How the French Won Waterloo (or Think They Did) (30 page)

In an instant, the army was a confused mass, all its elements mixed up, and it was impossible to re-form a fighting force. Darkness prevented us from rallying the troops and showing them that they were mistaken. In this way, a completed battle plan, a day’s accomplishments, mistakes repaired, greater success ensured for the following day – all were lost in one moment of panic. Even the squadrons at the Emperor’s side were jostled and disorganised by the tumultuous rush, and could do nothing but follow the flood. […] We know what the bravest army in the world becomes when it is confused and loses its organisation.

[…]

The enemy’s losses must have been great, to judge by the flags that we captured and the retreats they were forced to make […] The artillery, as usual, covered itself in glory. Thus ended the Battle of Mont-Saint-Jean, glorious for the French army, and yet so disastrous.

Some excerpts from Wellington’s report, written the day after the battle and published in
The Times
and the
London Gazette Extraordinary
on Thursday, 22 June 1815.

The report is addressed to Britain’s Secretary for War, Earl Bathurst, and gives the view of events that Wellington had thus far managed to piece together from his own experiences and those of his officers. It was obviously written before anyone had decided what exactly to call the battle, though Wellington was staying in the nearest small town to the battlefield and therefore headed his report ‘Waterloo, June 19th 1815’.

This excerpt retains Wellington’s own spellings, including the British refusal to spell Napoleon’s surname the way he wanted.

He begins with an account of the fighting on the days leading up to 18 June, and then moves on to what we now call Waterloo:

[…] The enemy collected his army, with the exception of the third corps, which had been sent to observe Marshal Blucher, on a range of heights to our front, in the course of the night of the 17th and yesterday morning: and at about ten o’clock he commenced a furious attack upon our post at Hougoumont […] I am happy to add, that it was maintained throughout the day with the utmost gallantry by these brave troops, notwithstanding the repeated efforts of large bodies of the enemy to obtain possession of it.

This attack upon the right of our centre was accompanied by a very heavy cannonade upon our whole line, which was destined to support the repeated attacks of cavalry and infantry occasionally mixed, but some times separate, which were made upon it. In one of these the enemy carried the farm house of La Haye Sainte, as the detachment of the light battalion of the legion which occupied it had expended all its ammunition […]

The enemy repeatedly charged our infantry with his cavalry, but these attacks were uniformly unsuccessful, and they afforded opportunities to our cavalry to charge, in one of which Lord E. Somerset’s brigade, consisting of the life guards, royal horse guards, and first dragoon guards, highly distinguished themselves, as did that of Major General Sir W. Ponsonby, having taken many prisoners and an eagle.

These attacks were repeated until about seven in the evening, when the enemy made a desperate effort with the cavalry and infantry, supported by the fire of artillery, to force our left centre near the farm of La Haye Sainte, which after a severe contest was defeated, and having observed that the troops retired from this attack in great confusion, and that the marc[h] of General Bulow’s corps by Euschermont upon Planchernerte and la Belle alliance, had begun to take effect, and as I could perceive the fire of his cannon, and as Marshal Prince Blucher had joined in person, with a corps of his army to the left of our line by Ohaim, I determined to attack the enemy, and immediately advanced the whole line of infantry, supported by the cavalry and artillery. The attack succeeded in every point; the enemy was forced from his position on the heights, and fled in the utmost confusion, leaving behind him, as far as I could judge, one hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, with their ammunition, which fell into our hands. I continued the pursuit till long after dark, and then discontinued it only on account of the fatigue of our troops, and because I found myself on the same road with Marshal Blucher, who assured me of his intention to pursue the enemy throughout the night; he had sent me word this morning that he had taken sixty pieces of cannon belonging to the Imperial Guard, and several carriages, baggage, &c, belonging to Buonaparte, in Genappe […]

Your Lordship will observe, that such a desperate action could not be fought, and such advantages could not be gained, without great loss; and I am sorry to add, that ours has been immense.

[…]

It gives me the greatest satisfaction to assure your Lordship, that the army never, upon any occasion, conducted itself better […] and here is no Officer or description of troops that did not behave well.

