The major battle in 1815 that marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars was the Battle of Waterloo. This decisive confrontation took place on June 18, 1815, in present-day Belgium. The battle pitted the French army, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, against a coalition army commanded by the Duke of Wellington and Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. The defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo effectively ended his rule as Emperor of the French and led to his exile on the island of Saint Helena. This battle also reshaped the political landscape of Europe and initiated a lengthy period of relative peace known as the Concert of Europe.