It was late on the 17th before Marshal Grouchy learnt the direction in which the mass of the Prussian army had retired, and he in consequence halted at Gembloux during the night of the 17th, his corps being disposed in the following order. The 2d corps of cavalry in advance on the road between Gembloux and Sart-à-Walhain; the 3d corps of infantry in support of the former, a short distance in advance of Gembloux; the 4th corps of infantry at Gembloux: Gen. Pajol, with his division of cavalry, supported by the 1st division of the 6th corps of infantry, had pursued the retreat of part of the Prussian army on the Namur road, and then changed his direction towards Wavres; he was now on the right of Gembloux. Marshal Grouchy sent an aide-de-camp from Gembloux that night to inform Napoleon of his position, and acquainting him that the Prussians had retreated in two columns by the villages of Sauveniere and Sart-à-Walhain. On the 18th, Marshal Grouchy, now certain of the line of retreat which Blucher had taken, proceeded towards Wavres, and about mid-day the cavalry of Excelmans overtook the Prussian rear-guard at the skirts of the wood in front of Wavres, and Marshal Grouchy directed an attack upon it as soon as Vandamme’s corps arrived: the Prussians were driven down into Wavres, and about four o’clock in the afternoon, the French gained possession of that part of the town situated on the right bank of the Dyle, but failing in their attempt to force the passage of the river there, an attack was made by a part of Gérard’s corps at the mill of Bierge. The 3d Prussian corps under Gen. Thielman, defended these points with great obstinacy, and succeeded in repulsing the French. Marshal Grouchy distinctly heard the violent cannonade at Mont St. Jean, and therefore attacked the Prussians with renewed vigour, to prevent Marshal Blucher from detaching any troops to support the allies, supposing that he had the whole Prussian army before him, and not being aware that Bulow’s corps had, early in the morning, been put in march to fall upon Napoleon’s right wing. Grouchy therefore, in order to turn the Prussian right wing, moved with that part of Gérard’s corps which had arrived, down upon Limale, and succeeded in effecting his passage of the Dyle. In the early part of the day Marshal Grouchy had received orders*
from Napoleon, in answer to the report which he had sent from Gembloux in the night; in this order Napoleon urges the Marshal to march in the direction of Wavres, and to approximate his corps to the remainder of the army; and during the attack which Grouchy was making on Limale he received a fresh order †
from Napoleon, urging him to manœuvre in the direction of Mont St. Jean, and informing him of the march of Bulow, whose troops had been discovered moving by St. Lambert towards the right flank of the position occupied by Napoleon. But at this moment, Vandamme’s corps was warmly engaged at Wavres, and part of Gérard’s at the mill of Bierge and Limale. The remainder of Gérard’s corps, which had commenced its march much later in the morning from Gembloux, was not yet arrived, and Grouchy now found it out of his power to march upon the rear of Bulow, making fruitless efforts at Wavres and at Bierge, to force the Prussians from their strong holds. In this state, night put an end to the contest on this side. It appears from all accounts that Napoleon was confident of being enabled to defeat the army of the Duke of Wellington without the assistance of the troops which he had detached under Marshal Grouchy: he should have remembered the peculiar qualities of English troops in days of battle; the campaigns in the Peninsula should alone have proved to him that in the open field they were never defeated; and he should have borne in mind one of the essential rules, in which, in his instructions for days of battle, he impresses, “cette maxime, qu’un homme de guerre ne peut trop se graver dans l’esprit, que ce sont les plus opiniatres qui gagnent les batailles.”
