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→Battle of Ligny
====Battle of Ligny====
====Battle of Ligny====
Napoleon had wished to attack the British first but this was impossible as the Prussians were by now already assembled with 3/4 of their forces in and around the village of Ligny. In a four hour battle Napoleon would earn his last victory. The carnage was great with 11,000 French and 22,000 Prussians dead on the field. Great though the victory was (as the Prussians had more men on the field than the French) it contained all the seeds for the eventual defeat at Waterloo. While the Prussians were defeated they were not routed and proceeded to calmly march off the battlefield with some units not leaving until the next morning. This left a organized and determined army ready to act against the French army.
Napoleon had wished to attack the British first but this was impossible as the Prussians were by now already assembled with 3/4 of their forces in and around the village of Ligny. In a four hour battle Napoleon would earn his last victory. The carnage was great with 11,000 French and 22,000 Prussians dead on the field. Great though the victory was (as the Prussians had more men on the field than the French) it contained all the seeds for the eventual defeat at Waterloo. While the Prussians were defeated they were not routed and proceeded to calmly march off the battlefield with some units not leaving until the next morning. This left a organized and determined army ready to act against the French army.
The retreat of the Prussians was never interrupted, and was seemingly unnoticed by the French.<ref>Chesney, Charles C., Waterloo Lectures:A Study of the Campaign Of 1815 p136 IBSN 1428649883</ref> By nightfall, at about 2100, almost all of the Prussian formations had left the field. On the Prussian right, Lieutenant-General [[Hans Ernest Ziethen|Ziethen's]] I Corps retreated slowly with most of its artillery, leaving a rearguard close to [[Brye]] to slow the French pursuit. On the left, Lieutenant-General [[Johann von Thielmann|Thielemann's]] III Corps retreated unharmed, leaving a strong rearguard at [[Sombreffe]]. The bulk of the rearguard held their positions until about midnight, before following the rest of the retreating army. In fact, Zieten's 1st Corps rearguard units only left the battlefield in the early morning of 17 June, as the exhausted French failed to press on.<ref>Chesney, Charles C., Waterloo Lectures:A Study of the Campaign Of 1815 p136 IBSN 1428649883</ref> Pirchs II Corps followed the 1st Corp off the battlefield and Thielemans III Corps moved last with the armies various parks in tow. It should be noted that the last of III Corps was moved in the morning completely ignored. <ref>Chesney, Charles C., Waterloo Lectures:A Study of the Campaign Of 1815 p136 IBSN 1428649883</ref> [[Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow|Von Bülow's]] IV Corps moved south of Wavre and setup strong rear guard positions for the army to quickly reasemble.<ref>Chesney, Charles C., Waterloo Lectures:A Study of the Campaign Of 1815 p136 IBSN 1428649883</ref> General Blücher was already in communications with General Wellington
===June 17th===
===June 17th===
This day saw the British forces move to the Mont Saint Jean (Waterloo) position and prepare to receive the French attack. The Prussian Army moved to the Village of Wavre with all 4 corps now assembled.
This day saw the British forces move to the Mont Saint Jean (Waterloo) position and prepare to receive the French attack. The Prussian Army moved to the Village of Wavre with all 4 corps now assembled.