4

Quatre Bras

An officer of the 8th Brigade wrote the following from the camp at Clichy near Paris, which became the main British encampment during the occupation of the French capital at the end of the campaign:

All the sharers of my tent having gone to Paris, and my servant having manufactured a window-shutter into a table, and a pack-saddle into a seat, I will no longer delay answering your two affectionate letters, and endeavour to comply with your demand of an account of the battle such as it offered to my own eyes.

The following officer was a member of the Brigade of Guards and, like most of the Anglo-Netherlands army, he was marching throughout the morning of 16 June towards Quatre Bras:

On the 15th (of June) everything appeared so perfectly quiet, that the Duchess of Richmond gave a ball and supper, to which all the world was invited; and it was not till near ten o’clock at night that rumours of an action having taken place between the French and Prussians were circulated through the room in whispers: no credit was to them, however, for some time; but when the General Officers whose corps were in advance began to move, and when orders were given for persons to repair to their regiments, matters then began to be considered in a different light.

At eleven o’clock .the drums beat to arms, and the 5th Division, which garrisoned Brussels, after having bivouacked in the Park until day light, set forward towards the frontiers. On the road we met baggage and sick coming to the rear; but could only learn that the French and Prussians had been fighting the day before, and that another battle was expected when they left the advanced posts.¹

The early hours of 16 June also saw Ney trying to organise his new command so that he could push on to Quatre Bras, but due to the suddenness of his appointment, the Marshal did not know where all his troops were. Consequently, time was lost in the morning before he could gather together what he regarded as sufficient numbers to enable him to attack the Allied forces that were holding the crossroads. This was one of the subjects he referred to in a letter to Joseph Fouché, duc d’Otrante, the hugely influential Minister of Police under Napoleon and King Louis, and who retained power after Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo:

The most false and defamatory reports have been spreading for some days over the public mind, upon the conduct which I have pursued during this short and unfortunate campaign. The journals have reported those odious calumnies, and appear to lend them credit. After having fought for twenty-five years for my country, after having shed my blood for its glory and independence, an attempt is made to accuse me of treason; an attempt is made to mark me out to the people, and the army itself, as the author of the disaster it has just experienced.

Forced to break silence, while it is always painful to speak of oneself, and above all, to answer calumnies, I address myself to you, Sir, as the President of the Provisional Government, for the purpose of laying before you a faithful statement of the events I have witnessed. On the 11th of June, I received an order from the Minister of War to repair to the Imperial presence. I had no command, and no information upon the composition and strength of the army. Neither the Emperor nor his Minister had given me any previous hint, from which I could anticipate that I should be employed in the present campaign. I was consequently taken by surprise, without horse, without accoutrements, and without money, and I was obliged to borrow the necessary expenses of my journey.

Having arrived on the 12th, at Laon, on the 13th at Avesnes, and on the 14th at Beaumont, I purchased, in this last city, two horses from the Duke of Treviso, with which I repaired, on the 15th, to Charleroi, accompanied by my first aide-de-camp, the only officer who attended me. I arrived at the moment when the enemy, attacked by our troops, was retreating upon Fleurus and Gosselies.

The Emperor ordered me immediately to put myself at the head of the 1st and 2d corps of infantry, commanded by Lieutenant-Generals d’Erlon and Reille, of the divisions of light cavalry of Lieutenant-General Piré, of the division of light cavalry of the guards, under the command of Lieutenant-Generals Lefebvre Desnouettes and Colbert, and of two divisions of cavalry of the Count Valmy, forming, in all, eight divisions of infantry, and four of cavalry. With these troops, a part of which only I had as yet under my immediate command, I pursued the enemy, and forced him to evacuate Gosselies, Frasnes, Millet, Heppegnies. There they took up a position for the night, with the exception of the 1st corps, which was still at Marchiennes, and which did not join me till the following day.²

The time lost as Ney waited for the rest of his force to arrive at Quatre Bras allowed increasing numbers of Wellington’s men to join Bernhard of Saxe Weimar’s weak force holding the crossroads and the adjoining Bossu Wood. Now that Wellington had committed his troops to a course of action, the tone of his instructions became more urgent, with simple orders being delivered to his two Corps commanders at 07.00 hours on 16 June. The first part was intended for General Lord Hill:

The Duke of Wellington requests that you will move the 2d division of infantry upon Braine le Comte immediately. The cavalry has been ordered likewise on Braine le Comte. His Grace is going to Waterloo.

The same message, which was signed by De Lacy Evans, then went to provide the instructions for the Prince of Orange:

Your Lordship is requested to order Prince Frederick of Orange to move, immediately upon the receipt of this order, the 1st division of the army of the Low Countries, and the Indian brigade, from Sotteghem to Enghien, leaving 500 men, as before directed, in Audenarde.

On the opposing side Marshal Ney may have believed that his earlier orders from Napoleon were imprecise but he was shortly to receive detailed instructions, which were sent from Charleroi on 16 June 1815:

My Cousin, My Aide-de-Camp, General de Flahault, is directed to deliver this letter to you. The Major-Général should have given you orders, but you will receive mine first because my officers travel faster than his. You will receive the operation orders for the day, but I wish to write to you in detail because it is of the highest importance.

I am sending Marshal Grouchy with III and IV Infantry Corps to Sombreffe. I am taking my Guard to Fleurus, and I shall be there myself before midday. I shall attack the enemy if I find him there, and I shall clear the roads as far as Gembloux.

My intention is that, immediately after I have made up my mind, you will be ready to march on Brussels. I shall support you with my Guard, who will be at Fleurus, or at Sombreffe, and I shall wish to reach Brussels tomorrow morning. You will set off with your troops this evening you will cover three or four leagues and reach Brussels by 7 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Therefore you will dispose your troops as follows:-

1 Division 2 leagues in front of Quatre Bras, if it is not inconvenient; 6 Infantry Divisions around Quatre Bras; and a Division at Marbais, in order that I can move it myself to Sombreffe, should I need its assistance, besides it will not delay your march.

The Corps of the Count of Valmy, who has 3,000 Cuirassiers, picked troops, will be placed where the Roman road cuts and crosses the Brussels road, in order that I can call him in to me if necessary. As soon as my course of action has been taken you will order him to move and rejoin you. I should desire to have with me the Division of the Guard commanded by General Lefebvre-Desnoëttes, and I send you two divisions of the Count of Valmy’s Corps to replace it. But in my actual scheme I prefer placing the Count of Valmy so that I can recall him if I do not wish to cause General Lefebvre-Desnoëttes to make unnecessary marches, since it is probable that I shall decide to march on Brussels this evening with the Guard. You will cover the Lefebvre Division by the Cavalry Divisions belonging to D’Erlon’s and Reille’s Corps, in order to spare the Guard. If any fighting occurs with the English, it is preferable that this should fall on the Cavalry of the Line rather than on the Guard.

