CHAPTER X.

THE BATTLE OF LIGNY. BLÜCHER’S DECISION TO ACCEPT BATTLE NOT DEPENDENT ON WELLINGTON’S ASSURANCE OF SUPPORT.

Marshal Blücher, as we have seen,[316] had, on the evening of the 14th, ordered a concentration of his entire army in the neighborhood of Sombreffe. This, as has been pointed out above, was done without consultation, at the moment certainly, with the Duke of Wellington; and we have before stated that we do not find that it was done in pursuance of any previous arrangement between the two commanders. At any rate it is not disputed that Marshal Blücher took up a position in order of battle to the south of the Namur-Nivelles turnpike without having received either by letter or word of mouth any assurance whatsoever that his English ally was prepared to support him, other than that contained in Müffling’s despatch, sent off from Brussels about midnight, and informing him that Wellington expected to be at Nivelles at 10 A.M. in strong force. Zieten’s (Ist) Corps, about five o’clock in the morning of the 16th, withdrew[317] from the neighborhood of Fleurus, where it had passed the night of the 15th, to the north side of the brook of Ligny, and took up position in the villages of St. Amand, Brye and Ligny. Between 9 and 10 A.M. the IId Corps, commanded by Pirch I.,[318] arrived, and took up a position behind that occupied by the Ist Corps.[319] Between 11 A.M. and 12 M. the IIId Corps, Thielemann’s, came up, and occupied the line between Sombreffe and Tongrinelle. These were the positions which were held during the battle by the three corps which had been gotten together; the IVth Corps, Bülow’s, it was then known could not come up during the day. Not until noon[320] did Wellington’s letter, dated “On the heights behind Frasnes, 10.30 A.M.,” arrive. Not until 1 P.M.[321] did the Duke himself meet Marshal Blücher. Then a conversation took place between them. There is no doubt that Wellington expressed[322] himself as practically certain that the bulk of his army would be assembled at Quatre Bras early in the afternoon. His verbal statements to Marshal Blücher were to the same effect as the statements contained in his letter. We have seen how mistaken he was in these, and how he came to be mistaken. What he wrote and said, however, he honestly believed; and he certainly did give to Marshal Blücher some assurance that he should be supported by the Anglo-Dutch forces in his impending struggle with the bulk of the French army. According to some authorities, his assurance took the form of a positive promise of support; and these writers do not hesitate to assert that Blücher’s decision to accept battle at Ligny was based upon this definite promise.[323] “Upon this assurance,” says Charras, “the Prussian general decided to receive the battle which he could have avoided.”

The principal knowledge we have of the conversation between Wellington and Blücher comes from what Müffling has told us about it.[324] According to him the last words the Duke spoke were:—“Well! I will come, provided I am not attacked myself.” General Dörnberg’s evidence[325] is to the same effect. The latest Prussian historian of the campaign[326] does not claim that the Duke gave Blücher any unconditional promise of support. That a different impression should have obtained currency with the Prussians is very natural. The Duke’s statements of the proximity of his army, made with perfect honesty, but based, as we have seen, on very erroneous _data_, no doubt raised false hopes in the minds of the Prussian generals. That these statements afterwards assumed in the mind of General Gneisenau, the Prussian chief-of-staff, the aspect and dimensions of a positive pledge of support, seems from Delbrück’s Life of Gneisenau quite probable.[327] But the evidence, what there is of it, and the probabilities of the case, are all the other way. That is to say, Blücher decided to fight at Ligny, without having any such definite promise of support from Wellington, as the latter relied upon when he decided to await the attack of the French at Waterloo, two days later.

This will appear more clearly when we consider the other assertion made on behalf of the Prussian commander, of which we have made mention above,—namely, that Blücher’s decision to accept battle at Ligny was based upon this promise of support from Wellington.[328] Delbrück, in his Life of Gneisenau,[329] says: “Although this position [_i.e._, at and near Ligny] had been carefully considered and taken up with all caution, it was yet not fully decided to receive battle.” This decision was not arrived at, we are given to understand, until Blücher had received from Wellington a promise of support. That could not have been until between 1 and 2 o’clock P.M., for the Duke did not arrive at Brye till one o’clock. Müffling says[330] that it was “when the heads of Napoleon’s attacking columns showed themselves moving upon St. Amand” that “the Duke asked the Field Marshal [Blücher] and General von Gneisenau: ‘_Que voulez-vous que je fasse?_’”

That is, we are asked to believe that Blücher had not fully decided to await the attack of these French columns, now seen to be advancing, in the positions which had been deliberately selected, and on which the troops had been carefully stationed, until the Duke of Wellington had stated himself able to do what Blücher and Gneisenau wished him to do. We are asked to believe that Blücher would have retreated if Wellington had told him that his situation was such that he could not bring him any aid.

We must say that such a contention seems to us hardly to deserve serious consideration. It is surely plain enough that Blücher had chosen a battle-field,—had posted his army there,—had encouraged his troops to expect a conflict with the French,—without taking counsel with the English general.[331] Had he determined to fight only if he should receive assurance of support from Wellington, would he not have taken some pains to obtain such assurance? Would he have left it entirely to the chance of Wellington’s writing him a letter, or riding over to his headquarters? These questions answer themselves.

