Bible Encyclopedias
Waterloo Campaign

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1 Corps Map I.

Blucher's Prussian army of 116,000 men, with headquarters at Namur, was distributed as follows:

I. Corps (Zieten), 30,800, cantoned along the Sambre, headquarters Charleroi, and covering the area Fontaine 1'Eveque-Fleurus-Moustier.

II. Corps (Pirch I.), 31,000, headquarters at Namur, lay in the area NamurHannut-Huy.

III. Corps (Thielemann), 23,900, in the bend of the river Meuse, headquarters Ciney, and disposed in the area Dinant-Huy-Ciney.

IV. Corps (Biilow), 30,300, with headquarters at Liege, around that place.

The frontier in front of Binche, Charleroi and Dinant was watched by the Prussian outposts.

Thus the allied front extended for nearly 90 m. across Belgium, and the mean depth of their cantonments was 30 m. To concentrate the whole army on either flank would take six days, and on the common centre, about Charleroi, three days.

The allies had foreseen the very manoeuvre that Napoleon designed to put into execution, and had decided that if an attempt were made to break their centre they would concentrate forwards and on their inner flanks, the Anglo-Dutch army forming up at Gosselies and the Prussians at Fleurus. Here they would be in contact, and ready to act united against Napoleon with a numerical superiority of two to one. The necessary three days' warning of the French concentration they felt certain they would obtain, for Napoleon's troops were at this juncture distributed over an area (Lille-Metz-Paris) of 175 m. by 100 m.; and to concentrate the French army unknown to, and unobserved by, the allies, within striking distance and before they had moved a man to meet the onrush of the foe, was unthinkable. But, as in 1800, it was the unthinkable that happened.

It will be seen that Blucher covered Fleurus, his concentration point, by Zieten's corps, in the hope of being able to collect his army round Fleurus in the time that Zieten would secure for him by a yielding fight. Wellington on the other hand was far less satisfactorily placed; for in advance of Gosselies he had placed only a cavalry screen, which would naturally be too weak to gain him the requisite time to mass there. Hence his ability to concentrate hung on the mere good luck of obtaining timely information of Napoleon's plans, which in fact he failed to obtain. But the two tracts of country covered by the allies differed vastly in configuration. Blucher's left was protected by the difficult country of the Ardennes. On the other hand, the duke's whole section lay close to an open frontier across which ran no fewer than four great roads, and the duke considered that his position "required, for its protection, a system of occupation quite different from that adopted by the Prussian army." He naturally relied on his secret service to warn him in such time as would enable him to mass and meet the foe. His reserve was well placed to move rapidly and promptly in any direction and give support wherever required.

The emperor made his final preparations with the utmost secrecy. The Army of the North was to concentrate in three fractions - around Solre, Beaumont and Philippeville - as close to Charleroi as was practicable; and he arranged to screen the initial movements of the troops as much as possible, so as to prevent the allies from discovering in time that their centre was aimed at. He directed that the movements of the troops when they drew near the allied outposts should be covered as far as possible by accidents of ground, for there was no great natural screen to cover his strategical concentration.

Gerard and the IV. Corps from Metz, having the longest distance to go, started first (on June 6), and soon the whole army was The in motion for the selected points of concentration, French every effort being made to hide the movements of the concen. troops. On June 1 t Napoleon himself left Paris for tratlon. the front, and by June 14 he had achieved almost the impossible itself; for there, at Solre, Beaumont and Philippeville, lay his mass of men, 124,000 strong, concentrated under his hand without rousing the enemy's suspicions, and ready to march across the frontier at dawn. Far different were things on the other side of the Sambre. The allies were still resting in fancied security, dispersed throughout widely distant cantonments; for nothing but vague rumours had reached them, and they had not moved a man to meet the enemy.

The opposing armies were of very different quality. Wellington's was a collection of many nationalities; the kernel being composed of his trusty and tenacious British and King's German Legion troops, numbering only 42,000 men. Of the remainder many were far from enthusiastic in the cause for which they had perforce to take up arms, and might prove a source of weakness should victory incline to the French eagles. Blucher's army was undoubtedly more homogeneous, and though it is doubtful if he possessed any troops of the same quality as Wellington's best, on the other hand he had no specially weak elements.

Napoleon was at the head of a veteran army of Frenchmen, who worshipped their leader and were willing to die for France if necessity demanded. But there were lines of weakness, too, in his army. He had left Marshal Davout behind in Paris, and Murat in disgrace; Suchet was far off on the eastern frontier, and Clausel was in the south of France. The political reasons for these arrangements may have been cogent, but they injured France at the very outset. Marshal Soult was appointed chief of the staff, a post for which he possessed very few qualifications; and, when the campaign began, command of the left and right wings had perforce to be given to the only two marshals available, Ney and Grouchy, who did not possess the ability or strategic skill necessary for such positions. Again, the army was morally weakened by a haunting dread of treason, and some of the chiefs, Ney for example, took the field with disturbing visions of the consequences of their late betrayal of the Bourbon cause, in case of Napoleon's defeat. Finally, the army was too small for its object. Herein Napoleon showed that he was no longer the Napoleon of Austerlitz; for he left locked up in far-distant secondary theatres no less than 56,500 men, of whom he could have collected some 30,000 to 36,000 for the decisive campaign in Belgium. Had he made in 1815 the wise distribution of his soldiers in the theatre of war which he made in his former immortal campaigns, he would have concentrated 155,000 to 160,000 of his available force opposite to Charleroi on June 14, and the issue of the campaign would hardly have been in doubt. But he failed to do so, and by taking the field with such inferior numbers he left too much to Fortune.

