Ligny and Quatre Bras
(1815)
“_I go to measure myself with Wellington._”
NAPOLEON.
Napoleon left Paris at dawn on the 12th June, and travelled to Laon.
His troops were divided into the Army of the North, intended for the
invasion of Belgium, which totalled a little over 124,000; the Army
of the Rhine, commanded by Rapp, about 20,000, with a reserve of
3000 National Guards; Le Courbe’s corps of observation, watching the
passes of the Jura, about 8000; the Army of the Alps, with Suchet,
some 23,000; a detachment, under Brune, guarding the line of the
Var, 6000; the 7th Corps, watching the line of the Pyrenees, 14,000,
in two sections under Decaen and Clausel. The Army of the North was
distributed at Lille, Valenciennes, Mézières, Thionville, and Soissons,
under D’Erlon, Reille, Vandamme, Gérard and Lobau respectively; the
Imperial Guard near Paris, and the Reserve Cavalry, under Grouchy,
between the Aisne and the Sambre.[84] Soult was chief of the staff, an
appointment not particularly happy.[85]
In Belgium there was the nucleus of an army, consisting of some 10,000
soldiers, mostly British. Wellington arrived at Brussels on the 5th
April, with the formidable task in hand of organizing a substantial
body to oppose the returned Exile. He managed it, but the result was
almost as motley a crowd of fighting men as Napoleon had for his
disastrous Russian campaign. Wellington bluntly called them “not only
the worst troops, but the worst-equipped army, with the worst staff
that was ever brought together.” There were Hanoverians, Belgians,
Dutch, Brunswickers, and Nassauers, as well as men of his own country.
The 1st Corps, under the Prince of Orange, totalled 25,000, with
headquarters at Braine-le-Comte; the 2nd Corps, commanded by Lord Hill,
numbered 24,000, with headquarters at Ath; the Reserve Corps, with the
Duke at Brussels, 21,000; the Cavalry, under the Earl of Uxbridge,
14,000; in the garrisons were 12,000, and the artillery and engineers
reached 10,000--grand total 106,000.[86] The Prussian Army, commanded
by Blücher, reached 124,000 men, some few thousands of whom were
already in Belgium in March. It was made up of four corps stationed
at Charleroi, Namur, Ciney, and Liége, with headquarters at Namur.
Both armies were in touch with each other, although distributed over
a large extent of territory. It was intended that 750,000 men should
be available for the invasion of France, but none of the other allies
was ready. Napoleon acted promptly, his idea being to deal with each
separately and drive them back on their bases before they were able to
concentrate. He would then turn on the Austrians before the Russians
were ready.
Napoleon succeeded in concentrating the Army of the North without
definite particulars of his movements reaching either Wellington or
Blücher. On the 15th June he was across the frontier and had made a
preliminary success by driving Ziethen, who commanded Blücher’s first
corps, from the banks of the Sambre, gaining the bridges, and securing
Charleroi. The Emperor followed the Prussians to within a short
distance of Gilly, where the French right wing defeated them with the
loss of nearly 2000 men. The enemy then fell back in the direction of
Ligny, and Napoleon made his headquarters at Charleroi. Meanwhile Ney,
who had only arrived in the afternoon, was given charge of Reille’s
and D’Erlon’s corps, and it is usually contended that he had told
Lefebvre-Desnoëttes to reconnoitre towards Quatre Bras, then held by
some 4500 Nassau troops, commanded by Prince Bernard of Saxe-Weimar.
Lefebvre first encountered the enemy at the village of Frasnes, some
twenty-three miles from Brussels and covering Quatre Bras, where about
1500 men were stationed, who fell back towards Quatre Bras. The French
General occupied the village in the evening after an indecisive action.
When information reached Wellington from Ziethen, vague because it was
dispatched early in the morning, he ordered the majority of the troops
at his disposal to be “ready to move at the shortest notice,” and a few
only were told to change the positions they then occupied. He issued
his final instructions at 10 p.m., and then went to the ball given by
the Duchess of Richmond, who had invited some of the non-commissioned
officers and privates in order “to show her Bruxelles friends the
_real Highland dance_,” as Wellington afterwards averred. The
Commander-in-Chief was quite easy in his mind, for he had done all that
it was possible for him to do, and his appearance at such a festivity
tended to allay the anxiety of the inhabitants as to Napoleon’s
movements. Surely the capital was safe if Wellington was so unconcerned
as to go to a dance?
