The Last Gasp

Napoleon's last grand attack at Waterloo
Ernest Crofts
(Source)

Sergent Nicolas Guilbert watched as the officers began to move the various units of the Imperial Guard into position to assault the opposite ridge. Things were confused for a moment when le Tondu himself arrived, the cheers for the Emperor were deafening.

"Soldiers of France! There lies your enemy," the Emperor actually pointed back to the enemy lines, "there lies the obstacle to peace in Europe. Victory is in our grasp! We march!"

With that the drums began to roll and the 3rd and 4th Regiments of Chasseurs and Grenadiers stepped off behind the Emperor and his staff.

Close behind him, Sergent Pierre Grandchamp mumbled, "What is this? Why are we not moving?"

Indeed, the 1st Chasseurs were caught leaning forward, anticipating the command to march. But nothing, the officers sat their horses and watched the junior regiments step off.

Capitaine Philippe Pierlot came down the column, stopping to talk with his sergeants. Apparently there was a serious threat developing on the army's right flank. Lobau's VI Corps had been reinforced with the Young Guard, but it wasn't enough. The Prussians were breaking through and gradually enveloping the right flank near Plancenoit.

"Nicolas, Pierre, Jean-Claude, le Tondu has ordered our two battalions down into Plancenoit. The Young Guard is retreating with the Prussians hot on their heels." Pierlot looked around as if fearing someone overhearing his words.

"Mon Capitaine, we never believed for an instant that Grouchy was arriving. It could only be the Prussians. The rest of the army might be buying that fairytale, we are not." Guilbert spoke bluntly, he was offended that the Emperor would entertain such an idiotic ploy.

Sergent Jean-Claude Toussaint chimed in, "We should be about it then, the quicker we deal with the threat, the quicker ..."

He was interrupted by the battalion commander ordering the unit forward. Indeed, rather than follow the Middle Guard¹ to the north, the Old Guard Chasseurs turned right, down towards Plancenoit.

At a slight bend in the road, the columns of the Middle Guard veered to the left, they would cross the fields aiming at the Anglo-Allied position just to the left of La Haye Sainte. Many of the veterans were startled to see the Emperor pull his horse off the road and stop. He raised his hat in salute as the Guard marched past.

"I don't like this, De la Bédoyère, I should lead this attack." Napoléon hissed at his aide.

"Sire, what if you are killed? Then the victory will be meaningless."

"Victory, De la Bédoyère, does this look like victory?" the Emperor snapped. Something deep in his gut told him that the day was lost, perhaps irretrievably.

"Les anglais and their hirelings are faltering, I can feel it. We have captured le maison carré,² many of the non-English troops have fled.³ Victory is there for the taking!"

Napoléon placed his famous hat back on his head, grimaced and spurred his mount back in the direction of La Belle Alliance. If the attack failed, he planned to place himself in a square of his Grenadiers and die with them.

Sergeant Fabrice Benoit was screaming at the men firing at his position. They were clearly Prussians, not Frenchmen, why were they attacking him? Already, Soldat Daan Goossens had been killed. The men wanted to fire back, Benoit wouldn't countenance it.

Then he saw their company commander Kapitein Hendrik Dujardin, stride towards the Prussians, screaming at them in German. Which startled them. They hesitated ...

"Gottverdammt! The French are that way," Dujardin bellowed, pointing with his sword. "We are Dutch, you stupid Prussian bastards!"

A Prussian officer rode forth and shouted, "But you are wearing French uniforms!"

In truth, in the waning light the Nassauers' uniforms were cut in the same style as the French. At a distance the shakoes were identical. As the Prussian rode up, he gasped.

"Mein Gott! Your uniforms are green, you are not French. My apologies mein Herr." Then he galloped off to turn his men in the direction of their common enemy.

1st Battalion, 2nd Nassau Regiment
(Source)

For far too many who had fought the French all day long, holding their own, beginning to hope that they might survive, death came from a friend and ally. In the gathering gloom, in the clouds of powder smoke, exhausted men often mistook their targets.

As Brigadier Tomasz Kasprowicz couched his lance and urged an exhausted Liliana up the muddy slope, he looked to either side. The Polish squadron was perfectly aligned, though reduced in number, their morale was still high.

Somewhere behind him, he could hear trooper Jan Kolski bellowing, the man never tired.

As they crested the ridge, the square in front of them seemed to waver, as if they wanted to run. Then a voice screamed out in Dutch...

"Vuur!⁴"

The face of the square vanished in a cloud of powder smoke, in an instant Kasprowicz was next to the terrified looking infantry. Liliana was striking out with her hooves, the men were trying desperately to fend her off.

He impaled a sergeant with his lance, then lost his grip on it as the man fell to the ground. Drawing his sword he began to slash and cut at the enemy. Then Kolski's horse found a gap in the square and rode into the midst of the enemy.

The Poles were slashing and cutting down the infantry, who began to flee, screaming for their lives. Major Paweł Jerzmanowski joined the fray, screaming, "The color! Take the color!"

There it was, guarded by two grizzled veterans and being held aloft by a young ensign who probably wasn't yet shaving. Spurring Liliana forward, Kasprowicz followed Kolski in.

Amazingly Kolski still had his lance, which he used to skewer one of the color guard, the old veteran went down screaming in rage, jerking Kolski out of his saddle.

Before the other veteran could kill the cavalryman, Kasprowicz sword came down on the man's shoulder, cleaving his arm from his body. Kolski came up off the ground and ran the young ensign through.

The young man gasped and loosened his grip on the colors, which Kasprowicz immediately seized. Liliana reared back, her front hooves finished the young ensign.

Kolski was looking for his own horse when both men heard the Major screaming, "With me lads, with me!"

The square was broken, the men were fleeing, Kasprowicz gripped the enemy colors tightly as he rode towards his commander, who he could now see was wounded and without his czapka⁵.

"What the hell are you waiting for Jan? Let's take that color⁶ back to our own lines! Our job is done!" Kolski was riding an enemy officer's horse, a fine animal from the look of him.

Major Jerzmanowski led the remnants of the Polish squadron back down the hill as the battle raged around them. He knew the fight was lost, there just weren't enough men left to drive the English off their ridge and hold the Prussians at bay.

Polish Chevaux-Lègers
Aleksandr Yezhov
(Source)

¹ Napoléon's Imperial Guard were generally broken down into three classes, if you will. The Old Guard, Middle Guard, and Young Guard (Vielle Garde, Moyenne Garde, Jeune Garde) were distinctions of length of service and other considerations. You can read more about it here.

² Many of the French referred to La Haye Sainte by this term, "the square house."

³ A common claim after the battle. English writers often downplay the contributions of the Dutch-Belgian units in their army. Though some of the Allied troops did run, it was because the casualties they had sustained and their relative inexperience caused them to break.

⁴ Fire!

⁵ "Czapka" is simply the Polish word for "cap" (not hat). It was used to refer to the square-topped cap worn by the Lancers of the Imperial Guard at Waterloo.

⁶ Five to six colors were taken by the French at Waterloo. None from British units, to my knowledge. One British color was taken at Quatre Bras, that of the 69th Foot.