For his advance into Belgium in 1815 Napoleon divided his army into two wings and a reserve. As the foe would lie away to his right and left front after he had passed the Sambre, one wing would be pushed up towards Wellington and another towards Blucher; whilst the mass of the reserve would be centrally placed so as to strike on either side, as soon as a force of the enemy worth destroying was encountered and gripped. To this end he had, on the 14th, massed his left wing (Reille and D'Erlon) around Solre, and his right wing (Gerard) at Philippeville; whilst the central mass (Vandamme, Lobau, the Guard and the Cavalry Reserve) lay around Beaumont.

The orders for the French advance next day, among the finest ever issued, directed that the army should march at dawn and move to the Sambre at Marchienne and Charleroi. By evening it was expected that the whole would have crossed the Sambre, and would bivouac between the sundered allies.

But at the very outset delays occurred. Owing to an accident that befell the single orderly despatched with orders for Vandamme, the III. Corps remained without other definite The orders than those issued on June 13, warning them to passage be ready to move at 3 A.M. The corps therefore stood fast on the morning of June 15, awaiting further Sambre. instructions. This was the more unfortunate as Vandamme was destined to lead the advance on Charleroi by the centre road. But the emperor regarded it merely as "an unfortunate accident," nothing more, and the advance in two wings and a reserve continued, undisturbed by such occurrences.

Gerard, too, was late in starting, for his corps had not been fully concentrated over-night. Zieten's outposts on the right bank of the Sambre gained still further time, for they fought stubbornly to retard the French advance on Marchienne and Charleroi. But Zieten declined, and very wisely, to fight on the right bank, and he made the most of the screen afforded by the little river. He had to delay the French advance for 24 hours and give time for Blucher's concentration, at the same time retaining his own freedom of manoeuvre, and this in spite of the great length of the summer day, the short distance that he lay 'in front of Fleurus, the tremendous numerical superiority of the French and Napoleon's personal presence at their head.

When the French left wing and centre reached the Sambre bridges, at Marchienne and Charleroi, they found them held and strongly barricaded, and the cavalry were powerless to force the passage. It was nearing noon when the emperor reached the front with the Young Guard, whom he had personally hurried forward. He immediately took action, and under his direction the bridge at Charleroi was stormed shortly after noon. Almost at the same time Reille forced the passage at Marchienne. Instead of drawing his corps together and retreating en masse up the Fleurus road, Zieten wisely withdrew on two roads, using those to Quatre Bras and Fleurus. The defenders of Marchienne used the former, while the brigade which had held Charleroi fell back by the latter. The emperor at once began the advance along both the roads. The left wing was directed to push up the Gosselies-Quatre Bras road, and Pajol's cavalry followed the Prussians who retired along the Gilly-Fleurus road. The emperor took post at Charleroi. About 3 P.M. Marshal Ney joined the army, was given the command of the left wing, and ordered to drive the Prussians out of Gosselies, and clear the road northward of that place. Ney took over his command just when the attack on Gosselies was impending. The Prussians were driven from the town, but they managed to effect a roundabout retreat to Ligny, where they rallied. Ney pushed on his advance up the Brussels road. When he had left for the front, the emperor proceeded with Grouchy to reconnoitre the Prussian position at Gilly; and handing over the command of the right wing to the marshal, whom he ordered to capture Gilly, Napoleon returned to Charleroi, to hasten the passage of the French army across the Sambre and mass it in the gap between the allies. But the head of Vandamme's corps had by this time crossed the river, and the emperor ordered it to assist Grouchy.

What meanwhile were the allies doing? There is no doubt that, surprised by the suddenness of the French advance, they were caught unprepared. But on the r 5th the critical nature of the situation dawned on them, and naturally on Blucher first, as his headquarters

were nearer to the frontier than Wellington's, and Blucher had had previous experience of Napoleon's powers. As soon as the Prussian marshal got the first real warning of imminent danger, he ordered (in accordance with the prearranged plan) an immediate concentration of his army on his inner flank at Sombreffe. Unfortunately for him the first orders sent to Billow by Gneisenau, chief of the staff, at midnight June 14-1 5, were written in so stilted and hazy a style that Billow did not consider any especial display of energy was required. Hence the IV. Corps was neutralized until after the 16th. The other two corps commanders (Pirch I. and Thielemann) received clearer orders, and acted promptly enough. They concentrated their scattered men and hastened to march to the appointed rendezvous. By nightfall Pirch I. had bivouacked the II. Corps at Mazy, only 4 m. short of Sombreffe, and Thielemann and the III. Corps had reached Namur, within easy distance of the Ligny battlefield. Blucher wisely shifted his own headquarters to Sombreffe on the afternoon of the r 5th.

