WavreJune 18, 1815

After a slow, struggling pursuit of the Prussians through the mud, Vandamme' s III Corps came to grips with the Prussian rear guard under Thielemann at Wavre. Between 3 and 4 o'clock, Vandamme drove in Thielemann's outposts and sent word to Grouchy that the Prussians had been engaged. Before Grouchy could get to Wavre, Vandamme had begun to attack Thielemann. Vandamme sent Habert's Division straight at the Prussians. They managed to take the village opposite Wavre, but when they started to cross the Wavre bridges they were met with a devastating fire. Unable to advance further, the French gradually withdrew to the shelter of the captured village. Grouchy arrived before Wavre by 4:30 pm. He immediately ordered Excelmans to Basse Wavre and Lefol to cross the Dyle at the Mill of Bierge in support of Vandamme's assault. At 5 o'clock, a dispatch from Napoleon arrived, sent at 1:30, ordering Grouchy to join the Emperor's right without delay. However, Grouchy could not now disengage Vandamme. He sent orders to Pajol to hurry his march and also ordered the newly arrived Gerard to cross the Dyle at Limale. The move on Limale would enable flank support versus Wavre and also put Grouchy in a position to move to Napoleon's aid to the east. Gerard was now moving on Limale and the Mill of Bierge. Lefol had made several attempts to take the Bierge bridge but had failed. Hulot's Division arrived to aid Lefol and a fierce firefight ensued with riflemen and sharpshooters lining both banks of the Dyle from Bierge to Wavre. Hulot's Division became bogged down in the mud across from Bierge and suffered horribly from the Prussian guns opposite. At one point Grouchy tried to inspire his men by leading the attack on Bierge in person. This action fared no better than the others. Around this time (6:30 pm) Gerard was wounded and retired from the field. With Gerard wounded, Grouchy took command of his Corps and lead it south to cross the Dyle at the Limale bridge. Pajol and Teste had just arrived in front of Limale. Upon seeing that the Prussians had not barricaded the bridge, Pajol ordered a regiment of Hussars to take it. The hussars charged valiantly in a column only four abreast and took the bridge from the surprised Prussians. Grouchy followed up this charge by sending Teste across on the hussars' heels. The Prussians under Stengel, reeled away from the bridge and the village, taking up a position on the heights above the town. Thielemann responded by extending the 12 Brigade toward Limale and sending Kobe's Cavalry to Stengel's aid. With the French across the Dyle at Limale, Thielemann started moving every available unit to the south. The bridges at Wavre and Bierge were stripped of some of their defenders in order to shore up the army's right flank. It was now past 9 o'clock and darkness had completely fallen, but the battle continued. Grouchy moved his troops into line north of Limale and surprisingly without the least confusion!! Stengel kept up a harassing fire on the French as Stulpnagel launched an assault in complete darkness. It was so dark that little cohesion in the attack was possible and the French shot it to pieces. In the darkness, the Prussians stumbled upon a sunken road which caused them some confusion. To this confusion was added the rude surprise of French Light Infantry pouring volley after volley into the dazed Prussians on the opposite side of the road. The first Prussian line was stunned and made no attempt to withdraw. They sustained extremely heavy losses in spite of the darkness. The Prussian's supporting line wandered to far to the left and entered the front line engaging more Light Infantry. The French then sent their cavalry forward and compelled the Prussians to retire beyond the woods . On the French right, the battle raged despite the darkness. More than a dozen times, the French crossed the Wavre bridge and occupied several buildings on the other side. Vandamme's success was only short lived as Prussian reserves sent the French back to the other side. The Prussians managed to capture the opposite village five times only to be driven out in turn. Only four battalions defended Wavre from Vandamme's whole Corps. Firing stopped around 11 pm and both sides prepared to renew the struggle at first light. Grouchy thought that he had done quite well in front of Wavre. He thought that he had cut off half of the Prussian army though he rendered no direct support to Napoleon. Grouchy made no attempt to communicate with Napoleon. He assumed that the Emperor was again victorious. He only ordered Vandamme to cross the Dyle with his Corps at Limale. Thielemann, however, had sent an aide to see what had happened at Waterloo. On the officer's return, Thielemann expected Grouchy to be gone in the morning before or shortly after dawn. Stengel, for unexplained reasons, calmly marched off to St. Lambert to rejoin his Corps. This unexpected move left Stulpnagel's right flank "in the air". Thielemann was more than slightly surprised to see Grouchy still in position at daybreak and therefore ordered an attack. Marshal Grouchy, still unaware of Napoleon's defeat, prepared to counter-attack. Although Vandamme had not moved during the night as ordered, Grouchy formed up Gerard's Corps, Teste's Division, and Pajol's Fourth Cavalry and attacked Bierge from the south. Thielemann threw all of his reserves (1 battalion) at Bierge, but the French weight in numbers carried the village. Around 8 am, the Prussians received definite news of Blucher's triumph and counter-attacked Grouchy with renewed vigour. The French Marshal believed that Thielemann had somehow been reinforced during the night. As Stulpnagel's efforts slowed and then stalled, this was not the case. Vandamme, however, remained inactive even though the majority of the defenders facing him had moved south. With his center broken, Thielemann ordered the retreat at 10 o'clock. He knew that Grouchy must withdraw sooner or later. Covered by Hobe, the Prussian III Corps broke off the battle. Soon after, Grouchy belatedly received news of Napoleon's defeat and began his own withdrawal. The Prussians suspected nothing for over two hours . The Prussians had lost some 2,500 men killed or wounded. Grouchy had lost around 2,200 men hors-de-combat. Thielemann had successfully held off more than twice his own number and prevented Grouchy from aiding Napoleon at. Waterloo. Grouchy's presence at Mont-St.-Jean, in whole or in part, would have had a considerable effect on the battle's outcome. Grouchy was to regain part of the reputation he lost in his disastrous handling of the Prussian pursuit by his masterful retreat back to Paris. Losing only 4,000 men, Grouchy beat the Allies to Paris despite not being able to use the best and most direct routes. Though somewhat pointless as it turned out, Grouchy's retreat gave Minister of War Davout and the new French government the option of a battle with the scattered Allied columns before the gates of Paris