Battle of Ligny

battle_name=Battle of Ligny

Battle

Between 1430 hours to 1500 hours, Napoleon started his attack. He ordered his 3rd and a some of 2nd Corps to attack St. Amaund, a farmhouse, and attacked Ligny itself.

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The first attacks on Ligny were not successful at first, but the French eventually got through. The St. Amaund attack was more successful. The French broke through after likewise vicious and ferocious fighting, but were still resisted by the Prussians. They forced the Prussians to abandon their positions at around 1700 hours but failed to push on.

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Some troops were spotted on approaching the French left flank. Napoleon paused his attack while he sent an aides-de-camp (ADC) to see whether they were French or Prussian. They turned out to be French, d'Erlon's 1st Corps. But just as they were about to enter the battle, to the Napoleon's rage, they turned around. Marshal Ney had called them to aid him at the Battle of Quatre Bras. In the end, the 1st Corp's did not fight in either engagement.

Related Topics:
D'Erlon's - Ney - Battle of Quatre Bras

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Due to the confusion, it was about an hour before Napoleon resumed his attack, in the mean while the Prussians regrouped and tried one last counterattack. It didn't work. In the end the Prussians were routed and the centre fled when Napoleon committed his Imperial Guard to smash it, however the stubborn defence put up by the two wings of the Prussian army and a ferocious cavalry charge lead by Blücher prevented it from becoming a total rout. By nightfall, at about 2100, almost all of the Prussian formations had left the field. On the Prussian right Lieutenant-General Ziethen's I Corps retreated slowly with most of its artillery, leaving a rearguard at close to Brye to slow the French pursuit. On the left Lieutenant-General Thielemann's III Corps retreated unharmed, leaving a strong rearguard at Sombreffe. The bulk of the rearguard held their positions until about midnight before following the rest of the retreating army. In fact some Prussian outmost rearguards only left the battlefield in the early morning of 17 June as the exhausted french had failed to pursue victory and press on.

Related Topics:
Imperial Guard - Ziethen's - Brye - Thielemann's - Sombreffe

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It was to the honour of General von Gneisenau's excellent staff, that Prussian forces were directed towards Wavre, a position that would allow the Prussians to come to Wellington's aid on 18 June and subsequently swing the outcome of the campaign into their favour. This turned the tactical defeat at Ligny into a strategic victory.

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Napoleon ordered Grouchy to follow the Prussians on 17 June. Grouchy, misled by contingents of Prussian stragglers, believed that they had followed their "natural" line of retreat towards Namur and Aachen. When he learned of the fact, that instead the Prussians were ordered to rally in and around Wavre, it was too late.

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