Editing Battle of Ligny (section)

==Battle==
{{more citations needed section|date=June 2013}}
[[File:Battle of Ligny, 16 June 1815 (Alison).jpg|thumb|300px|Map of the Battle of Ligny, 16 June 1815 (''Atlas to Alison's history of Europe'')]]

===Saint-Amand===
Napoleon delayed his attack until about 14:30 when he heard cannon fire coming from the direction of [[Quatre Bras]], and thus knew that his left flank was secure. This delay also gave Gérard's IV Corps more time to deploy as it had only recently arrived in Fleurus from the south-west, and had an important role to play in Napoleon's plan of attack on Ligny. Both delays meant that there was less time to win a decisive victory before night fell.

Napoleon began the attack with a cannonade by the Guards artillery positioned around Fleurus. Shortly afterwards Vandamme's III French Corps (Girard's 7th Infantry Division attached on its left) attacked the hamlet of Saint-Amand-la-Haye. [[Bearbeiten von Christian Friedrich Wilhelm von Jagow|Jagow's]] 3rd Prussian Brigade, defending Saint-Amand-la-Haye, could not withstand the pressure of Lefol's 8th Division and was forced to retreat. Shortly afterwards a counterattack by General Steinmetz with six battalions of the 1st Brigade recaptured the hamlet. A renewed attack by Vandamme's troops led to a bitter fight in which the Prussians lost approximately 2,500 men and possession of Saint-Amand-la-Haye.

With the loss of Saint-Amand-la-Haye, Blücher's right flank threatened to give way, so he ordered Pirch II's 2nd Prussian Brigade to retake Saint-Amand-la-Haye. Although Girard was mortally wounded (dying in Paris on 25 June of his wounds) the French held the hamlet, so Blücher ordered [[Ernst Ludwig von Tippelskirch|Tippelskirch]] to [[envelop]] the French with an attack by units of the II Corps on the left flank of the hamlet. French reinforcements (Vandamme's III Corps) deployed in front of Wagnelée prevented this happening, attacking Tippelskirch's brigades as they marched out of the grain fields to get into position for their attack. They were driven into the hamlet.<!-- Check accuracy of contraction.-->

Blücher left his observation post in the windmill of Brye and intervened personally in the fight. Under his guidance, the Prussian counter-attack on the French, very weak from the preceding actions, succeeded, and Saint-Amand-la-Haye was again in Prussian hands. Thus at 19:00 Saint-Amand, Saint-Amand-la-Haye and Wagnelée were still held by the Prussians.

===Ligny===
At 15:00 Gérard's IV French Corps opened the battle around Ligny. Under heavy Prussian artillery fire [[Marc Nicolas Louis Pécheux|Pécheux's]] 12th Infantry Division succeeded in capturing the church in the village of Ligny.  With this success, however, came a price as the division now found itself under a violent bombardment from three sides.  In a short time, Pécheux's division lost 20 officers and 500 men and had to withdraw.  Napoleon sent a battery of 12-pounders to support another attack and with the IV Corps artillery set numerous buildings in Ligny aflame. Another attack followed with vicious [[urban warfare|house-to-house fighting]], then Jagow's 3rd Prussian Brigade counter-attacked and recaptured the town.

The Prussian second lieutenant, Gerhard Andreas von Garrelts, later gave an eye-witness account of the agonies of the Belgian civilian population, caught unexpectedly in the centre of battle:

{{Blockquote|Ligny stood half on fire, locked in bright flames [...] on this occasion we found we were in a house, where all windows were destroyed, two old people, a man and a woman, showing no emotion and dazed sat at the hearth, without moving, his elbows on his knees and his head supported by his hands; the vision made us cry! Probably they had seen armed combat and were not surprised, how else could they distance themselves with death so near; we too were familiar with death, we felt compassion for these old people, but they could not be convinced to move from their home.| Gerhard Andreas von Garrelts.{{sfn|Garrelts|1856|p=172}} }}

===Missed chance===
At about 17:00 Field-Marshal Blücher employed the still-fresh II Corps under the command of General Pirch I and ordered him to deploy it into the area south of Brye. At about the same time Vandamme on the left French flank sighted a force of twenty to thirty thousand men advancing on Fleurus, which he incorrectly took to be enemy troops. Napoleon, who was preparing to launch a crucial attack at the centre of Blücher's line, was very surprised by this news because at 15:30 he had sent [[Charles de la Bédoyère|Comte de la Bédoyère]] with a written note to Marshal Ney at Quatre Bras ordering him to send [[Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon|d'Erlon's]] I Corps to attack the rear of the right Prussian flank. Instead, it seemed that the troops seen by Vandamme threatened the French left flank.

D'Erlon had gone on ahead of his corps (marching west towards Quatre Bras) to reconnoitre. Bédoyère, realising that time was of the essence, had on his initiative ordered the I Corps to turn east towards Ligny. Its leading elements came into view at 17:00, that is to say, earlier than Napoleon expected. Marshal Ney, unaware of Napoleon's instructions, sent an order to d'Erlon to immediately turn around and march back towards Quatre Bras. D'Erlon, who had caught up with his troops, turned them around only a few kilometres away from Ligny. Crucially, the I Corps did not fight in either battle that day.