And when, later in the day, he received intelligence of Bulow’s corps being in march upon his right flank, he seems to have calculated on Marshal Grouchy being able to come up with its rear, notwithstanding the distance and difficult roads between Mont St. Jean and Wavres, whither Grouchy had received instructions to proceed. However, it seems to be the opinion of many able men, that Marshal Grouchy should at once have marched upon the scene of action at Mont St. Jean, as the cannonade which he heard evidently was that of the whole forces of Napoleon engaged against the Duke of Wellington’s. With regard to the policy of accepting battle from the enemy on the plains of Waterloo, which the French writers have considered so great a fault in the tactics of the Duke of Wellington; it must be observed, that had Belgium been a country whose political and commercial interests would have led it to oppose invasion with energy, the best system to have been followed by the army of the Netherlands would be that of avoiding battles, and drawing the enemy farther from his resources, and thus extending, and consequently weakening, the line of his operations, and compelling him to a warfare in detail; whilst the allies, retiring on their resources, would have accumulated strength, and might have selected their own time and place for giving battle to the invading army; and whilst the immense armies collected on the Rhine and in Lombardy, by invading France, would of necessity compel the French troops in Belgium to retreat. –– But as Belgium had for so long a period formed an integral part of the French empire; as both her political, and yet more her commercial interests, were assimilated with those of France, and, as may reasonably be supposed, a great portion of the population eagerly looked for the advance of Napoleon, it is manifest under these circumstances, that the farther he could penetrate into the country, the greater probability there would be of his success. The proclamations and other documents found in his baggage, which was captured, prove his confident expectation of gaining over the whole country to his cause, and the losses he might sustain in actions would then have been recruited in the country he invaded. It was therefore as much, nay more, the interest of the Duke of Wellington to meet the enemy, if not on the very frontier, as near to it as possible, and by an obstinate defence, still to secure the plan arranged for the combined efforts of all the allied armies against France. Could the Duke of Wellington have merely maintained his ground at Waterloo, so as to prevent the farther advance of the French army; or could he effect a junction with the Prussian army, his object would have been equally gained; but, to prevent the enemy from gaining possession of the Flemish capital was of vital importance. It would appear, therefore, that as the French army, inferior in numbers to the united forces of Wellington and Blucher, could not at the same moment defeat both armies, there can hardly be a doubt that, subsequent to the battle of Ligny, all his efforts should, without delay, have been exerted against the Duke of Wellington’s army, and these, with every man who could be spared from the pursuit of the Prussians, for it would have been against all the rules of war to quit with his main forces the road between Charleroi and Bruxelles, which was the true base of his operations, to follow the Prussian army along the bad cross roads in the direction of Louvain, and thus leave open his communications to the army of the Netherlands.
On the morning of the 19th, Gen. Thielman engaged the troops under Grouchy, who had not yet received news of the disaster of Napoleon, and therefore opposed a vigorous resistance, driving back the Prussians, and advancing in his turn to the attack: the Prussians retreated towards Rosieren, followed by the troops under Grouchy, when, at eleven o’clock, he heard of the total defeat of the French army, and in consequence, immediately commenced his retreat towards Namur. On the morning of the 20th, his rear guard was attacked by the Prussians with partial success, but arriving soon at Namur, he there held the ramparts with his rear guard, till his whole corps had crossed the Sambre, and was in full march upon Dinant and along the banks of the Meuse. The Prussians made great efforts to force their entrance into Namur, before the French quitted it, and lost a great many men and officers in this unsuccessful attempt, and they did not enter the town till late in the evening. Marshal Blucher continued the pursuit of Napoleon’s army, during the night of the 18th, with the 1st, 2d, and 4th corps of his army, and on the 19th, his cavalry were in close pursuit through Charleroi and on the road to Beaumont; the head-quarters were at Gosselies.
At dawn of morning of the 19th, working parties were sent out by the Duke of Wellington’s army, to clear the great road of the French artillery and waggons, with which it was quite choked up, and orders were given for the march of the different corps. The English army engaged at Waterloo, with the 2d and 3d divisions of the Netherlands, Brunswick and Nassau contingents, crossed from its bivouack on the Genappe road, to that leading to Nivelles. The two brigades of the 4th division, and remainder of the Netherland troops, which had been stationed to cover the approach to Hal on the 18th, were ordered also to march upon Nivelles, where, during the night of the 19th, the Duke of Wellington’s head-quarters were established, the army of the Netherlands occupying all the surrounding villages.
On the 20th, the army of the Netherlands moved to the neighbourhood of Binch, where the Duke’s head-quarters were during the succeeding night.