Wellington's position at nightfall was very different, and can hardly be termed safe or even satisfactory. Definite news of the French advance only reached Brussels about 3 P.M. on the 15th; and even then the duke was by no means certain of the direction of Napoleon's main stroke. Hence the first orders he issued were for his divisions to concentrate at their respective alarm-posts, intending later to send them further orders when the situation had somewhat cleared up. For whatever reasons, Wellington thought Napoleon would attempt to turn his right and cut his line of communications. Had Napoleon attempted this he would (if successful) have driven the Anglo-Dutch army back upon the Prussians, instead of separating the allies, as he actually tried to do and very nearly succeeded in doing. Failing to appreciate this fully, Wellington omitted to order an immediate concentration on his inner (left) flank as Blucher had done, and the danger of Blucher's position was thus enormously increased. Curiously enough, the allies do not appear to have decided upon the course to be taken in case they were surprised, as they virtually were, and their system of intercommunication - if system it can be called - was most imperfect. They ought to have arranged loyally and promptly to let each other know every move it was proposed to make and the reasons for moving, for thus only could concerted action be ensured when confronted with Napoleon, "in whose presence it was so little safe to make ... a false movement." Wellington's subordinates at the critical point, however, acted with admirable boldness. Prince Bernard, in command of a brigade at Quatre Bras and Frasnes, recognizing the pressing danger that threatened on the Brussels road, retained his position there to check the French advance, instead of drawing off westwards and massing with the rest of his division at Nivelles; and in this action he was firmly supported by his immediate superiors. It was due to their presence of mind that Wellington maintained his hold on the important strategical point of Quatre Bras on June 15 and 16. Consequently, as Ney's wing advanced northward from Gosselies along the Brussels road, it came upon an advanced detachment 6f this force at Frasnes. The detachment was quickly forced to retire on its supports at the cross-roads, but here Prince Bernard firmly held his position; and by his skilful use of cover and the high standing corn he prevented the French gauging the weakness of the small force that barred their way. The day was now drawing to a close, and Ney decided wisely not to push his advance any farther. He was in front of a force of unknown strength which appeared resolved to stand its ground, his men were tired, and the cannon-thunder to his right rear proclaimed clearly that Grouchy had not made much headway on the Fleurus road. To push on farther might isolate the left wing among a host of allies. He therefore halted his command, and, later, made a report to the emperor.

Meanwhile two long hours had been wasted on the right whilst Grouchy and Vandamme deliberated over their plan of action in front of the Prussian brigade at Gilly; and it was not until the emperor himself again reached the front, about 5.30 P.M., that vigour replaced indecision. There was a brief bombardment, and then Vandamme's corps was sent forward with the bayonet to drive out the foe. The shock was too great; the Prussians gave way immediately and were chased back into the woods by cavalry. Grouchy now pushed on towards Fleurus, which was still held by Blucher's troops, and there the advance came to a. halt, as the light was failing and the troops exhausted.

Thus, thanks to Zieten's fine delaying action, Blucher by nightfall on June 15 had secured most of the ground requisite for his pre-arranged concentration; for one corps was in position, and two others were at hand. Billow's corps was unavailable, for the reason already given, but of this fact Blucher was still necessarily ignorant. Wellington, owing to his original dispositions and the slowness of his concentration, had only retained a grip on Quatre Bras thanks to the boldness of his subordinates on the spot. His other troops were assembling: I. Corps, Nivelles, Braine-le-Comte and Enghien; II. Corps, Ath, Grammont and Sotteghem; heavy cavalry at Ninove; Reserve at Brussels. During the night of the r 5th orders were sent for the divisions to move eastwards towards Nivelles, and at dawn the Reserve marched for Mt. S. Jean. Thus Wellington did not even yet realize the full significance of the emperor's opening moves.

But if the intelligence which the duke rightly relied on had come to hand on the r 5th, it cannot be doubted that he would have effected a more expeditious concentration on his inner flank. His trusted intelligence officer, Colonel Colquhoun Grant, was at this time in France, and it had been arranged that his reports. should be received at the duke's outposts by General DOrnberg, for transmission to the duke. On June 15 Grant wrote to Wellington stating that the French were advancing, and that French officers spoke freely about a decisive action being fought within three days. But Dornberg, arrogating to himself the right of selecting the reports which were worth forwarding, sent it back, saying that, so far from convincing him that the emperor was advancing to give battle, it assured him of the contrary. Owing to this officer's presumptuous folly Grant's information only reached the duke on June 18, too late to be of use.

The Army of the North on this night was disposed as follows: - The left wing stretched from Frasnes back to the Sambre at Marchienne and Thuin. Reille's corps was to the front and was covered by the light cavalry of the Guard and Pire's lancers. Ney's headquarters were at Gosselies; one division (Girard's) was at Wangenies and acted as a link between the two wings. The right wing, under Grouchy, had come to a halt in front of Fleurus. It was covered by Pajol's and Exelmans' cavalry corps. Vandamme's was the leading infantry corps, and it bivouacked with its head at Winage. Gerard's corps (with which was Kellermann's cuirassier corps) halted astride the Sambre at Chatelet. Gerard's advance had been delayed owing to the commander of his leading division deserting with his staff to the Prussians. Consequently the IV. Corps had not assisted at all in the passage of the river; though had it only been present, it would have been magnificently placed to co-operate with Grouchy in the action of Gilly. Thus each of these strategical covering forces was itself protected by an adequate tactical advanced guard, to perform the service of local protection. The centre (or reserve) was meanwhile disposed as follows: The Guard was halted between Gilly and Charleroi; the emperor's headquarters being at the latter place. Milhaud's Cuirassier corps and Lobau's (VI.) corps were south of the Sambre, between Charleroi and Jamioulx. In this particular the execution on June 15 fell short of the original conception, for at nightfall about one-third of the French army was still on the right bank of the river. This, however, signified little, for the emperor still occupied a dominant strategical position.

