‘Blьcher has advanced to Ligny to confront the French army. He asks if you will move to support him.’
‘How does Blьcher know for certain that the French army lies before him?’
‘We have been fighting the enemy throughout the day, sir. Our cavalry patrols report large columns marching through Charleroi. They even heard the enemy soldiers cheering for their Emperor. There can be no doubt that this is their main line of advance.’
Arthur was silent for a moment as he considered Mьffling’s words. Then he nodded slowly. ‘Very well, General. I hope that this is no ruse; I still think that the main attack will be along the most direct route to Brussels.’ Arthur reached for the handle of the door and nodded towards the ballroom. ‘Shall we?’
As they emerged back into the brightly lit ballroom Arthur saw that many of the officers had already left and more were taking their leave and making for the exit. There was nothing he could do to stop them, not without creating a scene. Mьffling strode away and Arthur beckoned to Uxbridge and the other senior officers present to join him so that he might pass on their brief exchange. As the officers left to join their commands, Arthur saw that the remaining guests were hurrying to quit the ballroom, fear in their eyes.
The streets of Brussels were filled with soldiers hurrying from their billets towards the regiments forming up outside the city. As Arthur’s carriage rattled over the cobbles he saw the first of the civilians loading their valuables into carriages and carts as they prepared to flee. Just before midnight the carriage reached General Mьffling’s house and Arthur was quickly shown through to the study where the general was waiting.
‘I have given orders for the army to march east to support Marshal Blьcher. We shall march through the night and hope to reach him by way of Quatre Bras tomorrow afternoon. Ride and tell him.’
‘I will, sir.’ Mьffling reached for his coat. ‘I only pray that it is not already too late.’
Arthur nodded. Every hour counted. If the French took the vital crossroads at Quatre Bras then there would be little chance of uniting the allied armies - and all that stood between Bonaparte and possession of the crossroads were two Dutch brigades.
THE WATERLOO CAMPAIGN JUNE 1815
Chapter 57
Fleurus, 8.00 a.m., 16 June 1815
The order to Marshal Ney to seize the crossroads at Quartre Bras had just been sent when a report from Marshal Grouchy arrived, announcing that the Prussians were massing their forces near the village of Ligny, on the far side of the stream that gave the village its name. Napoleon felt his heartbeat quicken as he saw the opportunity that Blьcher was foolishly extending to him. He looked up at the staff officer who had brought the message.
‘Are you certain it is the main Prussian force?’
‘Yes, sire. There is no question of it. They are forming up on the sloped ground on the far bank, in clear view.’
Napoleon smiled and then turned quickly to Soult. ‘We will attack Blьcher with Grouchy’s wing and the reserve. Order them to advance on Ligny immediately.’
‘Yes, sire. And what of Marshal Ney? Shall I send fresh orders for him to march and join us?’
Napoleon quickly considered the positions of his forces and shook his head. ‘No. We must have the crossroads. But tell Ney that he is to report the moment he has won control of Quatre Bras.’ Napoleon rose from his chair and strode towards the door of the hotel that Soult’s headquarters had occupied. He gestured to the officer who had carried the message from Grouchy. ‘Come! You are to take me to your marshal at once.’
The Emperor and his escort hurriedly mounted, and led by Grouchy’s staff officer they pounded out of the village. Ahead of them stretched the rear echelons of the right wing of the army, battalion after battalion of infantry together with artillery columns. As the small party of horsemen galloped up the side of the road, the soldiers glanced round and let out a great cheer as Napoleon passed by, his grey coat-tails whipping out behind him.
An hour after he left headquarters Napoleon reached Marshal Grouchy’s command post at a windmill on a small hill overlooking the stream and the high ground beyond. The soldiers and guns of Vandamme’s corps were already deploying on the French side of the stream. Opposite them stood the Prussians: dense formations of infantry in their blue and black uniforms, spread out along the slope. Napoleon dismounted and hurried towards Grouchy and his staff.
‘It seems that fortune favours us, gentlemen,’ he said, gesturing towards the enemy. The officers smiled, and then Napoleon turned his attention directly on Grouchy.‘What do you know of their strength and dispositions?’
‘That’s Zieten’s corps over there, sire. My skirmishers captured some prisoners at first light. I had them interrogated. They said that the enemy is concentrating at Ligny. Our cavalry patrols report that two more Prussian corps are approaching from the north. There is no question of it. Blьcher intends to fight.’
‘Then we may face as many as ninety thousand of them,’ Napoleon mused. ‘Very well, we need to bring every available man into line as swiftly as possible. You may start siting your guns opposite the Prussians. When the battle begins, they will make a fine target.’
‘Indeed, sire.’ Grouchy nodded.
Napoleon felt a surge of satisfaction flow through his body. His plan had called for the Army of the North to break through between the allies and then seek and destroy them one at a time. Now it seemed that Blьcher had saved him the job. It was only a question of assembling his forces more swiftly than Blьcher and attacking the instant he had the advantage.
As the hours passed and the sun climbed into the sky more infantry, cavalry and artillery swelled the ranks on either side. The Prussian infantry occupied all the buildings along the far bank of the Ligny and set about fortifying them, knocking loopholes in the walls to harass the French when they made their attack. While both sides prepared, Napoleon rode forward with his escort to inspect the battlefield more closely. The ground either side of the stream was marshy for some way and it was clear that any attack would be forced to use the bridges and fords scattered along the length of the stream. There would be heavy losses, Napoleon realised as he returned to the command post and waited for the rest of his forces, and Soult’s headquarters, to reach the battlefield. It steadily became evident that the enemy were arriving in greater numbers than the French, and towards noon Napoleon sent a message to Ney instructing him to attack the Prussian right flank as soon as Quatre Bras was in French hands.
By two in the afternoon Napoleon had decided on his plan. Standing over Soult’s map table, he briefed his officers. ‘The enemy has spread their forces thinly along the stream, over a considerable distance. The situation could hardly be better for us, gentlemen. While our cavalry contains Blьcher’s left flank, the guns massed in the centre of the battlefield will pound the enemy line, and then we shall attack frontally. When the moment is ripe, the Imperial Guard will smash through their line and cut their army in two. It will only remain for Ney’s wing to fall upon their right flank and rear and the Prussians will be shattered. After that, we will turn on Wellington and end this campaign.’ He smiled as he stared round at his officers. ‘A few days from now France will have triumphed and our enemies will have no choice but to sue for peace.’
Half an hour later, the signal gun announced the opening of the battle, and the French batteries thundered out. At first they concentrated their fire on the defenders in the villages along the bank of the river, and then, as the order was given for the infantry to advance, they shifted their aim to begin wreaking terrible destruction in the ranks of the Prussian reserves drawn up in full view on the slope behind the stream. Roundshot smashed into the formations, leaving a trail of bodies and limbs to mark their passage. Despite the losses, the iron discipline of the Prussians held up, and the battered battalions closed up the gaps and stood firm.