The Battle of Wavre was a battle of the War of the Seventh Coalition, the last of the Napoleonic Wars. It was fought on June 18 and June 19 1815 between the Prussian rearguard under the command of General Johann von Thielmann and 3 corps of the French army under the command of Marshal Grouchy.

The Prussians, outnumbered nearly two to one, were driven back, but the battle prevented two French corps and a French cavalry corps from taking part in the Battle of Waterloo on June 18 1815, and so contributed to the Allied victory in the campaign and the final downfall of Napoléon.

Introduction

Map of the Waterloo campaign

In the battle of Ligny two days earlier, the Prussian army had been forced to retreat in some disorder. Napoléon sent Grouchy in pursuit with right wing (aile droite) of the Army of the North consisting of 32,000 troops and 96 guns: the III Corps (General Dominique Vandamme - 17,099 - 38 guns) and IV Corps (General Étienne Maurice Gérard - 15,013 - 38 guns); and from the Reserve Army 5,000 cavalry: the II Cavalry Corps (General Remy Exelmans - 3,392 - 12 guns) and IV (Hussars) Cavalry Division (General Pierre Soult - 1,485 - 8 guns) which was detached from the I Cavalry Corps.

Grouchy was slow in taking up the pursuit, giving time for Blücher to regroup his army and advance with three corps to join up with Wellington's Anglo-Dutch army at Waterloo. The fourth, Thielmann's III Corps of 24,000 men and 32 guns, was left as a rearguard. Thielman's main force occupied Wavre and Bierge while a small flank guard occupied Limale .

Forces

The number of men listed in the order of battle would not be the same as men who took part in the battle of Wavre. Both armies had been engaged at the battle of Ligny where they had suffered casualties. The French about 11,500 and the Prussians about 22,000. To come to the number of men which the French are said to have had at the battle of around 31,500, then one must assume that the French formations at Wavre had suffered about half the French casualties at Ligny, which is not an unreasonable assumption. If one assumes that all three corps of the Prussian (IV corps did not fight at Ligny,) all suffered about the same loss then Thielmann corps would be about 7,300 men short of their battle order making about 14,700. There would also be a number of men not at the battle for other reasons, but as the campaign had only just started, there would not have been much of attrition due to sickness which was so common to armies in the field during the Napoleonic wars.

Battle

The battle took place on June 18, the same day as the Battle of Waterloo and after a pause overnight resumed the next morning ending in a French victory.

Conclusion

A French tactical victory, but a hollow one. By engaging the French pursuit, the Prussian rearguard succeeded in tying down French troops whose presence at Waterloo could have helped save Napoléon from losing the war.

External links

• MOVEMENTS AND COMBAT OF THE REAR-GUARD OF 4TH ARMY CORPS UNDER LT-COL VON LEDEBUR WAVRE 17 - 19 JUNE 1815
• French Order of Battle (in French)
• Prussian Order of Battle (in German)
• French Order-of-Battle at Wavre: 18 June 1815 By Stephen Millar