Napoleon had now perfected his arrangements for the invasion of Belgium, and his army was organized definitely in two wings and a reserve; the latter being so placed that it could be brought "into action on either wing as circumstances dictated." As circumstances dictated, either wing would fasten upon one of the allied armies and detain it until the reserve had time to come up and complete its destruction; the other wing meantime detaining the other allied army and preventing its commander from coming to his colleague's assistance. The emperor was not in possession of the Namur-Nivelles road. The allies were thus afforded an opportunity of committing the very blunder which Napoleon longed for, namely to attempt a risky forward concentration. His dispositions on the night of the r5th-16th were skilfully calculated to encourage the allies to mass at Quatre Bras and Sombreffe, and his covering force were pushed sufficiently forward - to Frasnes and Fleurus - to grip whichever ally adventured his army first. At nightfall the Army of the North lay concentrated "in a square whose sides measured 12 m. each; and it could with ,equal facility swing against the Prussians or the Anglo-Dutch, and was already placed between them." Early on the morning of June r6 Prince Bernard was reinforced at Quatre Bras by the rest of his division (Perponcher's); and Wellington's other troops were now all on the march eastward except the reserve, who were heading southwards and halted at the cross-road of Mt. S. Jean until the duke had resolved that their objective should be Quatre Bras. They then marched in that direction. Blucher meanwhile was making his arrangements to hold a position to the south of the Namur-Nivelles road and thus maintain uninterrupted communication with Wellington at Quatre Bras. In this way he would keep open the Namur road, and also that from Gembloux for Billow's arrival.

Napoleon spent the early morning in closing up his army, and writing what proved to be the most important letter of the campaign to Ney (Charleroi, about 8 A.M.): "I have adopted as the general principle for this campaign to divide my army into two wings and a reserve.... The Guard will form the reserve, and I shall bring it into action on either wing just as circumstances dictate.... According to circumstances I shall weaken one wing to strengthen my reserve...." Here, in its simplest form, is the principle that underlies Napoleon's strategy in 1815. Only on the wing on which the reserve is brought into action will a decisive result be aimed at. The other is to be used exclusively to neutralize the other enemy, by holding him at bay.

Napoleon's original plan for the 16th was based on the assumption that the allies, who had been caught napping, would not attempt a risky forward concentration; and he intended therefore to push an advanced guard as far as Gembloux, for the purpose of feeling for and warding off Blucher. To assist this operation the reserve would move at first to Fleurus to reinforce Grouchy, should he need assistance in driving back Blucher's troops; but, once in possession of Sombreffe, the emperor would swing the reserve westwards and join Ney, who, it was supposed, would have in the meantime mastered Quatre Bras. In pursuance of this object Ney, to whom Kellermann was now attached, was to mass at Quatre Bras and push an advanced guard 6 m. northward of that place, with a connecting division at Marbais to link him with Grouchy. The centre and left wing together would then make a night-march to Brussels. The allies would thus be irremediably sundered, and all that remained would be to destroy them in detail. Napoleon now awaited further information from his wing commanders at Charleroi, where he massed the VI. Corps (Lobau), to save it, if possible, from a harassing countermarch, as it appeared likely that it would only be wanted for the march to Brussels. Ney spent the morning in massing his two corps, and in reconnoitring the enemy at Quatre Bras, who, as he was informed, had been reinforced. But up till noon he took no serious step to capture the cross-roads, which then lay at his mercy. Grouchy meantime reported from Fleurus that Prussian masses were coming up from Namur, but Napoleon does not appear to have attached much importance to this report. He was still at Charleroi when, between 9 and To A.M., further news reached him from the left that considerable hostile forces were visible at Quatre Bras. He at once wrote to Ney saying that these could only be some of Wellington's troops, and that Ney was to concentrate his force and crush what was in front of him, adding that he was to send all reports to Fleurus. Then, keeping Lobau provisionally at Charleroi, Napoleon hastened to Fleurus, arriving about r r. He found that Grouchy had made little progress beyond the town. As he surveyed the field from the windmill north of Fleurus it struck him as significant that Blucher's troops were disposed parallel to the Namur road, as if to cover a forward concentration, and not at right angles to it, as they would be had they been covering a retreat. Still, at the moment, only one corps was showing. Possibly, however, the decisive day of the campaign had come. By the emperor's arrangements Vandamme, Gerard, Pajol and Exelmans would be available after 2 P.M. to attack whatever force Blucher might command, and the Guard and Milhaud would be at hand to act as reserve. The wonder is that he did not now order Lobau to move to some intermediate position, such as Wangenies, where he would be available for either wing as circumstances dictated. At 2 P.M. Napoleon ordered Ney to master Quatre Bras, and added that the emperor would attack the corps which he saw in front of him. Whichever wing succeeded first would then wheel inwards and help the other. Not yet had Napoleon grasped the full significance of the allied movements, for the decisive flank had not yet become clear.

Blucher had already determined to fight. Meanwhile, Wellington, having reached Quatre Bras in the morning, wrote to him to concert the day's operations; then, as all was quiet in his front, he rode over to meet Blucher at Brye. The two chiefs, surveying the French army in their front, considered that no serious force was in front of Quatre Bras, and Wellington terminated the interview with the conditional promise that he would bring his army to Blucher's assistance at Ligny, if he was not attacked himself. This promise, of course, was never fulfilled, for Ney employed the duke all day at Quatre Bras; and, furthermore, the duke's tardy concentration made it quite impossible for him to help Blucher directly ontheLignybattlefield. On his return to Quatre Bras he found that a crisis had already been reached.

'Scale, 1:x19,000 ° 4 r, 1 MAP II.

Ney had allowed the valuable hours to slip away when he could have stormed Quatre Bras with ease and ensured co operation with his master. Remembering the surprises that the battles in Spain had provided for the marshals opposed to the duke, he massed nearly the whole of Reille's corps before he advanced. The prince of Orange, in command at Quatre Bras, had only 7500 troops. But by boldly scattering his force and by making use of the Bossu wood and the farms, he covered the cross-roads and showed a firm front to the very superior force which Ney commanded. It was then 2 P.M. The Dutch-Belgian troops to the east of the Brussels highway were at once forced back by the mass of men moved against them, and it looked as if the whole defence would crumple up. But about 3 P.M. timely succour reached the field - Van Merlen's cavalry from Nivelles, Picton and the 5th division from Brussels - and Wellington returned and took over the command. Picton at once stopped the victorious French advance to the east of the road, but the remaining division (Jerome) of Reille's corps now reached the front and Ney flung it into the Bossu wood to clear that place and keep his left flank free. A fierce fight now broke out all along the line, in which J erome steadily made ground in the Bossu wood, while Picton showing a dauntless front maintained his position. The Brunswick contingent now reached the field, but their duke whilst leading a charge received a mortal wound and the attack failed. It was nearly 4.15 P.M. when Ney received Napoleon's 2 P.M. order, and in obedience to it he made another attack, in which the Bossu wood was virtually cleared of its defenders. However, about 5 P.M. further reinforcements reached Wellington, Alten's (3rd) division coming in from Nivelles. Ney now realized that he could only capture Quatre Bras with D'Erlon's help.

