24

Grouchy at Waterloo by A.A. No!;

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Marshal Grouchy is one of the people inhistory who have assumed the role ofscapegoat over the years. Historians of theWaterloo Campaign place much of the blamefor Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo on hisshoulders. The refrain goes something like, "IfGrouchy had brought his troops to the supportof Napoleon at Waterloo the outcome of thebattle would have been changed." Perhaps. Butone thing is clear: few of the works on theBattle of Waterloo ever bother to detail what hwas that Grouchy was actually doing thosefateful June days.

The Waterloo Campaign opened on 15 June1815 when the first French troops begancrossing the Sambre against sharp resistencefrom minor Prussian formations. SinceNapoleon had "stolen a march" on both thePrussians and their Allies his army managed toget across in relatively good order and slept onthe field the night of 15·16 June. That nightBlucher, the Prussian commander, andWellington, the Anglo-Allied commander, hadtheir exhausted troops marching as best theycould toward the French. [Note: In this articlePrussian formations will be in italics forclaritv.l

On 16 June two battles occured, one at QuatreBras and one a few miles to the east at Llqnv,At Ouatre Bras the outcome was basically adraw, with the Anglo-Allied forces left inpossession of the field largely through Frenchineptitude. l.lqnv. however, was a decisiveaction. Nearly two-thirds of the Prussian army'under' Blucher, were soundly beaten, sufferingabout 30,000 casualties out of a force of nomore than 85,000.

The broken, roadless terrain about Llqnv ,coupled with the lateness of the hourprevented an effective pursuit of the Prussians.Still, Napoleon sent I Cavalry Corps scoutingnortheast toward Namur along the Prussianline of communication. II Cavalry Corps wasinstructed to scout in the general direction ofGembloux, a possible alternative line ofcommunication for the Prussians and a smallforce of cavalry was sent off toward Tilly totry to determ ine whether the Prussians hadfallen back that way.

The respite given them by nightfall enabled thePrussians to recover their strength andcohesion somewhat. Blucher's chief of staffordered the remnants of , and /I Corps (C.30,000 men) to withdraw towards Tilly while"' Corps (c. 20,000 men) was to retreattowards Gembloux. Meanwhile, Bulow's 'VCorps (c. 30,000 men and 88 guns) wasmarching up from Liege. This corps was theonly undamaged element in the PrussianArmy, having missed the Battle of l.lqnv. Earlyon 17 June the lead elements of 'V Corpslinked up with "' Corps.Bulow assumed command of /I, Corps andmarched both formations towards Wavre onhis own initiative. At 1020 this move wasconfirmed by Blucher. This was probably thesingle most important strategic decision madeby the Allies in the Waterloo Campaign.

By retreating towards Wavre, Blucher abandon-ed his line of comrnunication, cutting his tieswith his b~se at Liege and his line of retreatback into Prussia. Though badlv defeated, the

semi-senile, septuagenarian Blucher was willingto have another go at Napoleon rather thanquit. By this decision he completely alteredthe strategic situation.

While Blucher was retreating, the Frenchcavalry was beginning to report to Napoleon.All reports seemed to indicate that thePrussians were broken and falling back towardsPrussia. The thousands of straggling troopsjamming the roads towards Prussia seemed toconfirm this conclusion and Napoleon there-fore assumed it was true. To ensure the defeatof the Prussians he entrusted some 33,000troops to Marshal Grouchy and ordered him tomaintain a strong pursuit but to retain hisfreedom of movement. Since word fromQuatre Bras indicated that the situation therewas still inconclusive, Napoleon took thebalance of his Right Wing with him-althoughinexplicably leaving one full division at St.Amand and marched to Ouatre Bras. Grouchywas on his own.

There were heavy rains all that day and these,combined with poor staff work resulted in thegradual loss of contact between Grouchy'scavalry patrols and the retreating Prussians.Attempts to re-establish contact were frustrat-ed by the weather and by 1900 Grouchy qaveup and bedded his troops down in the vicinityof Gembloux. Here he conveyed to Napoleonincorrect reports from his scouts that thePrussians had broken into two columns, onefalling back on Liege and the other on Wavre.He indicated that he would pursue the larger,which appeared to be headed for Wavre. Thisevaluation of the situation was completelywrong. The' entire Prussian Army was fallingback on Wavre. The troops seen heading for

Liege were a large, disordered mass ofstragglers. The situation was serious since thePrussians were reconcentrating but the Frenchdidn't know it.

Blucher reached Wavre with most of his armythe night of 17-18 June, while Grouchy'stroops slept. Early the next morning heordered his forces, by now numbering around80,000 men, to join Wellington's forces in thevicinity of Mont-St.-Jean. The march was latein getting started because a massive traffic jamensued which took hours to clear up.

