The only thing worse than a battle lost is a battle won. Arthur Wellesley, Aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo, 1815.
Wellesley deliberately picked the battlefield, Napoleon was not at his best and did NOT know the field. The Duke planned the whole thing, including feigning the retreat, but it still was a close thing and had the Prussians been a bit late, or the intervening ground not soggy, we might all be speaking French.
Of course, he couldn't have done it without Col. Sharpe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4_1a6pBPIU