CHAPTER IV

GROUCHY’S PURSUIT OF THE PRUSSIANS

Grouchy had received orders from Napoleon at about 11 P.M. on the night of the 16th to send the two cavalry corps of Pajol and Excelmans at daybreak in pursuit of the Prussians. He was not told in which direction to pursue, or whether to pursue Thielemann only.

Accordingly, when Pajol started off at 4 A.M., there were no signs to show in which direction Thielemann had retired. Taking Soult’s Division of Light Cavalry, Pajol started off from Balâtre and made his way across to the Namur road, under the impression that this was the true line of retreat. He sent in a despatch from Balâtre (he must have written it very soon after his troops had started) to the Emperor, stating that he was “pursuing the enemy, who were in full retreat towards Liège and Namur,” and that he had already made many prisoners. Shortly after striking the Namur road, he came upon a Prussian Horse Battery (No. 14) which had “withdrawn during the battle of Ligny to replenish its ammunition waggons”(!) but had failed to fall in with the ammunition column. Thielemann had ordered it to retire on Gembloux, when he beat his retreat, but this it failed to do, and wandered about aimlessly near the Namur road. When Pajol’s men came up, they captured the whole battery, in front of Le Mazy; and Pajol reported it in great glee to the Emperor. This tended to increase the belief that the Prussians were making for Namur. But Pajol, advancing some three miles beyond Le Mazy, without coming across further traces of the enemy, began at last to suspect that he was leading a wild goose chase. Accordingly he halted at Le Boquet, and sent out reconnoitring parties. At midday (while Thielemann was resting at Gembloux) he started off northwards on Saint-Denis, with the object of taking the road to Louvain. At Saint-Denis he was joined by Teste’s Division, which had been sent to him by Napoleon. Thus Pajol was very far from being of use in the chase.

Meanwhile, Excelmans fared little better. Berton’s Brigade of Dragoons, belonging to Excelmans’ Corps, started off to follow Thielemann’s rear-guard, whose departure was only noticed as it left Sombreffe. But Berton followed down the Namur road behind Pajol. What was the advantage in searching the country which had just been passed by the First Cavalry Corps? It is hard to suppose that it was not known which way Pajol had taken. Berton got as far as Le Mazy, where he was told by some peasants that the Prussians had retreated by Gembloux. He therefore halted, sent back the news to Excelmans, and awaited instructions. It was unfortunate for the French that he did not think of sending this news _forward_ to Pajol!

Instructions soon arrived, and Berton was ordered to march on Gembloux. He therefore marched up the valley of the Orneau, a small stream running southwards to the Sambre, and arrived in front of Gembloux at 9 A.M. Here he found the Prussian outposts, and descried, on the far side of the village, the whole of Thielemann’s Corps taking their rest. Excelmans, with his remaining three brigades of cavalry, arrived before Gembloux, half an hour later, _i.e._ at 9.30 A.M. He saw that there were some 20,000 Prussians resting beyond the village, and yet he neglected to send back word to Grouchy immediately. He did not even inform Pajol of his discovery, so the latter was still wandering. Although he had 3,000 cavalry and 12 guns, Excelmans made no attempt to harass the Prussians, who, since they were resting, were obviously not ready to fight again. But his mistake lay not so much in his avoiding conflict as in his omission to send immediate news to Grouchy and Pajol. There can never be a mistake in sending back too much information to head-quarters (as far as the means of transmission allow); what is not required can there be disposed of.

So much for the efforts of Excelmans and Pajol to follow up the Prussians.

Grouchy, meanwhile, at 11.30 A.M., received the following written order from Napoleon:--

“Repair to Gembloux with the Cavalry Corps of Pajol and Excelmans, the Light Cavalry of the Fourth Corps, Teste’s Division, and the Third and Fourth Corps of Infantry. You will send out scouts in the direction of Namur and Maestricht, and you will pursue the enemy. Reconnoitre his march, and tell me of his movements, that I may penetrate his designs. I shall move my headquarters to Quatre-Bras, where the English still were this morning; our communication will then be direct by the Namur road. Should the enemy have evacuated Namur, write to the general in command of the Second Military Division at Charlemont, to occupy this town with a few battalions of National Guards. It is important to discover what Wellington and Blucher mean to do, and whether they meditate uniting their armies to cover Brussels and Liège by risking the fate of a battle. At all events, keep your two Infantry Corps continually together, within a mile of each other, reserving several ways of retreat; place detachments of cavalry between, so as to be able to communicate with Head-quarters.”