Grouchy, meanwhile, delayed his morningorders and did not finally move out until0730. With II Caval ry Corps scouting aheadand I Cavalry Corps covering his left andattempting to link up with Napoleon and themain body, he advanced on Wavre with his twoinfantry corps. Some historians have statedthat Napoleon ordered Grouchy on thismorning to fallon Wellington's flank if theopportunity presented itself. While there existsno evidence substantiating this order, it isreasonable to assume that, if it was issued,Napoleon expected Grouchy to recognize thathis primary mission was to keep betweenBlucher and Wellington at all times. But this isprecisely what Grouchy failed to do.

Advancing carefully but agressively Grouchy'scavalry encountered and skirmished for aboutan hour with elements of Prussian /I Corpsbelow Wavre beginning about 0930. Prisonersrevealed that Blucher was sending the bulk ofthe Prussian Army to join Wellington, and thecommander of II Cavalry Corps lrnmedlatelvdispatched this unpleasant information toGrouchy. By this time Grouchy had reached

The terloo Campaign Key:I......J Prussian and Allied Positions,

;1600, 18 June 1815

-+ French Movements, 16-18 June

o French Positions, 16 June

Walhain with III Corps and IV Corps was just alittle behind. Settling down for lunch, theMarshal's mess was disturbed at 1130 by thesound of artillery fire coming from thedirection of Mont-St.-Jean, about a dozenmiles to the northwest. The commander of IVCorps and several other senior officersdemanded that Grouchy immediately move tosupport Napoleon, who was obviously engagedin a major battle. Grouchy refused, pointingout that his orders required him to pursue thePrussians. Had he moved at this point hewould probably have arrived on Napoleon'sright flank about 1900 hours, just in time tofallon the Prussian IV Corps as it engagedNapoleon's troops near Placenolt and also intime to support the attack of the Old Guard.Undoubtedly, Grouchy could have influencedthe course of the battle, but it is notnecessarily the case that his arrival would haveturned Waterloo into a French victory. Theluncheon went on, only to be interruptedagain at 1230 when the messenger from IICavalry Corps finally arrived, having taken twohours to cover about six miles. He toldGrouchy that the Prussians were preparing tofallon Napoleon's flank.

Grouchy immediately, and belatedly, movedinto action. I Cavalry Corps was ordered totake the village of Limale followed by IVCorps, while III Corps marched for Wav'rescreened by II Caval ry Corps.

Holding the Iine of the Dyle River, betweenLimale and Wavre, was Prussian III Corps (c.17,000). Fighting began at 1630, when IICavalry Corps arrived in front on Wavre,closely followed by III Corps. The Frenchcleared the nearslde of the river handily butgot into a difficult position doing so. From theheights of the left bank Prussian batteries sh otup the French badly. Although the Prussiandefense was improvised it was highly effective.Ironically if the French had delayed a bitlonger the Prussians would have been out ofthe position entirely, marching for Waterloo.Indeed, one brigade had already marched off,but had been replaced by a wayward brigadeof I Corps which took up position in Limale.

Meanwhile, Blucher, by this time closer toWaterloo than to the action at Wavre, had adifficult time convincing his officers tocontinue to march to support Wellington.Fortunately for the Allies, he was successful.Unlike Grouchy, Blucher recognized what hisprimary mission was and did not permitsecondary considerations to influence hisjudgement. Defeating Napoleon was far moreimportant than the fate of one corps at Wavre.

hi le Blucher was making this decision, thesituation along the Dyle grew heated andbloody. In a short time I and II Cavalry Corpsand III Corps were hotly engaged and IV Corpsvas moving up rapidly, though because of a

confusion in orders it was turning up at Wavrerather than Limale. At 1700 Grouchy finallyreceived orders from Napoleon to assist themain body at Waterloo. Ordering III Corps andII Caval ry Corps to keep up the pressu re atVavre, Grouchy assembled IV Corps and

marched for Limale, but not before wastingmore time by making one final attempt to takeVavre.

t Limale I Cavalry Corps, supported by acavalry division from IV Corps, had just9JCeeded in siezing the village at the charge'then Grouchy arrived with the balance of IV

Corps. The Prussians made a serious effort toratake the place but were repu lsed by IV Corps

25

Napoleon at Waterloo:Some Variant Scenariosor Marshal Grouchy to the Rescue?

If Grouchy had performed more compe-tently at Waterloo he might have gonedown as one of history's greatest "clutchplayers." This module enables players tomodify SPI's Napoleon at Waterloo toinclude a burst of genius on Grouchy's part.Additional pieces needed for the modifiedgame are shown in the Reinforcement UnitChart. These may be made from blankcounters or 'players may cannibalize a set ofNA W counters and select units ofequivalent strength. To use the secret "dieroll" tables players should each tear up asmall sheet of paper into six pieces, numberthe pieces 1 to 6 and select one from acontainer held by the opposing player. eachplayer should keep his number secret untilthe time comes when the results of it applyto the game."No Change", of course, indicates that theplayer in question must get along with hisbasic forces. For the French, this means thetroops actually on the mapsheet, for theAllies this means the troops pn themapsheet and the regular contingent ofPurssians arriving turn 2.The outcomes which provide for a reducedor late arriving Prussian contingent, or noPrussian contingent at all, indicate merelythat Marshal Grouchy has managed to holdthe Prussians in place somewhere east ofthe main battle area. [Prussian outcomes 2,3 and 4].