Blücher took advantage of the hesitation of the French by ordering an attack on the French left flank. From his observation post in the mill of Brye, Blücher could observe how his troops fared to the west of Saint Amand. Vandamme's III Corps received unexpected support from [[Guillaume Philibert Duhesme|Duhesme's]] [[Young Guard (Napoleon)|Young Guard]] and the Prussians were thrown back to their original positions.

===Prussian counter-attack===
At 19:00 the situation on the battlefield was as follows: Grouchy's cavalry had captured [[Tongrenelle]] and advanced on [[Mont-Potiaux]]; in the centre, heavy fighting was taking place around Ligny; on the Prussian right flank, there was a lull in the fighting between the Young Guard and the Prussians.

It was now that Blücher received a message that Wellington was heavily engaged fighting Ney's left wing of the French army and, therefore, could on no account send support to Ligny. So Blücher decided to counter-attack on the French left flank, to force a decision. First, he strengthened his tired forces in Ligny, and then he collected his last reserves and personally led an attack on Saint-Amand. The attack was initially successful and the Prussians managed to recapture Saint-Amand-le-Hameau, but the attack faltered and they were counter-attacked by chasseurs of the Imperial Guard west of Saint-Amand and started a disorderly retreat from Saint-Amand-le-Haye.

===Napoleon commits the Old Guard===
[[File:Grenadier-a-pied-de-la-Vieille-Garde.png|thumb|upright=.7|right|[[Grenadier]] of the [[Old Guard (France)|Old Guard]], by [[Edouard Detaille]]]]

Taking advantage of the Prussians' retreat, Napoleon decided it was time to launch a decisive counterstrike. He could at least beat Blücher and render the Prussians unfit for any serious operation except retreat on 17 June, although he could no longer expect to destroy the Prussian army. [[Georges Mouton, comte de Lobau|Lobau's]] VI Corps, too, was now arriving and forming up on the heights east of Fleurus. The artillery of the Guard, therefore, came into action above Ligny to prepare Blücher's centre for assault. Some delay was occasioned by a thunderstorm; but, as this passed over, the guns opened and the Old Guard, supported by the reserve cavalry – the ''[[Grenadiers à Cheval de la Garde Impériale]]'' – led by [[Claude-Étienne Guyot|Guyot]], as well as Milhaud's IV Cavalry Corps proceeded to form up opposite Ligny. At about 19:45 a crashing salvo of 60 guns gave the signal for a combined assault to be delivered by Gerard and the Guard, with Milhaud's cavalry moving on their right flank. Initially, the French Guard encountered heavy resistance, and was forced back momentarily by the Prussian reserves.{{sfn|Glover|2014|p=66}}  However Blücher's worn-out soldiers at that section of the line could not withstand the concentrated impact of Napoleon's choicest troops, combined with a flanking movement by a division of French infantry under cover of the darkness, and at around 20:30 the Prussian centre at Ligny was overwhelmed.{{sfn|Beck|1911|pp=377}}{{sfn|Mueffling|1833|pp=73–74}}

The Prussians formed a new defensive line between Brye and Sombreffe, on the heights about {{convert|1|mi|km|order=flip}} behind Ligny. Units of the I Corps and II Corps retreated to this new position and rallied, fending off French attacks as they did so.{{sfn|Siborne|1848|pp=248–249}}{{sfn|Glover|2014|p=66}}

In the words of William Siborne:
{{Blockquote|The Prussian infantry compelled to evacuate Ligny, effected its retreat in squares, in perfect order, though surrounded by the enemy, bravely repelling all further attacks, made in the repeated but vain attempts to scatter it in confusion.{{sfn|Siborne|1848|p=243}} }}

===Blücher is incapacitated===
As a reaction to the Old Guard's attack, Blücher instructed Lieutenant-General [[Friedrich Erhardt von Röder|Röder]] to counter-attack with the two brigades of the reserve cavalry of the I Prussian Corps. While leading one of the charges in person, the 72-year-old Blücher's horse was shot and fell upon him. He was rescued and borne in a semi-conscious condition from the field.{{sfn|Siborne|1848|pp=245–246}} While Blücher was being taken from the field the French cavalry beat off the Prussian cavalry counter-attack. Lieutenant-General [[August von Gneisenau]] (Blücher's [[Chief of staff (military)|Chief of staff]]), took over command from the absent Blücher.