This order contains certain very definite instructions. First, Grouchy was to concentrate all his forces at Gembloux. Secondly, he was to reconnoitre towards Namur and Maestricht, as it was very possible (according to Napoleon’s information) that the enemy had gone in those directions. Thirdly, he was to follow the tracks of the Prussians, and to try to discover what they intended to do.

As to the first, Grouchy was unaware that Excelmans, with his whole Corps, was already at Gembloux. But Pajol’s report from Le Mazy might have helped him to come to the conclusion that the Prussians had not taken that direction.

Grouchy, when he had received his verbal instructions from Napoleon, had expostulated and expressed the opinion that no advantage would be obtained if he carried out the operations he was ordered to. He argued that the Prussians had already had twelve hours’ start; that although no definite news had yet been received from the cavalry scouts, it was extremely likely that Blucher had retired on his base, Namur; and that in following the Prussians in this direction he would be moving further and further from Napoleon. He asked to be allowed to march to Quatre-Bras with the Emperor. But Napoleon, naturally enough, declined, and firmly repeated his orders to Grouchy, saying that it was his (Grouchy’s) duty to find which route the Prussians had taken, and to attack them as soon as he found them.

Grouchy withdrew and proceeded to carry out his orders. But if he was so far convinced of the importance and infallibility of his own conclusions as to discuss them boldly before the Emperor, he certainly could not have been very hopeful or determined when he proceeded to carry out the very instructions against which he had been arguing!

He then sent orders to Vandamme, who was at St Amand, to march at once with the Third Corps to Point-du-Jour, at the junction of the Gembloux and Namur roads. He sent an aide-de-camp towards Gembloux to obtain news from Excelmans. (Not often is it necessary for a general to send one of his own Staff to gather news from the advanced cavalry!) He then went himself to Ligny to give Gérard his orders.

In starting Vandamme before Gérard, Grouchy made a serious mistake; for Gérard had over an hour to wait before he could march his troops off, since both Corps had to use the same road, and Vandamme was behind Gérard at the time. Vandamme’s Corps had suffered less than Gérard’s at Ligny the day before, but it was no longer a case of fearing an inferiority in numbers. Vandamme marched with incredible slowness. His advanced guard did not reach Point-du-Jour until 3 P.M.; (Thielemann was by this time an hour’s march beyond Gembloux!) The roads were in a very bad state, it is true, and the heavy rain that was falling made marching difficult; also the passage of the Prussians had made the roads worse; but Point-du-Jour is less than 4 miles from St Amand.

Grouchy himself went to Point-du-Jour, arriving at the same time as Vandamme’s advanced guard. Here he received his aide-de-camp, who had returned with news from Excelmans; who reported that “he was observing the enemy’s army,” and “would follow the Prussians as soon as ever they should begin to march” (Houssaye). Grouchy, instead of giving Vandamme and Gérard orders to hasten their march on Gembloux, and galloping there himself, made no effort to hurry. He accompanied Vandamme’s Corps, which still continued with extraordinary slowness; and arrived at Gembloux at seven o’clock in the evening; taking four hours to cover 5 miles. Gérard arrived there two hours later. Thus at the end of the day, Grouchy’s main body was less than 7 miles from Ligny; and he was supposed to be vigorously pressing the Prussians! He had not yet found the direction of their retreat! Compare, allowing even for the rain and the state of the roads, his rate of marching with Thielemann’s, over the same road, a few hours previously; and compare Grouchy’s subsequent retreat.

Napoleon’s first instruction to Grouchy was to concentrate all his forces at Gembloux. To enable both Corps to arrive at Gembloux together, Gérard’s should have marched off first and taken the cross-country road from Sombreffe to the old Roman road, and thence along to Gembloux. Vandamme would then have had a clear road past Point-du-Jour, undisturbed by Gérard’s troops. As it was, Gérard’s men had to traverse a road already cut up by the Prussians and Vandamme’s Corps.

Excelmans had lost every opportunity. He should not have contented himself with watching the enemy; he should have made “feints,” to cause the Prussians to disclose their intentions, or he should at least have discovered the direction of their movements. If he was too weak to attack even the rear-guard, he should have endeavoured to work round Thielemann and occupy him while Grouchy with the main body arrived. He should also have sent across to Pajol and asked him to work in towards his left so as still further to hamper Thielemann. But none of these things were done, and the Prussians were allowed to move off quietly, Excelmans merely following behind!

