Ligny

14 June
15 June
Ney's Orders
Lack of Haste
16th June
Troop Dispositions
The Battle
Appendix
French Army
Prussian Army
Battlefield in 1982
Tactical Deployments
Bibliography
Photographs

Ney’s Orders and Whereabouts.

After returning to his headquarters at 9 p.m., Napoleon retired to his bed, totally worn-out. He was awakened at midnight and informed that Marshal Ney had arrived to make his report. We only have one witness to what took place at this interview, and that comes from Colonel Heymés, who tells us, “The Emperor made him (Ney) stay to supper, gave him his orders” and “unfolded to him his project and his hopes for the day of the 16^th…”[1] Of this Fuller states, ‘Therefore, it goes without saying that Ney must have told the Emperor why he had not occupied Quatre-Bras, and that the latter must have instructed him to occupy it early on June 16^th. This is common sense, for should Wellington come to the support of Blücher, it was vital to Napoleon’s project of dealing with one hostile army at a time that the Nivelles-Namur Road should be blocked. To assume otherwise is to write Napoleon down as a strategic dunce.’[2]

All of this is of course very true. The problem is, 
    1. Was Colonel Heymés present at the interview? 
    2. If not, did Ney inform him of what was said (one would have thought so being his ADC)?
    3. Did this meeting ever take place?  

Baron Fain, Napoleon’s chief secretary wrote to Prince Joseph Bonaparte on the night of the 15^th:

Monseigneur, it is nine in the evening. The Emperor, who has been on his horse since three this morning, has returned, exhausted. He has thrown himself on his bed for a few hours’ rest. At midnight he will have to mount his horse again…[3]

If Napoleon were intending to ride out again at midnight, why would he have summoned Ney to a meeting? Edith Saunders tells us that, ‘ Late at night, Napoleon rose to take a meal and read the reports, which included one sent in from Marshal Ney.’[4] Just what this report contained is a mystery. Possibly it was just a confirmation from Ney concerning his taking over command of the left wing, or it may have been a statement of his actions (or lack of) during the afternoon of the 15^th June. Let us not forget that Ney already had his instructions concerning the occupation of the Quatre-Bras crossroads, given to him by Napoleon when they met previously that day. * Saunders goes on to say that even at 5 a.m. on the morning of the 16^th, ‘…Ney was still without orders…Colonel Heymés was inspecting the regiments, noting their numbers and the names of the commanding officers. Count Reille’s troops were ready to march, and at about seven o’clock he went to ask Ney for his orders, but was told that Ney himself still awaited instructions from the Emperor. All Ney had so far received was a dispatch from Soult, informing him that Kellermann was being sent to Gosselies and asking for information about the enemy on his front and the positions of the 1^st and 2^nd Corps.’[5] It seems strange that if Ney had been at a meeting with Napoleon from 12.00 a.m. until 2.00 a.m., he was still none the wiser as to what was required of him at 7 a.m. in the morning! Also there is the problem of where Ney spent the night of the 15^th-16^th June. Over the years, and with several visits to the site, I have been told of three locations said to have accommodated the French Marshal. If he was with his forward units then he must have been somewhere in the region of Frasnes, but other sources place him in Gosselies or Fleurus! ** Wherever, or whatever he was doing on the night of the 15^th June still remains a subject of some speculation.