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WATERLOO 1815 (1)

Quatre Bras

JOHN FRANKLIN

ILLUSTRATED BY GERRY EMBLETON

CAMPAIGN 276

WATERLOO 1815 (1)

Quatre Bras

JOHN FRANKLIN

ILLUSTRATED BY GERRY EMBLETON

Series editor Marcus Cowper

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

The liberation of Belgium and Holland The coalition prepares to invade France

CHRONOLOGY

OPPOSING COMMANDERS

Allied commanders French commanders

OPPOSING FORCES

The command and composition of the Allied Army The command and composition of the French

Army Orders of battle

OPPOSING PLANS

THE CAMPAIGN OPENS

The Netherlands officers take the initiative Apathy in the capital towards a French attack

Movements on the morning of 16 June Important decisions for the three commanders The

struggle for the crossroads commences Engagements at Quatre Bras and Sombreffe Picton

counterattacks with the 5th Division Forced marches to the battlefield at Quatre Bras The gallant

demise of the Duke of Brunswick A concerted French attack upon the crossroads Cavalry charges

against the Allied formations The timely intervention of the 3rd Division Union with the emperor

at Sombreffe A determined charge by the French

cuirassiers

Cooke arrives with the British Foot

Guards The contest for the centre intensifies Wellington seizes the initiative and attacks The

fighting at Quatre Bras ends in stalemate Napoleon is triumphant at Sombreffe

AFTERMATH

THE BATTLEFIELD TODAY

FURTHER READING

INDEX

INTRODUCTION

At the pinnacle of his power Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was master of

Europe, but by the spring of 1814 he had been forced to abdicate the throne

of France by the coalition united against him, and a revolt by several of his

marshals. Accompanied by a small garrison, he was exiled to the tiny island

of Elba to brood upon his misfortune and the perceived betrayal which led

to his downfall.

With the emperor banished, the major powers opposed to France arranged

the return of the former Bourbon King, Louis XVIII, an act ratified at the end

of May by the signing of the Treaty of Paris. The sovereigns of Austria,

Britain, Prussia and Russia, and their allies in Portugal, Spain and Sweden,

heralded this deed as marking an end to tyranny. However, the euphoria of

victory evaporated with the realization of the cost of the long struggle with

France. The belligerents and the ambassadors from several of the smaller

German states subsequently gathered in Vienna to discuss the terms of the

settlement to be imposed upon the French nation, including the ceding of

colonies and territory. It was agreed that France would retain the land and

borders it possessed on 1 January 1792, and that the map of Europe would

be redrawn accordingly. The great powers now vied for territorial gains, and

the ensuing political machinations resulted in deep divisions and mistrust.

This was particularly evident with the circumstances pertaining to the newly

created Kingdom of the United

Netherlands under the rule of

the House of Orange-Nassau.

The Congress of Vienna was

convened in September 1814

by the sovereigns and

statesmen of the leading

European powers in order to

settle the issues arising from

the long war with France.

Painting by Jean-Baptiste

Isabey. (The Granger

Collection, New York)

THE LIBERATION

OF BELGIUM AND

HOLLAND

Following Napoleon’s defeat at

the battle of Leipzig in October

1813 the exiled Dutch

Prince Willem VI seized the

opportunity to regain power in

his homeland and to make

further territorial claims. The

former Austrian dominion of

Belgium had been an integral

part of France since 1795, while Holland had been annexed in 1810, but as

the French fled from Germany and the northern provinces for the haven of

their fortresses in the south, Willem returned to The Hague and boldly

established his royal court, proclaiming himself Sovereign Prince. This met

with the approval of the British Minister for Foreign Affairs, Viscount

Castlereagh, who was fearful of Prussian territorial expansion towards the

Meuse River and the influence that they would then command in the region.

The British government granted Willem the title and augmented his realm

with the town of Antwerp in an attempt to safeguard the vital port.

An expeditionary force of British and Hanoverian troops under Sir Thomas

Graham, later Lord Lynedoch, was hastily dispatched to support the new

regime in its efforts to liberate the country from the remaining French

garrisons, as well as to protect it from the marauding Prussians under

Generallieutenant Freiherr von

Bülow, Graf von Dennewitz, who

had advanced into the heart of the

Ardennes in the wake of the

Cossacks, Austrians and Swedes.

Adhering to the formal

protocols, Castlereagh sought

diplomatic support for the Dutch

crown from the leading Austrian

statesman, Klemens, Fürst von

Metternich, as Austria had a

historical claim to the land.

Metternich duly consented, subject

to reciprocal British patronage for

Austrian territorial claims in

Poland and northern Italy. By the

end of January 1814 support had

been gained from the remaining

coalition members, with the

notable exception of the Prussian

plenipotentiary, Karl August, Fürst

von Hardenberg. However, Willem

was not satisfied. He sought to

enlarge the kingdom with

additional territory and to re-

establish his nation as a colonial

power. He demanded Luxemburg

and the fertile land between the

Meuse, Moselle and the Rhine.

This conflicted with the Prussians’

desire to regain their former lands,

and so as compensation Willem

was given the Belgian provinces to

the west of the Meuse. Britain

agreed to return almost all of the

Dutch colonies it had taken during

the wars with France in return for

the new government strengthening

The Sovereign Prince declared

himself King Willem I of the

United Netherlands and

Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

Painting by Joseph Paelinck.

(Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)

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