Battle of Quatre Bras
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| Waterloo Campaign |
|---|
| Quatre Bras – Ligny – Waterloo – Wavre |
Prelude
"Napoleon has humbugged me, he has gained twenty-four hours march on me" – the Duke of Wellington
Wellington's grave mistake at the outbreak of the war was to fail to react to the arrival of news of the outbreak of hostilities on the morning of 15 June. He didn't trust any other sources than British, but it was Prussian outposts under General von Ziethen that were engaged first at 04:30 at Thuin near Charleroi. A number of confirmations of this had to arrive before Wellington issued any orders - from 18:00, almost 10 hours after Wellington had received the first news. That meant it was too late for him to move and rally his army that very day and eventually provide Blücher with the support he needed on 16 June.
Wellington also failed to order his entire army to Quatre Bras on 16 June, although he was later to claim that he did do so. However, the orders issued and received do not correspond with that claim. He was extremely lucky that the Dutch Headquarters took the initiative and decided to dismiss Wellington's order to rally the Dutch forces in and around Nivelles and instead decided to guard and defend Quatre Bras where they received substantial aid against the attacking forces of Marshal Ney from the Brunswickers and Nassauers, long before any British troops started to intervene. This decision to make a stand at Quatre Bras would eventually make up for Wellington's late orders, although for the Prussians his orders came far too late.
The crossroads of Quatre-Bras was of strategic importance because the side which controlled it could move south-eastward along the Nivelles-Namur road towards the French and Prussian armies at the Battle of Ligny. If Wellington's Anglo-allied army could combine with the Prussians commanded by Gebhard von Blücher, the combined force would be larger than Napoleon's. Napoleon's strategy had been to cross the border into Belgium without alerting the allies and drive a wedge between their forces and subsequently to defeat the Prussians before turning on the Anglo-allied army. Although the coalition commanders did have an overview of French pre-war movements, Napoleon's strategy was initially very successful.
The ground
The battle was fought around the crossroads of Quatre-Bras, a small hamlet with only four houses. This crossroads marked the junction between the Charleroi-Brussels Road and the Nivelles-Namur Road.
To the South-West of the junction was the Bossu wood. South of the wood were the farms Petit- and Grand-Pierrepoint. South of the crossroads the ground fell away to the Gemioncourt farm, which lay next to a small stream in the valley. The ground then rose again to the south. North of Quatre-Bras the ground dropped into a reverse slope.
The combatants
At the beginning of the battle Marshal Michel Ney, with the left wing of the Armee du Nord, faced a force of some 8,000 Netherlands infantry and 16 guns, under the command of the Prince of Orange, thinly deployed south of the crossroads of Quatre Bras. They received substantial aid from Nassauers and Brunswickers, the latter led by the Duke of Brunswick, who would not survive the day.
As the battle continued Anglo-allied troop numbers finally increased as more units converged on Quatre Bras. Also at 1500 hours the Duke of Wellington appeared on the field. The French force numbered 18,000 including 2,000 cavalry and 32 guns. During the day the French force would grow to 24,000.
The battle
The battle begins
The French attack began around 1200 hours. Ney formed a massed battery of 22 guns and started bombarding the coalition positions. Swarms of skirmishers preceded the French columns as they attacked. The Netherlands picket line greeted them with musketvolleys, but was outnumbered and forced to retreat. The Nassauers of Saxe-Weimar retreated to Grand-Pierrepont farm and the Dutch troops of van Bijlandt to Gemoincourt.
After a while the fresh division of Jérôme Bonaparte arrived on the scene. They were sent against Grand-Pierrepont. The Nassauers were forced to abandon the farm and were driven into the Bossu wood. There they fought from tree to tree to slow the French advance. At Gemoincourt the Netherlands troops were a thorn in the eyes of the French. One of the defending battalions, the 5th militia, lost 62% of its original strength that day. The Dutch lost and retook the farm twice, but eventually lost it again.
Around 1400 hours, Ney started his assault on Quatre-Bras. Using a combined assault of infantry, artillery, and cavalry, Ney was able to push the Netherlands troops all the way back to Quatre-Bras. The situation became desperate for the Netherlands 2nd division; the pressure of three infantry divisions and a cavalry brigade was too much.
Thankfully for the coalition, at 1500, reinforcements came in: Picton's 5th British infantry division and van Merlen's 2nd Netherlands Light cavalry brigade. The duke of Wellington came back from his meeting with Blücher. Van Merlen's brigade charged the French cavalry but were thrown back. However, this gave the battered Netherlands infantry time to regroup. British infantry was also ordered to form a line. However, when the Netherlands cavalry brigade disengaged and retired to friendly lines they were shot at by Scottish infantry because their uniforms looked like the French uniforms of the Chasseurs à Cheval.
At 1600 hours, Ney received Napoleon's order to attack vigorously. He sent an order to his II Corps, under the command of Honore Reille to attack with more force; and for his I Corps under the command of Count d'Erlon to join him as he was now engaged in the larger Battle of Ligny. Ney also was reinforced by Kellermann's heavy cavalry.
The battle continues
Unfortunately for Ney, his requested infantry reinforcements, the I Corps, were marching towards Napoleon at Ligny, and Ney was left without the infantry needed to punch through the allied line. At 1615 hours, French mixed forces advanced almost all the way to the crossroads. The British 42nd, 44th and 92nd regiments held up against the infantry - and then they were mauled by Kellermann's cuirassiers before these were driven back by allied musketry and cavalry. Another front was more successful for Ney. Jérôme Bonaparte, Napoleon's youngest brother, drove the Allies out of the Bossu Wood. Just then, three Allied brigades came and drove the French back south and to the original positions. It is notable that the 1st regiment of the British Guard was caught by surprise by Piré's French lancers just near Pierrepont and lost 500 men before retiring into the wood.
Due to indecision by d'Erlon whether to follow his direct superior Ney's commands or those of his Emperor's, the I Corps wound up marching to and from Ligny without fighting in either battle.
Conclusion
The battle cost Ney 4000 men to Wellington's 4800. Although a tactical victory for the Anglo-allies, it was a strategic victory for the French because the Anglo-allies had been unable to send forces to the aid of the Prussians at the Battle of Ligny. Wellington's Anglo-allied army, upon learning of the Prussian defeat, was forced to retreat north along the Brussels road further away from the Prussians, who retreated north-east towards Wavre.
There has been much debate of what would have happened if d'Erlon's 1st Corps had engaged at either Ligny or Quatre Bras. As he did not, Napoleon chose to follow Wellington with the bulk of his forces, and two days later met his destiny at Waterloo.
See also
Further reading
- 1815, The Waterloo Campaign Wellington, his German Allies and the Battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras by Peter Hofschroer
External links
- [The Battle of Quatre-Bras] by Alfons Libert.
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