Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821 -- Elba and the Hundred Days, 1814-1815; Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo, Belgium, 1815
WELLINGTON, though he had been compelled to relinquish all hope of
being enabled to afford that aid to BLÜCHER which, in the morning, he
had proffered to him, yet, by maintaining his ground at Quatre Bras
sufficiently long to admit of the arrival of reinforcements which
enabled him to obtain a brilliant victory, he completely succeeded in
frustrating the grand object of NEY's movements, which had been to
defeat the Anglo-Allied troops thus advancing, in detail, and also
to operate upon BLÜCHER's Right Flank. The Duke's success gave ample
and convincing evidence of the sagacity and foresight with which his
plans had been devised and matured, as also of the soundness of those
calculations by which he had for some time previously placed himself,
with the confident security of a master of his art, in a posture of
defence, fully prepared to meet every emergency, from whatever point,
or however suddenly, the coming storm might arise. And now that he
had gained the Battle, and secured the important point of Quatre Bras,
upon which the remainder of his troops were advancing, and where the
greater portion of them would arrive in the evening and during the
night, he was perfectly ready and willing, should the Prussians prove
victorious at Ligny, to renew the contest on the following morning, by
attacking NEY with his collected force; and then, if successful (of
which little doubt could be entertained), by a junction with BLÜCHER's
Right, to operate upon NAPOLEON's Left, so as to bring the great mass
of the combined Armies to bear directly upon the main body of the
French; or, in case of a defeat of the Prussians, to make good his
retreat along his principal line of operation, in such a manner, as
to secure a position between Quatre Bras and Brussels, favourable for
a co-operation of BLÜCHER's forces with his own, and for presenting a
bold and determined stand against the further advance of the French
Emperor.
Orders were now forwarded for the movement of CLINTON's Division on the
following morning, at daybreak, from Nivelles to Quatre Bras: and of
COLVILLE's Division, at the same hour, from Enghien to Nivelles. The
Reserve Artillery was directed to move at daybreak, on the following
morning, to Quatre Bras, there to receive further orders; and the Tenth
Infantry Brigade, under Major General Sir JOHN LAMBERT, was directed to
march, at the same hour, from Assche to Genappe, there to remain until
further orders.
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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