Pages

Praetorium Honoris

Wednesday, July 5, 2023

Tout est fini ...

Imperial Guard Chasseurs at Plancenoit
(Source)
The Chasseurs went down into Plancenoit at the double time, they encountered a number of men from the Young Guard and Lobau's VI Corps, both wounded and healthy, retreating back along the road into the village. Many of them took heart at seeing the Old Guard advancing into action.

Without a word, they went into the village, charging with the bayonet. The Prussians, who were resting after driving Lobau's men and the Young Guard from the village, immediately began to fall back, some, many, began to run.

The laggards were bayoneted without mercy. As the Prussians fled, the Guard stopped and fired a volley into the backs of the retreating enemy.

Sergent Guilbert noticed that many of the French who had been fleeing the burning village, were now filtering back into the ranks and taking up positions in the houses.

"Look alive lads, the bastards will be back. We surprised them, they're not done yet." Capitaine Philippe Pierlot shouted out. "Take cover in the buildings, get ready to meet them with musket fire!"

Guilbert looked around, he saw his old friend, Sergent Pierre Grandchamp to his right, he was bleeding.

"Pierre! Are you hit?"

"It's a scratch, Nicolas! I've had worse."

To their front they heard a shout, "Here they come again!"


Sergeant Hans Pizzeck was just behind the color party, his shako was long gone, his tunic was ripped, torn and filthy - but his musket was in fine shape, as was his bayonet.

As they came down the street, he could see men at the windows, readying to fire at them. Pizzeck almost didn't care, he knew, deep in his bones, that the day was theirs, they had defeated Bonaparte. It was now just a question of driving him and his minions from the field.

Prussian attack on Plancenoit
Adolf Northern
(Source)
"Jesus, there's a lot of the bastards!" Grandchamp called out as he frantically reloaded.

Guilbert aimed then fired, in the resulting smoke he couldn't see if he'd hit anybody, but the Prussians were so packed together he knew he must have hit someone.

"Ahhh ..."

Guilbert looked over, Grandchamp was down. From the amount of blood on his old friend's face, he knew that Pierre had found that death in battle that they all assumed they would find someday.

Sergent Jean-Claude Toussaint came into the room, which was rapidly filling with smoke, the place was on fire. "Time to go, Nicolas! The Capitaine has had it, a lot of the boys are dead or soon will be. We've done all we can here. Let's fall back to the next street."

Reluctantly, Guilbert turned to follow Toussaint. Stopping briefly he leaned over and touched Grandchamp's face, His eyes were staring into eternity, Guilbert knew for certain that his old comrade was dead.

"See you on the other side, Pierre. Wherever that might be."

Then he was out the door.


Pizzeck was lying against a building, he didn't feel so well. Looking down, he could see blood oozing from his midsection. There was no pain at the moment, though he knew that would come.

Hearing the firing and the shouting proceed into the next street, Pizzeck had an odd thought, "I wonder if there has ever been a battle where no one survived."

An officer, a captain he didn't recognize, stopped in front of him, "Sergeant, are you hit?"

Pizzeck lifted the hand he had been holding his gut with, it was soaked with blood.

The captain shook his head and moved on, "That one's a goner."

Pizzeck chuckled weakly, damned officers.

Attack of the Middle Guard at Waterloo
Giuseppe Rava
(Source)
Some of the men were wondering why they weren't heading up the main road to Brussels. Instead they were veering to their left, entering the torn up fields which were choked with dead and dying men and horses.

Maréchal Ney was at their head, riding his fourth horse of the day, the others had all been killed under him. He was exhausted, his hat was long gone, only his red hair made him recognizable to the troops.

"The day is ours! Advance! Vive l'Empereur! Vive la France!" Ney was hoarse, not even his aides could make out what he was saying.

Ney looked to his front, the fields were empty of the living. He saw an abandoned cannon, surrounded by the wreckage of its crew. Then he had the thought, the English are gone. The day is truly ours.

As they crested the ridge, the English appeared almost as if by magic. Ney hesitated, the Guard hesitated, then Hell came upon them.

The 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards (now Scots Guards) at the battle of Waterloo, Jun 18th 1815. Repulsing the final charge of the Old Guard.
Richard Simkin
(Source)
The front rank of Guardsmen went down in a heap, the volley had destroyed them nearly to a man. A few men tried to return fire, the officers were screaming "En avant, à la baïonnette!" But the men's natural inclination was to return fire.

Several men turned to go back down the hill, shouting "Regroup! Regroup!"

But elsewhere on the field, the supporting troops from I and II Corps raised the cry, "The Guard is retreating! We are betrayed!"

Maréchal Ney, having lost another horse, was beating the barrel of an abandoned cannon with his sword. He was screaming incoherently as his aides tried to drag him away.

"We must stand or die!" Ney cried in frustration.

"Monsieur le Maréchal, it is too late for that, the men are fleeing. We must go with them."


In nearly an instant, the Armée du Nord became an undisciplined mob, throwing their weapons away, shedding their packs, anything to help them run faster.