I have adopted for this campaign the following general principle, to divide my Army into two wings and a reserve. Your Wing will be composed of four divisions of the I Corps, four divisions of the II Corps, two divisions of Light Cavalry, and two divisions of the Corps of the Count of Valmy. This ought not to fall short of 45,000 to 50,000 men.

Marshal Grouchy will have almost the same force, and will command the Right Wing.

The Guard will form the Reserve, and I shall bring it into action on either wing just as the actual circumstances may dictate.

The Major-Général issues the most precise orders, so that when you are detached you should not find any difficulty in obeying such orders as you receive. General officers commanding Corps will take orders directly from me when I am present in person.

According to circumstances I shall draw troops from one wing to strengthen my Reserve.

You understand how much importance is attached to the taking of Brussels. From its capture certain things would happen, because such a quick and sudden movement would cut the English Army from Mons, Ostend, etc. I desire that your dispositions may be well conceived, so that at the first order your eight divisions will take the road at once and march rapidly and unhindered to Brussels.⁴

Ney knew that he had to take Quatre Bras and move quickly on Brussels, but he was uncertain as to the strength of the Anglo-Netherlands forces opposing him. Heeding the advice of Reille, who had fought the British in the Peninsular War and who warned that Wellington might have a large body of troops concealed from view, Ney continued to keep the Allied troops at Quatre Bras tied down whilst waiting until more of his men were up before mounting a full-scale attack.

Prince Bernhard of Saxe Weimar was still in position at Quatre Bras and he continued with his description of events in the letter to his father which he wrote from near Waterloo on the 18th.

Towards morning, on the 16th, I was reinforced by a battalion of Dutch Yagers, and a battalion of Militia. Soon after arrived my General of division and the Prince of Orange. With the latter I went to the outposts, and by this order undertook a reconnaissance, with a battalion and two cannon. Towards noon, the Enemy showed strong columns, and began to cannonade us. It is said he had three corps of his army engaged against us on this day. We had only five battalions to oppose to him, and the skirts of a wood to defend to the utmost.

The Duke of Wellington himself was present at the beginning of the action; I kept my ground a long time against an enemy thrice my number, and had only two Belgic cannons to protect myself with. The Enemy took the point of a wood opposite me, and incommoded my left flank. I, without loss of time, took some volunteers, and two companies of Dutch militia, and recovered my wood at the point of the bayonet; I was at the head of the storming parties, and had the honour to be one of the first in the wood.

In cutting away some branches, I wounded myself with my sabre very slightly in the right leg, but was not a moment out of battle: – it is in fact not worthwhile to mention this wound; I write to you about it only that you and my good mother may not be alarmed by exaggerated and foolish reports.⁵

Wellington, in fact, had arrived at Quatre Bras from Brussels just before 10.00 hours. As Ney had still not launched a major assault upon the crossroads, and in the knowledge that Prince Bernhard’s small Dutch and Nassau force would, in time, be reinforced with the rest of Wellington’s army marching up from Brussels, the Duke felt confident enough to leave his troops and ride over to the east to see what the Prussians were doing. Before he set off, Wellington sent a letter ahead to Blucher This was addressed from the heights behind Frasnes and was timed at 10.30 hours

My Dear Prince, My army is disposed as follows: The Prince of Orange’s Corps has a division here at Quatre Bras, the remainder are at Nivelles. The Reserve is now marching from Waterloo to Genappe, where it will arrive at midday. At the same hour the English Cavalry will have reached Nivelles. Lord Hill’s Corps is at Braine-le-Comte.

I do not see many of the enemy in front of us, and I await the receipt of news from Your Highness, and the arrival of my troops, to decide on my operations for this day. Nothing has been seen in the direction of Binche, nor on our right.⁶

It was at Brye, just to the north of the village of Ligny, beyond which the French army was concentrating, that Wellington met Blücher. It was apparent that Napoleon was going to attack the Prussians and it was equally clear that the Prussians were going to stand and fight.

Blücher’s chief of staff, General Gneisenau, asked Wellington to send his troops to support the Prussians, but all that Wellington would commit to was that he would join the Prussians, ‘provided I am not attacked myself’. With that he rode back to Quatre Bras to see what was happening there.

What he found was that Ney had begun his attack an hour earlier. Müffling wrote the following in his memoirs:

On our return to Quatre Bras, we found Marshal Ney fully engaged in the attack, which had begun on the farm of Gemioncourt, occupied by us. The enemy, with their two corps d’armée, displayed such great superiority over Perponcher’s division, that it was evidently impossible, unless some extraordinary circumstances intervene, to hold Quatre Bras.⁷

At this point it might be helpful to describe the battlefield. The following was given in a report by Major Carl Jacobi who was the Hanoverian Assistant Quartermaster-General:

At Quatre Bras, which is comprised by a single farm, [where] the high roads from Brussels to Charleroi and from Nivelles to Namur cross at right angles. The region is almost completely flat and is traversed by cornfields. Close to Quatre Bras, a few hundred paces to the right of the high road to Chareroi, lies the Bois de Bossu. This wood begins at the farm and runs for a quarter of an hour’s march in the same direction as the high road. To the left of the said high road, approximately 2,000 paces from Quatre Bras in the direction of Charleroi, lies the farm of Gemioncourt, and when one takes 2,000 paces along the high road from Quatre Bras to Namur one encounters at 800 paces on the right of the latter the village of Piermont [Piramont]. A wood stretches almost from the high road to the left of this village in the direction of Charleroi. The battle of Quatre Bras took place on this enclosed ground namely, to the left, to the right and behind the Bois de Bossu, and across the high road leading from Nivelles to Namur.⁸

Just as the Netherlands Light Cavalry Brigade trotted up to Quatre Bras to join Prince Bernhard’s small force, the French attack increased in ferocity but now the first battalions of the British infantry divisions were marching up to the crossroads.

Wellington, aware that the French pressure was mounting, decided to do what Müffling called ‘a resolution worthy of a great commander’. When it might be expected that Wellington would withdraw under the weight of the French onslaught, he did the exact opposite – he attacked.

