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| Charge du Quatrième Hussards à la Bataille de Friedland, 14 juin 1807¹ Édouard Detaille (PD) |
So, a bit of a pause in the fiction writing in order to let you know where I'm going with this latest effort. One of those "behind the scenes" posts I will do when I'm too lazy/tired/burnt out to actually work on the actual, ya know, fiction story I'm working on. Or supposed to be working on ...
The last time I started a Napoleonic series I burned out pretty quickly and the reason for that is I was starting at the beginning of the Napoleonic wars with no real concept of how I was going to form the story into something coherent. The entire thing was just too big.
I really want to do a novel of the Napoleonic Wars, but I let that simmer for a while. Then it hit me (after reading Andrew W. Field's superb series on Waterloo and the excellent book on the defense of La Haye Sainte by Brendan Simms), why not a novel of the Waterloo campaign? Start when Napoléon lands at Golfe Juan and take it to the bitter end.
The early part would introduce the characters, and set the stage historically. That's the "where we've been" part, though we're not quite finished with that, the prelude if you will.
Where we're at is early June of 1815 (the last installment ended on the 31st of May), Wellington's and Blücher's armies are in place, sitting in Belgium with a plan to invade France in July. They are not yet aware that Napoléon is headed their way.
Well, Napoléon and about 120,000 of his men are moving north.
We've met some of them, we've also met a few of their opponents in the Anglo-Allied and Prussian armies.
The army being led by the Emperor of France is called l'Armée du Nord, the Army of the North. There were other armies in France, much smaller and with duties that were defensive in nature because most of Europe was in arms and advancing towards the French frontiers. But they would take a while to arrive, do you know how long it takes to walk from Moscow to Paris?
Twenty-three days according to Google maps, and that's if you don't stop! The distance is roughly 1,700 miles, traveling that far in 23 days means walking at a steady pace of 3 mph. Coming from Vienna is a little quicker, 720 miles (give or take) would take about ten days (non-stop) at 3 mph.
Of course, first you have to get those armies together, give them their orders, then start marching. So Napoléon does have some time, not a lot mind you, but some time to deal with those two armies in Belgium before the Russians and Austrians show up. (Not to mention the Swedes, Bavarians, and other smaller states who have a beef with the French emperor and are also marching towards France.)
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| Strategic situation in the Spring of 1815 Map courtesy of The Department of History, United States Military Academy Click to embiggen |
I first need to go back and reread one of the sections of one of Field's books where he covers the errors made before the French encountered their first enemy soldier. Units not getting orders, units getting orders out of sequence and hey, for good measure let's throw in a French division commander who deserts to the enemy before the campaign has heard its first shots fired. (He took quite a few of his staff with him by the way.) I think I remember what happened but I need the details clear in my own head.
Fighting began on the 15th of June with the French working to get over the Sambre River, which the Prussians were guarding, sort of. Things got hot, but at the end of the day the French were over the Sambre and had taken Charleroi. Blücher was prepared to fight just north of the town of Fleurus and awaited the French there with three-fourths of his army.
The Anglo-Allied army was still up in the air as to Napoléon's intentions, Wellington seemed to think that the French would try and turn his right flank to sever his line of communications with the English Channel so he was set up to prevent that.
Once French intentions were clearer, he ordered his army to concentrate at a place where he could cover Brussels and the Channel but not really stay in contact with the Prussians. A Dutch general countermanded one of Wellington's orders to a Dutch unit and had them hold the little crossroads of Quatre-Bras, a decision which probably decided the entire campaign in favor of those fighting against the French.
The 16th of June saw heavy fighting to the west of the town of Ligny. The French won the day forcing the Prussians back. Further west, at that little crossroads noted above, the Anglo-Allies managed to hold out against the rather lethargic efforts of French Marshal Ney. So one day, two battles, I intend to cover both.
The 17th was a day where Wellington's army and Blücher's army had to retreat. The Prussians because they lost the Battle of Ligny (which went down in history as Napoléon's last victory), the Anglo-Allies, though they had won the Battle of Quatre-Bras (or at least enforced a stalemate) because the Prussians had left Wellington's left flank in the air. And yes, we will be there during that retreat.
Napoléon had succeeded at his first goal, split his enemies, defeat one, then turn on the other.
The 18th saw two battles, the more famous one at Waterloo and the little known Battle of Wavre. Yes, we'll see both of them play out, but with a heavy concentration on the main affair on the ridge at Mont St Jean.
So that's what I'm planning. This effort seems more "do-able," which means I might actually finish it, having a clearly defined, relatively short, time.
We shall see.
I'm ready to write, I have the urge to write. Work is going to be very busy the next couple of weeks but I shall strive to move my story forward. (And also get Almost A Lifetime finished and published, finished we're close, published, we shall see.)
That's where I'm at, that's where I'm going.
But man, April has kicked my ass.
Ciao!
¹ Charge of the 4th Hussars at the Battle of Friedland, 14 June 1807.