Along Wellington's ridge, the men who had fought for that ground all day, saw the backs of their enemy. Many began to cheer.

The Duke of Wellington, never fond of the troops cheering, called out to the troops, "No cheering lads, go forth and complete your victory!"

Uncharacteristically, the Duke raised his hat to the men. Softly, to himself, he said, "Finish them lads, soon it will be time to count the cost. But for now, enjoy your victory."



36 comments:

  1. The last die are thrown and they come up snake eyes for Boney.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nappy definitely rolled a natural 1. Failed his saving throw bigtime. And on a critical fail chart he rolled "Exile by oneself, and this time we mean it."

      Delete
    2. Way down in the South Atlantic where only the penguins visit.

      Delete
  2. I am glad. I do not approve of Bonaparte. But what a cost.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Napoleon was the natural result of the French Revolution. A Strong Man with high personal charisma that leads their followers out of the chaos of the revolution onto the world stage. They Followed Him onward to "Victory or Death". These people believed in the Emperor enough to keep charging into the face of hell on earth.

      Details change but the story is often the same.

      I suspect many of the strong men leaders in history could be used in contrast and compare discussions.

      I wonder what the strong man will be in our near future and the chaos involved.

      Delete
    2. Succinct, accurate. I shudder at the thought of "the man on the white horse."

      Delete
    3. I think we've already seen him; the new "man" uses untold wealth, subterfuge and media. The "new man" is the cabal of schwab, soros, gates, et al.
      Boat Guy

      Delete
    4. And he'll be no one's definition of what a "man" is.

      Delete
    5. In those days you got to see the Leader, hear him speak, today you watch a video. I've never actually seen a President in person... way back (early 60s) I did shake the hand of the Governor of Hawaii once.

      Delete
    6. And sometimes that video has been edited by the opposition.

      Delete
    7. And sometimes that video has been edited by the Big Man's supporters.

      Delete
    8. As to Nappy, there is a siren-song for leadership by The Strong Man. Especially in times of troubles when there's a serious power vacuum or multiple factions.

      Delete
    9. Beans #1 - No, say it isn't so. (Though we all know better!)

      Delete
    10. Beans #2 - Most definitely, which is pretty much how Napoléon came to power.

      Delete
  3. And all of a sudden, the end. But what a cost.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The collapse was rather sudden, it shouldn't have been unexpected.

      Delete
  4. How do we survive our collapse? How will those born today refer to us in 2126

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess it all depends on what happens in the near future.

      "... a republic, if you can keep it."

      Delete
    2. When is the last time you heard any of the talking heads talk about the Republic? "Democracy" is what they are pushing these days & pushing it 24/7 on all the (owned) media sources.
      There are enough people in 2 or 3 of the big population centers where, with intense advertising you can get enough of that mob to go along with you & you could control the whole US.

      Delete
    3. To be fair, for as long as I can remember, we've always been referred to as a "democracy." Most of the schlubs out on the street wouldn't know a democracy from a republic. Look at the people they elect.

      Delete
    4. Obviously too many people didn't pay attention to "The Pledge of Allegiance." As you can't find "Democracy" anywhere in the pledge. But for some strange reason "Republic" is. Hmmm... Some would call that a 'clue.' Lots of Some need to be hit by a Clue-by-4, repeatedly, until Freedom feels better.

      Delete
    5. The clue train went by and no one jumped aboard ...

      Delete
    6. I refuse to believe it's over. Talk to me again in November of next year, then we shall see.

      Delete
    7. If the vote counting problems I saw in the 2020 election ("they" say I didn't see them) have not been fixed I can't see anything changing.

      Delete
    8. I've always objected to "our democracy" and the like. We are, supposedly, a republic. Or so I was taught. Another two generations of dumbocrats running the schools and they'll be synonyms.

      Delete
  5. You're always winning, until you aren't.

    Felt that, seen that, been there playing wargames in the SCA. There's a definite point where suddenly the fun and victory is sucked out of you and you see the collapse. And that's just playing.

    Can't imagine being part of a real-life scrum or charge, like Pickett's or The Old Guard's. That sudden realization that the excrement has hit the fan.

    Good capturing the action, as always.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was definitely a near run thing, Wellington was a hair's breadth from defeat. But the Prussian advance and the ability of his men (Brits, Germans, Dutch, and Belgians) to take punishment and still stand their ground, turned the tide.

      Delete
  6. A day late here. But, another excellent piece. You allow the gentle reader to feel the elation and despair, and the despair in the elation.

    Re the second painting - that has got to be the silliest way to carry a musket ever devised. The wonder is that so many armies used it for so long.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Joe!

      As to the carrying of the musket. Looks odd, not sure how that started. Research is in order!

      Delete
    2. I've done it in reenacting. Just walking with your unsupported arm across your body is awkward and tiring. Now add ten pounds of hardware being supported by it.

      Delete
    3. I can't imagine carrying a musket that way. (Or any firearm!)

      Delete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

NOTE: Comments on posts over 5 days old go into moderation, automatically.