center of the three strongpoints of Wellington’s army, along with the castle-farm of Hougoumont and La Papelotte Farm. The real key to Wellington’s position, it was the gateway to Mont-Saint-Jean and the road to Brussels for the French army.
Napoleon tasked General Quiot’s division, flanked by a cuirassier brigade from Milhaud’s corps, with taking the Haie Sainte, located in the center of the Allied position and defended by a battalion of the King’s German Legion (KGL).
To the east of the farmhouse, British General Picton led a counter-attack with Scottish infantry regiments. He lost his life: a stele honoring his memory can be seen a few hundred meters to the east of the farm, close to the Monument aux Hanovriens and the Monument aux Belges.
After holding out heroically all day on June 18, it wasn’t until around 6.30 p.m. that a third French assault led by Marshal Ney finally forced the forty-two surviving Hanoverians out of a thousand to abandon the site!
