To refuse a battle would have meant a retreat along his communications with the Rhine, and Blucher was most unwilling to abandon his chances of joining with Wellington.
The battle itself will not be described; but d’Erlon’s wanderings towards the field and away from it again, and the influence of these aimless manœuvres on the struggle, may be discussed here.
At eight o’clock that morning (the 16th), Napoleon had sent orders to Ney to detach one Division of his force to Marbais, so as to support the Emperor and attack in rear the Prussian right, while the battle of Ligny was at its height. At 2 P.M., he had ordered Ney to attack and defeat whatever force might be in front of him (he had ascertained that Ney must be greatly superior in numbers to the force that opposed him), and then to move along the Namur road and fall on Blucher’s rear. At 3.15 P.M. this order was reiterated, and in the most emphatic manner was Ney ordered to bring the whole of his forces to bear on the Prussian right and rear. When, therefore, at 5.30 P.M., Napoleon was preparing his greatest blow at Blucher and getting in readiness his Reserves to crush the Prussian Centre at Ligny, the news that a strong column of infantry, cavalry, and artillery was making for Fleurus on the French left arrived, and it might have been guessed that this was a part of Ney’s forces, acting in accordance with the instructions sent to the Marshal, but sadly in the wrong direction. Instead of moving against the Prussian right, this column was making for the left rear of the French. Vandamme, who forwarded the report to the Emperor, suspended his movements, and Girard fell back with his Division, until the uncertainty should be cleared up. For it was possible, perhaps, that Wellington had overcome Ney and was marching to assist Blucher; Ney had sent no tidings during the day. Napoleon, at first, believed that the force was the Division despatched by Ney in accordance with the eight o’clock order; but he reflected that the numbers were too great for a Division, and that Ney had been ordered to send the force by Marbais. Then, when Vandamme’s suspicions were supported by a second report, he became extremely uneasy; he suspended his projected attack on the Prussian centre: and sent off an officer of his staff to ascertain the truth. At 7 P.M., nearly two hours after the first appearance of the strange column, the staff-officer returned, with the tidings that d’Erlon’s whole Corps was at hand, and was marching to join Napoleon’s left. On the receipt of this news, the advance of the Imperial Guard was renewed, and Girard’s Division resumed its former position in line.
How d’Erlon had arrived in this position may be explained with little difficulty. When Napoleon’s aide-de-camp, Laurent, reached Gosselies with the morning order, he found that the First Corps was already marching towards Quatre-Bras, and that d’Erlon himself had gone forward to Frasnes. Laurent hastened to find him, and on overtaking the columns of the First Corps on his way, he took upon himself the responsibility of changing their direction towards St Amand. D’Erlon, on learning what had been done, rode off at once to join his Corps, sending word to Ney to inform him what had happened. The road from Frasnes towards St Amand lay through Villers-Perruin, and it was this direction which brought the column into such an unexpected position towards the French rear. On reaching Villers-Perruin, however, d’Erlon sent out a Light Cavalry Brigade to his left, as a precautionary measure. This Brigade encountered a Prussian Brigade of Hussars and Lancers under Marwitz, who withdrew slowly and in good order. Girard’s Division, perceiving the Prussians retire, became reassured, and moved forward to its original position. But now, d’Erlon received from Ney a most urgent and peremptory order to rejoin him at once. D’Erlon, who acted under Ney’s immediate orders, decided that it was his duty to obey those orders; and since he had received no definite instructions from the Emperor as to how he should act when he had brought his Corps on the field, he turned about and left the ground. Thus he was too late in his return to be of use to Ney at Quatre-Bras, and the eccentric direction given to his columns, although the natural outcome of his previous dispositions, served to postpone Napoleon’s great attack with his Guard for two hours; and, when the addition of 20,000 men might have entirely overwhelmed the Prussians, he calmly withdrew his men.
D’Erlon’s error was his inaction when he arrived on the field, and not so much his diversion from Ney’s orders. He must have known that he could not return to Quatre-Bras in time to be of any service; but that by following up Marwitz, and falling on the rear of the Prussian right wing, he would be most likely to render the very greatest assistance to Napoleon. How he could have failed to realise the importance of his presence at such a juncture surpasses all imagination. The very fact that Marwitz’s Brigade had been able to present some show of compactness before Jacquinot’s Cavalry might have proved to him that there was still a stout resistance to be expected on the part of the Prussians. Again, we think Napoleon should have sent instructions as to how d’Erlon should act, by his aide-de-camp, in the event of the strange column being French. Had d’Erlon remained on the left wing to assist Ney, Quatre-Bras might have been won by the French. Had he realised the uselessness of a return march to Ney when he was yet at hand to help Napoleon, and thrown all his weight into the struggle at Ligny, he would have been of the greatest use in overwhelming the Prussians.
Such mistakes as these are unexpected, and therefore happen, in war.
CHAPTER II
THE THIRD PRUSSIAN CORPS AND GROUCHY’S FORCES
The Third Prussian Corps, commanded by Lieut.-General Thielemann, entered on the campaign of 1815 with a total strength of 23,980 men and 48 guns. There were four divisions[3] of infantry, containing from six to nine battalions each. These were composed as follows:—
| Ninth Division—Major-General Borcke— | Battns. | Men. |
|---|---|---|
| 8th and 30th Regiments of the Line | 3} | 6,752 |
| 1st Kurmark Landwehr Regiment | 6} | |
| Tenth Division—Colonel Kampfen— | ||
| 27th Regiment of the Line | 3} | 4,045 |
| 2nd Kurmark Landwehr Regiment | 3} | |
| Eleventh Division—Colonel Luck— | ||
| 3rd and 4th Kurmark Landwehr Regiments | 6 | 3,634 |
| Twelfth Division—Colonel Stulpnagel— | ||
| 31st Regiment of the Line | 3} | 6,180 |
| 5th and 6th Kurmark Landwehr Regiment | 6} | |
| —— | ——— | |
| Total Infantry | 30 | 20,611 |