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, withdrew317 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 noon320 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 expressed322 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 evidence325 is to the same effect. The latest Prussian historian of the campaign326 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 says330 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.