We must view Waterloo coolly in either aspect, rendering unto Chance what belongs to Chance and to God what belongs to God. It was not in the true sense a victory, it was a lucky throw of the dice.
It’s funny to me that Hugo says this near the beginning of this chapter and then proceeds to talk more about the extreme differences between Napoleon and Wellington. Wellington was a precise planner where Napoleon leaned on genius and inspiration. He seems to see this as the “God” element, but I have a hard time accepting that.
It seems to me that yes, chance was at play… additionally you had a battle where planning paid off and Napoleon’s overconfidence about what he knew resulted in a catastrophic failure when the unkowns got him. Sometimes Hugo seems to saw off the limb he’s chosen to sit on 😂