We conclude, then, that it is a fact beyond controversy that Marshal Blücher decided to accept battle at Ligny altogether independently of any support or assistance that might be afforded him by the Anglo-Dutch army. He deliberately ran the risk of encountering, unsupported by his allies, and with such only of his troops as he could on short notice collect close to the frontier, the bulk of the French army under Napoleon himself. How far he was wise in this we will consider in another place; what we have sought to make plain now is that such was the fact.

FOOTNOTES:

[316] _Ante_, p. 70.

[317] Ollech, p. 120.

[318] Pirch II. commanded a brigade in the 1st Corps.

[319] Ollech, p. 122.

[320] Gneisenau, vol. 4, p. 373.

[321] Ollech, p. 125.

[322] Müffling: Passages, 230, 231, 237.

[323] Charras, vol. 1, pp. 150, 151, and note. Damitz, p. 92. Gneisenau, vol. 4, p. 375. Charras states in the note cited above that Clausewitz “says that it was the promise of help from Wellington that decided Blücher to receive battle,”—but we have not been able to find the passage. He also says that Siborne substantially follows Damitz in this matter; but we can not find that Siborne represents Wellington as making any such promise. In his official report of the battle Blücher does not claim that such a promise was given. Jones, pp. 320, 321.

[324] Müffling: Passages, pp. 233-237.

[325] Ollech, p. 127, note.

[326] Ib., p. 127.

[327] Ollech (p. 142) quotes Gneisenau as writing on the 17th: “We received from the Duke of Wellington the written promise that if the enemy should attack us, he would attack them in the rear.” There is no such promise in Wellington’s letter to Blücher.

[328] La Tour D’Auvergne, p. 109, entirely disbelieves this assertion.

[329] Gneisenau, p. 372.

[330] Müffling: Passages, p. 234.

[331] Blücher’s Report leaves the question open. Jones, pp. 320, 321.

_NOTE TO CHAPTER X._

What were the reasons which induced Marshal Blücher to take up a defensive position at Ligny, and there await the attack of Napoleon? The question is certainly an important one. We have considered above and rejected the answer to this question offered by some Prussian writers, that Blücher accepted battle only on the definite promise of support from Wellington. It remains to see what other reasons have been adduced for his taking a step so perilous to the fortunes of the allies.

Neither Clausewitz nor Jomini pay any attention to the question.

Damitz’[332] explanation is as follows:—

“Marshal Blücher was free to refuse the combat; he could very well have avoided it, and have waited until the IVth Corps should have joined him. But, seeing himself at the head of 80,000 men, it was not in his firm and decided character to turn his back on an adversary. He knew that he could not vanquish Napoleon by skilful manœuvres, but only by repeated blows. The General and his army felt themselves strong enough; that was of itself a reason for not avoiding a battle.”

He then goes on to show that a march to join the English army would involve a temporary renunciation of the Prussian base of operations.

These are the reasons he gives. He adds most unexpectedly:—[333]

“It is then evident that the Prussians decided on accepting battle because the Duke of Wellington had given them his word.” But of any such fact as this no mention whatever is made until the writer has occasion to speak[334] of the conversation between Wellington and Blücher between 1 and 2 P.M., when the French were deploying their columns for the attack. It is impossible to believe that Blücher had not before this made up his mind to fight, altogether independently of anything Wellington might say to him.

Ollech[335] suggests, as an answer to the question, “Why did Blücher give battle on the 16th although a whole army corps had not arrived?” that he did it in order to give the English army time to concentrate. This writer does not pretend that Wellington gave the Field Marshal any definite promise of support.[336]

Delbrück, in his Life of Gneisenau, says[337] that Blücher, relying on Wellington’s promise, and still hoping that at least late in the evening a portion of the IVth Corps would arrive, concluded to give battle.

There is really not much to be said on this subject. The truth is plain enough. Blücher had, as we have said above,[338] long ago fixed upon Sombreffe as the point of concentration for his army in case the French should cross the Sambre at or near Charleroi; and he had, most likely, communicated this determination to the Duke of Wellington. In arriving at this determination he undoubtedly assumed that he would be able to collect his whole army together,—say, 120,000 men. He thought, and he had a right to think, that if Napoleon should advance by way of Charleroi, he would be sure to attack the Prussian army if it should be found posted at or south of Sombreffe; and that Napoleon would be obliged to employ against it the bulk of his army. Hence Blücher calculated that the Anglo-Dutch concentration could be effected without serious molestation, and that some assistance at any rate from that quarter might safely be counted on. But when the day arrived, he found that he could not reckon on the arrival of one of his corps in time for the battle. Yet he still adhered to his determination to accept the contest, partly from unwillingness to retreat at the outset of the campaign, and partly in the hope that important aid would be received from Wellington. This determination, however, was arrived at without consultation with Wellington and before his letter was received,—in which, it is to be noted, there is no promise whatever,—and, of course, before the Duke himself rode over to Brye. What Wellington said no doubt strengthened the Field Marshal in his belief in the soundness of his decision; it reinforced his judgment; it gave him hopes of victory. But to say that his decision to receive the attack of the French at Ligny was based upon any promise of support made by Wellington, is entirely contrary to the evidence.

FOOTNOTES:

[332] Damitz, p. 85.

[333] Damitz, p. 87.

[334] Ib., p. 92.

[335] Ollech, pp. 123, 124.

[336] Ib., p. 127.

[337] Gneisenau, vol. 4, p. 375.

[338] _Ante_, p. 70.