Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/411

* WATERLOO. 341 WATERLOO. mandcrs. Marshal Ney was summonwl on June ir)Ui and assi;,'ni'd to the coniniaiid of the corps of D'Erlon and Heille. Grouchy was taken from his command of the reserve cavalry after tho campaign had opened and given command of the right wing, comprising the corps of Vandamme and Gf'ranl. Marslial .Soiilt served as Napoleon's chief of stair, his old chief. lierthier, having ad- hered to the Hourbons. Soiilt had held in- dependent ('(immands too long to he well placed in a stall' position; hut Napoleon's staff was always the weakest part of his army organiza- tion, and its errors on many previous occasions had been counterbalanced only by the initiative of some of Napoleon's brilliant field olReers. The army under Uliichpr, who had (Jneisenau for his chief of stall', numbered 1'2.0.')4 men — 90,715 infantry, 11,879 cavalry, and 93(i0 artil- lery, with 312 guns. Of these the First Corps (Zicthen), 32,692 men, was at Charleroi; the Second (Pirch), 32,704, at Namur; the Third (Thielmann), 24,450, at Ciney; and the Fourth (Bulow), 31,102, at Li&ge. The line was largely veterans, and Bliicher was an experienced old campaigner, not brilliant, but lirave, harddieaded and reliable. The army of Vell)ngton numbered 93,717 men— 09,829 infantry, 14,842 cavalry, 81(iG artillery with 190 guns, and 1240 engineers, etc. Of these the British numbered 31,253 men; the King's German Legion. 0387 ; the Hanoverians, 15,935; the Dutch and Belgians, with one body of Nassauers, 29,214: the Brunswickers, 6808; and another regiment of Nassauers, 2880. It was a very miscellaneous body of troops, ]irobably the least efficient in its rank and file of any of the three armies. LiGNY AND Quatbe-Br.s. The Emperor's ad- vance northward W'as along tho line of the high- way through Charleroi to Brussels. The move- ment began on June^l3th, and on the 14th Na- poleon's headquarters were at Beaumont. On the afternoon of the 15th the French army be- gan the passage of the Sambre, moved upon Ziethen's position at Charleroi, and slowly forced him back upon Fleurus. Reille advanced on Gosselies, and had already had an encounter with the Prussian rear guard, when Ne}' ar- rived on the field and took command of two corps (the First and Second), with the composition and officers of which he was unacquainted. He continued the advance with Reille's corps through Gosselies to the vicinity of Quatre- Bras, on the main line of communication between Bliicher and Wellington. While his German allies were threatened Wellington did not change his position, lest he should uncover Brussels and Ghent. About the middle of the afternoon of the 15th, however, learning of the movement toward Quatre-Bras, he began to concentrate his forces, bringing three divisions of about 25.000 men to Nivelles, west of Quatre-Bras. Some of the Netli- erland troops occupied Quatre-Bras itself, and they were reinforced on the morning of the 16th by General Sir Tliomaa Picton with his division. The French were to attack the Prussian position on the 16th in two wings, under Ney and Grouchy, and when Bliicher had been disposed of Ney was to move on Brussels. About two o'clock in the afternoon Ney assailed Quatre- Bras, but. owing to reversals of orders. D'Erlon's corps did not join him until he had been forced back upon Frasnes, after several hours of desper- a(e fighting. This engagement previ-nted Wel- lingliin from making a Hank movement against the French on the Prussian right, which he had promised to make if not himself attacked. At Ligny about three o'clock the French divisions of Vandamme and Gerard opened an attack up- on Zicthen, who was supported by Pirch and Tiiielemann. After three hours of hard fight- ing, the Prussians were thrown into confusion by a charge of the Guard, Bliicher himself was di>abled, and twenty-one guns werc^ captured, ^'^apoleon assumed that the Prussians would re- treat toward N.-imur. On the morning of the 17th he wrote to Ney that the Prussians were routed and that Pajol was pursuing them on the roads to Namur and Li^ge. As a matter of fact, the Prussians under Gneisenau were moving north and converging on Wavre, intending to join Wellington, with whom they were in com- munication. Wellington had passed the night at Genappe and was prcjiaring to take up a position in force at (Juatre-Bras, when he learned of the Prussian mananivre. which left him in an cx- l)osed position. He therefore fell, back to Water- loo. At noon of the 17th Napoleon detached ^Marshal Grouchy with 33,000 men to pursue the Prussians and complete their defeat. As the latter had been already eight hours on the march and their real direction was unknown, this was not an easy task. .Joining Ney with the remainder of his army. Napoleon followed Wellington. Re- ceiving information at llarbais that" threw a doubt on his supposition that the Prussians had retreated to Namur. he sent instructions to CJrouchy to ascertain whether the Prussians were attempting to make a juncture with the British or not. When Grouchy received this dispatch, Bliicher was nearer to Wellington than Grouchy was to Bliicher. When Grouchy reached Gembloux in a heavy rain at ten o'clock in the evening, he knew that the Prussians had marched to Wavre and not to Namur. The main French army arrived at Waterloo on the evening of the 17th and bivouaeked opposite the enemj-. Waterloo. Napoleon inspected the position of both armies after midnight, and between seven and eight o'clock on the morning of .Tune 18th he saw that his adversary was order- ing his army in line of battle. TJie rain, which had continued all night, ceased about eight o'clock, and before nine there was a somewhat showy review by the Emperor of his lines. The attack was postponed, however, on Drouot's ad- vice, in order that the ground might be in bet- ter condition for the artillery. Wellington had the advantage of choice of position ami he had taken a strong one. He there awaited the at- tack, relying fully upon the assurance of Bliicher that the Prussians would be there on time. About ten o'clock Napoleon sent to Grouchy to move upon Wavre, bat not even then does the Emperor seem to have realized that the whole Prussian force was concentrating there and preparing to aid Wellington. The main British line stretched across the Brussels-Charlcroi road, along the line of the highway from Ohain to Wavre. Outposts held the hamlets of La Haye, Papelotte, and Smohain on the extreme left, and the Chateau of Hougo- mont, a strong position, on the right. The farm- house of'La Have Sainte in advance of the centre was also occupied. Wellington had on the field