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This month's Forgotten Battle is...
The Battle of Ligny
Intro
The battle of Ligny occurred on June 16, 1815, outside the town of Ligny in what is now Belgium. It was fought between the French Army led by Napoleon Bonaparte against the Prussian Army led by Field Marshal Gebhard von Blücher. This climactic battle took place during the War of the Seventh Coalition and would be Napoleon's final battlefield triumph.
Part I
In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from the island of St Elba and returned to France. Upon learning of this, King Louis XVIII sent the French Army to apprehend Napoleon. Its commander (Marshal Ney) vowed to bring Napoleon back to Paris in an iron cage. But when Ney and his army encountered Napoleon (and the latter's Imperial Guard) on March 7, the most unexpected thing happened. Napoleon walked into the open and approached the French Army. He then opened his coat and said, "Soldiers, if any of you wants to kill his general, his emperor, here I am". After a few tense seconds, the soldiers of the French Army shouted, "Vive I'Empereur" and joined him.
With the French Army now rallying around Napoleon, King Louis XVIII and his family were forced to flee Paris. Napoleon arrived in the city on March 20 and was greeted with a hero's welcome. He then declared that he had no intention of igniting another war and only wished rule France peacefully. However, the nations of the prior coalitions (mainly Great Britain, Prussia, Austria, and Russia) did not believe him and began to mobilize their armies.
Six days before Napoleon arrived in Paris, the Congress of Vienna declared him an outlaw. Realizing that his hand had been forced, Napoleon quickly mobilized the French Army to meet the oncoming threat. He knew that his only chance of victory was to attack and destroy the allied coalition before it could be formed. After learning that the armies of Great Britain and Prussia were massing in the country of Belgium, Napoleon invaded the country and began marching to meet them.
Part II
Napoleon's plan was to launch a pincer movement against the Allies. He divided his army into two groups. One force of 21,000 (primarily cavalry) was placed under the command of Marshal Ney. Their objective was to attack the Anglo-Dutch army located at the Belgian hamlet of Quatre Bras. Napoleon took command of his group and marched to meet the Prussian Army (which he considered to be the greater threat) with more than 60,000 soldiers and 210 cannons. If all went according to plan, they would attack and defeat both armies on the same day.
There were two men commanding the two allied armies in Belgium. The 1st Duke of Wellington (Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley) commanded the British while Prince William of Orange was in command of the Dutch. Their army combined, numbered more than 30,000 soldiers. Both men knew that even this number would not be enough to defeat Napoleon. Their best chance of victory was to link up with the Prussian Army (who numbered 80,000 strong) and combine their forces. On June 15, they deployed their forces around the Quatre Bras hamlet.
The man who commanded the Prussian Army was Field Marshal Gebhard von Blücher. Marshal von Blücher was a highly experienced military commander who had fought against Napoleon many times before. Therefore, he knew that it was of critical importance to combine his army with Wellington's. He and his massive army camped at the village of Ligny. However, upon learning of Napoleon's movements, Blücher ordered his men to dig in and fortify the village. The stage was set for a massive battle.
Part III
The first clash was at 10 AM in the morning of June 16 at the Belgian municipality of Fleurus. Two French cavalry units attacked the Prussian dragoons stationed there and drove them back. After less than an hour of skirmishing, the Prussians retreated from the town. Just after 11, Napoleon himself entered Fleurus and constructed an observation post.
From there, he observed that even though the Prussians had superior numbers, Blücher had arrayed them in a very wide perimeter that stretched his army dangerously thin. At 2:30 in the afternoon, Napoleon ordered a column of infantry to assault the Prussian line at St. Amand. After opening fire with a massive artillery barrage, Commander Dominique Vandamme's III Corps launched its attack. Initially, they were successful. But then were forced to retreat by a Prussian counter-attack. Almost immediately, Marshal Étienne Gérard's division directly attacked St. Amand from the west. The town changed hands multiple times and both sides suffered heavy casualties.
At 3 PM, Marshal Gérard launched a direct attack on Ligny. The French infantry crossed over an open field and engaged the Prussian defenders in firing at point blank range. The battle quickly devolved into a house to house fight that lasted for the next two hours. As the casualties continued to mount, the Prussian defenders received reinforcements and briefly pushed the French out of Ligny. But by now, part of the town had caught fire and many of the defenders were overcome by the smoke and flames. At this moment Napoleon ordered his elite Imperial Guard to move forward.
With a thunderstorm approaching, Napoleon knew he needed to strike a decisive blow before it began to rain. At 7:45 PM, the Imperial Guard and the French heavy cavalry stormed into Ligny and engaged the defenders in hand to hand combat. Now, the exhausted Prussian line finally buckled and began to retreat. The Imperial Guard pursued them into the town killing and capturing thousands. Blücher tried to personally rally his men, but his horse was shot from under him and he fell wounded. Soon, the Prussians were in full retreat. The fighting finally ended just as darkness fell.
Epilogue
The casualties for the Battle of Ligny were costly for both sides. The French Army had suffered over 12,000 killed, wounded, or captured (among the dead was Marshal Gérard). The Prussians had lost more than 16,000 casualties total. By the next morning, the French were in complete control of the battlefield and Napoleon claimed victory.
At the same time as Napoleon's attack on Ligny, Marshal Ney had attacked Wellington and Prince William at Quatre Bras. Although he was able to stop the Anglo-Dutch army from linking up with the Prussians, Ney was unable to dislodge them from their positions. But upon learning of the Prussian defeat at Ligny, Wellington and Prince William decided to retreat from Quatre Bras along the Brussels road. They stopped the next day at another municipality called, Waterloo. There, they occupied the high ground and awaited Napoleon's Army.
Although he had no way of knowing it, Napoleon's victory Ligny would be the last of his military career. After the battle, he decided not pursue the retreating Prussians. Believing that Blücher was now out of the fight, he took his army and marched after Wellington. This proved to be a critical mistake since the bulk of the Prussian Army had successfully escaped the battle and was now in the process of regrouping.
At 3:30 AM on June 17, Blücher sent a letter to Wellington saying that he would reinforce the latter if he could hold his position for at least a day. Wellington was inspired to remain where he was when Napoleon's Army arrived and engaged them at Waterloo on June 18. Just when it seemed that the French were about to win, the Prussian Army arrived the battlefield and smashed right into their right flank. When this happened, the tide of the battle turned and Napoleon was defeated for the final time. After this, the War of the Seventh Coalition was over.
http://napoleonistyka.atspace.com/Ligny_1815.htm
https://battlefieldanomalies.com/napoleonic-wars/the-battle-of-ligny/
https://www.thoughtco.com/napoleonic-wars-battle-of-ligny-2361104