But shortly afterwards (about 5.15) he heard that the I. Corps, without his direct order or knowledge, had moved eastwards to assist in the battle of Ligny. Immediately afterwards (about 5.30) he received an order from Napoleon to seize Quatre Bras and then turn eastwards to crush Blucher, who was caught at Ligny. Napoleon added, "The fate of France is in your hands." Ney's duty was merely to hold Wellington for certain at Quatre Bras and allow D'Erlon to carry out the movement which must ensure a decisive result at Ligny, in accordance with Napoleon's plan of campaign. In any case D'Erlon could not come back in time to give him effectual help. But incapable of grasping the situation, and beside himself with rage, Ney sent imperative orders to D'Erlon to return at once, and immediately afterwards he ordered Kellermann to lead his one available cuirassier brigade and break through Wellington's line. The charge was admirably executed; it overthrew one British regiment which it caught in line, but being unsupported it achieved nothing further of importance, and was beaten back. When this attempt to master the cross-roads had ended in failure, Ney received a verbal message from the emperor, enjoining him that, whatever happened at Quatre Bras, D'Erlon must be allowed to carry out the movement ordered by the emperor. The bearer, Major Baudus, knowing the importance of the manoeuvre which the I. Corps was carrying out, strove to induce Ney to reconsider D'Erlon's recall; but the marshal refused and ended the discussion by plunging into the fight. Shortly afterwards (about 7 P.M.) Wellington received further reinforcements (Cooke's division of the British Guards), which brought his force up to 33,000 against Ney's 22,000 men. The duke then attacked strenuously all along the line, and before darkness stopped the fight he drove back the French to their morning position at Frasnes. The losses were as follows: Anglo-Dutch 4700, and French 4300. At 9 P.M., when the battle was lost and won, D'Erlon's corps arrived. It had already reached the edge of the Ligny battlefield when the counter-order arrived, and conceiving that he was still under Marshal Ney (for the officer who bore the pencil-note directing Ney to detach Quatre Bras. D'Erlon, had on his own initiative ordered the I. Corps to the eastward) the general considered he ought to return to the left wing, and leaving one division at Wagnelee he withdrew his force. The incident was immeasurably unfortunate for the French. Had the I. Corps been thrown into the doubtful struggle at Quatre Bras, it must have crushed Wellington; had it been used at Ligny it would have entailed Blucher's annihilation. But oscillating between the two fields, it took part in neither. When the fighting was over, at ro P.M., Ney wrote a short and somewhat one-sided account of the action to Soult On the other flank there had meanwhile been waged the bitterly fought battle of Ligny. As .Blucher's dispositions gradually became clearer the emperor realized that the first Ligny. decisive day of the campaign had actually come, and he promptly made arrangements for defeating the Prussian army in his front. Blucher, to cover the Namur road, held with the I. Corps the villages of Brye, St Amand and Ligny, whilst behind his centre was massed the II. Corps, and on his left was placed the III. Corps. Wellington and Billow on arrival would act as general reserve. Blucher's army, as he finally disposed it, was quite visible to Napoleon on the bare open slopes which it occupied above St Amand and Ligny, the II. Corps being especially exposed. The emperor decided to bear down Blucher's centre and right with the corps of Vandamme and Gerard and with Girard's division which he had drawn into his operations, containing the Prussian left meanwhile with the squadrons of Pajol and Exelmans, assisted by a few infantry. The Guard and Milhaud were in hand at Fleurus. Further, he could order up Lobau, and direct Ney to move his rearward corps across and form it up behind Blucher's right. When the battle was ripe, he would crush the Prussian centre and right between the Guard and D'Erlon's corps. It was a somewhat complicated manoeuvre; for he was attempting to outflank his enemy with a corps that he had subordinated to Marshal Ney. Much depended on whether Ney would grasp the full purport of his orders; in a similar case at Bautzen he had failed to do so, and he failed as badly now. The usual Napoleonic simplicity was wanting at Ligny, and he paid in full for the want.