On the 21st the Anglo-Belgian army were distributed around Malplaquet. The Prussian head-quarters that day were at Noyelles, a village on the Sambre, equidistant between Avesnes and Landrecy, and on the 22d removed to Chatillon, a village near Le Cateau, where, on the same day, the Duke of Wellington had his head-quarters. The Prussian army had taken a few pieces of French artillery in the roads between Beaumont and Solre le Chateau, and as the armies advanced, every thing confirmed the total rout in which the enemy had been thrown: desertion quickly diminished his ranks, and the French Generals had hitherto been unable to rally their troops. Napoleon on the 19th had proceeded to Phillippeville, in hopes of falling in with Marshal Grouchy in his retreat, but finding no news of his approach, set off by post for Paris, where the news of the defeat of the French army might cause disturbances requiring his immediate presence.
On the 23d and 24th Gen. Colville’s division was moved to the right upon Cambray, and on the evening of the latter day storming parties were formed, and the town attacked on both sides, the troops escalading the walls near the Paris and Valenciennes gates: batteries of artillery were posted to cover the attack, and the town was taken almost immediately, and with trifling Joss; the troops in the citadel surrendered on the 25th.
On the 26th, the Duke of Wellington moved to Peronne, with the 1st division, and directed an attack upon the horn-work which covers the approach to the town on its north side. The light troops of Major-Gen. Maitland’s brigade of guards, led by Lord Saltoun, stormed the horn-work, and carried it with little loss, and the troops then advancing under cover of the suburb to the counterscarp of the body of the place, kept up so hot a fire, that the enemy could not remain exposed on the ramparts some pieces of Dutch artillery were brought to bear within the horn-work upon the gate of the town, when the civil authorities of the place interfered and urged an immediate capitulation, which was agreed to. Thus two strong barriers of the northern frontier were overcome almost without loss, and a secure line of operation afforded for marching direct upon Paris. The Prussian troops meanwhile, leaving forces to blockade Maubeuge, Avesnes, Landrecy, and Guise; Philippeville, Charlemont and Rocroy, advanced upon Compeigne: most of these places having feeble garrisons and being ill provisioned, surrendered after a short resistance: Avesnes was taken immediately, owing to the powder magazine blowing up, and destroying a great part of the town: Le Quesnoy was blockaded by Prince Frederic of the Netherlands, and taken after a short resistance: Marshal Blucher’s headquarters were on the 24th at Genappe, the 25th, at St. Quentin, the 26th, at Genvry, and the 27th at Compeigne: the 1st and 3d corps crossed the Oise at Compeigne, and marched upon Villers-Coterets, to flank tine enemy’s (Grouchy’s) retreat from Soissons and Laon, whilst the corps of Bulow proceeded by Verberie, where it crossed the Oise, and then directed its march upon Dammartin, to intercept the retreat of the enemy, pressed by the corps of Ziethen and Thielman, who succeeded in driving him from Villers-Coterets, and obliged him to retire by Meaux, on the Marne, in consequence of Bulow’s advance upon Dammartin. The Prussian army then marched by the great road upon Gonesse and Paris, and on the 29th he occupied a position crossing the great roads leading from Paris to Gonesse and Meaux, his right towards St. Denis, his left observing Vincennes.
The Duke of Wellington’s army advanced by the great road through Roye Gournay and Pont St. Maxence, where the bridge over the Oise had been partially blown up by the enemy; it was promptly repaired, and the army passed the Oise on the 29th and 30th head-quarters on the latter day were at Louvres. On the 1st of July the army took up a position in front of Le Bourget, the right towards St. Denis, the left upon Bondy. Blucher, with his army, moved by his right on St. Germain, where part of his troops crossed the Seine on the 30th, and were followed by the remainder on the 1st of July. On the 2d, the Prussians advanced upon Versailles, St. Cloud, and Sevres, with their advance at Montrouge and Issy. On the 3d, the French attacked the corps of Ziethen at Issy, and a smart action took place, when a French flag of truce coming in, hostilities ceased. St. Cloud was fixed upon for the place of treaty, and commissioners were appointed respectively by the French government, the Duke of Wellington and Marshal Blucher, by which, on the 6th of July, the allies occupied the barriers of Paris, and the French army retired behind the Loire.
The abdication of Napoleon in favour of his son, and all the political results of this campaign, have been so frequently detailed in the numerous accounts which have been published, that it is unnecessary in this place to recapitulate them; we shall therefore conclude this sketch, by briefly tracing the progress of the allied armies from the banks of the Rhine to the interior of the French empire, commencing with the period of the invasion of Belgium.
