It is located in a defile through which runs the Smohain, a stream that rises just to the west of the hamlet.[1]
Smohain, along with the two farms of Papelotte and La Haye (which are located on the northern bank closer to the head of the same valley about 600 metres (660 yd) and 430 metres (470 yd) west of the centre of the hamlet) and the now ruined Château Fichermont (on a premonitory 350 metres (380 yd) south of the hamlet) formed the eastern bulwark of the Duke of Wellington's Anglo-allied line during the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815.[2]
This was a strong defensive position as:
all these roads cut so deeply into the sandy clay hillside as a present extreme problems for cavalry or infantry in formation trying to cross them. The small stream running through marshland, the sunken roads and the defile itself were considerable military obstacles, particularly in view of the wet condition of the countryside on 18 June 1815.[3]
Later in the battle it was the location where the Prussian right-hand flank joined forces with the Anglo-allies left-hand flank.[4]
^At the time of the Battle of Waterloo the hamlet was frequently referred to as Smohain and today La Marache is the usual name of the hamlet (see (Weller 2010, p. 134)). The postal address of "Route de la Marache" is 1380 Lasne, Belgium. The western end of the Route de la Marache is the Chemin des Cosaques and is located in the commune of Waterloo with the postcode 1410.
^Papelotte is just over 800 metres (870 yd) to the north-west of Fichermont. All these distances are given as the crow flies. The distances along the lanes that join the locations are considerably further and are given as by Jac Weller in Wellington at Waterloo as 820 metres (900 yd), 580 metres (630 yd), 490 metres (540 yd) and 1,070 metres (1,170 yd) respectively (Weller 2010, p. 134).