Wellington ordered the Duke of Brunswick’s corps and Picton’s 5th Division to advance, with the result that the infantry of General Bachelu’s 5th Division of Reille’s Corps were pushed backwards. Wellington’s plan seemed to be working but then the French 2nd Brigade of Piré’s 2nd Cavalry Division (two regiments of Chasseurs and two of Lancers) suddenly struck Picton’s 9th Brigade. The following letter was written on 21 June from Brussels by a wounded officer:

The 9th brigade consisted of 1st, or Royal Scots, 42d, 44th, and 92d one British division and some Brunswickers there before we came up. The 92d took the position in a ditch to cover the guns and the cavalry, being the junior regiment, – while the rest of the division went a little to the left to check the French infantry that were passing on there. We lay in a most disagreeable situation for upwards of an hour, having an excellent view, however, of the fight, but exposed to a most tremendous fire, from their great guns, of shot, shells, grape, &c. which we found great difficulty in keeping clear of. I say keeping clear of, because you can very often see the round shot coming. This heavy fire was maintained against us in consequence of the Duke and his Staff being only two or three yards in front of the 92d, perfectly seen by the French, and because all the reinforcements which were coming up passed along the road in which we were.

Here I had a remarkable opportunity of witnessing the sang froid of the Duke, who, unconcerned at the showers of shot falling on every side of him, and killing and wounding a number of his Staff, stood watching the Enemy and giving orders with as much composed calmness as if he were at a review. The French cavalry were now beginning to advance in front of the 92d, to take the village, and the Brunswick cavalry that were also in our front went on to meet them; but the French putting spurs to their horses to charge, the Brunswickers wheeled about and galloped upon the 92d in the greatest confusion. The French were soon up with their rear men, cutting them down most horribly. The Enemy also dismounted two guns … We did not allow the flying Brunswickers to break through our regiment, but they passed round our right flank, close to the men’s bayonets, having the French mingled with them cutting away. We of course could not fire to help them till they had cleared us.

At the same instant, the road from the French lines towards the village, was covered with cavalry at full speed charging. When the Brunswickers cleared our right, we wheeled our grenadiers back on the road, the ditch of which we lined, that they might fire when the first of the French should pass [house] No. 2, the rest were to fire obliquely on the road and on the remains of those that followed the Brunswickers. The volley was decisive.

The front of the French charge was completely separated from the rear by the gap which we made, and nothing was seen but men and horses tumbling on each other. Their rear retreated, and the front dashed through the village cutting down all stragglers. Our assistant-surgeon dressing a man behind a house No. 4, had his bonnet cut in two, and a lance run into his side. Three of them came down the road through the grenadiers at full speed, brandishing their swords, and our rear rank firing at them all the way. Two were brought down, but the third, – (his horse gushing blood from all parts) had just cleared the regiment, when Col. Mitchell made a cut at him with his sabre, which he dexterously parried, but an officer of the Staff cut, with his sword, the hamstrings of the fellow’s horse, and he was taken. The rest were likewise taken, and they tell me that eight pursued the Duke a good way. I wonder how he got off, for I saw him in front not five minutes before the charge.

The Enemy’s charge repelled, it was now our turn to have our share of charging. The French formed their cavalry again to charge, supported by infantry, and advanced past House No. 2, when Adjutant-General Barnes, our old brigadier in Spain and France, who is doatingly fond of the regiment, came down to the front, and calling out, ‘Come on, my old 92d,’ the men jumped from the ditch and charged in the finest style, up to the house No. 2. He was then obliged to leave us, as it was not his duty to charge, although he could not resist the impulse.

We were then moved forward from behind the house, with our brave Colonel Cameron at our head. When we jumped from the ditch, the officer with the regimental colour was shot through the heart. The staff of the colour was shattered in six pieces with three balls, and the staff of the King’s colour with one. I got the remains of the regimental. When we moved from behind the house, and had passed the corner of the garden parallel to the road, [house] No. 5 we received a volley from a column on the right, which was retreating towards the wood. This fire killed Colonel Cameron and Mr. Becher, and wounded a great many. This column of the Enemy kept us five minutes before we could clear the garden in advance to the wood. The fire here was dreadful. There was an immense slaughter among us at this time, but the French began at last to give way, and retreated up the side of the wood, keeping up, however, a tremendous, fire, and killing a great many of our regiment. We had advanced so far that we were now completely separated from the rest of the line, and scarcely fifty men of those of us who went into action were remaining. A regiment of guards was afterwards sent up to relieve us, but not before thirty of that fifty were hit.

We formed behind the houses after we left the field, with the loss, which you will see by the [London] Gazette, of 23 officers and 270 men.⁹

James Anton was a sergeant with the 42nd Highlanders who would later commit his own account of the action to paper:

A German [King’s German Legion] orderly dragoon galloped up exclaiming, ‘Franchee! Franchee!’ and, wheeling about galloped off. We instantly formed a rallying square; no time for particularity: every man’s piece was loaded, and our enemies approaching at full charge; the feet of their horses seemed to tear up the ground. Our skirmishers … fell beneath their lances, a few escaped death or wounds; our brave Colonel [Sir Robert Macara] fell at this time, pierced through the chin until the point reached his brain. Captain [Archibald] Menzies fell covered in wounds.¹⁰

The Brunswick Corps, which was composed in the main of inexperienced young soldiers, did actually earn great credit at Quatre Bras, though it cost the life of their much-respected Duke. This is an extract from a letter from one of the Duke of Brunswick’s officers, dated 29 June:

On the 15th, in the evening, about ten o’clock, a letter was brought from the Duke of Wellington’s office, which contained an order, that all the troops might be concentrated at the Allee Verte, near Brussels, on the following morning at day-break. Orders were accordingly given, and sent off as fast as possible: but, the dislocations being rather at a great distance, the troops could not arrive before 5 o’clock; when the Duke, on the instant, marched through Brussels, and so on to the road to Waterloo. Directly afterwards, the Duke of Wellington followed, and, after showing a letter to the Duke, changed his horse; they then set off together, and were as fast as possible followed by their suites. About 10 o’clock, we arrived at Quatre Bras, where we found part of the Nassau troops engaged, and heard that the French advanced very fast, and were exceedingly strong. We then went on a hill to observe their approach; but hardly had they perceived the number of officers, but the rascals fired at us with grenades: so we were obliged to leave the spot, and I narrowly escaped being killed.

