THE Battle of Waterloo, followed as it was by the advance of the Anglo-Allied and Prussian Armies upon Paris, was so decisive in its effects, and so comprehensive in its results, that the great object of the War—the destruction of the power of Napoleon and the restoration of the legitimate Sovereign—was attained while the Armies of the Upper Rhine and of Italy were but commencing their invasion of the French territory. Had the successes attendant upon the exertions of Wellington and Blücher assumed a less decisive character, and, more especially, had reverses taken the place of those successes; the operations of the Armies advancing from the Rhine and across the Alps would have acquired an immense importance in the history of the War: but the brilliant course of events in the north of France materially diminished the interest excited by the military transactions in other parts of the kingdom. Upon this ground it has been considered, that to enter into any very detailed account of the movements and dispositions of the Allies, on the eastern frontier, is unnecessary; and that the completion of the present Work will be sufficiently accomplished by the addition of a simple outline of the daily progress and attendant circumstances of the advance of each Army into the interior of the country.
Part of France
Operations of the German Corps d'Armée.
This Corps, which was composed of contingent forces supplied by the petty Princes of North Germany, was assembled, in the middle of April, in the vicinity of Coblentz. It amounted to 26,200 men, divided into thirty Battalions, twelve Squadrons, and two and a half Batteries; and was placed under the command of General Count Kleist von Nollendorf. At a somewhat later period it crossed the Rhine at Coblentz and Neuwied, and took up a position on the Moselle and the Sarre; its Right communicating with the Third Prussian Corps d'Armée, and its Left with the Bavarian troops at Zweibrücken. Its Advanced Posts extended along the French frontier from Arlon to Mertzig. Its Head Quarters were at Trier, on the Moselle.
In this position it remained until the 16th of June, when its Commander, General von Engelhard (in the absence of Count Kleist, who was ill), advanced from Trier to Arlon; which it reached on the 19th. Here it continued until the 21st, when it received an Order from Prince Blücher to move into France by Bastogne and Neufchâteau; and to gain possession of the Fortresses of Sedan and Bouillon. On the 22nd, the Corps commenced its march, in two Columns: the one by Neufchâteau, upon Sedan; the other by Recogne, upon Bouillon. Sedan, after a few days' bombardment, capitulated on the 25th of June. An attempt was made to take Bouillon by a coup de main; but its garrison was strong enough to frustrate this project. The place was not considered of sufficient importance to render a regular siege expedient, and it was therefore simply invested, from the 25th of June, until the 21st of August; when it was blockaded at all points by troops of the Netherlands, under Prince Frederick of Orange.