_There was a sound of Revelry by night;
And Belgium’s Capital had gather’d then
Her Beauty and her Chivalry; and bright
The lamps shone o’er fair women, and brave men:
A thousand hearts beat happily; and when
Music arose with its voluptuous swell,
Soft eyes look’d love to eyes which spake again;
And all went merry as a marriage-bell:
But Hush! Hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell!_
_Did ye not hear it? No: ’twas but the wind;
Or the car rattling o’er the stony street:
On with the dance! let Joy be unconfined:
No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet
To chase the glowing Hours with flying feet:
But, Hark! that heavy sound breaks in once more;
As if the clouds its echo would repeat;
And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before!
Arm! Arm! it is; it is; the Cannon’s opening Roar!_
Had Byron pictured the entry of Lieutenant Webster with a dispatch
for the Prince of Orange he would have been more literally, if not
artistically, correct. The nineteen words which the Prince read were
momentous: “Captain Baron von Gagern has just arrived from Nivelles,
reporting that the enemy had pushed up to Quatre Bras.” It had been
written at Braine-le-Comte at 10.30 p.m. No further instructions were
issued by Wellington, for he had already arranged “for a movement
tending to draw the right of his forces in towards the left.”[87] He
therefore remained at the ball until about 2 a.m., on the 16th, and
then went to bed.
He left the city very early and arrived at Quatre Bras about 10
o’clock. There he found, according to his own statement,[88] “the
Prince of Orange with a small body of Belgian troops, two or three
battalions of infantry, a squadron of Belgian dragoons, and two or
three pieces of cannon which had been at the Quatre Bras--the four
roads--since the preceding evening. It appeared that the picket of this
detachment had been touched by a French patrol, and there was some
firing, but very little; and of so little importance that, after seeing
what was doing, I went on to the Prussian army, which I saw from the
ground, was assembling upon the field of St Amand and Ligny, about
eight miles distant.
“I reached the Prussian army; was at their headquarters; stayed there a
considerable time; saw the army formed; the commencement of the battle;
and returned to join my own army assembled and assembling at the Quatre
Bras. I arrived then at Quatre Bras a second time on that day, as well
as I recollect, at about two or three o’clock in the afternoon.
“The straggling fire there had continued from morning; the Prince of
Orange was with the line troops still in the same position. I was
informed that the army was collecting in a wood in front. I rode
forward and reconnoitred or examined their position according to my
usual practice. I saw clearly a very large body of men assembled, and a
Maréchal reviewing them, according to their usual practice, preparatory
to an attack. I heard distinctly the usual cries: ‘_En avant! en avant!
L’Empereur récompensera celui qui s’avancera!_’
“Before I quitted the Prince of Orange, some of the officers standing
about had doubted whether we should be attacked at this point. I sent
to the Prince of Orange from the ground on which I was standing, to
tell him that he might rely upon it that we should be attacked in five
minutes, and that he had better order the retreat towards the main
position of the light troops and guns which were in front, and which
could make no resistance to the fierce attack about to be made upon
us. These were accordingly withdrawn, and in less than five minutes we
were attacked by the whole French army under Maréchal Ney. There was
in fact no delay nor cessation from attack from that time till night.
The reserves of the British army from Brussels had arrived at the
Quatre Bras at this time; and the corps of Brunswick troops from the
headquarters, and a division of Belgian troops from Nivelles, Braine,
&c.”
Ney did not begin his attack until 2 p.m. He had only Reille’s
corps at his disposal, and he was uncertain as to the movements
of the Prussians. But when a move was made against the farm of
Gémioncourt,[89] the key of the position, the 7000 troops of the Prince
of Orange were speedily driven back, and the wood of Bossu also fell
into the enemy’s hands. It was at this precise moment that Wellington
and reinforcements arrived. Picton with his brave 5th Division,
although exhausted by a long march on a sultry day, were ordered to
retake the wood. It was then that Ney hurled his cavalry at them in a
determined endeavour to save the situation at all costs.
