“I shall not come with two corps only, but with my whole army; upon this understanding, however, that, should the French not attack us on the 18th, we shall attack them on the 19th.” Having reached Wavre in safety, the Prussians, though they had lost none of their courage, began to feel greater confidence. The defeat at Ligny had merely damped their ardour for a space; it had in nowise impaired their fighting value. The men were eager for a further trial with the French, and they were now more determined than before to regain prestige and humble the victors of Jena. Nevertheless, among the lesser troops and the newly raised corps from the Rhenish provinces, there had been many desertions. Most of these had once been French soldiers themselves, and knew the fear of Napoleon. To the number of 8000 these men “absented” themselves after the battle of Ligny, while some fled headlong to Liège. On the whole, considering the heterogeneous composition of Bluchers army, there was very little bad faith among the men. About midnight on the 17th, a message from Wellington, through Muffling, reached Blucher. It ran:-- “The Anglo-Allied army is posted with its right upon Braine l’Alleud, its centre upon Mont St Jean, and its left upon La Haye; with the enemy in front. The Duke awaits the attack, but calculates on Prussian support.” Gneisenau was very suspicious of the sincerity of Wellington’s intentions; he believed that the Duke would fall back at the last moment, and involve the Prussian army in a serious disaster. But Blucher had a greater idea of the honour of the words of generals, and finally overcame the reluctance of his Chief of the Staff. He thereupon replied to Wellington that-- “Bulow’s Corps will set off marching tomorrow at daybreak in your direction. It will be immediately followed by the Second Corps. The First and Third Corps will also hold themselves in readiness to proceed towards you. The exhaustion of the troops, part of whom have not yet arrived, does not allow of my commencing my movement earlier.” An order to this effect was at once sent to Bulow at Dion-le-Mont:-- “You will, therefore, at daybreak, march with the Fourth Corps from Dion-le-Mont, through Wavre, in the direction of Chapelle St Lambert, on nearing which you will conceal your force as much as possible, in case the enemy should not, by that time, be seriously engaged with the Duke of Wellington; but should it be otherwise, you will make a most vigorous attack on the enemy’s right flank. The Second Corps will follow you as a direct support; the First and Third will also be held in readiness to move in the same direction if necessary. You will leave a detachment in observation at Mont St Guibert; which, if pressed, will gradually fall back on Wavre. All the baggage train, and everything not actually required in the field, will be sent to Louvain.”