Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821 -- Elba and the Hundred Days, 1814-1815; Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo, Belgium, 1815
General KRAFFT, from whose Brigade (the Sixth) five Battalions had
already been detached, namely, four for the defence of St Amand la
Haye, and one in aid of that of Ligny, now received BLÜCHER's Order
with his remaining four Battalions (the 1st and 2nd of the 9th, and
the 1st and 3rd of the 1st Elbe Landwehr), to drive the Enemy out of
the latter Village. The Foot Battery No. 15, was posted between the
left of Ligny and the Bois du Loup, and the Foot Battery No. 37, was
directed towards St Amand. The other Batteries posted between Ligny and
St Amand received Orders to retire accordingly as they expended their
ammunition, for the purpose of refitting; and they were successively
relieved by the Foot Battery No. 1, the Horse Battery No. 10, and the
twelve pounder Batteries Nos. 4 and 8. The Horse Battery No. 14 was
advanced across the stream between Ligny and Sombref, and took post on
the other side of the valley, where it was much exposed to the Enemy's
fire, and lost 19 Gunners and 53 horses.
General KRAFFT moved forward, in the first instance, only two
Battalions, and kept the others in reserve; but all of them soon
became engaged; for the French, though driven back at first, received
considerable reinforcements.
The fight throughout the whole Village of Ligny was now at the hottest:
the place was literally crammed with the combatants, and its streets
and inclosures were choked up with the wounded, the dying, and the
dead: every house that had escaped being set on fire, was the scene of
a desperate struggle: the troops fought no longer in combined order,
but in numerous and irregular groups, separated by houses either in
flames, or held as little forts, sometimes by the one, and sometimes
by the other party; and in various instances, when their ammunition
failed, or when they found themselves suddenly assailed from different
sides, the bayonet, and even the butt, supplied them with the ready
means for prosecuting the dreadful carnage with unmitigated fury. The
entire Village was concealed in smoke; but the incessant rattle of the
musketry, the crashing of burning timbers, the smashing of doors and
gateways, the yells and imprecations of the combatants, which were
heard through that misty veil, gave ample indication to the troops
posted in reserve upon the Heights, of the fierce and savage nature
of the struggle beneath. In the meantime, the relieving Batteries
on the Prussian side, which had arrived quite fresh from the rear,
came into full play, as did also a reinforcement, on the French side,
from the Artillery of the Imperial Guard. The earth now trembled
under the tremendous cannonade; and as the flames, issuing from the
numerous burning houses, intermingled with dense volumes of smoke,
shot directly upwards through the light grey mass which rendered the
Village indistinguishable, and seemed continually to thicken, the scene
resembled for a time some violent convulsion of nature, rather than a
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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