The wide dissemination of the Duke of WELLINGTON's forces which the advanced line of cantonments presented--a line forming a considerable portion of a circle, of which Brussels was the centre, and the Tournai, Mons, and Charleroi roads were the marked radii--tended greatly to facilitate the means of subsisting the troops, and to render that subsistence less burthensome to the country; while, at the same time, it offered to the Duke, in conjunction with the interior points of concentration, and with the efficient Reserve stationed around the capital, full security for his being prepared to meet any emergency that might arise. The main points of interior concentration were (commencing from the right) Audenarde, Grammont, Ath, Enghien, Soignies, Nivelles, and Quatre Bras. From whatever point, therefore, offensive operations might be directed against that portion of the Belgian frontier occupied by the Army under WELLINGTON--whether from Lille, by Courtrai, or by Tournai, between the Lys and the Scheldt; from Condé, Valenciennes, or Maubeuge, by Mons, between the Sambre and the Scheldt; or from Maubeuge, Beaumont, or Philippeville, by Charleroi, between the Sambre and the Meuse--the Duke, by advancing to the threatened point with his Reserve, and placing the remainder of his troops in movement, had it in his power to concentrate at least two-thirds of his intended disposable force for the Field, upon the line of the Enemy's operations, within twenty-two hours after the receipt of intelligence of the actual direction and apparent object of those operations. * * * * * The Prussian Army, under the command of Prince BLÜCHER VON WAHLSTADT, amounted to nearly 117,000 men, and was thus composed:-- Infantry 99,715 Cavalry 11,879 Artillery, Waggon-Train, and Engineers 5,303 ------- 116,897 men & 312 guns. It was divided into four _Corps d'Armée_. The First Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General ZIETEN,[6] consisted of the First Brigade, under General STEINMETZ; of the Second Brigade, under General PIRCH II.;[7] of the Third Brigade, under General JAGOW; of the Fourth Brigade, under General Count HENKEL; of a Cavalry Reserve, under Lieutenant General RÖDER; and of an Artillery Reserve, under Colonel LEHMANN.