Battle of Ligny - The Retreat

Gneisenau at the Battle of Ligny
Richard Knötel (PD)

"Herr General! We have no word on the Field Marshal's whereabouts. He was last seen at the head of Röder's cavalry."

Gneisenau knew that the army was in danger of collapse, he really had no choice other than order a retreat. But in which direction?

"Schmitz!" he barked at a nearby aide, "Orders to all four Corps commanders, withdraw north, towards Wavre." It went against his instincts, he wanted desperately to retreat towards Lüttich where the army could regroup and take in replacements.

"Wavre, Herr General?"

"Yes, Generalfeldmarschall Blücher gave his word, the important thing is to break contact with the enemy. Sometime tonight we might reconsider the direction of our retreat, but for now, Wavre."

Gneisenau shook his head, he prayed to God he would not regret this decision.

Blücher is unhorsed as he leads a desperate counter-charge during the final stages of the battle.
(Source)

"Easy, Herr Generalfeldmarschall, your leg might be broken." Von Nostitz was concerned, the French were all around but they seemed to be more intent on celebrating their victory than in the plight of the Prussian commander.

Unterwachtmeister¹ Schneider was nearby, his carbine at the ready, even though he knew that to fire a shot would probably be the death of them all. He heard his name and he turned.

"Quickly Schneider, your horse, give it to me."

Without thinking Schneider dismounted, then helped the field marshal up onto the horse. Shedding his cloak he wrapped it around the old man's shoulders. "Keep your head down, Herr Generalfeldmarschall."

Amazingly enough, the field marshal grinned at him, "For now my boy, for now. We retreat to fight again tomorrow. Genau?²"

Schneider nodded and said, "Aber natürlich, Herr Generalfeldmarschall³."

Then the young cavalryman began to make his way to the rear as von Nostitz and Blücher galloped off into the gathering dark.

Napoléon snapped his glass shut and handed to the soldier from the duty squadron who had been detailed to act as the Emperor's personal guard for the day. "De la Bédoyère!"

De la Bédoyère nudged his horse closer to the Emperor in order to hear him over the roar of battle, "Sire?"

"Any word from Ney?"

De la Bédoyère lowered his eyes, then looked back up, chagrined to be the bearer of bad news. "Nothing, Sire. After directing the Comte d'Erlon to bring his corps here, we've heard nothing. My aides tell me that d'Erlon has turned his men back towards Quatre Bras."

De la Bédoyère braced himself, the Emperor looked like he was about to explode.

Napoléon wanted to lash out, at someone, anyone. It seemed as if the very Fates were conspiring against him. The desertions from Gérard's corps the day before, now this seeming incompetence on the part of Ney. With a great effort, he controlled himself before speaking.

"Very well, send scouts in the direction of Quatre Bras, then send someone to have Maréchal Grouchy join me here. All things considered, it has been an excellent day. It is 1806 all over again!⁴"

Premier-Lieutenant Horst von Buchholz looked around, the remnants of his ad hoc unit, now down to twenty-five men, followed him like faithful hounds. Buchholz was proud of this little band, they had fought off multiple French attacks. Only when the units to either side of them had fled had he given the order to withdraw.

"You there, Lieutenant! Where is your unit?"

Buchholz looked up to see his battalion commander, he was missing his hat, his left arm was in a sling and the man looked battered and beaten.

Buchholz came to attention and snapped a salute, "Herr Oberst-Lieutenant, I have seven men from my company, the rest are from other units. I haven't seen the rest of the battalion for many hours."

His lieutenant colonel looked to the east and said, "I suspect they've run with the rest of the army, we are defeated Buchholz. That bastard Bonaparte has made fools of us again."

Buchholz remembered, his battalion commander had been a young lieutenant at Jena, he had lived through the disasters of that year. This probably seemed all too familiar, though it was nine years ago, when Buchholz was still a school boy, that the disaster had occurred.

The battalion commander dismounted, he sighed and asked, "Might I tag along with you, my boy? Your lads seem unbeaten, ready to go again."

One of the men, a sergeant, heard that and piped up, "Wherever you lead us, Herr Oberst-Lieutenant, the froggies have won this round, we shall win the next!"

Oberst-Lieutenant Hermann von Lutz gave a wan smile, "With men like you, I have no doubt of that." Turning to Buchholz he said, "Lead on, Lieutenant. I place myself at your disposal."

Buchholz nodded and pointed to the north, "Most of the army seems to be moving north, we shall follow. Are you with me lads?"

With quiet resolve, the Prussians of Buchholz's little command followed their lieutenant north, towards Wavre. They were not done fighting, not by any means.

Maréchal Grouchy reined up, he was slightly annoyed at having to meet up with the Emperor, he was a cavalryman, didn't the man understand the need to pursue a beaten enemy?

"Sire, I need to get my men moving, the Prussians are retreating!"

Napoléon looked for a moment at his newest Marshal, the man was being presumptuous. "There is time enough for that, my dear Marquis, the men are exhausted, my scouts tell me that the Prussians are moving towards Liege. Let the men make their soup and get some sleep, we shall move at dawn."

"But Sire ..."

"Enough, I shall have Soult give you your orders before midnight, be ready to move in the morning."

"Very well, Sire." Grouchy turned his horse, a most unhappy man. It seemed that the Emperor of old, the man of activity and action, had not returned from Elba, only this tired, slightly overweight, shadow of the man he had been in his prime.

Shaking his head, Grouchy returned to his troops. Disgusted, he looked to one of his aides, "LaSalle, let the men know, we move at dawn. Feed the horses, feed the men, apparently we are in no hurry."

¹ Cavalry equivalent of a sergeant.

² Right?

³ But naturally, Field Marshal.

⁴ 1806 saw the French Grande Armée smash the Prussian army at the twin battles of Jena and Auerstädt, then go ahead to completely occupy Prussia.