The Battle is Joined on the Right

Fighting outside Ferme d'en-Haut, Ligny during the Battle of Ligny
Richard Knötel (PD)

The sweat-soaked messenger saluted as he handed the scrap of paper he carried to Berthier. The Marshal took the paper, read it, then a slight smile spread over his face. The smile vanished when the Emperor came into the headquarters.

"I saw that smile Berthier, what devilment are you up to?"

Berthier looked straight at the Emperor, blushed slightly, then answered, "Sire, the corps of the Comte de Lobau¹ has executed the maneuver ordered for them and they are in a position to intercept Thielmann's Prussian corps moving off of our right flank."

It was Napoléon's turn to blush, he realized in that moment that he had completely forgotten about VI Corps. He had left them near Charleroi, intending to bring them up to join his right wing as soon as battle was joined with the Prussians. He decided to bluster his way through this, all of the staff were watching.

"Ah yes, uh, excellent, but who gave you the authority to issue orders to Mouton?"

At that moment there was a footstep behind the Emperor, who turned.

"I gave those orders, Sire. You gave me command of the right wing, I assumed that included the Comte de Lobau. He was not mentioned in the forces you consigned to Maréchal Davout, so I took the initiative, Sire." Maréchal Soult looked uncomfortable, he had experienced the Emperor's wrath in the past and fully expected it to be unleashed on him now.

The Emperor looked taken aback for a moment, then he recovered, "Soult, you were always a decent strategist. Now if only your tactical acumen was as good!"

With that Napoléon spun on his heel and left the headquarters. Soult looked expectantly at Berthier.

"By dint of marching most of the night, Lobau has cut the road from Namur to Sombreffe. I also have word that his engineers managed to get to the bridges in Namur before Thielmann was able to cross. They damaged the bridges badly, at last report the Prussian engineers were struggling to effect repairs. Thielmann won't arrive much before Friday evening. That is, if he can get by Lobau."

"How many men does Lobau have on the field? And how on earth did his engineers reach out that far to get to Namur?" Soult looked surprised.

"Second thing first, he mounted his engineers and the supplies they needed to damage the bridges. As to Lobau's strength, he barely has 9,000 men, 32 guns, and of course, we weren't able to provide him with any cavalry before the campaign. So he's light on the ground, very light." Berthier answered, consulting his notes.

"Thielmann's strength? Do we have any idea?" Soult now looked concerned, he had had no idea of the weakness of Lobau's VI Corps, he didn't have many more men than Prince Jérôme had in his single division!

Berthier paged through one of his notebooks, he found what he was looking for, then sucked his breath through his teeth. "Thielmann has roughly 25,000 men and 48 guns. Luckily, his corps is mostly militia, what the Prussians call 'Landwehr.'"

Soult grumped and said, "I know what they call their militia, that's a plus for us, but that is a lot of men. Let us pray that Lobau doesn't get swamped!"

Source

Georges Mouton, Comte de Lobau sat his horse uneasily, though his men were well positioned, they were outnumbered by early three to one. His three small divisions under Simmer, Jeanin, and Teste were deployed to block the road to Sombreffe and force the Prussians to deploy for battle. The hope was that that would give the Emperor time to crush the only two corps which Blücher could deploy this day. Bülow's corps, even though marching hard from the area of Liege, would be lucky to arrive by Saturday, the 17th of June.

Mouton's divisional guns were deployed to enfilade the Prussians when they deployed into line. His corps artillery, 12-pounders, anchored the center of his line. Should the enemy prefer to advance in column, those guns would plunge down the length of that formation. Both ends of his line were anchored by infantry in square, he had no cavalry to speak of, should the Prussians attempt a flanking movement, his corps might be in deep jeopardy. Fortunately both of those flanks were also anchored by the stout farm buildings common to the area.

"Mon Général! Voilà les Prussiens!"

The shout from one of his aides got his attention, coming around the bend in the road to the south was a column of Prussian infantry. The game was afoot!

Prince August leading his regiment (2nd Silesian Infantry Regt) at the Battle of Kulm, 1813
Carl Röchling (PD)

The Emperor watched as Vandamme's corps slammed into the Prussian lines before the village of St. Amand, cannon smoke was already obscuring much of the field and now the smoke from thousands of muskets further clouded his view of the troops fighting for their lives. Napoléon handed his glass to an aide, it was useless in this atmosphere.

"Soult! Any word from Mouton?"

Soult wondered why the Emperor always referred to the Comte de Lobau by his name, rather than his title, "Yes Sire, Thielmann attacked and the Count managed to hold his ground. The Prussians are apparently attacking with great valor, but very little finesse!"

Napoléon grinned, "I have always said Soult, my sheep is a lion!"²

Soult nodded, then it struck him, the Emperor seldom called men by their titles, always, it seemed, by their names. Perhaps it was because it was the Emperor who gave all of them their fancy titles. Titles which the Bourbons scoffed at and refused to acknowledge. Perhaps that is why so many of those men returned to Napoléon's service when he returned from Elba. Lord knows it wasn't because they loved war. Soult for one was heartily sick of the entire business.

The Duc de Dalmatia³ mounted his horse, he needed to have Ney bring up the men of the Young Guard.⁴ Vandamme's fight was slow going, as was Gérard's. IV Corps was having a tough time making headway against the Prussians to his front. A though struck him, he turned to one of his aides.

"Charles!"

"Sir?"

"A message to Maréchal Davout if you please. Have I Corps march on Marbais at once, d'Erlon can leave one division with the left wing. Also a message to Maréchal Ney, he is to advance the entirety of the Young Guard at once. They are to reinforce Général Gérard's attack on the Prussian left!"

The aide hesitated for a moment, "I shall also inform Maréchal Berthier of these orders, he will know the best way to get them to the right people."

Soult, angered at the young officer's impertinence, shook his head angrily, "Dispatch those orders now! Maréchal Berthier will be notified in due time!"

"What orders are those, Soult?"

The Marshal turned his horse, how did the Emperor always seem to show up at times like these?

"Orders to Ney to send the Young Guard forward to reinforce Gérard. Orders to Davout to dispatch d'Erlon's corps to hit the Prussian right."

Napoléon nodded then told the aide, "See Maréchal Berthier at once, have those orders dispatched in my name. I'm sure Maréchal Soult does not think my marshals answer to him."

Soult blanched, "Of course not, Sire, I simply wished to ..."

"Enough!" the Emperor looked at the aide, who hadn't moved.

Napoléon's look was enough to cause the young captain of hussars to gallop off to headquarters as if the devil himself was at his back.

¹ The title of Général de Division George Mouton, commanding the VI Corps of the Armée du Nord.

² "Mouton" is the French word for sheep.

³ Soult's title, given to him by Napoléon for his actions at Austerlitz. Napoléon insulting Soult's tactical ability is absurd. He had praised Soult for his tactics at Austerlitz in 1805.

⁴ The Imperial Guard had three components, the Old, the so-called Middle, and the Young Guard. The Old Guard were the most experienced regiments, whereas the Young Guard, as the name might imply, were less experienced.