The outcomes which provide for increasedPrussian contingents [Prussian outcomes 5and 6] indicate that Grouchy was moreincompetent that usual and managed to letall of the Prussians slip through his fingers.

French outcomes 4 and 5 provide for thepossibility that Grouchy heeded GeneralGerard's demands that his corps beimmediately dispatched to support Napo-leon.French outcome 6 indicates that theMarshal made the right choice andmanaged to come on with all his forces.

REINFOP4CEMENT CHART

Additional French Units(under the commandof Marshal Grouchy)

~. [;J' ffiJ' ~'10[8;J B[8;J 11[8;J 12[8;J6-4 5-4 5-4 5-4

~.~~

~~~

~~r:cn~~~~~

~~l2:U~

Obviously, the outcomes will occur inpatterns, complementing each other. Thusif Prussian outcome 5 combines withFrench outcome 1 it means that Grouchyhas managed to get himself totally lost. Onthe other hand, Prussian outcome 2combined with French outcomes 4 or 5mean that the Marshal has managed abrilliant holding action. And if combinedwith outcome 6 it means that he has provento be one of the finest generals of the age.

Secret "Die Roll" Tables

Allies

1. No change.

2. No Prussian reinforcements arrive at anytime.

3. Regular Prussian reinforcements arriveon turn 4, rather than turn 2.

4. Prussian reinforcements arrive on turn 2but only one 5-4, one 4-4, one 3-5, andone 3-3.

5. Regular Prussian contingent arrives onturn 2 and additional reinforcements ofone 5-4, one 4-4, one 3-5 and one 3-3arrive on turn 4.

6. Regular Prussian contingent arrives onturn 2, and all additional Prussian rein-forcements arrive turn 4.

French

1. No change

2. No change.

3. No change.

'4. French Player receives on 5-4, two 4-4's,one 2-5, and one 3-3 turn 4.

5. French Player receives one 5-4, two4-4's, one 2-5, and one 3-3 turn 4.

6. All French reinforcements shown on theReinforcement Chart arrive 'turn 4.

All reinforcements arrive anywhere on theeastern edge of the mapsheet, not morethan five hexes apart from each 'other,Reinforcements not taken in one turn maybe taken in the next.

Additional Prussian Units(remnants of the 1st, 2nd and 3rdPrussian Corps)mm~m~~~~

I~ II~51~

~

26and the fighting died down shortly after theFrench siezed a major ridge a few hu ndredyards west of the town at about 2300.

The next morning Grouchy renewed the battleand Prussian III Corps was soundly beaten. Butthen it was too late. Grouchy learned theresults of Waterloo at 1030. Rejecting aprepostrous suggestion that he fallon theAllied rear he decided to retreat throughNamur.

Masterfully breaking off action at Limale andWavre, Grouchy carried Namur by 1600 andcamped there for the night. Early on 20 JunePrussian 1/ Corps attacked but was repulsed.Later that same day, as his troops wereevacuating the town, the Prussians renewedtheir attempt to destroy him but sufferedsome 1,500 casualties at the hands of therearguard infantry division. Finding Grouchytoo tough a nut to crack, the Prusslans gave upand marched away to besiege some Frenchfrontier fortresses. The next morning hebrought over 25,000 undefeated troops into

Philippeville where, finding that the main armyhad already left, he paused only briefly.

Grouchy arrived at Soissons on 25 June andjoined Marshal Soult in an attempt to savesomething from the wreck. Together they hadsome 55,000 troops and Grouchy assumedcommand on orders from Napoleon. Having noother choice he marched off towards Parishotly pursued by Blucher's Prussians, nowreduced to about 65,000 men. During thisretreat Grouchy's troops engaged, and general-ly got the better of, the Prussians in a handfulof small battles. On 29 June Grouchy's armymarched into Paris.••

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Order of BattleThe Battles of Wavre and Limale18 June 1815

11.1

Grouchy I c. 33,000 menc. 100 guns

French I XII

Prussian !JIOI

c. 17,000 men

c. 40 guns

" IXll

[2JI

•• I

[2J11

~~o

IXll

@JXll

QDJXl

-[2J

IIoII

~Irrll r

[!]IIo

cavalry division attached but in the case ofIII Corps this was missing. Similarly, ICavalry Corps ought to have had twocavalry divisions, but instead had one onlyplus a stray division from another corps.

This outline order of battle representsGrouchy's command throughout theperiod from 17 June, when Napoleonassigned him the task of pursuing thePrussians, through 25 June, when hejoined his forces with those of Soult atSoissons. For the Prussians only the corpsactually engaged at Wavre and Limale arenoted. Normally a French corps had a

A Prussian corps had no divisionalstructure, each brigade being almost aslarge as most French divisions.

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