Even when Thielemann moved out of Gembloux at 2 P.M., it was three o’clock before Excelmans entered the village, and yet his scouts had been watching the Prussians since 9 A.M. He was content to march leisurely on to Sauvenière, a village 3 miles north of Gembloux.

Grouchy decided to halt at Gembloux for the night. Although there were still two hours of daylight left when Vandamme’s Corps reached the village, yet it was ordered to bivouac there. Grouchy afterwards stated that the roads were too bad to march on, and the rain too heavy; this is true, to a certain extent, but considering how well the Prussians had marched under the self-same conditions, and the urgency of the situation, Grouchy might have made much more progress.

Excelmans, arriving at Sauvenière at six o’clock in the evening, sent out Bonnemains’ Brigade (4th and 12th Dragoons) towards Sart à Walhain, and the 15th Dragoons towards Perwez, to reconnoitre. Scouts were also sent towards Tourinnes and Nil St Vincent. These scouts found a small Prussian rear-guard at Tourinnes, but they only watched the enemy for an hour, and then returned. Bonnemains brought his Brigade back to Ernage, where he bivouacked for the night. He had gathered information that the Prussians were retreating towards Wavre; and the 15th Dragoons also reported from the neighbourhood of Perwez to the same effect; so that Excelmans, at 10 P.M., knew with comparative certainty that the enemy were marching on Wavre.

Pajol, in the meantime, finding that he was mistaken in his conclusions as to the direction of the Prussian retreat, marched back from St Denis with Soult’s Light Cavalry and Teste’s Division to Le Mazy, the point from which he had started in the morning. Now, even if he had found that he was striking in a wrong direction, there can be no possible reason for his retreating to Le Mazy. He must have known that such a move, whether right or wrong, would have a very great influence on Grouchy’s plan; therefore, instead of marching all his forces back, he should have sent an aide-de-camp or galloper to find where the main body was, or to find Grouchy and get fresh instructions. Pajol exercised no discretion whatever in making such a move.

At 10 P.M., at Gembloux, Grouchy wrote the following despatch to the Emperor:--

“GEMBLOUX, _17th June_, 10 P.M.

“Sire,--I have the honour to report to you that I occupy Gembloux and that my Cavalry is at Sauvenière.[6] The enemy, about 30,000 strong, continues his retreat. We have captured here a convoy of 400 cattle, magazines and baggage.

“It would appear, according to all the reports, that, on reaching Sauvenière, the Prussians divided into two columns: one of which must have taken the road to Wavre, passing by Sart à Walhain; the other would appear to have been directed on Perwez.

“It may perhaps be inferred from this that one portion is going to join Wellington; and that the centre, which is Blucher’s army, is retreating on Liège. Another column, with artillery, having retreated by Namur,[7] General Excelmans has orders to push, this evening, six squadrons to Sart à Walhain, and three to Perwez. According to their report, if the mass of the Prussians is retiring on Wavre, I shall follow them in that direction, so as to prevent them from reaching Brussels, and to separate them from Wellington. If, on the contrary, my information proves that the principal Prussian force has marched on Perwez, I shall pursue the enemy by that town.

“Generals Thielemann and Borstel (?) formed part of the army which Your Majesty defeated yesterday; they were still here at 10 o’clock this morning,[8] and have announced that they have 20,000 casualties. They enquired on leaving, the distances of Wavre, Perwez, and Hannut. Blucher has been slightly wounded in the arm, but it has not prevented him from continuing to command after having had his wound dressed. He has not passed by Gembloux.--I am, with respect, Sire, Your Majesty’s faithful subject,

MARSHAL COUNT GROUCHY.”

This despatch would not give Napoleon a very correct idea of the state of affairs. No mention was made by Grouchy of Pajol’s detachment, so the Emperor could only infer that Grouchy had all his cavalry together and all his infantry together. Mention should have been made, too, of the discovery that the Prussians had not retreated by the Namur road. So far as could be learnt from this despatch, only 30,000 Prussians had been accounted for. That Blucher had “not passed through Gembloux” would at once suggest that he had gone by some other road, not explored by Grouchy, with his main body.