About 12 o’clock we returned; and the Duke strongly expressed his wish of having an opportunity of meeting the French in equal force with his troops. To his great satisfaction, the Royal Scotch, the Hanoverians, and his own corps, arrived betwixt one and two o’clock. Tired and hungry as they were, they sang as they passed the Duke, abusing and swearing against Buonaparte, wishing that they might soon meet him, and have an opportunity of setting the soldiers of the Grande Nation to rights. Hardly had we marched half an hour, when we saw the French expecting us on a hill. The Duke of Wellington then ordered to collect the troops as quick as possible, and to prepare for battle. At 2 o’clock all was ready, and the attack began. The battle was very bloody, but we compelled the Enemy to retreat. About half past four the French advanced again, and appeared double the number of the Allied Army; but no fear was shown.

The cannonade began most horribly, which in some respects put the train and baggage in confusion: however, the troops stood, and fought like lions; so the French were again obliged to retreat, and were driven back to their position. Here they had a great advantage, being covered by a little wood, where they had placed all their artillery and riflemen. The Duke of Wellington most likely knew this, and ordered a fresh attack, to get the French out of the wood. The troops advanced, the Brunswick division on the left wing.

When they came near the wood, the French commenced a horrible fire with artillery and case-shot, which occasioned a great loss to our corps. In this attack, which was about 7 o’clock in the evening, the Duke was unfortunately killed on the spot by a case-shot. At this moment I was not far from his highness, and ordered our small carriage, thinking that he was only wounded – when, alas! to my inexpressible sorrow, I found he was dead. My feelings I cannot describe, but you will be able to form to yourself an idea.¹¹

As the day progressed increasing numbers of Allied troops reached Quatre Bras, including two batteries of the Royal Artillery, those of Major Cleeves and Major William Lloyd. With Lloyd’s battery of 9-pounders, No. 43 Battery, was a young officer who later achieved the rank of major:

I was with two guns attached to the 69th, Lieutenant-Colonel Morice, and placed myself on their right, when I was directed to follow the four other guns of Major Lloyd’s Battery, ordered into action in front of the farm of Quatre Bras, on the Charleroi road to support the Duke of Brunswick. I had hardly quitted the 69th when the Cuirassiers charged from the wood, and before the 69th could get into square they were rode over, broken, and sad havoc made among them, their only Colour taken, the other being ‘in the Hospital of Invalides at Paris, taken at Bergen-op-Zoom’, but for a battalion of British Guards coming up to their support, and, throwing in one of their destructive fires, compelling the Cuirassiers to return to the wood, not a man save the Colonel and Adjutant would have escaped but for this timely aid.¹²

One of those Guardsmen who helped stabilize the situation, Major S. Rudyard, subsequently described the events of that day:

On the evening of the 15th, we heard that the French were passing the frontiers, and we received orders to hold ourselves in readiness to march; at two o’clock we received our orders to march, and were off at three. We passed through Braine le Comte, and proceeded to a bivouac near Nivelle. While we were setting ourselves down, an order came to move immediately to the left through Nivelle – having passed it, we heard the firing very close, and soon met many wounded Belgians coming in.

At five o’clock, General Maitland galloped up, and ordered the grenadiers to drive the French out of a wood, and in about half an hour we perfectly cleared it. When we opened at the end of the wood, the enemy threw in a most tremendous fire of round and grape shot, from which we found it necessary to retire. We got out of the wood in another part, and they immediately advanced columns to attack us, which deployed very regularly, and drove us a short way back. However we advanced again, and they gave way, and retired to their guns. They then advanced upon us, and having driven us back a second time, their cavalry attempted to charge; but a square of Black Brunswickers brought them up, while we were nimbly slipt into the wood on our right, lined the ditches, and paid them handsomely. Our loss was very severe, and we found great difficulty in forming our line again.

At last we effected it with the third battalion of our regiment, and then we drove everything before us. We kept possession of the wood all night. The Prussians and French had been engaged from two o’clock in the morning, in the position of Fleurus; and the former had been driven back. The French then tried to get possession of the road to Brussels. They had a severe contest with the Dutch, and one of our divisions, and had succeeded in driving the Dutch out of a wood, (Bossu I think it is called). We arrived at the very moment the French skirmishers were appearing.

We dashed in and cut them up properly, though our loss was severe. Out of 84, I had only 43 left in my company. At night the remains of the battalion bivouacked at the head of the road, and during the night we received a strong reinforcement. They call this the action of Quatre Bras (where two high roads cross).¹³

Having ‘marched up towards the Enemy, at each step hearing more clearly the fire of musquetry’, another Guards officer recalled:

As we approached the field of action, we met constantly waggons full of men, of all the various nations under the Duke’s command, wounded in the most dreadful manner. The sides of the road had a heap of dying and dead, very many of whom were British; such a scene did, indeed, demand every better feeling of the mind to cope with its horrors; and too much cannot be said in praise of the Division of Guards, the very largest part of whom were young soldiers, and volunteers from the Militia, who had never been exposed to the fire of an enemy, or witnessed its effects.

During the period of our advance from Nivelles, I suppose nothing could exceed the anxiety of the moment, with those on the field. The French, who had a large cavalry and artillery, (in both of which arms we were quite destitute, excepting some Belgian and German guns,) had made dreadful havock in our lines, and had succeeded in pushing an immensely strong column of tirailleurs into the wood I have before mentioned, of which they had possessed themselves, and had just began to cross the road, having marched through the wood, and placed affairs in a critical situation, when the Guards luckily came in sight.

The moment we caught a glimpse of them, we halted, formed, and having loaded, and fixed bayonets, advanced; the French immediately retiring; and the very last man who attempted to re-enter the wood, was killed by our grenadiers. At this instant, our men gave three glorious cheers, and, though we had marched fifteen hours without any thing to eat and drink, save the water we procured on the march, we rushed to attack the Enemy. This was done by the 1st brigade, consisting of the 2d and 3d battalions of the first regiment; and the 2d brigade, consisting of the 2d battalion of the Coldstream and third regiment, were formed as a reserve along the chaussée.

As we entered the wood, a few noble fellows, who sunk down overpowered with fatigue, lent their voice to cheer their comrades. The trees were so thick, that it was beyond anything difficult to effect a passage. As we approached, we saw the Enemy behind them, taking aim at us: they contested every bush, and at a small rivulet running through the wood, they attempted a stand but could not resist us, and we at last succeeded in forcing them out of their possessions. The moment we endeavoured to go out of this wood, (which had naturally broken us), the French cavalry charged us; but we at last found the third battalion, who had rather skirted the wood, and formed in front of it, where they afterwards were in hollow square, and repulsed all the attempts of the French cavalry to break them.

