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

Manoeuvres before the Battles of Ligny and Quatre-Bras, 16^th June.

Napoleon was on horseback at 4 a.m. on the morning of the 16^th, and in good spirits, intending to reach Brussels as soon as possible. Of course he did not know of Wellington’s movements, but considered that in all probability the Anglo-Belgian Army would take ground in front of Brussels and make a stand. In this event he would push them back to Antwerp, along their lines of communication, causing them to be separated still further from their Prussian allies. Before this plan could be put into operation however, Napoleon had to be sure that Blücher could not come to their assistance. The Prussian corps of General Ziethen must therefore be driven back passed Gembloux, denying Blücher the use of the Namur-Wavre-Brussels road.[1] Unfortunately, at about 8 a.m., Napoleon received a note from Marshal Grouchy informing him that the Prussians were concentrating around Sombreffe. Not believing it possible that Blücher would make a stand so far forward, Napoleon mounted his horse and rode to Fleurus to see for himself. Here Ziethen had pulled back the four brigades of his corps and was covering the approaches to Sombreffe, his forces drawn up along high ground around the farm and windmill of Bussy, with units pushed forward occupying the villages of Brye, Saint-Amand and Ligny, through, and in front of which, the small Ligne stream meandered.

Napoleon viewing the Prussian position from the mill at Fleurus.

At 11 a.m., under a boiling sun, Napoleon arrived at Fleurus with his staff and escort. He immediately ordered his engineers to construct an observation platform by knocking out part of the roof of the Fleurus windmill, and climbed the ladder to survey the situation for himself.[2] Although he could only see the troops of Ziethen’s corps he was soon convinced that they were holding their position while awaiting the arrival of reinforcements. These could be part of Wellington’s army or the main body of the Prussians, possibly both, and it became apparent to Napoleon that they intended a forward concentration in order to unite against him.[3] At the moment he only had Vandamme’s III Corps in position, facing Saint-Amand, and he was informed that Gérard’s IV Corps was still some way from the battlefield. Until these troops arrived he did not feel strong enough to commence an attack.[4] As the time slipped by the Prussian corps of Pirch I and Thielemann arrived and took up their positions on the field. * Never one to get fazed in a critical situation, Napoleon was more than happy to know that he would be able to deal a decisive blow to the Prussian army.

General Fuller tells us that Napoleon’s plan:

‘ - a truly brilliant one- was first to contain Bülcher’s left (Thielemann’s corps) with Pajol’s and Excelman’s cavalry, and secondly to annihilate his right and centre (Ziethen and Prich). The latter operation he intended to carry out by engaging the Prussian centre and right frontally, so as to compel Blücher to exhaust his reserves, and meanwhile to call in Ney from Quatre-Bras to fall upon the rear of Blücher’s right wing while the Guard smashed through his centre. By these means he expected to destroy two-thirds of Blücher’s army and compel the remaining third to fall back on Liége-that is, away from Wellington.’[5]

It must be noted here that no mention is made of Lobau’s VI Corps, which was still at Charleroi. It hardly seems possible that Napoleon would not have sent orders early on the 16^th for this corps to move up and take position around Fleurus, but no such orders have ever been found, and it would seem that the great man is guilty of neglecting one of his own maxims of not having all available troops massed on the battlefield. This blunder, more so than the many others that occurred during this brief campaign was, in all probability, the decisive factor in Napoleon’s defeat.

While the Emperor was conducting his reconnaissance of the Prussian position, Wellington had joined Blücher at his headquarters at the Bussy windmill, sometime around 1 p.m. The Duke had stated his displeasure in regard to the Prussian deployment, their battalions and squadrons being exposed in full view of the French batteries. Old Blücher was however quite content with his dispositions and, as he had told Sir Henry Hardinge, the English attaché, ‘The Prussian soldier will not stand in line.’[6] Wellington stayed for a while, assuring the Prussian commander that he would bring his forces across to attack the French left providing that he was not attacked himself. Thereafter he left Blücher and was riding back towards his own lines when he heard the muffled thump of gunfire coming from the direction of Quatre-Bras.

At 2 p.m., Marshal Ney had at last begun to advance against the crossroads, sending Count Reille’s divisions (16,000 men) forward in their normal dense attacking columns. Only Perponcher’s 2nd Dutch-Belgian Division was still holding the ground around Quatre-Bras, and soon the French division of General Bachelu began to develop a serious attack against this thinly held line. The farm of Piraumont was taken, while another French division under General Foy seized the Gemioncourt farm and outbuildings. By 3.p.m. Napoleon’s brother, Prince Jérôme Bonaparte’s division was making steady progress against Pierrepont farm, driving the defenders back into the Wood of Bossu on their right flank. As Wellington galloped back on the field the situation looked bleak, and it soon became apparent that his whole position was about to crumble.

With the timing of a Hollywood cowboy film, help suddenly arrived in the form of a Dutch-Belgian cavalry brigade, followed closely by the stalwart division of Sir Thomas Picton, in all some 8,000 men. This reasonably fresh injection of strength managed to stabilise the position, and even though he was still outnumbered by almost two to one, Wellington now felt confident that he could hold on until more of his army arrived.