The slippery English managed to escape from the Q. Bras position and were aided by an tremendous thunderstorm with heavy rain in which the French troops were bogged down. Sources hint that the Emperor was furious with Marshal Ney for failing to take the crucial cross-roads yesterday, and for failing to pin Wellington's forces today. He has brought with him from the battlefield at Ligny an entire Corps and the divisions of the Imperial Guard. He has left one Corps with Gen. Grouchy with orders to pursue the Prussians fiercely because it has now been confirmed that they retreated north in line with Wellington, not east as had been thought, or at least, hoped.
The Emperor is bringing up his army as fast as possible because, to his inexpressible joy, it looks as though the British have decided to make a stand of it in a small valley south of Brussels. There is a large forest behind them which will make escape difficult tomorrow when, as the Emperor confidently expects, he defeats the 'great' Duke of Wellington, a soldier for whom he has little or no respect. The troops are marching in through the rain and the mud to take up their positions ready for the forthcoming battle.
Don't I remember that Wellington despatched rather a lot of troops to his right to intercept a flanking motion that he thought Napoleon should have attempted (but didn't)? Or will that be in tomorrow's news?
Posted by: dearieme | Thursday, 17 June 2010 at 22:51
Quite right, 'DM', although he didn't so much despatch them as keep them more or less where they were. He had about 17,000 men at Hal, some 6 miles to the west, in case of an operational 'left hook' by Napoleon which might have cut him off from the sea. Also he had 7,000 men of a Netherlands division posted a 1,000 metres further off from his right wing just in case 'Boney' tried a tactical 'left hook' round the far side of Hougemont Farm. Overly cautious? Perhaps, but he did not wish to underestimate one of the greatest Captains of History. Also, he was confident that in time Blucher would arrive from the east.
Posted by: David Duff | Friday, 18 June 2010 at 10:13