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MAP III
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See also:MAP III . See also:Ney was therefore ordered to attack See also:Wellington's centre with D'Erlon's See also:corps. Owing to a misconception the columns used second for advance were over-heavy and unwieldy, and the passe. corps failed to achieve anything of importance. As D'Erlon's troops advanced the Dutch-Belgian See also:brigade in front of the See also:ridge, which had been subjected to an overwhelming See also:fire from the 8o See also:French guns at See also:close range, turned about and retired in disorder through the See also:main position. This, however, was the solitary success secured by the I. corps; for the See also:left See also:division failed to See also:storm La Haye Sainte, which was most gallantly defended, and See also:Picton's division met the See also:remainder of D'Erlon's corps See also:face to face, engaging them in a murderous See also:infantry See also:duel in which Picton See also:fell. It was during this struggle that See also:Lord See also:Uxbridge launched two of his See also:cavalry brigades on the enemy; and the " See also:Union brigade " catching the French infantry unawares rode over them, See also:broke them up, and drove them to the bottom of the slope with the loss of two eagles. The See also:charge, however, over-reached itself, and the See also:British cavalry, crushed by fresh French horsemen hurled on them by the See also:emperor, were driven back with See also:great loss. So far no success against Wellington had been achieved, and Billow was still an onlooker. Ney was now ordered to attack La Haye Sainte again, but the attack failed. A furious cannonade raged, and the Anglo-Dutch See also:line withdrew slightly to gain more See also:cover from the ridge. Ney misinterpreted this manoeuvre and led out, about 4 P.M., Milhaud's and See also:Lefebvre-Desnouettes' horsemen (43 squadrons) to charge the allied centre between the two farms. For several reasons, the cavalry could only advance at a trot. As the horsemen closed they were. received with I was the first decided See also:advantage that See also:Napoleon had gained during Third phase. volleys of See also:case from the guns, and the infantry formed into squares. Against the squares the horsemen were powerless, and failing to break a single square, they were finally swept off the See also:plateau by fresh allied horsemen. See also:Kellermann's en rassiers and the heavy See also:horse of the Guard (37 fresh squadrons) now advanced to support the baffled cavalry, the latter falling in as supports. The whole 8o squadrons resumed the attack, but with no better result. The cavalry gradually became hopelessly entangled among the squares they were unable to break, and at last they were driven down the face of the ridge and the most dramatic See also:part of the See also:battle came to an end. Had these great cavalry attacks been closely supported by infantry, there can be little doubt that they must have achieved their See also:object. But they were not. In his handling of the three arms together, Napoleon on this See also:day failed to do See also:justice to his reputation. About 4.30 P.M. Billow at last engaged. See also:Lobau's men were gradually overpowered and forced back into Plancenoit, the See also:village was stormed, and the Prussian See also:round shot reached the main road. To set his right flank See also:free the emperor called further on his reserve, and sent Duhesme with the See also:Young Guard to Lobau's support. Together, these troops drove Billow out of Plancenoit, and forced him back towards the See also:Paris See also:wood. But the Prussians had See also:riot yet changed the See also:fate of the day.
Napoleon now ordered Ney to carry La Haye Sainte at what-ever cost, and this the See also:marshal accomplished with the wrecks of D'Erlon's corps soon after 6 P.M. The' See also:garrison (See also: Napoleon, therefore, had to free his right flank before he could make use of Ney's See also:capture. To this end he sent two battalions of the Old Guard to•storm Plancenoit. The veterans did the See also:work magnificently with the See also:bayonet, ousted the Prussians from the See also:place, and drove them back 600 yards beyond it. But Napoleon could not turn now on Wellington. Zieten was fast coming up on the duke's left, and the crisis was past. Zieten's See also:advent permitted the two fresh cavalry brigades of See also:Vivian and Vandeleur on the duke's extreme left to be moved and posted behind the depleted centre. The value of this reinforcement at this particular moment can hardly be overestimated. The French See also:army now fiercely attacked Wellington all along the line; and the culminating point of this phase was reached when Napoleon sent forward the Guard, less 5 battalions, Fifth phase. to attack Wellington's centre. Delivered in three echelons, these final attacks were repulsed, the first See also:echelon by See also:Colin See also:Halkett's British Brigade, a Dutch-Belgian See also:battery, and a brigade of See also:Chasse's Dutch-Belgian division; the second and third echelons by the See also:Guards, the 52nd, and the Royal See also:Artillery. Thus ended the fifth phase. As the Guard recoiled (about 8 P.M.) Zicten pierced the See also:north- See also:east corner of the French front, and their whole line gave way as the See also:allies rushed forward on their now defenceless Rout of the French. . See also:prey. Three battalions of the Guard indeed stood their
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ground for some See also:time, but they were finally overwhelmed. Afterwards, amidst the ruins of their army, two battalions of the 1st Grenadiers of the Guard defied all efforts to break them But, with the exception of these two battalions, the French army was quickly transformed into a flying See also:rabble. Below and Pirch I. now finally overpowered Lobau, once more recaptured Plancenoit, and sealed the See also:doom of the French army. But Lobau's heroic efforts had not been in vain; they had given his See also:master time to make his last effort against Wellington; and when the Guard was beaten back the French troops holding Plancenoit kept free the Charleroi road, and prevented the Prussians from seizing Napoleon's line of See also:retreat.