Our loss was most tremendous, and nothing could exceed the desperate work of the evening; the French infantry and cavalry fought most desperately; and after a conflict of nearly three hours, (the obstinacy of which could find no parallel, save in the slaughter it occasioned,) we had the happiness to find ourselves complete masters of the road and wood, and that we had at length defeated all the efforts of the French to outflank us, and turn our right, than which nothing could be of greater moment to both parties. General Picton’s superb division had been engaged since two o’clock p. m., and was still fighting with the greatest fury; no terms can be found sufficient to explain their exertions. The fine brigade of Highlanders suffered most dreadfully, and so did all the regiments engaged.

The gallant and noble conduct of the Brunswickers was the admiration of every one. I myself saw scarcely any of the Dutch troops; but a regiment of Belgian light cavalry held a long struggle with the famous Cuirassiers, in a way that can never be forgotten; they, poor fellows, were nearly all cut to pieces. These French Cuirassiers charged two German guns, with the intent of taking them, to turn them down the road on our flank. This charge was made along the chaussee running from Charleroi to Brussels; the guns were placed near the farm-houses of Les Quatre Bras, and were loaded, and kept till their close arrival. Two companies, (I think of Highlanders,) posted behind a house and dung-hill, who flanked the Enemy on their approach, and the artillery, received them with such a discharge, and so near, as to lay (within effect like magic) the whole head of the column low; causing it to fly, and be nearly all destroyed.

We had fought till dark; the French became less impetuous, and after a little cannonade they retired from the field. Alas! when we met after the action, how many were wanting among us; how many who were in the full pride of youth and manhood, had gone to that bourn, from whence they could return no more! I shall now close my letter; and in my next, will endeavour to give you some description of the 18th; for, to add to this account now, would be but to harrow up your mind with scenes of misery, of which those only who have been witnesses, can form an adequate idea.¹⁴

One officer, a Major Oldfield of the Royal Engineers, had a narrow escape when the French cuirassiers charged at the British lines:

A regiment of cuirassiers advancing up this road on the 16th, the Duke ordered a Dutch regiment of cavalry to charge them. Colonel Smyth who was sent with the order, put himself at their head to induce them to go on. They were young troops and required encouragement, as soon as they came within a few yards of the enemy, they turned & went off much more rapidly than they had advanced.

Colonel Smyth was in the midst of the melee, his horse came in contact with a large brewing vat that had been thrown out of the public house and was opposite the door. The cuirassiers were cutting & slashing on every side, the horse made an effort & with a leap cleared the tub. The colonel took me down in the morning to look at it, the bodies of the cuirassiers & Dutch dragoons were laying about it on every side.¹⁵

The following letter was written by a sergeant in the Royal Artillery Drivers, to his father in Edinburgh, from a camp in the Bois de Boulogne, near Paris. It is dated 22 September 1815:

You ask me to give you a sketch of what fell under my own observation during the late battles, and I shall therefore relate to you such particulars as at present occur to my memory, and such as I know to be true.

On the morning of the 15th June, when we marched from Enghien, we had no idea of being so soon engaged; we expected to march to Mons, and from thence to some place in France. We, however, left Mons on our right, and halted on a height near a town called Nivelle. It was there I heard the first of the firing. The Hollanders were then engaged. We proceeded immediately through Nivelle, on the great road leading from that to Charleroi; we there met several of the Prince of Orange’s men leaving the field wounded. When we came nearer the scene of action, we saw the wounded of the brave Highland brigade, whom the surgeons were busy dressing on the north side.

We halted a quarter of an hour, till the guards had formed and charged, when our brigade immediately advanced at a gallop, and came to action near a small village; the enemy’s artillery playing very smartly, though without doing much damage, most of the shot going over our heads. There were only four of our brigades in action at this time (six o’clock evening), and none of our cavalry; but they advanced after this in great numbers, by different roads. The action continued till about half past nine o’clock. The enemy seemed superior in numbers, especially in artillery. After the action we lay down by our guns, where I slept as sound as ever I did on a feather bed.

Prince Bernhard of Saxe Weimar continued with his descriptive account of the fighting in the letter he sent to his father:

While I manfully defended my wood; the Enemy drove back our left wing as far as Quatre Bras. It was on this occasion that the brave Duke of Brunswick was killed by a ball, which entered his breast. Strong columns of infantry turned my right flank; I asked for orders how to act, but received none.

When I saw myself surrounded on all sides, and my people had expended all their ammunition, I retreated in good order through the wood to the neighbourhood of Hautain le Val. The Hanoverian division Alten supported me, and recovered the wood, but lost it again; at last it was forced by the English with great loss, and maintained through the night. I bivouacked for the night in the wood.¹⁶

The unidentified officer of the 43rd Light Infantry, whose letter sent from the camp at Clichy near Paris to his friend in Cumberland is quoted at the start of this chapter, also wrote:

At two o’clock we arrived at Genappe, from whence we heard firing very distinctly; half an hour afterwards we saw the French columns advancing, and we had scarcely taken our position when they attacked us. Our front consisted of the 3rd and 5th Divisions, with some Nassau people, and a brigade of cavalry, in all about 13,000 men; while the French forces, according to Ney’s account, must have been immense, as his reserve alone consisted of 30,000, which, however, he says, Buonaparte disposed of without having advertised him.

The business was begun by the first battalion of the 95th, which was sent to drive the Enemy out of some corn-fields, and a thick wood, of which they had possession: after sustaining some loss, we succeeded completely; and three companies of Brunswickers were left to keep it, while we acted on another part of the line: they, however, were driven out immediately; and the French also got possession of a village which turned our flanks. We were then obliged to return, and it took us the whole day to retake what had been lost.

While we were employed here, the remainder of the army were in a much more disagreeable situation: for in consequence of our inferiority in cavalry, each regiment was obliged to form a square, in which manner the most desperate attacks of infantry and charges of cavalry were resisted and repelled; and when night put an end to the slaughter, the French not only gave up every attempt on our position, but retired from their own, on which we bivouacked. I will not attempt to describe the sort of night we passed -1 will leave you to conceive it. The groans of the wounded and dying, to whom no relief could be afforded, must not be spoken of here, because on the 18th it was fifty thousand times worse. But a handful of men lying in the face of such superior numbers, and being obliged to sleep in squares for fear the Enemy’s dragoons, knowing that we were weak in that arm, might make a dash into the camp, was no very pleasant reverie to soothe one to rest.