[…]

I should not do justice to my feelings or to Marshal Blucher and the Prussian army, if I do not attribute the successful result of this arduous day, to the cordial and timely assistance I received from them.

The operation of General Bulow, upon the enemy’s flank, was a most decisive one; and even if I had not found myself in a position to make the attack, which produced the final result, it would have forced the enemy to retire, if his attacks should have failed, and would have prevented him from taking advantage of them, if they should unfortunately have succeeded.

I send, with this despatch, two eagles, taken by the troops in action, which Major Percy will have the honour of laying at the feet of his Royal Highness.

I beg leave to recommend him to your Lordship’s protection. I have the honour, &c,

Wellington.

On 22 June 1815, a deputation of French MPs came to express their support for Napoleon (while ‘congratulating’ him on the wisdom of his decision to abdicate for the second time). He told them:

I thank you for the sentiments that you have expressed towards me; I desire that my abdication should bring happiness to France, but I doubt that it will; it leaves the state without a head, without political existence. The time wasted overturning the monarchy could have been used to ensure that France was in a fit state to crush the enemy. I recommend that the House [of representatives] should reinforce the army promptly; whoever wants peace should prepare for war. Do not put this great nation at the mercy of foreigners. Beware of disappointed hopes. Whatever happens to me, I will always be happy if France is happy.

On 25 June, Napoleon dictated a farewell letter to his troops:

Soldiers, as I surrender to the necessity which forces me away from my brave French army, I take with me the happy certainty that it will perform the duties that the homeland asks of it, and thereby earn the praise that even our enemies cannot deny us.

Soldiers, I will follow your movements, even in my absence. I know each regiment, and I will recognise the courage that each of them has shown every time they win an advantage over the enemy. You and I have been slandered. Men who are unworthy of judging your efforts have interpreted your loyalty to me as excessive zeal, of which I was the only object. May your future successes show them that by obeying me you were above all serving our homeland, and that, if I have earned your affection, it is only because of my passionate love for France, our common motherland.

Soldiers, with just a little more effort, the coalition will be dissolved. Napoleon will know you by the blows that you strike. Save the honour and independence of the French people. Stay as I have known you for twenty years and you will be invincible.

Napoleon’s letter was never published, or read out: his treacherous head of secret police Joseph Fouché found it, and hid it.

There have to date been an estimated 80,000 books written about Napoleon, though that number is of course changing all the time. Apparently one new book or article gets published every week.

However, most history books quote the same basic sources, especially the accounts written by veterans of the battle. All the rest – including this book – is opinion and interpretation.

Here is a short list of the most useful, interesting, and (not always deliberately) amusing sources that I have read.

The French veterans’ accounts are mostly available on the Bibliothèque Nationale’s excellent website, gallica.fr.

The dates in brackets indicate the publication date of the edition consulted.

All quotations from French sources used in this book are my own translations. The same goes for the German. As for the lines from the Polish national anthem quoted in Chapter 8, I was forced to trust someone else.

Anonymous,
Relation fidèle et détaillée de la dernière campagne de Buonaparte, terminée par la bataille de Mont-Saint-Jean, dite de Waterloo ou de la Belle-Alliance, par un témoin oculaire
(1815)

Blanqui, Jérôme-Adolphe,
Voyage d’un jeune Français en Angleterre et en Ecosse pendant l’automne de 1823
(1824)

Chapuis, Colonel,
Notice sur le 85e de ligne pendant la campagne de 1815
(1838)

Charras,
Jean-Baptiste-Adolphe,
Histoire de la Campagne de 1815 – Waterloo
(1857)

Coignet, Capitaine,
Les Cahiers 1799-1815
(1883)

Cronin, Vincent,
Napoleon Bonaparte: an Intimate Biography
(1971)

Damamme, Jean-Claude,
La Bataille de Waterloo
(1999)

Duthilt, Pierre-Charles,
Mémoires du Capitaine Duthilt
(1909)

Fleischmann, Hector,
Victor Hugo, Waterloo, Napoléon, documents recueillis
(1912)

Gallo, Max,
Napoléon, l’Immortel de Sainte-Hélène
(1997)

