170 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



were equally inactive. The result of their movement was that by 

 ni<^htfall of the 17th the whole Prussian army of ninety thousand 

 men were in and around Wavre. 



The Duke of Wellington only received news of the disaster at 

 Ligny the next morning. He then commenced his retreat, also ably 

 managed, from Quatre Bras about ten o'clock, and arrived at Waterloo 

 about five in the aftei'noon. 



Napoleon on the 17th, after moving off Lobau's Corps and the 

 Guards from his right to his left, about one o'clock in the day, per- 

 haps a trifle earlier, entrusted his i-ight wing to Grouchy, and gave 

 him at first verbal, then at two o'clock written orders. These latter 

 directed Grouchy to march to Gembloux. This dispatch is said to 

 have been suppressed by Grouchy in the controversy which arose. 

 It was first printed in 1842. Its closing sentence is : " In all cases 

 " keep constantly your two corps of infantry united in a league of 

 " ground, having several aA^enues of retreat, and post detachments of 

 " cavalry intermediate between us, in order to communicate with 

 " headquarters." 



Owing to a combination of circumstances entirely beyond Grouchy 's 

 conti'ol, and for which he can in no way be held responsible, he with 

 his men on the evening of the 17th was only at Gembloux. He 

 was, moreover, quite ignorant of where the Prussians were. He had, 

 however, been at fault in not leaving detachments of cavalry between 

 himself and the emperor, as the latter had ordered. 



Napoleon himself had moved off to the Brussels road and followed 

 the advance of his troops, delayed by a tremendous thunderstorm, 

 which turned the country into a sea of mud, and reached the Caillou 

 farm, in front of Mont St. Jean, about half-past six, to find the 

 English in position and ready to give battle. He reconnoitered their 

 position, the i-econnaissance lasting until ten o'clock, then returned to 

 his headquarters, which were established at the farm of Caillou above 

 referred to. We are now in a position to appreciate why Napoleon 

 was delighted that the English were going to make a stand alone. 

 Apparently a puzzle why it should have pleased him, it is accounted 

 for from his point of view. He had succeeded in his plans. He 

 had separated the two allies. He had beaten one, not quite so 

 thoroughly as he thought, but so far as he knew sufliciently to keep 

 him out of any fighting for some time. He had left enough of his 

 own army with Grouchy to watch the defeated enemy^ and had given 