On the 15th of June, the Bavarian troops were concentrating in the neighbourhood of Manheim and Spire; the head-quarters of Prince Wrede at Manheim.
On the 20th, part of the staff of Prince Schwartzenberg left Heidelberg for Bruchsal.
On the 21st, news was received of the defeat of the Prussian army at Ligny, and orders were immediately sent to recall the troops, who had commenced marching on the preceding day; and on the 22d the ringing of bells and firing of cannon announced the victory of Waterloo. On the 24th, Prince Schwartzenberg set off for Manheim; he was followed on the 25th by the Emperors of Russia and Austria. Prince Wrede advanced down the Rhine. On the 28th, Prince Schwartzenberg, together with 30,000 Russians united to his corps, advanced on Spire, whilst the Archduke Ferdinand, with the army of reserve, advanced on Basle and Rheinfels. On the 29th the Hereditary Prince of Wirtemberg, with the troops of Baden and Wirtemberg, crossed the Rhine at Rastadt, and drove the French troops opposed to him into the fortresses of Strasbourg, Schlestadt and Befort, after an action, in which near 1500 men were killed or wounded. On the 30th, the Archduke Ferdinand passed the Rhine at Basle, with 40,000 men, and the same day arrived at Muhlhausen. On the 1st of July, he entered Colmar, from whence the French had retired on the 29th of June. Meantime Prince Schwartzenberg and the two Emperors proceeded towards Nancy. Prince Wrede took Saarbruck and Saargemund; thus turning the mountains of the Vosges, which might have been defended with a small number of troops. The Archduke Ferdinand, with the army of reserve, passed the Vosges on the 2d of July, at St. Marie-aux-Mines and St. Diey, points which had been strongly intrenched, but which were now totally abandoned. On the 4th of July, the Archduke Ferdinand advanced to Rempervilliers; the Archduke John blockaded Huninguen; Gen. Mazzuchelli blockaded Schelestadt; Prince Colloredo blockaded Strasbourg, where Gen Rapp had retired with his corps, amounting to near 30,000 men.
On the 5th of July, the Austrian headquarters were at Charmes; on the 6th, at Mirecourt, and on the 7th, at Neufchateau; on which day, the two Emperors and Prince Schwartzenberg arrived at Nancy, where they were joined by the King of Prussia. On the 8th and 9th, the Archduke was at Joinville. Thus the reserve had been gradually approaching the main army, and on the following day, (10th), the two headquarters were united at Brienne. News having been received of the capitulation of Paris, the allied sovereigns, with Prince Schwartzenberg, set off by post for Paris; and the Russian corps d’armée, now increased to 50,000 men, branched off to the right, and directed its march upon Soissons. The Bavarians directed their march upon Auxerre, Tonnere,Montbard, and the environs of Sens. The-Austrian head-quarters were on the 12th at Troyes, and on the 13th at Sens; whence the army of reserve, and the greater part of the Austrian troops, turned to the left, directing their march southward upon Lyons, to co-operate with Baron Frimont in the reduction of Lyons. The Austro-Italian army passed the Italian frontier in three columns. The 1st, under Frimont, of 60,000 men, by the Simplon, directing its march upon Lyons, and arriving there on the 29th of July. The 2d corps, under Count Bubna, of 50,000 Austrians and Piedmontese, by Mont Cenis; whilst the 3d corps, under Bianchi, with from twenty to thirty thousand troops, proceeded by Monaco and Frejus upon Marseilles. The troops under Marshal Suchet had partial engagements with the Austrians as they debouched from the Alps, and at Montuel and Maximien, near Lyons, sharp engagements took place on the 12th and 13th of July. News was then received of the cessation of hostilities in the north, and of the capitulation of Paris; and in consequence, Lyons surrendered by capitulation on the 17th, and Marshal Suchet with his army retired to Clermont behind the Allier.
It has been already stated, that it is not the purport of this sketch of the campaign of 1815, to enter into an investigation of its political bearings; the author, therefore, here closes his narrative, which could not be prolonged without touching upon the abdication of Napoleon, the conduct of the French senate, and that of the allied sovereigns; his object having been merely to place the several occurrences of the war in as clear and correct a light as his limited means have enabled him.