Home, George,
The Memoirs of an Aristocrat
(1838)

Houssaye, Henry,
Napoléon homme de guerre
(1904)

Hugo, Victor, ‘L’Expiation’ (poem from
Les Châtiments
, 1853)

——
Les Misérables, Deuxième Partie, Livre 1
(1862)

Larreguy de Civrieux, Sylvain,
Souvenirs d’un cadet, 1812-1823
(1912)

Las Cases, Emmanuel de,
Le Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène
(1823)

Lemonnier-Delafosse, Marie Jean Baptiste,
Campagnes de 1810-1815 ou Souvenirs Militaires
(1850)

Macdonald, Etienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre,
Souvenirs du Maréchal Macdonald, duc de Tarente
(1892)

Marq, François,
Descriptions des campagnes de guerre faites par moi
(1817)

Martin, Jacques-François,
Souvenirs d’un ex-officier, 1812-1815
(1867)

Mauduit, Hippolyte de,
Histoire des derniers jours de la Grande Armée, ou Souvenirs, documents et correspondance inédite de Napoléon en 1814 et 1815
(1854)

Mercer, General Cavalié,
Journal of the Waterloo Campaign, Kept throughout the Campaign of 1815
(1870)

Rogniat,
Considérations sur l’art de la guerre
(1816)

Scott, Sir Walter,
The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte, Emperor of the French
(1827)

Shelley, Frances,
The Diary of Frances Lady Shelley
(1912)

Thackeray, William Makepeace,
Vanity Fair
(1847–8)

Villepin, Dominique de,
Les Cent Jours ou l’Esprit du Sacrifice
(2001)

1. Napoleon on horseback, 1814. Mary Evans Picture Library
   
2. Napoleon Bonaparte by Ingres, 1806. Getty Images
   
3. Napoleon Bonaparte holding a soldier’s ear. Mary Evans Picture Library
   
4. Napoleon’s abdication speech, 1814. Getty Images
   
5. Napoleon, defeated. Mary Evans Picture Library
   
6. Napoleon’s handiwork. Mary Evans Picture Library
   
7. Battle of Waterloo, 1815. Getty Images
   
8. Cambronne at the Battle of Waterloo, 1815. Getty Images
   
9. Marshal Michel Ney. Getty Images
   
10. Marshal General Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult. Getty Images
    
11. Emmanuel de Grouchy. Getty Images
    
12. ‘Sunken Lane’, French retreat at Waterloo. Getty Images
    
13. Battle greeting of Blücher and Wellington. Getty Images
    
14. Napoleon sails into exile. Mary Evans Picture Library
    
15. Napoleon’s remains arrive in Paris. Getty Images
    
16. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West s
    how. Mary Evans Picture Library.
    

The author and publisher have made all reasonable effort to contact copyright holders for permission and apologise for any omission or error in the credits given. Corrections may be made to future reprints.

The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.

abattoirs, 208

Achard, Franz Karl, 220

Acte Additionnel, 41

‘Age of Bronze’ (Byron), 185

Albert of Monaco, Prince, 222

Alexander I, Czar, 14, 21, 30, 34, 35, 42

America, 13

Andrieux, Clement-Auguste, 112

anti-Bonapartists, 6, 15, 41

anti-royalists, 7

anti-war writing, 176

Appel du dix-huit juin
, 96

Arc de Triomphe, xii, 112, 152, 171

aristocracy, 29, 235

Armée d’Italie, 145

armies against Napoleon, 42

Army of the North, 49

arsenic, 149

art, 242–3

collection, 208–9

stolen, 210

ashes, return of Napoleon’s, 159

Aube, 147

Austerlitz, Battle of, 66

Austrians, xii, 5, 27, 30, 42

baccalauréat, 216

baguette, 219

Balmain, Aleksandr, 141

Balzac, Honoré de, 153, 169, 169–70, 176, 241

Barrail, Capitaine du, 88

Barral, Georges, 167

Bataille de Waterloo
,
La
112

Battle of Champaubert, 28

Battle of Jena, 186

Battle of Ligny, 166

Battle of Marengo, 49, 68, 184, 221

battle re-enactments, 224–8