It was just after 2.30 P.M. when Napoleon, hearing the sound of Ney's cannon to the westward and realizing that Wellington was attacked and neutralized, commenced the battle at Ligny. Blucher's force was numerically very superior. The Prussians numbered about 83,000 men to Napoleon's 71,000 (including Lobau, who only came up at the end of the day). A fierce fight was soon raging for the villages. Vandamme and Girard attacked S. Amand, whilst Gerard attempted to storm Ligny; on the right Grouchy held Thielemann in play, and in the centre near Fleurus were the Guard and Milhaud in reserve, close to the emperor's headquarters on the mill. At 3.15 P.M., when the battle was in full swing, Napoleon wrote in duplicate to Ney, saying, "The fate of France is in your hands," and ordering the marshal to master Quatre Bras and move eastwards to assist at Ligny. Immediately afterwards, hearing that Ney had 20,000 men in front of him, he sent the "pencil-note" by General La Bedoyere which directed Ney to detach D'Erlon's corps to Ligny. This, as we know, the A.D.C. in a fit of mistaken zeal took upon himself to do. Hence the corps appeared too soon, and in the wrong direction. But neither order made it sufficiently clear to Ney that co-operation at Ligny was the essential, provided that Wellington was held fast at Quatre Bras. In other words, Ney had merely to hold Wellington with part of the French left wing all day, and detach the remainder of his force to co-operate in the deathblow at Ligny. This is clear when the first letter to Ney is studied with the orders, as it was meant to be; but Ney in the heat of action misread the later instructions. Meanwhile the emperor ordered Lobau to bring up his corps at once to Fleurus where he could hardly be of great service, whereas had he been directed to move on Wagnelee he might have co-operated in the last struggle far more efficiently. The fight for the villages continued to rage fiercely and incessantly, each side behaving as if its mortal foe was in front. The villages were captured and recaptured, but generally the French had the better of the fighting, for they compelled Blucher to use up more and more of his reserves, and prevented the Prussians from breaking through to the southward of S. Amand. Eventually the fighting became so furious that the troops engaged literally melted away, particularly at Ligny, and the emperor was finally compelled to call on his reserve to replenish the troops first engaged. But hardly had the Young and Middle Guard marched off to reinforce Vandamme and Gerard, when Vandamme sent word that a hostile column, over 30,000 strong, was threatening the French left (in reality this was D'Erlon's corps). Vandamme's exhausted troops were unnerved at the sight of this fresh foe, and an incipient panic was only quelled by turning guns on the fugitives. It was now between 5.30 and 6. The emperor concluded that this could not be D'Erlon, because he had arrived too soon and was marching in an evidently wrong direction. He at once sent an officer to reconnoitre. Meanwhile the reinforcements which he had despatched were most opportune. The Prussians had seized the opportunity offered by the slackening of the French attacks to rally and deliver a counterstroke, which was parried, after achieving a small measure of success, by the bayonets of the Young Guard. It was about 6.30 before Napoleon learned that the unknown force was actually D'Erlon's, and somewhat later he heard that it had counter-marched and withdrawn westwards. Repeated orders sent to the commander of the division left by D'Erlon failed to induce him to engage his command decisively, and thus Napoleon obtained no direct co-operation from his left wing on this, the first decisive day of the campaign. Thus relieved about his left, but realizing that D'Erlon had returned to Ney, the emperor had perforce to finish the battle singlehanded. Blucher now delivered a general counterstroke against Vandamme. Massing every available man he led the attack in person; but he vainly attempted to make ground to the south of S. Amand; the exhausted Prussians were overpowered by the chasseurs of the Guard and forced to retire in disorder. Napoleon's opportunity to finish the battle had come at last. He could at least beat Blucher and render the Prussians unfit for any serious operation except retreat on June 17, although he could no longer expect to destroy the Prussian army. Lobau's corps, too, was now arriving and forming up on the heights east of Fleurus. The artillery of the Guard, therefore, came into action above Ligny to prepare Blucher's centre for assault. Some delay was occasioned by a thunderstorm; but, as this passed over, the guns opened and the Old Guard and Milhaud's cuirassiers proceeded to form up opposite to Ligny. About 7.45 P.M. a crashing salvo of 60 guns gave the signal for a combined assault to be delivered by Gerard and the Guard, with Milhaud moving on their right flank. Blucher's worn-out soldiers could not withstand the tremendous impact of Napoleon's choicest troops, and the Prussian centre was pierced and broken. But the,gallant old marshal still had some fresh squadrons in hand, and he promptly launched them to stem the French advance. While leading one of the charges in person his horse was shot and fell under him, but he was rescued and borne in a semi-conscious condition from the field. Without doubt, the personal risk to which Blucher exposed himself at this crisis was far too great; for it was essential that the command of the Prussian army should remain vested in a chief who would loyally keep in touch and act entirely in concert with his colleague. In this way only could the allies hope to obtain a decisive success against Napoleon. By 9 P.M. the main battle was over, and everywhere the French pushed resistlessly forward. Napoleon was master of Blucher's battlefield, and the beaten Prussians had retired to the north of the Namur-Nivelles road. Under the circumstances, the late hour, the failing light and the lack of information as to events on the left wing, immediate pursuit was out of the question.

The execution had again fallen short of the conception; Blucher though beaten was not destroyed, nor was his line with Wellington cut. If the Prussians now retired northwards, parallel to the direction which Wellington would follow perforce on the morrow, the chance of co-operating in a decisive battle would still remain to the allies; and Gneisenau's order issued by moonlight, directing the retreat on Tilly and Wavre, went far to ensuring the possibility of such combined action. However, Gneisenau was very remiss in not immediately reporting this vital move and the necessity for it to the duke, as it left the Anglo-Dutch inner flank quite exposed. Gneisenau apparently selected Wavre, not with the intention of assisting his ally, but rather to re-establish his own line of communication, and the presence of the Prussians on the field of battle of Waterloo must be put down to the immortal credit of Blucher and Grolmann, his quartermaster-general. Gneisenau at this crisis in the affairs of the allies does not appear to have subordinated everything to co-operation at all cost with Wellington, and he allowed supply considerations and the re-establishment of his communications to overweigh the paramount necessity of arranging concerted action with his ally. Probably Wellington's failure to co-operate at Ligny had heightened the Prussian chief-of-staff's unworthy suspicions of the good faith and soldierly qualifications of the British marshal; and it was well for the allies that Blucher was able to resume command before Napoleon had time to profit from the dissensions that would probably have arisen had Gneisenau remained in control. The casualties in the hard-fought battle of Ligny were very heavy. The Prussians lost about 12,000 men and 21 guns, and the French 850o; in Ligny more than 4000 dead lay on an area of about 400 sq. yds., and in one of the hamlets of S. Amand there lay, almost to a man, the gallant 82nd of the line (Girard's division). So close was the fighting that most of the 20,000 casualties lay on about 2 sq. m. of ground. It was a really Napoleonic battle.