Exclusive of this, I was annoyed by a wound I had received in the thigh, and which was become excessively painful. I had no greatcoat, and small rain continued falling until late the next day, when it was succeeded by torrents. Boney, however, was determined not to give us much respite, for he attacked our piquets at two in the morning; some companies of the 95th were sent to their support; and we continued skirmishing until eleven o’clock, when the Duke commenced his retreat, which was covered by Lord Uxbridge. The Blues and Life Guards behaved extremely well.¹⁷

Another description of the fighting was published in the Caledonian Mercury on 3 July 1815, having in turn been drawn from a private letter from a soldier of the 42nd Regiment to his father. The letter was written from the General Hospital at Antwerp on 24 June 1815:

After a long silence, I embrace the opportunity of informing you respecting my present situation. On the 15th, about 12 o’clock at night, we turned out, and at two in the morning marched from the city of Brussels, to meet the enemy, who were advancing in great force on that city. About three o’clock in the afternoon of the 16th, we came up with them. Our whole force did not exceed 12,000 men, who were fatigued with a long march of upwards of 20 miles, encumbered with knapsacks and other luggage.

The day was uncommonly warm, and no water was to be had on the road; however, we were brought up, in order of battle. The French being strongly posted in a thick wood, to the number of 40,000 men, including cavalry and lancers, gave us very little time to look round us ere the fight commenced on both sides, in an awful and destructive manner, they having every advantage of us, both as to position and numbers, particularly in cavalry, as the British dragoons had not yet come up. The French cavalry charged the British line of infantry three different times, and did much execution, until we were obliged to form squares of battalions, in order to turn them, which was executed in a most gallant manner, and many hundreds of them never returned. Still they sent up fresh forces, and as often we beat them back.

The battle lasted until it was quite dark, when the enemy began to give way, our poor fellows who were left alive following them as long as they could see, when night put an end to the fatigues of a well fought day. Thousands on both sides lay killed and wounded on the field of battle; and, as the greater part of the action lay in corn fields along a vast track of country, many hundreds must have died for want of assistance through the night, who were not able of themselves to crawl away. I was wounded by a musquet ball, which passed through my right arm and breast, and lodged in my back, from whence it was extracted by a surgeon in the hospital of this place. Captain M. is most severely wounded, having several shots through his body, and the regiment, in general, are mostly cut off.

We have heard, since we came here, that our fine brigade, which entered the field on that eventful day, consisting of the 3d batt. Royal Scots, 42d, 44th, and 92d regiments, are now formed into one battalion, not exceeding in whole 400 men. Lord Wellington retired in the night to wait for reinforcements, and next day our cavalry and the rest of the army arrived … Nothing can exceed the kindness and attention of the inhabitants of this city to our wounded men: the hospital is constantly filled with ladies and gentlemen, who, although speaking a different language, personally administer to our wants, with the kindest attention, distributing clean shirts, bread, wine, coffee, tea, milk, and fruit of all sorts, with every requisite, for our comfort and accommodation.

Another unidentified officer who was a member of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment, the Royal Scots, provided the following account:

I have great pleasure in detailing the conduct of the gallant 3rd Battalion of the Royal Scots; and though I have been present with the regiment at the battles of Busaco, Salamanca, Vittoria, Fuentes d’Honor, both stormings of San Sebastian, the passage of the Bidassoa, &c. in all of which they bore a most conspicuous part, and suffered most severely, I can assure you they never evinced more steadiness and determined bravery than at the late battle. About half-past one o’clock on the 16th, the battalion was taken from its place in the centre of the 5th division, by a movement to its own left, by order of Sir Thomas Picton, and instantly by command of that lamented officer brought into action by a charge upon a column of the Enemy: it succeeded beyond our most sanguine expectations in routing this column, who afterwards formed under the protection of their cavalry, and then commenced a most galling fire upon us, which we returned with the utmost steadiness and precision.

The battalion was brought into action under the most trying circumstances imaginable, and continued so for a long time; but they never for one moment lost sight of that character which upon former trials they had so well earned and maintained. The ground through which they moved was planted with corn that took the tallest men up to the shoulders; and the Enemy by this, and the advantage of the rising ground, threw in volley after volley of grape and musketry, which did astonishing execution.

After being engaged for some time in a line, the battalion was formed into a square to resist the Enemy’s cavalry, who were then advancing in great force; and I have the pride of stating, that though charged six or seven times by an infinite superiority of numbers, the French cavalry never for an instant made the slightest impression upon the square of the Royal Scots.

The high encomiums given to this battalion on the morning of the 17th, by the General Officers both of Brigade and Division, for its conduct on the 16th, have made me very proud of being a Royal Scot. The Cuirassiers never were able to make the smallest impression upon our squares, nor did we lose one single man by the cavalry. We were at the very commencement of the action sent with Sir James Kempt’s brigade, by order of Sir T. Picton, and remained apart from our own brigade the whole day. The 42d and 92d were chiefly engaged near a village, in which the Commander of the Forces remained with the head-quarters for a great part of the afternoon. Our battalion and the 28th formed one square, and it so happened that the Cuirassiers charged that part of the square in which the Royals were posted.¹⁸

Lloyd’s battery was directed to deal with two French batteries on the edge of the Bois de Bossu which were pounding the Brunswick Corps. One of his men, S. Rudyard, later recalled that,

Colonel Kelly, Q.M.G.D., ordered us to take up the position we did under this heavy fire, and before we unlimbered some three or four horses of each Gun and waggon were killed, some wheels disabled, and literally some of our gunners were cut in two, for we were not more than from four to five hundred yards from the Enemy’s Batteries.

