The Battle of Waterloo
Page 2

Two small actions, two small French victories:

Ligny. Prussians cannot hold the French. The most famous scene at Ligny, Blucher tumbles. (*footnote 1)


Quatre Bras. The British cannot hold the French and retires. (*footnote 2)


The next day. A miserable night for all, rain and mud.


French guns signal the beginning of the battle.


Hougoumont, a diversionary attack. This scene shows where a group of French forces their way in the North Gate, but the gate is closed and the French inside slaughtered. This is a memorable moment in the battle and the scene itself has been painted by many artists many times. (*foonote 3)


The initial attack. French infantry crosses the valley into the British lines. (*footnote 4)


The French are repulsed and slaughtered by the Union Brigade. Note the Scots Greys are without their bearskin covers!


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Footnotes:
1)It's hard to believe that Blucher at 72 had the energy to lead a charge and didn't break a hip when his horse fell on him. Blucher is portrayed kind of like a jolly Prussian Santa Claus in the book, but it was his intractable hatred of Napoleon that kept him going. It was also at this time that the nascent stirrings of German nationalism came into being. But when the crisis (Napoleon) passed everything more or less settled back down to the status quo. After all, it was (and is) better to be the absolute ruler (a duke, or baron, or a count) of your own little country than a duke or baron or count amongst thousands.

 

2) Memorable moments from that battle that everyone more or less remembers are: the square of Highlanders that form with French cavalry inside and slaughters them all, the regiment that forms a line back to back and drives off French cavalry, and the death of the Duke of Brunswick at the head of his troops.
3) This is the kiddie version. A well known fact is that one of the French was a sub-leutenant named Legros and was a huge man (a giant, not that it did him any good). After all the French are dead, Legros is seen dead with a sapper's axe in his hand. No one ever relates how he dies, presumably he was not wrestled to the ground and strangled to death. Also, none of the pictures I've seen depict Legros, but they depict the (less well known) English colonel who forces the gate closed. And for C.S Forester fans, I wonder how much of this story influenced the scene in Lieutenant Hornblower where the "immensely powerful bosun's mate" Silk grabs an axe and breaks down the gate at Fort Samana.
4) Yes, the book does related that "Dutch and Belgian troops in the front of the British positions were overwhelmed and forced back."

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