Despite D'Erlon's misadventure the emperor had the game still in his hands, for Ney's failure had actually placed the AngloDutch army in a precarious position. So true is it that a tactical failure encountered in carrying out a sound strategical plan matters but little. Again Napoleon's plan of campaign had succeeded. The emperor having beaten Blucher, the latter must fall back to rally and re-form, and call in Billow, who had only reached the neighbourhood of Gembloux on June 16; whilst on the other flank Ney, reinforced by D'Erlon's fresh corps, lay in front of Wellington, and the marshal could fasten upon the Anglo-Dutch army and hold it fast during the early morning of June 17, sufficiently long to allow the emperor to close round his foe's open left flank and deal him a deathblow. But it was clearly essential to deal with Wellington on the morrow, ere Blucher could again appear on the scene. Wellington was by no means so well acquainted with the details of the Prussian defeat at Ligny as he ought to have been. It is true that, before leading the final charge, Blucher despatched an aide-de-camp to his colleague, to tell him that he was forced to retire; but this officer was shot and the message remained undelivered. To send a message of such vital importance by a single orderly was a piece of bad staff work. It should have been sent in triplicate at least, and it was Gneisenau's duty to repeat the message directly he assumed temporary command. Opposed as they were to Napoleon, Gneisenau's neglect involved them in an unnecessary and very grave risk.

Napoleon was unwell, and consequently was not in the saddle on the 17th as early as he would otherwise have been. In his 17. absence neither Ney nor Soult appears to have made any serious arrangements for an advance, although every minute was now golden. During the night more reinforcements arrived for Wellington, and on the morning of June 17 the duke had most of his army about Quatre Bras. But it was 24 hours too late, for Blucher's defeat had rendered the AngloDutch position untenable. Early in the morning Wellington (still ignorant of the exact position of his ally) sent out an officer, with an adequate escort, to establish touch with the Prussians. This staff officer discovered and reported that the Prussians were drawing off northwards to rally at Wavre; and about 9 A.M. a Prussian orderly officer arrived from Gneisenau to explain the situation and learn Wellington's plans. The duke replied that he should fall back on Mt S. Jean, and would accept battle there, in a selected position to the south of the Forest of Soignes, provided he was assured of the support of one of Blucher's corps. Like the good soldier and loyal ally that he was, he now subordinated everything to the one essential of manoeuvring so as to remain in communication with Blucher. It was 2 A.M. on June 18 before he received the answer to his suggestion.

Early on the 17th the Prussians drew off northwards on three roads, Thielemann covering the withdrawal and moving via Gembloux to join hands with Billow. The French cavalry on the right, hearing troops in motion on the Namur road, dashed in pursuit down the turnpike road shortly after dawn, caught up the fugitives and captured them. They turned out to be stragglers; but their capture for a time helped to confirm the idea, prevalent in the French army, that Blucher was drawing off towards his base. Some delay too was necessary before Napoleon could finally settle on his plan for this day. The situation was still obscure, details as to what had happened on the French left were wanting, and the direction of Blucher's retreat was by no means certain. Orders, however, were sent to Ney, about 8 A.M., to take up his position at Quatre Bras, and if that was impossible he was to report at once and the emperor would co-operate. Napoleon clearly meant that Ney should attack whatever happened to be in his front. If confronted by a rear-guard he would drive it off and occupy Quatre Bras; and if Wellington was still there the marshal would promptly engage and hold fast the Anglo-Dutch army, and report to the emperor. Napoleon would in this case hasten up with the reserve and crush Wellington. Wellington in fact was there; but Ney did nothing whatever to retain him, and the duke began his withdrawal to Mt. S. Jean about io A.M. The last chance of bringing about a decisive French success was thus allowed to slip away.

Meanwhile Napoleon paid a personal visit about 10 A.M. to the Ligny battlefield, and about 11 A.M. he came to a decision. He determined to send the two cavalry corps of Pajol Grouchy's and Exelmans, and the corps of Vandamme and Gerard, with Teste's division (VI. Corps), a force of 33,000 men and 11o guns, to follow the Prussians, penetrate their intentions and discover if they meditated uniting with Wellington in front of Brussels. As Exelmans' dragoons had already gained touch of the III. Prussian corps at Gembloux, the emperor directed Marshal Grouchy, to whom he handed over the command of this force, to "proceed to Gembloux." This order the marshal only too literally obeyed. After an inconceivably slow and wearisome march, in one badly arranged column moving on one road, he only reached Gembloux on June 17, and halted there for the night. His cavalry gained contact before noon with Thielemann's corps, which was resting at Gembloux, but the enemy was allowed to slip away and contact was lost for want of a serious effort to keep it. Grouchy did not proceed to the front, and entirely failed to appreciate the situation at this critical juncture. Pressing danger could only exist if Blucher had gone northwards, and northwards, therefore, in the Dyle valley, he should have diligently sought for traces of the Prussian retreat.' Had Blucher gone eastwards, Grouchy, holding the Dyle, could easily have held back any future Prussian advance towards Wellington. Grouchy, however, went to Gembloux as ordered. By nightfall the situation was all in favour of the allies; for Grouchy was now actually outside the four Prussian corps, who were by this time concentrated astride the Dyle at Wavre. Their retreat having been unmolested, the Prussians were ready once more to take the field, quite twenty-four hours before Napoleon deemed it possible for the foe defeated at Ligny.