Grouchy’s orders to his commanders for the next day, sent out at 10 P.M., showed that he still firmly believed that the Prussians were retreating on Liège, although in his despatch to Napoleon, he had recognised the possibility of their having taken the road to Wavre.

He ordered Excelmans’ Cavalry and Vandamme’s Corps to march to Sart à Walhain; Gérard’s Corps to follow Vandamme’s to Sart à Walhain, and the Seventh Cavalry Division to push on to Grand Leez; Pajol’s force to march from Le Mazy to Grand Leez. (Pajol had reached St Denis, half-way from Le Mazy to Grand Leez, on the 17th, so that he now had covered this ground twice.)

When Bonnemain’s reports to Excelmans reached Grouchy, he should have had no longer any doubts as to the true line of Blucher’s retreat. Towards half-past two in the morning, news from Walhain came in, to the effect that the peasants there had reported that about three Prussian Corps had passed through on the previous day, marching in the direction of Wavre. A glance at the map will show that Gembloux to Walhain is in the direction of Wavre, and not of Liège. Further, from information gathered by the peasants from Prussian stragglers and the gossips who seem to find a place in every army, the enemy were talking of the coming battle near Brussels. As to Grouchy’s thoughts, and the influence these reports had on him, it is difficult to find what train of reasoning he followed. He knew that Napoleon expected to fight Wellington near the Forest of Soignies: he knew, too, that the Emperor was anxious for him to prevent the Prussians from marching across to join the English, yet he did not consider the very great possibility that Blucher might rapidly join Wellington by a short flank march from Wavre. Had such a possibility entered his mind, he must have reflected on the best means of thwarting it, ere it became too late. Obviously his only move then was to make for the bridges at Moustier and Ottignies, _viâ_ Saint Géry. By reaching the left bank of the Dyle (which he could easily do before Blucher), Grouchy could have either manœuvred to join Napoleon, when an addition of 33,000 troops must have overwhelmed Wellington, or he could have continued to pursue the Prussians, should it happen that he had been wrong in supposing that they were marching to join the English. It did not require extraordinary foresight or mental effort to realize how much more useful and how much more effective a move _viâ_ St Géry and Moustier and the left bank of the Dyle would have been. If Grouchy was really as undecided as he appears to have been, as to the Prussian line of retreat, he should have had recourse to a movement which offered no doubtful advantages. A move across the Dyle by Moustier would have had a very great effect, and if the Prussians had really retreated on Liège, this movement of Grouchy’s would still have its advantages. He could have thrown his weight into the fight at Waterloo; Napoleon would not blame him for this assistance, if he knew that the Prussians were out of reach.

At 6 A.M. on the morning of the 18th, Grouchy sent another message to Napoleon, stating that further information had been received, which confirmed the news that Blucher was making for Brussels “_viâ_ Wavre, so as to concentrate there, or to give battle after joining Wellington.” Grouchy told Napoleon in his message that he was “starting immediately for Wavre.” But he himself did not actually start until 9 A.M.

He ordered Vandamme to march at 6 A.M., and Gérard at 8 A.M. Now, at that time of year, it was light enough to march at 3.30 A.M., hence Grouchy wasted another valuable two and a half hours, when time was all-important. Again, there was no necessity to keep Gérard’s Corps waiting for Vandamme’s to get ahead, as there were no less than four roads from Gembloux towards Corbaix, and the two inner ones could easily have been used for this march.

But the troops were still further delayed. Their breakfasts were not ready for them, and Vandamme’s Corps did not start until nearly eight o’clock. They had had twelve hours in bivouac at Gembloux, and yet their breakfasts could not be ready by 6 A.M.! Excelmans’ men at Sauvenière, too, were not in the saddle until 6 A.M. Grouchy himself left Gembloux at 8.30 A.M. He overtook Vandamme’s Corps at Walhain at about 10 A.M., and here he dismounted for breakfast, allowing the troops to march on. At half-past ten, Excelmans’ advanced guard came into touch with Thielemann’s rear-guard, on the road to Wavre near La Baraque. This news was sent back to Grouchy, while Excelmans extended his men and engaged the Prussians lightly. At Walhain, Gérard, having ridden ahead of his troops, joined Grouchy, and during their breakfast, the sound of heavy firing in the direction of Mont St Jean was heard from the garden of the house where they had stopped. (This was the opening cannonade of the battle of Waterloo, which began at half-past eleven.)