“One regiment,” we are told, “after sustaining a furious cannonade,
was suddenly, and on three different sides, assailed by cavalry. Two
faces of the square were charged by the lancers, while the cuirassiers
galloped down upon another. It was a trying moment. There was a
death-like silence, and one voice alone, calm and clear, was heard. It
was their Colonel’s, who called upon them to be ‘steady.’ On came the
enemy--the earth shook beneath the horses’ feet; while on every side of
the devoted band, the corn,[90] bending beneath the rush of cavalry,
disclosed their numerous assailants. The lance-blades approached the
bayonets of the kneeling front rank--the cuirassiers were within forty
paces--yet not a trigger was drawn. But when the word ‘Fire!’ thundered
from the colonel’s lips, each piece poured out its deadly volley, and
in a moment the leading files of the French lay before the square, as
if hurled by a thunderbolt to the earth. The assailants, broken and
dispersed, galloped off for shelter to the tall rye; while a stream
of musketry from the British square carried death into the retreating
squadrons.” At length Maitland’s division of the Guards secured
possession of the wood. The French continued to attack with ardour,
but with the close of day Ney fell back upon the road to Frasnes. The
British remained at Quatre Bras.
Many brave incidents are recorded. A soldier of the 92nd was wounded
in the thigh. After having been attended by a surgeon the medical man
dismissed him by saying, “There is now no fear of you, get slowly
behind.” His reply, unpremeditated and instant, was, “The presence of
every man is necessary,” and calmly went back to his post, from which
he never returned. Another fellow had his knapsack carried away from
his shoulders by a cannon-ball. He caught it by a dexterous movement
before it reached the ground. Wellington happened to be near, and the
incident afforded him considerable amusement.
The 2nd Battalion of the 69th Regiment of Foot[91] had its flag
captured, the precious symbol being wrenched from the hands of the
officer almost at the same time as the attempted capture of another
colour during a charge of French cuirassiers. The latter was preserved,
although the bearer received severe wounds. Ensign Christie also saved
a flag by throwing himself upon it. As the soldier lay on the ground
a portion of the colour was torn off by the lancer who had made the
attempt, but before the prize could be taken the captor was shot and
the piece recovered.
Wellington lost 4600 killed and wounded at Quatre Bras, but although
he remained in possession of the field, Ney’s grim determination had
precluded him from sending reinforcements to Blücher, who had been
contesting Napoleon at Ligny, eight miles distant. On the other hand,
the Emperor had ordered his Marshal to assist him at Ligny after having
dispersed the troops at Quatre Bras, which he was far too heavily
engaged all day to do, although it is conceivable that had he begun
his attack earlier he might have carried out his Chief’s instructions.
Napoleon himself delayed his attack because some of his soldiers had
not arrived, and when he was ready to open fire he totalled 20,000
men less than the Prussian commander. D’Erlon’s troops, forming Ney’s
reserve, were sent for, but before they were pressed into service were
ordered back by Ney to assist him. Had D’Erlon remained, Napoleon would
have won a decisive victory. As it was, Blücher’s losses reached over
20,000, and he narrowly averted capture. He was thrown during a cavalry
charge and badly injured. The Prussians abandoned the field, retiring
towards Wavre, which enabled them to be in touch with Wellington, and
where they later formed a junction with the fresh corps of Bülow.
Napoleon, who had 11,000 men killed or wounded, was convinced that the
enemy would fall back on Namur and Liége, which would enable him to
deal with Wellington alone on the morrow.
Napoleon was unusually lethargic on the following day, and squandered
much precious time until noon in various useless ways. He then ordered
Grouchy, with 33,000 men, to ascertain the position occupied by the
Prussians, while he joined Ney. Wellington, hearing of Blücher’s defeat
and realizing that every moment was of value, had evacuated Quatre
Bras almost without interference, although Napoleon’s cavalry came
up with the British rear and the situation was saved by a propitious
downpour of rain which soon transformed road and field alike into a
quagmire. Still, Napoleon chased in pursuit to the ridge of Waterloo,
where a heavy cannonade put an end to his advance. The Emperor made his
headquarters at the Caillou farm, retiring to rest only after he had
seen that Wellington’s army was not retreating from the position it had
taken up at Mont St Jean. Unable to sleep, he again satisfied himself
that the army he was bent on shattering had not stolen a march on him,
and when the 18th June dawned he was still gazing in the direction of
Wellington and his men.