From French HQ: Some alarm has been reported by troops stationed on the right flank who have reported columns advancing from the east. The Emperor has sent word that they are Grouchy's troops and not Prussians as was first feared. However, I have heard from a source that when the noise of the opening barrage was heard at Grouchy's HQ and he was urged to march to the sound of the guns, he refused on the grounds that his specific orders were to find and pin the Prussians to the north. This appears to be a repetition of the day before yesterday when d' Erlon's Corps marched hither and thither and never fired a shot in anger!
In the meantime, Marshal Ney has returned in some agitation from directing the assault on La Haie Sainte, which has finally been taken, and is reporting that the British are attempting to escape north from the battlefield using the same sly tactics they used to escape from Quatre Bras. He has ordered the cavalry to concentrate at the bottom of the valley between Hougoumont, where the fighting is still raging, and the main road. He intends to charge them up the hill to sweep away the British right flank before they, too, escape. Meanwhile, the Emperor has been heard expressing some dis-satisfaction with Gen. Reille for allowing his subordinate (and the Emperor's brother) to commit virtually the entire Corps into the battle for Hougoumont which the Emperor had only required to be screened not taken.
FLASH NEWS from French HQ: The Emperor has ordered the reserve over to his right flank because it is now clear that they are indeed Prussians who approaching.
From Wellington's HQ: La Haie Sainte, gallantly held by allied troops has finally fallen but the Duke's centre remains secure - for the moment. The Duke has ridden over Hougoumont to release a handful of troops to its defence but is now aware that French cavalry is massing in the valley with the aim, it appears, of attacking the British infantry which form his right flank. With the utmost calm he has suggested to the formation commanders that their troops form square because, alas, following the abortive charge earlier, there are no longer any British cavalry to protect them from the French. As viewed from the crest of the ridge one is forced to admire the spectacle - thousands of French cavalrymen in all their many different but splendid uniforms, breast-plates twinkling in the sun, plumes shaking this way and that, they make a brave sight as they slowly walk their horses up the slope, although they are taking some considerable damage from our brave gunners who only leave their guns to run back into the safety of the squares at the very last moment. We, too, have ridden into a square in company with the Duke who appears incredibly phlegmatic at this massive approaching threat. However, good news has arrived confirming that the dark lines of approaching troops away to the east are indeed the Prussians and they appear to be coming in behind Bonaparte's right flank, a manouvre which could prove fatal to his army's existence. The great question is, though, will the Prussians arrive in time, and/or, will we be able to stand when this great wave of cavalry assaults us?
From Prussian HQ: By a miracle of organisation worked by Marshal Blucher's highly efficient and resourceful Chief of Staff, Count von Gneisenau, the retreating Prussian army has been quickly reformed and redirected towards the west in support of the Allied army. The efficiency of this new Prussian staff system is worth closer examination and I am grateful to a Col. Clausewitz who explained some of the almost revolutionary ideas behind this new theory of conducting warfare. In any event, the troops are on their way and should come in behind the French right flank.
Slugfest in the centre: -
hemorroids, the Prussians, and le Haye Sainte
Son of Duff
Posted by: Lawrence Duff | Monday, 21 June 2010 at 00:06