We succeeded in silencing them, and also in obliging a solid mass of French infantry … to retrograde and return to the wood. Finding ourselves now alone without any support, except a few Lancers of the Brunswickers, and the duty executed that we were ordered upon, we limbered up and walked off towards Quatre Bras and joined our Division.¹⁹

Ney had actually come very close to success during the day, as Captain Bourdo de Vatry, aide-de-camp to Jérôme Bonaparte, described:

Prince Jérôme was struck on the hip [during the attack upon Bossu Wood], but fortunately the ball hit the big gold scabbard of his sword first and did not penetrate, so he suffered nothing worse than a severe bruise which made him turn pale. Conquering his pain, the Prince remained on horseback at the head of his division, thereby setting an example for us all an example of courage and self-sacrifice. His coolness had an excellent effect. The 8th Cuirassiers, commanded by Colonel Garavaque, were about to launch a strong attack on a Scottish square [sic]; the regiment gave the Prince a cheer, and the brave horsemen having broken the square and captured the enemy’s colours, presented this trophy to the ex-King [Jérôme was the erstwhile King of Wespphalia]

The position at Quatre Bras had just been taken by Kellermann’s cavalry. Marshal Ney was impatiently awaiting the arrival of d’Erlon’s corps, when he learnt that the Emperor had altered the direction of this corps and summoned it to join him at Saint-Armand. At the same time an unaccountable panic seized Kellermann’s cavalry, which fled back hell for leather after knocking over their commander. Kellermann had the presence of mind to cling to the bits of two of his cuirassier’s horses and so avoid being trampled.

As the infantry of the 1st Corps did not come, as it had been called to the battlefield of Ligny, the enemy reoccupied the Quatre Bras position and we were only too happy to prevent the English from going to the aid of the Prussians. This was all we could do in the face of considerable forces then holding Quatre Bras.²⁰

Kellermann duly submitted a report to Marshal Ney on his actions that day. Signed ‘the count of Valmy (Kellermann, the younger)’, it was timed as being complied at about 22.00 hours:

I executed the charge that you have ordered me to do; I encountered the enemy infantry, posted in a small valley beneath their guns. On the spot, without giving the troops time to think, I rushed at the head of the 1st squadron of the 8th … against the Anglo-Hanoverian infantry, in spite of the extensive fire, from the front and the flanks. Both lines of infantry were knocked over, the greatest disorder was in the enemy line, which we crossed two – three times, the most complete success was ensured if the lancers would have followed us, the cuirassiers, shot upon from all sides, could not exploit the advantage that they had obtained by this most resolute and fearless charge against an infantry which did not let itself be intimidated and which they fired with the greatest coolness as if during an exercise.

We took a flag of the 69th which was taken by the cuirassiers Valgayer and Mourassin. The brigade having taken an enormous loss and seeing that they were not supported, withdrew in the usual disorder as in similar circumstances, my horse was knocked down by two shots, and I fell under it. I was barely able to escape … I was hurt in the knee and the leg, but nevertheless, I shall be there tomorrow on horseback.²¹

In this way, Kellermann provides a perfectly understandable reason for the precipitate withdrawal of his cuirassiers. The incident regarding d’Erlon’s Corps, was far from being easily explained, and was one of the most controversial occurrences of the entire campaign. Ney, possibly with some justification, believed that it cost him victory, as he explained to Fouché:

On the 16th, I received orders to attack the English in their position at Quatre Bras. We advanced towards the enemy with an enthusiasm difficult to be described. Nothing resisted our impetuosity The battle became general, and victory was no longer doubtful, when, at the moment that I intended to order up the first corps of infantry, which had been left by me in reserve at Frasnes, I learned that the Emperor had disposed of it without adverting me of the circumstance, as well as of the division of Girard of the second corps, on purpose to direct them upon St. Amand, and to strengthen his left wing, which was vigorously engaged with the Prussians. The shock which this intelligence gave me, confounded me.

Having no longer under me more than three divisions, instead of the eight upon which I calculated, I was obliged to renounce the hopes of victory; and, in spite of all my efforts, in spite of the intrepidity and devotion of my troops, my utmost efforts after that could only maintain me in my position till the close of the day. About nine o’clock, the first corps was sent me by the Emperor, to whom it had been of no service. Thus twenty-five or thirty thousand men were, I may say, paralysed, and were idly paraded during the whole of the battle from the right to the left, and the left to the right, without firing a shot.

It is impossible for me, Sir, not to arrest your attention for a moment upon these details, in order to bring before your view all the consequences of this false movement, and, in general, of the bad arrangements during the whole of the day. By what fatality, for example did the Emperor, instead of leading all his forces against Lord Wellington, who would have been attacked unawares, and could not have resisted, consider this attack as secondary? How did the Emperor, after the passage of the Sambre, conceive it possible to fight two battles on the same day? It was to oppose forces double ours, and to do what military men who were witnesses of it can scarcely yet comprehend. Instead of this, had he left a corps of observation to watch the Prussians, and marched with his most powerful masses to support me, the English army had undoubtedly been destroyed between Quatre Bras, and Genappes; and this position, which separated the two allied armies, being once in our power, would have opened for the Emperor an opportunity of advancing to the right of the Prussians, and of crushing them in their turn. The general opinion in France and especially in the army, was, that the Emperor would have bent his whole efforts to annihilate first the English army; and circumstances were favourable for the accomplishment of such a project: but fate ordered otherwise. On the 17th, the army marched in the direction of Mont St Jean.²²

Ney made these observations after the end of the campaign. For now, he had to deal with the situation as it presented itself and he reported to Napoleon, via Soult, from Frasnes at 22.00 hours. Nevertheless, he still made a point of referring to the Emperor’s decision to divert d’Erlon’s Corps away from Quatre Bras:

Marshal, I have attacked the English position at Quatre Bras with the greatest vigour; but an error of Count D’Erlon’s deprived me of a fine victory, for at the very moment when the 5th and 9th Divisions of General Reille’s Corps had overthrown everything in front of them, the I Corps marched off to St. Amand to support his Majesty’s left; but the fatal thing was that this Corps, having then counter-marched to rejoin my wing, gave no useful assistance on either field.

Prince Jérôme’s Division fought with great valour; His Royal Highness has been slightly wounded.

Actually there have been engaged here only 3 Infantry Divisions, a Brigade of Cuirassiers, and General Piré’s Cavalry. The Count of Valmy delivered a fine charge. All have done their duty, except the I Corps. The enemy has lost heavily; we have captured some guns and a flag.

We have lost about 2,000 killed and 4,000 wounded. I have called for reports from Generals Reille and D’Erlon, and will forward them to Your Excellency.

Accept, Marshal, the assurance of my deep respect.²³

Wellington had stabilized his position at Quatre Bras. At Genappe on 16 June, he issued his orders to consolidate all of his forces upon that point the following day in the expectation that Ney would renew his assault upon the crossroads the next morning:

The 2d division of infantry to move to-morrow morning at daybreak from Nivelles to Quatre Bras. The 4th division of infantry to move at daybreak to-morrow morning to Nivelles. 16th June, 1815. The reserve artillery to move at daybreak to-morrow morning, the 17th, to Quatre Bras, where it will receive further orders.

