|
The Battle of Quatre Bras, between Wellington's Anglo-allied army and the left wing of the ''Armée du Nord'' under Marshal Michel Ney, was fought near the strategic crossroads of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815, two days before the Battle of Waterloo. == Prelude == (詳細はBattle of Ligny. If Wellington's Anglo-allied army could combine with the Prussians, the combined force would be larger than Napoleon's. Napoleon's strategy had been to cross the border into what is now Belgium and was then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands without alerting the Coalition and drive a wedge between their forces and subsequently to defeat the Prussians before turning on the Anglo-allied army. Although the coalition commanders did have an overview of French pre-war movements, Napoleon's strategy was initially very successful. Wellington's instructions at the start of the campaign were to defend Brussels from the French, but he did not know what route Napoleon might take and had received (false) reports of a flanking manoeuvre through Mons, to the southwest. He first heard of the outbreak of hostilities at around 15:00 on the 15 June from the Prince of Orange, and further confirmation of the French engaging the Prussian I Corps outposts under Lieutenant-General Graf von Zieten at 04:30 at Thuin (near Charleroi) arrived within the next three hours. It was 18:00 that Wellington drafted initial orders to concentrate his army. However, he was still uncertain precisely where to concentrate his army, and it was not until he heard that the front near Mons was clear - around midnight - that he ordered his army to move towards the Prussians. This nine-hour delay meant it was too late for him to move his army in sufficient strength to eventually provide Field Marshal Gebhard von Blücher with the support he needed (and which one source says he had promised) on 16 June at the battle of Ligny. Wellington did not order his entire army to Quatre Bras on 16 June either, still suspecting a flanking manoeuvre through Mons. (He was later to claim doing so in order to cover his misjudgement, although the orders issued and received do not correspond with that claim.) The headquarters of William, Prince of Orange, however decided to ignore Wellington's order to assemble Dutch forces in and around Nivelles and instead took the initiative to defend Quatre Bras, where they received substantial aid from the Brunswickers and Nassauers. Napoleon's original plan for 16 June was based on the assumption that the Coalition forces, who had been caught napping, would not attempt a risky forward concentration; he intended therefore to push an advanced guard as far as Gembloux, for the purpose of feeling for and warding off Blücher. To assist this operation the reserve would move at first to Fleurus to reinforce Grouchy, should he need assistance in driving back Blücher's troops; but, once in possession of Sombreffe, Napoleon would swing the reserve westwards and join Ney, who, it was supposed, would have in the meantime mastered Quatre Bras. In pursuance of this object Ney, to whom III Cavalry Corps (Kellermann) was now attached, was to mass at Quatre Bras and push an advanced guard northward of that place, with a connecting division at Marbais to link him with Grouchy. The centre and left wing together would then make a night-march toward Brussels. The Coalition forces would thus be irremediably sundered, and all that remained would be to destroy them in detail. Napoleon now awaited further information from his wing commanders at Charleroi, where he massed the VI Corps (Lobau's), to save it, if possible, from a harassing countermarch, as it appeared likely that it would only be wanted for the march to Brussels. On 15 June as the Prussian I Corps withdrew towards Ligny, there was a danger for the Coalition forces that Ney would be able to advance through Quatre Bras and take his objectives with little or no Coalition opposition. At the Dutch headquarters at Genappe (about five kilometres (3 miles) from Quatre Bras), Major-General Jean Victor de Constant Rebecque, chief of staff to the Prince of Orange, realising the danger ordered Lieutenant-General Hendrik George de Perponcher Sedlnitsky, the commander of the 2nd Dutch Division, to dispatch his 2nd Brigade (Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach) to occupy Quatre Bras. The brigade, consisting of two regiments from Nassau, arrived at about 14:00 on 15 June. Prince Bernhard deployed before the first French scouts, lancers of the Guard Light Cavalry Division (Lefebvre-Desnouëtte), as they approached Quatre Bras. The lancers were interdicted at Frasnes after which the Nassauers retreated to the Bois de Bossu, a thick patch of forest near Quatre Bras.〔"6:30 p.m.--some accounts say 5:30" .〕 General Lefebvre-Desnouëtte requested infantry support, but as night was approaching, and his infantry was strung out along Brussels-Charleroi road Ney declined the request deciding to camp for the night and approach Quatre Bras in force the following day. Early on the evening of 15 June instead of obeying Wellington's order to concentrate the I Corps at Nivelles, Rebecque ordered 1st Brigade (Count of Bylandt) of the 2nd Dutch Division to reinforce Prince Bernhard's 2nd Brigade. Ney spent the morning of 16 June in massing his I and II corps, and in reconnoitering the enemy at Quatre Bras, who, as he was informed, had been reinforced. But up till noon he took no serious step to capture the cross-roads, which then lay at his mercy. Grouchy meantime reported from Fleurus that Prussians were coming up from Namur, but Napoleon does not appear to have attached much importance to this report. He was still at Charleroi when, between 09:00 and 10:00, further news reached him from the left that considerable hostile forces were visible at Quatre Bras. He at once wrote to Ney saying that these could only be some of Wellington's troops, and that Ney was to concentrate his force and crush what was in front of him, adding that he was to send all reports to Fleurus. Then, keeping Lobau provisionally at Charleroi, Napoleon hastened to Fleurus, arriving about 11:00. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Quatre Bras」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|