The sacrifice of Perponcher’s division and van Merlen’s cavalry had not been entirely in vain; they had held up the French sufficiently for desperately needed reinforcements to arrive and save the day for Wellington. These reinforcements were to counter the numerical superiority that Ney had enjoyed until this point and the advantage was about to swing in favour of the allies.
The first to arrive after van Merlen’s cavalry had been two brigades of Picton’s 5th British Division; over 3,500 excellent British infantry and two batteries of guns, led by a battalion of the famous 95th Rifles. Wellington had met the commanding officer on the Brussels road and personally briefed him on his mission to keep open the Namur road to leave the British commander the option of sending troops to support Blücher. The 95th set off at their quick march round the crossroads towards the allied left flank. The remainder of the division were sent directly down the Brussels road to Quatre Bras, turning left to line the Namur road, linking the Rifles to the centre of the position and leaving Perponcher’s remaining brigade to contest the Bossu wood. Their deployment had been courageously covered by the sacrifice of van Merlen’s cavalry.
With the deployment of Picton’s men complete, it is now worth reviewing the situation facing Marshal Ney at about 3.30pm. On the left flank, Jérôme’s division had cleared the southern half of the Bossu wood and were now trying to clear north against determined opposition, fighting in very close and diffi-cult terrain. The fighting was fierce, fought at point-blank range, often hand-to-hand and lacking tight control; the pace of the advance was slow and dearly bought.
In the centre, Foy’s and Bachelu’s divisions had established a long line of infantry columns, so far virtually untouched by the fighting, that stretched along the line of the Gémioncourt stream, from the Étang Materne, to the Gémioncourt farm, across the chaussée, and almost to the Bossu wood. The strong skirmisher screen, which had done the majority of the fighting so far, had occupied a line on La Bergerie, and ran down parallel to the Namur road along which the allied reinforcements were deploying. From here they were able to engage the main allied line, albeit at long range, and in places obscured by the very tall crops that covered this part of the battlefield. They were being particularly troublesome to the crews of the remaining Dutch artillery who continued to take casualties.
On the right, troops of the 2nd légère had firm control of the farm and hamlet of Piraumont and its skirmisher screen was advancing to try to cut communications between the allied armies by occupying the Bois des Censes to the north of the Namur road.
Ney was no doubt aware of the arrival of British reinforcements, placed as he always was well to the front, but he had made sufficient progress to be content with the situation and was well balanced to make a strong and well-coordinated attack on Quatre Bras. Whilst he no doubt understood that his numerical superiority was being chipped away, he was expecting that d’Erlon’s entire corps, some 20,000 men of all arms, would soon come up, and with this reinforcement he was confident that he could secure a victory.
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Whilst the battle had raged in the centre, the 2nd légère had had a quiet time watching the right flank. Their skirmish line overlooked the Namur road and after Wellington had been left free to travel back along it, it was ordered forward so it would be able to fire on anyone else who attempted to pass. As they waited, the artillery behind them opened fire on a line of green-clad riflemen who were advancing towards the Bois des Censes. As the riflemen approached the road the tirailleurs also opened fire and a lively skirmish started up. The allied line extended to the east as more men arrived and the hamlet of Thyle was occupied. Any attempt by the French skirmishers to advance was quickly held up by accurate rifle fire. The French right had the support of a battery of guns which engaged the fresh allied troops that were arriving on this flank. Soon after a British battery (Roger’s) moved down the Namur road and opened fire on the 2nd légère. This battery was also engaged by French artillery and the light infantry unit sent some skirmishers to engage the crews; these soon started to cause casualties among the sweating gunners and were unopposed for the time being.
On the left flank, the fighting in the Bossu wood was inevitably going slowly, but because of his numerical superiority, Jérôme’s lead brigade had been making progress. The southern half of the wood was now in his possession and his troops were working their way north through the trees, engaging the allied troops that opposed them and that lined the eastern edges, slowly pushing them back towards Quatre Bras. Eventually, the first French skirmishers reached the Nivelles road just a short distance from the crossroads.
Near Quatre Bras, Wellington was in discussion with the Prince of Orange. Having just been informed that the Bossu wood was held by Nassau troops, a force of French skirmishers spilled out onto the road. The Prince was forced to deploy the last two unused battalions of Perponcher’s division to push the French back into the wood. The situation was saved by the arrival of more reinforcements; part of the Brunswick corps had followed Picton’s division, bringing another 4,500 infantry and 900 cavalry to Wellington’s support. They were tired from their long march, but fresh to the fight. The Brunswick specialist light troops, the Gelernte-Ja¨ger companies, were immediately thrown into the Bossu wood. Once again, the timely arrival of reinforcements had frustrated Ney and started to tip the balance of numbers in Wellington’s favour.
A battalion of Brunswick light troops (the 2nd Light Battalion) were sent to reinforce the extreme allied left flank. The 1st Line and Leib battalions moved through Quatre Bras and filled the void between the Bossu wood and the Brussels road, whilst the rest provided a reserve. Foy’s division, which occupied Gémioncourt and extended beyond the Brussels road towards the Bossu wood, watched the two black-uniformed battalions take position in front of them. The French tirailleurs moved forward to engage them and were soon causing casualties. What was not apparent to the French was that the inexperienced and poorly-trained Brunswick conscripts lacked the cohesion and morale to deploy into line, and their Duke felt he had no option but to leave them in column, which gave them a greater feeling of security despite the casualties they were suffering. Such a choice target did not go unnoticed by the French artillery, which also began to make furrows through the densely-packed men. The Brunswickers’ own artillery was still some way in the rear and unable to come to their support. With almost no defence against the galling fire that was directed against them, these battalions must have felt exposed and unsupported until the Brunswick Hussar Regiment formed up in their rear.
Still further reinforcements were arriving for Wellington. Picton’s infantry brigades of Best and Halkett arrived and were moved to support the allied left flank. This gave him the opportunity to drive back the troublesome French skirmishers and establish some vital depth in his position. Content that his right flank had been stabilised, Wellington now turned his attention to the French skirmish line that was causing so much damage to his artillery. To the east of the Brussels road, the French tirailleurs saw a solid red wall of infantry (the 1st, 32nd and 79th Line) advancing towards them. To try to hold would have been suicidal, and so they began their withdrawal using fire and manoeuvre to keep their assailants under fire, helped by the height and density of the crops. Eventually they found themselves back on the line of the Gémioncourt stream. Taking advantage of the cover this afforded, and supported by the main line of infantry columns on the southern slopes of the Gémioncourt heights and the artillery above them, they held this line.
Where was d’Erlon?
Whilst the seemingly constant arrival of allied reinforcements threatened to wrest the initiative from Ney, Napoleon was about to force his hand.