The Battle of Quatre Bras was fought between contingents of the Anglo-allied army and the left wing of the French Army on June 16 1815 near the crossroads of Quatre Bras, in the Austrian Netherlands, as it then was.

Prelude

"Napoleon has humbugged me, he has gained twenty-four hours march on me" – the Duke of Wellington

Map of the Waterloo campaign

The crossroad Quatre-Bras of was of strategic importance because if the Anglo-allied army commanded by Wellington had unimpeded access to it, they could move towards the Prussians along the Nivelles-Namur road. If they could combine with the Prussians commanded by Gebhard von Blücher the allies combined army would be larger than Napoleon's. Napoleon's strategy had been to cross the border without alerting the allies and to defeat the Prussians before turning on the Anglo-allied army. He was very successful in this move. By dispatching Marshal Ney with a corps to block the crossroads it stopped any contingents of the Anglo-allied army going to the aid of the Prussians during the Battle of Ligny.

The Fighters

At the beginning of the battle Marshal Michel Ney, with the left wing of the Armee du Nord, faced a force of 20,000 Anglo-allied troops under the command of The Duke of Wellington, near the crossroads of Quatre Bras. As the day continued and Anglo-allied troops numbers increased as more units converged on Quatre Bras.

The Ground

The battle was fought around the crossroads of Quatre-Bras, a small hamlet with only four houses. This crossroads marked the junction between the Charleroi-Brussels Road and the Nivelles-Namur Road.

To the South-West of the junction was the Bossu wood. South of the wood were the farms Petit-and Grand-Pierrepoint. South of the crossroads the ground fell away to the Gemioncourt farm, which lay next to a small stream in the valley. The ground then rose again to the South. North of Quatre-Bras the ground dropped into a reverse slope.

The Battle

The Battle Starts

At 1400 hours, Ney started his assault on Quatre-Bras. Kellerman had advised him to attack cautiously (Kellerman had fought the Duke of Wellington before). Using a combined assault of infantry, artillery, and cavalary, Ney was on the verge of cracking the allied line. The Belgians on Wellington's right broke, but the steady British lines on the left managed to break the French massed coloumns with steady volleys. With French Lancers riding around freely the allied centre due to the gap formed when the Belgians broke, the day was looking to be near a loss for Wellington. Thankfully for the allies at 1500, reinforcements came in: Picton's and Merlen's forces. The French formed a long line to brace themselves.

At 1530 hours the Prince of Orange tried to form a cavalry counterattack but ended with the French lancers butchering them. At 1600 hours, Ney received Napoleon's order to attack vigourously. He sent an order to his II corps to attack with more force and for his I corps to hurry up.

The Battle Continues

Unfortunatley for Ney, his requested re-inforcements where marching towards Napoleon now engaged at the Battle of Ligny, and Ney was left without the men needed to punch through the allied line. At 1615 hours, French mixed forces advanced almost all the way to the crossroads. The 42nd, 44th and 92nd brigades held up against the infantry - and then were mauled by the cavalry. The 42nd and 44th were driven off the battlefield. Another front was more successful. Jerome Bonaparte, Napoleon's youngest brother, drove the Allies out of the Bossu Wood. Just then, three Allied brigades came, and drove the French back south and to the orignal positions.

Conclusion

The battle cost Ney 4000 men to Wellington's 4800. Although a tactical draw, it was a strategic victory for the French, because along with the French victory at the Battle of Ligny it forced the Allied armies to retreat in different directions while the French were free to pursue either allied Army. Napoleon chose to follow Wellington and two days later to meet his destiny at Waterloo.