“Bonaparte, although originally some few thousand men weaker than Blücher, had now, however, several thousand more fresh troops than that general: the cause of this was his keeping back more men, a greater economy of forces in the firing.
“This small[394] superiority of reserves would naturally not have decided much, but it must nevertheless be looked on as the first cause of the victory.
“The second reason was the unequal result which the firing had up to that time produced.
“It is true that when Bonaparte advanced against Ligny we still occupied part of this village, but we had then lost the rest; it is true that we still occupied a position between Wagnelée and St. Amand, but here, too, we had lost villages and ground; the engagement had therefore turned out everywhere a little to our disadvantage, and in such a case the preparations for the deciding blow are already made.
“The third and most important reason was, however, without doubt, the fact that Blücher did not have at his disposal the troops which had not yet fought, namely, the IIId Corps. It is true that the XIIth brigade was very near him, but that was too little: the IXth was also not far away; but of this, as well as of the whole of Thielemann’s Corps, there had been no thought; and the IIId Corps, therefore, as regards a decisive blow to be given by it, was as good as out of reach and could be used only for the retreat. Perhaps and very probably, this scattered disposition of Thielemann is to be looked upon as on the whole an actual advantage. If the IIId Corps had been at hand, it would have been employed also, without increasing the chances for a successful result, which, considering the turn which the whole affair had taken, could have been secured only by a decided superiority, such, in fact, as the arrival of Bülow’s Corps would have procured. And if the IIId Corps had been used, the loss in battle would probably have been greater by 10,000 men.”
We cannot leave this subject without calling attention to a remark[395] of Marshal Davout’s in his criticism of the Emperor’s conduct of this campaign. He speaks of him in connection with this battle as
“The Napoleon of the Moskowa, who, to make use of a vulgar expression, takes the bull by the horns; this was the reason why this battle was so bloody and so hotly fought, etc.”
How much justification there is for this remark appears from Clausewitz’s review of Napoleon’s tactics, which we have cited above. But Davout had a case to make out, apparently, and he desired to score a point at every stage of his criticism; an extremely common temptation, by the way, to which very many critics yield. As for the losses suffered by the French to which Davout refers, it must be remembered that Napoleon would have brought the action to a close two hours sooner, had it not been for the unexpected apparition of d’Erlon’s Corps; and that a good part of the French loss was suffered in those two hours. The same cause also operated to render the victory much less decisive than it otherwise would have been, as darkness came on before anything like pursuit could be attempted. Any fair criticism, therefore, of Napoleon’s conduct of the battle of Ligny ought to proceed on the supposition that this unlucky incident, for which a superserviceable staff-officer was solely responsible, had not occurred. On this supposition, then, the Prussian centre at Ligny would have been broken between 6 and 7 P.M., the losses of the French would have been much less, and their victory would necessarily have been much more complete.
8. The wisdom of Napoleon’s course in arresting the attack on the Prussian centre when the news of the appearance of a strange corps which might possibly consist of hostile troops was brought to him, has perhaps not received the attention it deserves. When Napoleon decided to wait till he should learn what this body of troops might be, he was all ready to give the finishing blow to the Prussian army. He was pretty certain to break up a large part of that army. If the unknown corps should turn out to have come from Ney, it was certainly in a position where it could play a most important part in the attack. If, on the other hand, it should turn out to have come from Wellington, Napoleon, provided only that he should have time enough to complete his contemplated stroke against Blücher, would probably be in a much better situation to deal with his antagonists than he could otherwise hope to occupy. It would seem, therefore, as if it was by no means clear that Napoleon took the wisest course when he deferred the main attack on the Prussians on the appearance of d’Erlon’s Corps.
9. It is not easy to see why Napoleon, certainly when he found that he would have to fight a battle at Ligny, should not have ordered the 6th Corps up to Fleurus at once, so that he might have it close at hand in case he needed it. The extreme importance of inflicting, if possible, a crushing defeat on the Prussians was so clearly seen by him, as his orders to Ney on the afternoon of the 16th and morning of the 17th abundantly show, that we cannot understand why he should not have availed himself of the aid of Lobau’s command. Lobau, even if he were not sent for until 11 A.M., could have been at Fleurus at or before 4 P.M.; and had he then been directed to march in rear of the troops of Vandamme and Girard which were fighting at and near St. Amand, he could have fallen upon the Prussian right and rear near Brye at or about half-past five o’clock, which was the moment when Napoleon was preparing for the decisive stroke at Ligny. Lobau could undoubtedly have accomplished all that Napoleon expected from Ney. And the coöperation of Lobau could have been arranged for without any chance of failure, while that of Ney was necessarily dependent on the situation in which he might find himself at Quatre Bras.