[461] But see Maurice, pp. 350, 351: July, 1890. He thinks that the troops of the two beaten corps must at first have retreated northward,—that is, across the turnpike, in the direction of Wavre.
[462] This mistake could not have been made, as Ollech points out (p. 172) if the battle had been decided before nightfall.
[463] As a matter of fact, these troops were not a part of a column in retreat for Namur; but, of course, this could not be known at once. See Siborne, vol. 1, pp. 286, 287. Clausewitz, ch. 37, p. 92.
[464] Jomini states (p. 150, n.) that General Monthion reconnoitred in the direction of Tilly and Mont St. Guibert in pursuance of orders given him by the Emperor on the morning of the 17th. Siborne, vol. 1, p. 317, states that Domon’s cavalry division of the 3d Corps, which had been temporarily attached to the main column, reconnoitred the country between the Brussels road and the Dyle. This must have been, however, in the afternoon of the 17th.
[465] Grouchy, Obs., p. 12 et seq.
[466] Fragments Hist., Lettre à MM. Méry et Barthélemy; pp. 4, 5. Grouchy Mem., vol. 4, p. 44.
[467] Grouchy, Obs. p. 13.
[468] Ollech, p. 171. Cf. Clausewitz, ch. 51.
[469] This subject will be treated of in Appendix B; post, p. 355.
[470] Charras, vol. 1, p. 240.