Waterloo 1815 (1): Quatre Bras

The approach of the bicentennial of the Battle of Waterloo has increased interest in the preliminary battles of Quatre Bras and Ligny. Napoleon's plan to separate the Allied armies of Wellington and Blucher, and to defeat them in detail, hung in the balance on the morning of 16 June 1815. Marshall Ney, newly appointed commander of the Left Wing of the French Armee du Nord, moved toward the vital crossroads of Quatre Bras. Napoleon himself accompanied the Right Wing toward the Prussian position around the village of Ligny."Waterloo 1815 (1)" is an Osprey Campaign Series book, the first of three on the Waterloo Campaign. The author of the trilogy is historian John Franklin; illustrations are by Gerry Embleton. Franklin methodically walks the reader up through the preliminaries of Napoleon's return from Elba and the Allied strategy against him. The narrative addresses the opposing commanders and their forces and plans before diving into the Battle of Quatre Bras itself. Franklin avoids the still lingering controversies in favor of a straightforward dissection of the battle. The text is accompanied by an excellent selection of maps and diagrams explaining the battle, along with some choice period and modern illustrations.At the end, the stage is set for the movement of Wellington's forces from Quatre Bras to Mont St. Jean. Ligny is addressed only in a limited way; that story for the next volume. The author does discuss the wanderings of D'Erlon's Corps on the afternoon of the 16th, and its failure to weigh in effectively on either battle. Well recommended as a solid introduction to the Battle of Quatre Bras and the Campaign of Waterloo.

This book was a disappointment. Given that this year would see a plethora of books on the Belgian campaign of 1815, this book held some promise of being an excellent account, but it fell short.First, Napoleon is shown under the sub-title of ‘Opposing Commanders’ when he was not present and was fighting his own battle against a numerical superior Prussian army at Ligny on the same day. That being the case, Marshal Ney, who is listed, should have been accompanied with the corps commanders subordinate to him at Quatre Bras-General d’Erlon, the commander of the French I Corps, General Reille, the commander of the French II Corps, and the commander of the III Cavalry Corps, General Kellermann (the Younger). Giving more space to these three principal commanders on the French side would have been very helpful.Second, Napoleon is described as both ‘maniacal’ and being ‘convinced of his own infallibility.’ Both characterizations are off the mark and seem to me to depict a lack of study of Napoleon’s character and a residual reliance on the allied and English propaganda of the period. Having studied Napoleon and the Grande Armee, as well as the period in general, for over forty years, I have never seen anything by Napoleon where he considered himself ‘infallible.’ To my mind, using a term such as ‘maniacal’ is nothing but psychobabble and has no place in a historical study.Third, the inclusion of a cavalry action by the two dragoon regiments belonging to the III Cavalry Corps is not supported by any evidence whatsoever. In the narrative, they come onto the field before their commander, Kellermann, and Guiton’s cuirassier brigade. This apparently did not happen. No other source supports the idea-neither Henry Houssaye’s work on 1815, William Siborne’s nor John C Ropes histories of the campaign, nor any other that I have read on the subject. If ‘new’ evidence has been found, then it should have been referred to in the text as foot-or endnotes were not used. Andrew Field’s new work on Quatre Bras from the French perspective specifically states that the dragoons were not present and that the idea undoubtedly came from the fact that one of the two cuirassier regiments in Guiton’s brigade were not wearing cuirasses during the campaign. At a distance or in the blood, mess, and confusion of combat could have been mistaken for French dragoons. Further, in Scott Bowden’s work on the Armies at Waterloo there are no casualties incurred by the two dragoon regiments, the 2d and 7th. Not only were they not engaged, but if they reached the battlefield at all it was after 1800.Lastly, there are no casualties listed for either army, which is a major fault. The information is readily available and should have been included in the text. This volume is average at best and could have been much better. As it is, it cannot be used as a reference for further study or for anyone searching for a source for the battle. The volumes named above are highly recommended and should be consulted for Quatre Bras before this one.

This work is presented beautifully, and is well illustrated with maps and artwork. The orders of battle are extremely useful, as is the analysis of the decisions by the high commanders. However, I have several issues with this book. I grew very tired of constantly reading Willem, Hereditary Prince of Orange Nassau. I know who the Prince of Orange was and I did not need to be reminded that he was the hereditary prince. The next issue is that the author referred to General Kellerman as the Duke of Valmy throughout the book. He was, but not until the death of his father in 1820. In 1815, he was the future 2nd Duke of Valmy. And last, while I realize that Mr. Franklin is a noted historian, and has researched many Dutch records, he seems to absolve the Prince of Orange from several mistakes that have been attributed to him by previous historians, and I would have liked a more thorough explanation. But all in all, a very good read, and a valuable addition to the library of any student of the period.

As usual from Osprey Publishing this is welcome addition to my military history library.Waterloo was such a complex campaign which involved all of the European powers in one way or another. This volume focuses on the chance confrontation at Quatre Bras. In the days when intel was collected and disseminated on horseback or carrier pigeon, armies could move unnoticed and be very close to each other unless cavalry sortes spotted them.

This is an invaluable source for the wargamer - concise text that captures key moments and turning points in the campaign. Great illustrations and useful, clear and accurate maps. Good value for money. Highly recommended. Buy the series to understand Napoleon's final campaign!

A good overview of this prelude to Waterloo.

The usual style as these books go. Nothing special.

Excellent

A surprisingly good read. John Franklin has an established reputation as an author writing about the 1815 campaign; and although i bought the e-version solely because of the low price, I really enjoyed it( And yes, I do have a shelf full of recently published books on 1815). The Campaign format lends itself well to shorter subjects; and Mr Franklin has used the space well. He has nowhere resorted to the "In a book this size you can only do so much..." cop out sadly seen in some other Campaign works. I recommend his "Ligny" in the same series. By splitting "Waterloo" into its three component parts, he has allowed himself enough space to cover the first two battles in detail. I have not yet invested in the third volume, but will now consider it. Good maps, as we expect from Osprey.

I purchased the digital version and the maps are poorly scanned. I would prefer if they were presented as a single map that can be zoomed as required, as the segmented versions in this book are awful. The maps and illustrations are one of the key features and it is a big let down to see them treated this way. Do yourself a favour and only purchase the hard copy version.

This is the meticulous book on Quatre Bras that we have been waiting for decades. Many others are poorly researched or full of gaps. I recommend it without hesitation. However no one in the past 200 years has mentioned French Dragoons penetrating as far as the crossroads. It is a pity no footnotes are provided to explain were this new fact has come from. The format of Osprey books often is forced to omit footnotes due to space and once again this I'll serves the reader.

Very good story easy to follow and ducking the odd musket ball.Great read.

downloaded straight away and a very good read