Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821 -- Elba and the Hundred Days, 1814-1815; Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo, Belgium, 1815
THIELEMANN passed the night at Namur, which he occupied with the Tenth
Brigade; the Ninth Brigade bivouacked on the right, and the Eleventh
on the left, of Belgrade, a village at a short distance from the town,
on the road to Sombref; the Twelfth Brigade in rear of the Ninth; the
Reserve Cavalry at Flavinne, between that road and the Sambre; and the
Reserve Artillery on the left of the road.
* * * * *
It has already been explained that on the 14th, BLÜCHER sent off a
despatch to BÜLOW desiring him to make such a disposition of his Corps
as should enable his troops to reach Hannut in one march; and that at
midnight of the 14th, a second despatch was forwarded, requiring him to
concentrate the Fourth Corps at Hannut. The first of these despatches
reached BÜLOW, at Liege, at five o'clock on the morning of the 15th;
when he issued the necessary Orders with an instruction that they
should be acted upon as soon as the troops had dined, and forwarded a
report of this arrangement to Head Quarters. These Orders to his troops
had been despatched some hours, and the consequent movements were for
the most part in operation, when, towards noon, the second despatch
arrived. BÜLOW, considering the effect which the change required by
this new Order would have upon the troops, inasmuch as their reception
was prepared in quarters to which, in this case, they would no longer
proceed, and they would have nothing provided for them in the destined
bivouac near Hannut, also as a great proportion of them could not
receive the Orders for the change in the direction of their march until
evening, decided upon deferring the new movement until daybreak of the
16th. The despatch, moreover, did not require him to establish his
Head Quarters at Hannut, but merely suggested that the latter appeared
the most suitable for the purpose. The General was, besides, perfectly
unconscious of the commencement of hostilities, which, indeed, he
had expected would be preceded by a Declaration of War; and he had
also good grounds for an opinion which he had formed that it was in
contemplation to assemble the whole Army at Hannut.
He made a report to Head Quarters of his reasons for deferring the
execution of the Order, with the intimation that he would be at Hannut
by midday of the 16th. Captain BELOW, on BÜLOW's Staff, who carried
this despatch, arrived at nine o'clock in the evening of the 15th at
Namur, where he discovered that the Head Quarters of the Army had been
transferred to Sombref.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account