MARSHAL NEY AT QUATRE BRAS: New Perspectives on the Opening Battle of the Waterloo Campaign

1-215300

Fought on 16 June 1815, two days before the Battle of Waterloo, the Battle of Quatre Bras has been described as a tactical Anglo-allied victory, but a French strategic victory. The French Marshal Ney was given command of the left wing of Napoleon's army and ordered to seize the vital crossroads at Quatre Bras, as the prelude to an advance on Brussels. The crossroads was of strategic importance because the side which controlled it could move southeastward along the Nivelles-Namur road. Including 16 illustrations and a central plate section.

Yet the normally bold and dynamic Ney was uncharacteristically cautious. As a result, by the time he mounted a full-scale attack upon the Allied troops holding Quatre Bras, the Duke of Wellington had been able to concentrate enough strength to hold the crossroads. Ney's failure at Quatre Bras had disastrous consequences for Napoleon, whose divided army was not able to reunite in time to face Wellington at Waterloo.