These orders then went on to specify the instructions for Major General Sir John Lambert, KCB, who was in charge of the British 10th Brigade:

The brigade of infantry, under the command of Major Gen. Sir J. Lambert, to march from Assche at daybreak to-morrow morning, the 17th inst., to Genappe, on the Namur road, and to remain there until further orders.²⁴

Lieutenant General Sir Charles Alten was a Hanoverian in British service, and he reported to his sovereign, His Royal Highness Field Marshal and Governor General the Duke of Cambridge, in a message from Brussels which was dated 20 June 1815. It was delivered by Lieutenant, and Senior Adjutant, Wiegman:

On the evening of the 15th June, the troops broke up from their variously dispersed cantonments. The Duke of Wellington united them with the troops in the neighbourhood of Brussels, near Genappe. The Hereditary Prince of Orange, under whose orders my division was, retreated to Quatre Bras, where the roads from Mons to Namur, and from Brussels to Charleroi, cross each other. The French had divided their army, and attacked the Prussians, the Duke of Wellington, and our corps at the same time. The Hereditary Prince placed us between Quatre Bras and Sarte a Mavelines, with our right wing and our left on the latter village. The troops marched here under a most violent cannonade from the enemy. A wood on the right of Quatre Bras was alternately taken and retaken. The cannonade on both sides was very brisk. The enemy endeavoured several times to force our left. I sent off the field-battalion Lüneburg to drive him from the village of Pierremont in front. The First Lieutenant Von Klenke executed this duty with great courage, took the village, and maintained it against repeated attacks of the enemy.

The enemy’s infantry now advanced in columns, against which I detached the battalions, Grupenhagen, Osnabrück, and Bremen. These troops, with the help of the artillery of the Royal German Legion, under Captain Eleves, repulsed the enemy. On the right wing, the enemy’s cavalry several times ventured to attack; but the firmness of the troops prevented their being broken. Upon this occasion, the Landwehr battalion Lüneburg particularly distinguished itself under the command of Lieut Col. Ramdohr. These troops allowed the enemy’s cavalry to come within thirty paces of them, and then gave a discharge, by which they were driven back with great loss. We were so fortunate as to maintain our position. However, as the Prussian army on our left had received a considerable check, we were obliged to retreat, on the 17th, to Genappe, my division forming the rear-guard. But as the enemy, in the afternoon, appeared there in great force, we marched back on Mont St. Jean, by the road to Brussels.²⁵

The Prince of Orange also submitted a report on the day’s fighting to his father, the King of the United Netherlands. This was sent from Nivelles at 02.00 hours on the morning of 17 June:

Very early on the morning of the 15th, the Prussian army was attacked in its position, which it quitted in consequence thereof, and retired from Charleroi by Goselies to the neighbourhood of Fleurus. As soon as I was apprized of this attack, I gave orders for the necessary dispositions of the corps d’armee under my command. In consequence of what had occurred with the Prussian army, the battalion of Orange Nassau, which held the village of Frasnes with a battery of mounted artillery, was already attacked on the 15th, at five in the afternoon. These troops remained in possession of their position on the heights of the above-mentioned village not far from the cross road named Les Quatre Bras.

At eight o’clock the skirmishing at this point was at an end. As soon as I was informed of this attack I issued orders to the third division, as also to the cavalry and two English divisions to march to Nivelles, and directed the second division to maintain the position of Les Quatres Bras. Only a part of the second division could immediately proceed thither, as the brigade under the orders of Major General Van Byland could not march from Nivelles until the arrival of the other divisions at Nivelles might be expected. So early as about five o’clock yesterday morning, the fire of the skirmishers commenced at the above-mentioned point, and was kept up till noon without any advantage on either side.

Towards two o’clock, the attack, especially on the part of the cavalry and artillery, became much more violent. As the brigade of light cavalry under the command of Major General Van Merle was not able to come up until about four o’clock. I had till then no cavalry to oppose the enemy. Being sensible of the great importance of maintaining the position on the heights in advance of the intersection of the road at the point called Les Quatres Bras, I had then the good fortune to hold this position against an enemy in all respects, and beyond all comparison, superior in force, since I was attacked by the two corps d’armee commanded by Generals D’Erlon and Reille; and as they were not able to succeed in this attack, the Duke of Wellington had time enough to assemble a force to frustrate the designs of the enemy.

The result of this attack was, that after a very severe engagement, which lasted till nine o’clock at night, we not only brought the enemy to a stand, but even drove him back to some extent. The Prussian army having been also attacked yesterday, maintained its main position; and it is beyond doubt that Napoleon directed the attack with a powerful force upon the whole line. Our troops have remained bivouacked on the field of battle, whither I am about to proceed forthwith, as it is highly probable that Napoleon will again endeavour to carry into execution his plans of yesterday.

The Duke of Wellington has caused all the troops that could possibly do so, to assemble at this point. It affords me the highest satisfaction to be able to assure your Majesty that your Majesty’s troops fought with much bravery, especially the infantry and artillery. As through circumstances I have not yet been able to receive the reports of the various corps in reference to their loss, it is impossible for me to forward to your Majesty the statement thereof herewith, but which I shall have the honour to do as soon as possible.²⁶

Not all the Allied regiments were able to reach Quatre Bras in time to influence the course of the battle as Sergeant Ewart of the 2nd Royal North British Dragoons, the Scots Greys, explained to his brother. This account was reproduced in the Caledonian Mercury on 18 September 1815:

All the British cavalry, in fact all the cavalry under the command of Lord Wellington, were lying in quarters round Brussels, and the infantry in camp a little way distant from it, very quietly, until the morning of the 16th, about one o’clock, when the trumpet sounded us to horse, which, I assure you, put us into a bustle; however, we got assembled by five in the morning by regiments; and the whole cavalry met at a place called Ninove, and accordingly we set out to meet our enemy; but, before we had got up, the infantry was engaged for upwards of six hours.

We perfectly heard them, but, alas, could render them not the least assistance, which opportunity the French cavalry embraced, and cut up our infantry most shockingly, particularly the 42d, 79th and 92d regiments, which were almost cut to pieces; however, we got to the field about 11 at night, and before that time the enemy fell back into their intrenchments in a wood in front of us.

The vital crossroads had been held and Wellington’s troops still blocked the road to Brussels. What would happen next would depend upon the result of the action between Napoleon and Blücher just a few miles to the west at Ligny.