When Wellington and See also:Blucher met about 9.15 P.M. at " La Belle See also:Alliance, " the victorious chiefs arranged that the Prussians should take up the pursuit, and they faithfully carried out the agreement. Pushing on through the See also:night, they drove the French out of seven successive bivouacs and at length drove them over the Sambre. The See also:campaign was virtually at an end, and the See also:price paid was great. The French had lost over 40,000 men and almost all their artillery on See also:June 18; the Prussians lost 7000, and Wellington over 15,000 men. So desperate was the fighting that some 45,000 killed and wounded See also:lay on an See also:area of roughly 3 sq. m. At one point on the plateau " the 27th (Inniskillings) were lying literally dead in square "; and the position that the British infantry held was plainly marked by the red line of dead and wounded they left behind them.
A few words may now be bestowed on Marshal See also:Grouchy, commanding the right wing. The marshal wrongly determined 6rouchy's on the 18th to continue his See also: Breaking up 18-19. from See also:bivouac See also:long after See also:dawn, he marched forward, via Walhain. Here he stopped to See also:report to the emperor some intelligence which turned out to be false, and he remained for breakfast. Hardly had he finished when the opening roar of the cannonade at See also:Waterloo was heard. Grouchy was now urged by his generals, especially by See also:Gerard, to march to the See also:sound of the firing, but he refused to take their See also:advice, and pushed on to See also:Havre, where he found the Prussians (Thielemann's corps of 16,000 men) holding the passages across the Dyle. A fierce fight(called the See also:Action of Wavre) began about 4 P.M., in which the Prussians were for long victorious. Instead of concentrating his force upon one See also:bridge over the swampy and unfordable Dyle, Grouchy scattered it in attacks upon several; and when the emperor's despatch arrived, saying Below was in sight, the marshal was powerless to move westward. Towards the end of the day See also:Colonel Vallin's Hussars stormed the Limale bridge, and a large part of Grouchy's force then promptly gained the left bank. The action continued till about 11 P.M., when it died out, to recommence shortly after dawn. Thielemann was at length overborne by sheer See also:weight of See also:numbers, and towards 11 A.M. he was forced to retire towards See also:Louvain. The losses were considerable, about 2400 men on each See also:side. Grouchy's victory was barren. In the far higher See also:duty of co-operation he had failed miserably. His See also:tactical achievement could avail the emperor nothing, and it exposed his own force to considerable danger. Whilst pondering on the course he should follow, the marshal received the See also:news of the awful disaster that had overtaken the emperor at Waterloo. In a flash he realized his danger and made prompt arrangements to begin his retreat on See also:Namur, the only line to See also:France that was then available. This retreat he carried out resolutely, skilfully and rapidly, slipping past Blucher and finally bringing his force to Paris. But the rapid advance of the allies gave France no time to rally. Napoleon was forced to abdicate, and finding See also:escape was impossible, he surrendered (on See also:July 14) to the British—" the most powerful, the most unwavering and the most generous of his foes." The causes of Napoleon's failure in the Waterloo campaign were as follows:—The French army was numerically too weak for the gigantic task it undertook. Napoleon himself was no longer the Napoleon of See also:Marengo or See also:Austerlitz, and though he was not broken down, his See also:physical strength was certainly impaired. Ney failed to grasp and hold Wellington on the See also:critical 17th June; and on the 17th and 18th Grouchy's feeble and false manoeuvres enabled Blucher to march and join Wellington at Waterloo. Napoleon's See also:chance of success was dangerously diminished, if not utterly destroyed, by the incompetence of the two marshals whom in an evil See also:hour he selected for high commands. Another dominant See also:influence in shaping the course of events was the See also:loyalty of Blucher to his ally, and the consequent See also:appearance of the Prussian army at Waterloo. Nor must we overlook Wellington's unswerving determination to co-operate with Blucher at all See also:costs, and his firmness on June 18; or the invincible steadiness shown by the British troops and those of the King's German Legion. BISL1oGRAPHY.—Some of the See also:principal books on the campaign are: Colonel Grouard, Critique de 1815; H. See also:Houssaye, Waterloo; See also:General See also:Pollio, Waterloo (1815); See also:Shaw-See also:Kennedy, Battle of Waterloo; See also:Captain W. Siborne, 9th See also:Foot, See also:History of the Waterloo Campaign; See also:Clausewitz, Campagne de 1815; Colonel Charras, Histoire de la Campagne de 1815, Waterloo; L. Navez, See also:Les Quatre See also:Bras, Ligny, Waterloo et Wavre; General H. T. Siborne, R.E., Waterloo Letters; Colonel See also:Chesney, Waterloo Lectures; Wellington, Despatches and Memorandum on the Battle of Waterloo; Correspondance and Commentaires of Napoleon. In this See also:article the writer has been greatly assisted by the advice and suggestions of Lieut.-See also:Col. H. W. L. Hime, R.A. (A.'F. B.*) WATERLOO-WITH-See also:SEAFORTH, an See also:urban See also:district in the See also:Bootle and See also:Ormskirk See also:parliamentary divisions of See also:Lancashire, See also:England, at the mouth of the See also:Mersey, 4 M. N. by W. of See also:Liverpool. Pop. (1891) 17,225; (1901) 23,102. On See also:account of its facilities for bathing, See also:firm sands, pleasant scenery and nearness to See also:Liver-See also:pool, of which it is a suburb, it is much frequented both by visitors and by residents. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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