===Prussian retreat===
Sources differ over Gneisenau's leadership while Blücher was incapacitated. Chesney credits him with the decision to retreat north in support of Wellington: "Gneisenau, coming into temporary command after the fall of Blucher at the end of the battle, and finding the struggle for the present hopelessly decided, chose at all risk of inconvenience to abstain from the notion of a retreat to the east, and to keep as near as might be to the English army." [Chesney 1869, pp142–143]. Glover also writes "A retreat on Gembloux by the entire army would be the obvious course of action, except that this would lead to a complete break of contact with Wellington. Gneisenau therefore initially ordered a retreat directly north on Tilly, which would maintain that contact".{{sfn|Glover|2014|p=89}}   However, Parkinson, citing Prussian records, claims Gneisenau "raged" over the lack of British support at Ligny and decided to retreat east after Tilly: "And slowly, fatefully, Gneisenau's choice of retreat route swung towards Liege - abandoning Wellington to face Napoleon alone, outnumbered." [pp.&nbsp;228–9] Blücher later summoned his British liaison officer, Sir Harry Hardinge, to inform him: "Gneisenau has given in. We are going to join the Duke." [Parkinson p.&nbsp;232]. "This decision by Blücher is unquestionably worthy of the highest praise. Ignoring all the false courses of action that traditional practices and misplaced prudence might have suggested in such a case, he followed his common sense and decided to turn toward Wellington on the 18th, preferring to abandon his own line of communications rather than adopt half-measures. The battle he had lost had not been a rout. It had reduced the size of his force by only about one-sixth, and with nearly 100,000 men he could undoubtedly turn the battle that the Duke of Wellington was confronting into a victory".{{sfn|Clausewitz|2010|loc=Chapter 37}} It is noteworthy that when Blücher was found alive, he refused to consider resigning his command on account of his injuries, declaring he would rather have himself "tied to a horse than resign". [Parkinson p.&nbsp;229].

At about 22:00 the order to fall back was given. On the Prussian right, Lieutenant-General Zieten's I Corps retreated slowly with most of its artillery, leaving a rear-guard close to Brye to slow any French pursuit. Pirch I's II Corps followed the I Corps off the battlefield. They formed up again within a quarter of a league of the field of battle (about 3/4 of a mile), and retired to Wavre via Tilly, free of French pursuit. "Our infantry, posted behind Ligny, though forced to retreat, did not suffer itself to be discouraged … Formed in masses, it coolly repulsed all the attacks of the cavalry, and retreated in good order upon the height, whence it continued its retrograde movement upon Tilly. … At the distance of a quarter of a league from the field of battle, the army formed again. The enemy did not venture to pursue it. The village of Brie remained in our possession during the night, as well as Sombref, where General Thielemann had fought with the 3rd Corps".{{sfn|Mueffling|1833|p=74}} "At 10 o’clock the order to fall back was given, and the centre and right retrograded in perfect order. Forming again within a quarter of a league of the field of battle, they recommenced their retreat; and, unmolested by the enemy, retired upon Wavre".{{sfn|Maxwell|1833|p=213}}

On the left, Lieutenant-General Thielemann's largely-unharmed III Corps withdrew last with the army's various parks in tow, toward Gembloux where Bulow waited with the newly arrived IV Corps. He left a strong rear-guard at [[Sombreffe]]. "[Gneisenau], having undertaken the direction of affairs, ordered the retreat of the First and II Corps upon Tilly, and despatched Colonel Thile with directions to Thielemann, that if he could not effect a direct retreat upon Tilly, he was to retire upon Gembloux, there to unite with Bulow, and then effect a junction with the rest of the army".{{sfn|Siborne|1848|p=251}}

The village of Brye remained in Prussian possession (I Corps) during the night, as well as Sombref, where the III Corps had held Grouchy all day. The bulk of the rear-guards held their positions until about midnight. The final units of Zieten's I Corps rear-guard only left the battlefield at daybreak on 17 June, as the exhausted French failed to press on.{{sfn|Chesney|1907|p=136}} The last of III Corps was moved in the morning of 17 June completely ignored.{{sfn|Chesney|1907|p=136}}

[[Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow|Von Bülow's]] IV Corps, which had not been engaged at Ligny, moved to a location south of Wavre and set up a strong position on which the other elements of the Prussian army could reassemble.{{sfn|Chesney|1907|p=136}} Blücher was already in communication with Wellington. "The Field Marshall promised to come with his whole army; he even proposed, in case Napoleon should not attack, that the Allies themselves, with their whole united force, should attack him the next day. This may serve to show how little the battle of the 16th had disorganised the Prussian army, or weakened its moral strength".{{sfn|Mueffling|1833|p=77}}

{{Blockquote|Under the circumstances, the overall results of Ligny cannot appear out of the ordinary. It is a battle which 78,000 men lost to 75,000 by very slight tipping of the scales, after a long struggle, and without any truly glorious results for the victor, since his trophies consisted of only 21 guns and perhaps a few thousand prisoners.|Carl von Clausewitz.{{sfn|Clausewitz|2010|loc=Chapter 33}} }}

8,000 troops fled to Liege and [[Aix-la-Chapelle]]. These were mainly new draftees from the [[Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine|Rhenish]] and [[Province of Westphalia|Westphalian]] provinces, and the [[Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg|Duchy of Berg]]. Some of the [[Rhine]] provinces had previously been a part of France, and their contingents included old French soldiers.{{sfn|Siborne|1848|p=305}}