On the other flank, too, things had gone all in favour of Wellington. Although the emperor wrote to Ney again at noon, from Ligny, that troops had now been placed in position at Marbais to second the marshal's attack on Quatre Bras, yet Ney remained quiescent, and Wellington effected so rapid and skilful a retreat that, on Napoleon's arrival at the head of his supporting corps, 1 There appears to be no reason to believe that Grouchy pushed any reconnaissances to the northward and westward of Gentinnes on June 17; had he done so, touch with Blucher's retiring columns must have been established, and the direction of the Prussian retreat made clear. The right of Milhaud's cuirassier corps, whilst marching from Marbais to Quatre Bras, saw a column of Prussian infantry retiring towards Wavre, and Milhaud reported this fact about 9 P.M. to the emperor, who, however, attached little weight to it.

he found only the duke's cavalry screen and some horse artillery still in position. Can we wonder that he gave vent to his anger 's and declared that Ney had ruined France? This was Napoleon's pursuit of the fatal mistake of the campaign, and Fortune turned Welling- now against her former favourite. Although the ton. smouldering fires of his old energy flamed out once more and Napoleon began a rapid pursuit of the cavalry screen, which crumpled up and decamped as he advanced, yet all his efforts were powerless to entangle the Anglo-Dutch rearguard to such an extent that Wellington must turn back to its assistance. The pursuit, too, was carried out in the midst of a tropical thunderstorm which broke at the roar of the opening cannonade, and very considerably retarded the French pursuit. It was not until the light was failing that Napoleon reached the heights of Rossomme opposite to Wellington's position and, by a masterly reconnaissance in force, compelled the duke to disclose the presence of practically the whole Anglo-Dutch army. The French halted, somewhat loosened by pursuit, between Rossomme and Genappe and spent a wretched night in the sodden fields.

During the night Wellington received the reassuring news that Blucher would bring two corps certainly, and possibly four, to Waterloo, and determined to accept battle. Napoleon's plan being to penetrate between the allies and then defeat them successively, the left was really the threatened flank of the Anglo-Dutch army. Yet so far was Wellington from divining Napoleon's object that he stationed 17,000 men (including Colville's British division) at Hal and Tubize, 8 m. away to his right, to repel the turning movement that he groundlessly anticipated and to form a rallying point for his right in case his centre was broken. By deliberately depriving himself of this detachment, on June 18, the duke ran a very grave risk. With the 67,600 men whom he had in hand, however, he took up a truly admirable "Wellingtonian" position astride the Nivelles-Brussels and Charleroi-Brussels roads which meet at 18. Mt S. Jean. He used a low ridge to screen his main June defensive position, exposing comparatively few troops in front of the crest. Of his 156 guns, 78 belonged to the British artillery; but of his 67,600 men only 29,800 were British or King's German Legion troops, whereas all Napoleon's were Frenchmen and veterans. Wellington occupied Hougoumont in strength, chiefly with detachments of the British Guards; and he also placed a garrison of the K.G.L. in La Haye Sainte, the tactical key of the allied position. Both these farms were strengthened; but, still nervous about his right flank, the duke occupied Hougoumont in much greater force than La Haye Sainte, and massed the bulk of his troops on his right. The main position was very skilfully taken up, and care was taken to distribute the troops so that the indifferent and immature were closely supported by those who were "better disciplined and more accustomed to war." Owing to a misconception, one Dutch-Belgian brigade formed up in front of the ridge. Full arrangements were made for Blucher's co-operation through General Muffling, the Prussian attaché on the duke's staff. The duke was to stand fast to receive the attack, whilst the Prussians should close round Napoleon's exposed right and support Wellington's left. The Prussians were thus the real general reserve, and it was Wellington's task to receive Napoleon's attack and prepare him for the decisive counter-stroke.

Blucher loyally kept his promise to his ally; but the execution left much to be desired. 'He did not start his corps on their westward march until a considerable time after dawn, and then, owing to bad staff work, the rear corps of all (Billow) was selected to lead the march. This unnecessary delay was aggravated further by a fire that broke out in Wavre and delayed the march. In spite of his hurts the old marshal was in the saddle.

Meanwhile Napoleon formed his army for the attack on Wellington's position. The wet state of the ground (largely composed of corn-fields) and the scattered bivouacs of the French army prevented the attack from being made at 6 A.M. as Napoleon had desired. It was therefore put off first of all until 9 A.M., and later until 11.30, to permit the sodden ground to dry sufficiently for the mounted arms to manoeuvre freely and give time to the French army to close up. During the night the emperor had received a report from Marshal Grouchy, dated Gembloux, 10 P.M., 17th, which stated that the Prussians were retiring in two columns towards Wavre and Perwez. Grouchy added that if he found that the bulk of the Prussians were moving on Wavre he would follow them and separate them from Wellington. But a glance at the map shows that this was impossible. By following the Prussians Grouchy, who had taken up a position outside the Prussian left flank, would inevitably drive the allies together. It was 10 A.M. when the emperor answered this letter, and he directed the marshal to march for Wavre, thus approaching the French army and entering the zone of the main operations. The underlying idea of manoeuvring in two wings and a reserve should be kept in mind when considering this letter. Its meaning will then clearly be, that Grouchy was to endeavour to place his force on the inner Prussian flank and hold them back from Waterloo. But this is just what the despatch does not state verbally and precisely, and accordingly Grouchy, like Ney on the 16th and 17th, misread it.

The French army proceeded to form up in an imposing array some 1300 yards from Wellington's position, and if some misgivings as to the result filled the minds of men like Soult, Reille a

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