Mont-St-Jean without infantry back-up; it has been conjectured that he
mistook a redeployment in Wellington's lines for a general retreat or that
he misread the withdrawal of some ambulance wagons towards Brussels
as a sign that the Allies were wavering. Ney thus managed in one and the
same battle to send in infantry unaided by cavalry and cavalry unaided by
infantry. At all events, the result of this folly was predictable: the
unsupported horsemen were cut to pieces by British squares using case
shot.
Ney tried again. He called up Kellermann's division of cuirassiers and
the heavy squadrons of the Guard. Once again the French were funnelled
into a narrow r,soo-metre-wide front between Hougoumont and La Haie
Sainte, but still the valiant cavalrymen came on. The British line at last
showed signs of buckling, and if the French had thrown in infantry at
this point, they would have won the day; as it was Wellington had to use
up most of his infantry and cavalry reserves in order to achieve the final
repulse of the French. The battered survivors of Ney's hare-brained
assault were extricated from the firestorm of the British squares only with
great difficulty by General Kellermann.
Around 4 p.m. came two sombre items of news, which made Napoleon
revise his earlier estimate of the odds down to 6o-40 in fa vour. Grouchy
sent word that he was heavily involved in fighting with the Prussians
around Wavre and would therefore be taking no part in the battle at
Waterloo; and Bulow's relieving corps reached the wood two miles from
the French right flank. Here they were met by Lobau's corps. The
French defence against a force three times numerically superior was so
skilful that they delayed the Prussians in and around the village of
Placenoit for two hours. When the Prussians finally drove them out,
Napoleon sent in the Young Guard to force them back again. Although
Biilow played no part in the main battle, he forced the Emperor to divert
I4,000 men away fr om Wellington at a critical time.
By this time Napoleon was making the capture of La Haie Sainte a
priority. The French attacked with three battalions of infantry and some
engineers. The heavy doors of the farm were battered in, the defenders
ran out of ammunition, and at last La Haie Sainte fell, just after 6. p.m.;
less than fifty of the original 900 defenders of the King's German Legion
survived. Ney then wheeled up big guns to almost point-blank range of
Wellington's centre and pounded away. This time he sensed a definite
wavering and sent to the Emperor for the Guard to make the final
breakthrough. This was yet another moment when Napoleon by swift
action could have won the day. But he was still obsessed by the Prussians
and reacted to Ney's request with bluster: 'Troops? Where am I
marcin
(Marcin)
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