Left Wing History (3):
Waterloo 1815
Prussian Accounts
by Gary Cousins, Germany
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The accounts of Generalmajor Graf von
Müffling – the Prussian liaison officer with
Wellington’s army – stated explicitly that the
final burst of French activity on the far left in
the early evening occurred after Vivian’s and
Vandeleur’s Brigades had left, and before the
“turnaround” involving Zieten’s I
Corps on the Ohain road, i.e. before
Zieten’s troops joined Wellington’s left wing. [9]
Furthermore, in a note
to his memoirs Müffling acknowledged
the correctness of Siborne’s
version of the movement – except
for the matter of who ordered the
movement. [10]
The Tagebuch of Zieten’s I
Corps stated that in the early
evening the French advanced against the far
left wing, took Smohain, and separated
Wellington’s and Blücher’s armies; then:
“The enemy immediately took advantage
and pushed forwards into the valley running
from Schmouhen to between the French and
English positions, with skirmishers as well as
columns, in order to attack the English left wing
once more, just as new columns were coming
down from Belle Alliance to support this attack.
This was happening when our cavalry appeared.
Because the infantry had not yet come up to
retake Smohain, the cavalry was unable to do
more than to form up to cover our two batteries.”
[11]
Neither the Tagebuch nor the accounts
from the cavalry and artillery of Zieten’s I
Corps [12] mention encountering the brigades
of Vivian and Vandeleur on the left wing -because
they were no longer there by the
time Zieten’s Prussians actually joined. The
first Prussians of Zieten’s I Corps to reach
Wellington’s left wing were two regiments
of cavalry, accompanied by artillery.
As the Tagebuch stated, the cavalry was at first able
to do no more than protect the artillery, due to
the lack of infantry (Pflugk-Harttung also attributes
this to the terrain, which was not favourable
for cavalry operations, and the
relatively low quality of the Prussian cavalry
[13] ).
According to Damitz, when the rest of the I
Corps Reserve Cavalry arrived, it “took up the
ground already vacated by the English.” [14]
From Vivian’s Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel
The Hon. Henry Murray of the 18th Hussars wrote:
“…Afterwards the 6th Brigade quitted
General Vandeleur's and proceeded right in
front, and passing a little to the rear, went on
again more towards the right…
…About the time we crossed the Genappe
road there was a wonderful Column of French
pouring down from their position.
But that column could not have been
engaged with the right of the British forces so
soon as the period when we first replaced the
Household Brigade in our position.
I mention this because I have been told
that it was seven o'clock when we passed Lord
Edward Somerset's brigade, but I have no idea
that it could be seven till some time afterwards.”
[15]
As we shall see, because of the smoky
conditions which prevailed upon the centre-right,
where Murray passed Somerset’s Brigade
“at seven o’ clock”, this sight of the
“wonderful column” - the attack columns of
the French Imperial Guard moving up between
La Haie-Sainte and Hougoumont to
attack Wellington’s right - obtained while in
transit from the left to the centre-right, is
probably the best view that anyone in Vivian’s
Brigade obtained of the Guard prior to the
general advance at the end of the battle.
Lieutenant William Slayter Smith of the
10th Hussars recalled:
“When the advance of the Prussians became
obvious, and our left beyond all danger
of being turned, Sir Hussey Vivian marched
his brigade towards the centre of our position.
We first crossed a bye lane which led
from the Wavre road to Mont St Jean, and
connects the latter place with Papelotte and
the adjoining hamlets, and then passed in rear
of a pond and halted us exposed to fire.
We continued our route crossing the road
leading from Genappe to Brussels just below
Mont St Jean and found ourselves between 6
and 7 o’clock in the centre of the position in
rear of the road leading from Nivelles to Wavre
about the point where it is intersected by
that from Braine l’Alleud.” [16]
Accounts from the 1st Hussars of the
King’s German Legion also described the movement:
Rittmeister Georg von der Decken wrote:
“Towards half past six in the afternoon
[we] mounted and the order was given to
General Vandeleur’s, as well as General
Vivian’s, Brigade to proceed to the centre of
the position with both Brigades.
Our brigade commander had us wheel off
right by divisions, and himself led the head of
the brigade, with real skill and so correctly
that, almost always sheltered by the ridges,
the brigade was practically never exposed to
the enemy cannon- and musket-fire.” [17]
Decken’s account went on to say that the
Prussian troops “joined onto our troops on the
left wing with their columns” at 7 p.m.