Gérard at once urged Grouchy to change his direction and march to the sound of the cannonade. But Grouchy refused to take the responsibility of disobeying the orders he had received from Napoleon--“to pursue and attack the Prussians, and on no account to lose sight of them.” Having received, a few minutes before, Excelmans’ report from the front, he considered that he was moving in the right direction. To march across country to join Napoleon would have been contrary to his orders. To send a part of his forces across the Dyle would be to separate his army at a most dangerous moment. But this was just one of those cases when instructions need not have been implicitly obeyed. Circumstances had altered considerably since Grouchy had received his orders from Napoleon. A resolute and capable commander, in Grouchy’s place, would have marched with his whole force by St Géry and Moustier from Gembloux at daybreak on the 18th. Certainly it would have been a mistake to divide his army at this time, but Grouchy should without doubt have taken upon himself the responsibility of digressing from his original instructions, and he would have been justified by the change in circumstances.

At the same time, while blaming Grouchy for his want of foresight and boldness, it must not be forgotten that the state of the roads and of the whole countryside was a very heavy factor against him. It was almost impossible to get the guns through the mud and mire which composed the roads. The infantry had to wade ankle-deep in many places, and for wheeled transport the roads were nearly impassable. Rain had fallen incessantly. Still, much could have been done by the cavalry, which was the arm which should have been relied upon most during these operations; and if the infantry had taken to the fields on either side of the road, they would hardly have marched slower than Vandamme’s men. The Prussians, who were under the necessity of taking with them all their guns, waggons, and trains that they wished to save from the enemy on the same roads that their infantry used, were able to cover nearly 2½ miles an hour. It might be presumed that the French could cover 2 miles an hour.

Vandamme, continuing his march while Grouchy breakfasted at leisure at Walhain, reached Nil St Vincent with his corps at 10.30 A.M. Here, in accordance with Grouchy’s orders on the previous evening, he halted, and awaited fresh instructions. It was one o’clock before Grouchy arrived in person, and gave them to him. Then he and Excelmans, who had met with a Prussian rear-guard near Neuf Sart and La Baraque, were ordered to continue their march on Wavre. An hour later, Vandamme’s advanced guard was attacked by Ledebur’s detachment of Hussars, which had been left at Mont St Guibert. Ledebur had remained at Mont St Guibert, unaware of the proximity of the French, until his patrols caught sight of the troops at Nil St Vincent. Then he was alive to the dangers of his situation; for he was indeed in peril of being cut off. Excelmans’ Dragoons at La Baraque stood across his rear, and Vandamme’s Corps was threatening to cut off his retreat by Corbaix. He, however, was a man of great military instinct, and saw that his only chance of escape lay in attacking the French advanced squadrons. This he did with his Hussars, and, being reinforced from Pirch’s Corps by two battalions, which in addition to the battalions which were with him before, made up his detachment to the strength of a brigade, he boldly attacked the head of Vandamme’s column. Grouchy ordered Excelmans to turn Ledebur’s position by Dion-le-Mont, but before the French Cavalry had developed their movement, the Prussians had retreated through the wood of La Huzelle and had fallen back on Wavre. Vandamme was sent off in pursuit, with orders to follow the Prussians to Wavre, take up a position there, and await instructions.

Grouchy himself, as soon as Ledebur had retired, rode off to Limelette, a village on the left bank of the Dyle, to reconnoitre with his own eyes. It is a pity, for his reputation as a General, that he had not taken upon himself more of this essential duty, during these operations. At Limelette, he heard very plainly the distant roar of the guns at Mont St Jean, and he had no longer any doubts that a big battle was in progress on his left. On his return to La Baraque, towards 4 P.M., he received a letter from Napoleon, written at Le Caillou farm-house at 10 A.M., in which the Emperor ordered him to push on to Wavre, at the same time drawing nearer to the main army, and keeping up the closest communication by Ottignies and Moustier. This letter had the unfortunate effect of confirming Grouchy in his own ideas of the correctness of his movements, while he made no alterations in his dispositions of Gérard’s and Vandamme’s Corps to bring them nearer the Emperor. But he did order Pajol, who had reported from Grand Leez that no trace of the Prussians had been found between that place and Tourinnes, to take his cavalry and Teste’s Division across country to Limale, on the Dyle, where he was to force a passage.

This order given, Grouchy rode off towards Wavre, where the impatient Vandamme was already beginning an attack.