The Campaign of Waterloo: A Military History / Third Edition

by John Codman Ropes

NOTES TO CHAPTER IX.

1. The very simple explanation suggested in this chapter of the cause of the delay on the morning of the 16th in the movement of the main body of the French army under the Emperor in person, namely, that that movement was deferred because of the inability of the left wing of the army to make a simultaneous movement on Quatre Bras, does not seem to have occurred to most of the historians of this campaign.[306] But surely, when allowance is made for this fact, the severe criticisms of Jomini,[307] Charras,[308] Siborne[309] and others, must be held to be quite beside the mark. Had Ney occupied Quatre Bras on the evening of the 15th, the forward movement of the main French army would certainly not have been thus delayed. It would doubtless have been made in the early morning of the 16th, even though it might have been necessary to give Ney the 6th Corps in place of the backward 1st. But as Quatre Bras had not been occupied the evening before, and as the backward state of d’Erlon’s Corps rendered it impossible for Ney to make a forward movement with the entire force which had been assigned to him until the forenoon was well advanced, the operations of the main body were postponed, and the troops were allowed what would otherwise have been an unnecessary[310] time to rest and recruit.

2. It is to be observed here, that for the backwardness of the 1st Corps at midnight of the 15th, Marshal Ney was in no wise responsible. His recent arrival at the army and his lack of a proper staff exonerate him completely from any blame for this unfortunate delay. For this d’Erlon alone must be held responsible.

3. It is unnecessary to repeat here what we have said above as to Ney’s conduct on his return to Gosselies from his interview with Napoleon at Charleroi. It seems to us that any competent and energetic officer, bent upon getting ready to execute his orders as soon as they should be received, and to execute them to the letter when he should receive them, would have accomplished far more than Marshal Ney accomplished that morning.

4. We desire to call attention to the fact that up to this time there is no evidence whatever of indolence, or irresolution, on the part of the Emperor Napoleon. From the time when he left Paris at half-past three in the morning of the 12th to the time of which we are now writing, he seems to have been fully up even to his own high standard of military activity and capacity. His general order for the movement of the army on the 15th was as clear and full as it was possible for an order to be. His energy and dash on the 15th were noticeable. His vigor and endurance also seem to have been equal to the demands put upon them. From three in the morning to eight in the evening of the 15th he was on horseback, and in personal command of the troops. At midnight he had a long conference with Marshal Ney. Since the result of that conference was, as we have seen, to induce the postponement of the advance of the army, the Emperor may, very possibly, have taken some rest in the early morning hours of the 16th. But the despatch to Ney requesting from him an exact account of his position must have been sent off about five, and at or soon after eight we find him dictating to Count Flahaut the letters to Ney and Grouchy. It is hardly necessary to add, that if the explanation given above of the causes of the delay in the advance-movement of the army on the morning of the 16th be correct, there is not the slightest foundation for the charges of hesitation or irresolution, which have been so often made.[311]

5. It seems to be difficult for some writers to keep steadily in mind the absolute necessity of Napoleon’s either defeating the Prussians or compelling them definitely to retreat, before he undertook any movement in the direction of Brussels, either with the view of attacking the English or of occupying that city. Thus Chesney,[312] speaking of Napoleon’s intentions on the morning of the 16th, says:—

“His morning orders clearly prove that he expected no serious opposition from them (the Prussians) or the English at present, and was divided only in his mind between the thought of pressing on direct to Brussels between the two allied armies, or striking at the supposed Prussian right, driven back on Fleurus the day before.”

But Napoleon’s letters to Ney and Grouchy, to which Chesney here refers, explicitly contradict this supposition. Napoleon says in his letter to Ney:—[313]

“I am sending Marshal Grouchy with the 3d and 4th Corps of infantry to Sombreffe. I am taking my Guard to Fleurus, and I shall be there myself before noon. I shall there attack the enemy if I meet him, and I shall clear the road as far as Gembloux. There, after what shall have passed, I shall make up my mind.”