The commander of the 1st K.G.L. Hussars,
Lieutenant Colonel Augustus von Wissell,
also left an account:
“When about 6 o'clock in the afternoon
the Prussian corps of General Bülow ap-peared,
the brigade was successively - on
account of [unclear - walls?] moved from the
left to the right wing of the battle…” [18]
A journal from the same regiment said
that Bülow, after initially being checked,
awaited further Prussian troops:
“Thereupon around half past six in the
evening General Bülow began the fortunate attack
upon the Enemy right wing. A part of von
Zieten’s Corps relieved the 1st Hussar Regiment,
which at the trot and the gallop was called
to the centre of the position of the English Army
and here joined with its Brigade…” [19]
This anonymous journal gives the only
suggestion that there was any contact between
Vivian’s Brigade and Zieten’s arriving Prussians.
But it will be recalled (from part 2) that
the 1st K.G.L. Hussars had remained in a
somewhat outlying position on the far left
when the rest of Vivian’s Brigade had closed
towards the centre earlier in the afternoon, and
had patrols out towards Ohain. The 4th (1st
Silesian) Hussars, which was leading Zieten’s
I Corps, arrived at Ohain at around 6 p.m. and
sent out detachments along the Ohain road.
The two German hussar regiments will have
met here. The 1st K.G.L. Hussars was the last
regiment of the Brigade to move towards the
centre right, which perhaps explains why Wissell
said that the movement was made
“successively”, and why the regiment had to
hurry to catch up with the rest of the brigade.
Another account was that of Lieutenant
W.B. Ingilby, of Gardiner’s ‘E’ Troop of the
British Royal Horse Artillery, attached to Vivian’s Brigade:
“About half-past seven o'clock Sir H. Vivian
made a circuit to his right and placed his Brigade
in line, about 20 paces in rear of the Infantry in
front of Mt.-St.-Jean, and thus formed in two lines,
the whole steadily advanced to attack.” [20]
Not only is Ingilby’s timing unusual: his
account also seemed to imply that Vivian’s
Brigade advanced to the attack as soon as it
arrived on the right: the editor of Letters noted
that this account differed from all others from
Vivian’s Brigade, although First Lieutenant
Robert Harding, also of ‘E’ Troop, made a
similar comment. [21]
But it is possible that the
artillery followed the cavalry, and acted independently,
not seeing what happened at the
head of the brigade: Vivian wrote that:
“Sir R. Gardiner’s Battery followed me
from the left…but after I crossed the road I
cannot speak with certainty as to what became
of them, I was so much occupied with the
Regts. & in their front, but I do not think
Gardiner came into action in the position at
once, but I know that he did before the day
closed open a fire from it.” [22]
Vandeleur’s Brigade also moved shortly
after Vivian’s Brigade, and the timings of its
movement by its officers are eccentric:
“towards the close of the day” according to
Lieutenant Colonel Sleigh of the 11th Light
Dragoons; “5 or 6 o'clock p.m.” according to
Cornet Bullock, 11th Light Dragoons; “about
five o'clock” according to Captain Barton,
12th Light Dragoons. [23]
Captain Tomkinson of the 16th Light Dragoons wrote:
“The Brigade remained upon the left until
half-past five or thereabouts, and having
seen the advance and commencement of the
Prussians’ attack, moved in rear of our Line,
crossed the Brussels and Genappe road (our
Line being at this time greatly reduced, and
having large intervals), forming with our left
on the road the instant we passed it.” [24]
It is not clear to which Prussians Tomkinson
was referring – those under Bülow, who
were certainly in action at the time
Vandeleur’s Brigade moved, or those of Zieten,
who would barely have arrived at this time
and in very low numbers – but none of the
officers of Vandeleur’s Brigade mentioned
actually meeting and being relieved by any
Prussians.
That is not to say that there are no accounts
from Wellington’s which say that
Zieten’s Prussians arrived and relieved
Vivian’s and Vandeleur’s Brigades – but one
must ask whether their authors were in a position
at that time to know, or whether they are
not simply making an assumption. However,
thus far the timings of the brigade’s movement
are fairly consistent at between 6 and 7 p.m.
Left Wing History (3) Vivian’s 6th (Light) Cavalry Brigade on the 18th June 1815
Left Wing History (2) Prussian I Corps
Left Wing History (1) Waterloo 1815: Vivian's 6th Cavalry Brigade
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