On June 18, 1815, the combined forces of Austria, Russia, Great Britain, and Prussia under the leadership of the British General Arthur Wellesly Wellington, engaged the army of the French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte in a climatic battle to decide the outcome of the war for the European continent. There, near the Belgium town of Waterloo, those two armies collided in fierce combat. By prearranged agreement, the British army at the end of the day was to signal back to the coast the outcome of that battle through a series of smoke signals. The message would then be communicated across the English Channel and hand delivered to the King of England in the city of London.

As evening approached at the end of that day's fierce fighting, in which more than 25,000 men lost their lives, English c…