The losses were heavy in Vandamme’s and Gérard’s Corps, especially among the infantry--nearly 4000 killed and wounded; while the cavalry lost 900 and the artillery 600. There was very little of the spirit of co-operation between Napoleon’s generals in this campaign. They all had petty jealousies, but none so strongly as Vandamme, Gérard and Grouchy. And these were the men to whom the pursuit of the Prussians had been entrusted! Grouchy was, and had been, a brilliant leader of cavalry. He had not the impetuous dash of Murat, the greatest of Napoleon’s cavalry commanders, but he had mastered the art of handling large masses of horsemen. He was a soldier of twenty years’ war experience, and he had distinguished himself at Hohenlinden, Friedland, Eylau, Wagram, and in Russia. He was given the command of the four corps of reserve cavalry--Pajol’s, Milhaud’s, Excelmans’, and Kellermann’s--early in June 1815, but after Ligny he was appointed to a higher and more responsible post--commander of the Right Wing, charged with the duty of following up the Prussians and preventing them from joining Wellington. Grouchy was not a fit man for independent command. In spite of his exploits in former days, he had never before been exercised in so great a responsibility. And no sooner had he received the appointment than he began expostulating and raising objections. Yet whom else could Napoleon choose? Murat was no longer with him. Davoût was Minister of War and Commandant of Paris--he could not be spared. These were the two men who should have been in Ney’s place and Grouchy’s. Lannes, Dessaix, or Masséna would have well filled the post instead of Grouchy, but Lannes and Dessaix were dead, and Masséna’s services were not available. Napoleon was not now served by his lieutenants as he had been of old, and his generals were not of the stuff which had composed his earlier subordinates. The truth is that he could no longer ignore the claims of rank and seniority. In former days, he could promote to the highest ranks those whom he chose, and those “who had yet a name to make.” Of the generals in the Waterloo campaign, on the French side, who could have taken Grouchy’s place? We cannot say that Gérard could, simply because he advised Grouchy at Walhain to do the right thing! He was junior, too, to Vandamme. And Vandamme was a rough, uncouth soldier. He had commanded a division at the age of twenty-seven, and had exhibited great qualities as a fighter, but for so important a command as Grouchy’s, he was not the man. Had he been a really capable general, would he not have risen beyond one step in rank since 1799? He was a divisional commander in 1799, and a corps commander in 1815; for sixteen years he had not risen. Besides, he quarrelled both with Gérard and Grouchy (as well as with Soult), and his slow movements on the 15th June, as Napoleon crossed the Sambre, were not entirely due to ignorance of orders.