would be no need of elaborate instructions being given to either Ney or Grouchy; the issue of the battle would settle everything. But in order to be prepared for the other state of affairs, Napoleon employed himself with preparing letters to the commanders of the wings of the army. The letter[299] to Ney, which, as we have seen, was dictated by the Emperor to General Flahaut between 8 and 9 A.M., and was carried by that officer to Ney, whom it must have reached at Frasnes shortly before eleven o’clock,[300] informs him that Marshal Grouchy is marching on Sombreffe with the 3d and 4th Corps; that the Emperor is taking the Guard to Fleurus, where he will be before midday; that he will attack the enemy if he meets him, and will clear the road as far to the eastward as Gembloux. There, at Gembloux, the Emperor will make up his mind what to do next,—perhaps at three in the afternoon, perhaps not till evening. But he tells Marshal Ney that, just as soon as he has made up his mind, he wants him to be ready to march on Brussels; that he will support him with the Guard, which will be at Fleurus or Sombreffe,[301] and that he would like to get to Brussels the next morning. He then tells him where he would like him to station his various divisions.[302] He informs him that he has divided his army into two wings and a reserve; that Ney’s wing will consist of the 1st and 2d Corps, comprising eight divisions of infantry and two of light cavalry, and of the cavalry of the Count of Valmy; that Marshal Grouchy commands the right wing; that the Guard will constitute the reserve. He closes by reiterating the importance of Ney’s dispositions being so well made that he can march on Brussels,—_i.e._, from Quatre Bras,—as soon as ordered to do so. To Grouchy the Emperor sent a similar[303] letter, giving him the command of the 3d and 4th Corps,—those of Vandamme and Gérard,—and of the three cavalry-corps of Pajol, Milhaud and Exelmans. He orders him to Sombreffe with his entire command; the cavalry are to be sent off at once, the infantry to follow without halting anywhere. The Emperor states that he is removing his headquarters from Charleroi to Fleurus, where he will arrive between 10 and 11 A.M., and that he is going to Sombreffe, leaving the Guard, unless it should be necessary to employ it, at Fleurus. “If the enemy is at Sombreffe,” he goes on to say, “I propose to attack him; I propose to attack him even at Gembloux, and to possess myself of that position; my intention being, after having explored [_connu_] these two positions, to set out this night, and operate with my left wing, which Marshal Ney commands, against the English.” He then desires Grouchy to send him reports of everything he may learn, and finishes by saying:—“All my information is to the effect that the Prussians cannot oppose to us more than forty thousand men.”