WAVRE (1815) Battle Report
Often mentioned only as a footnote to Waterloo, the Battle of Wavre was fought on the same day, by Napoleon's newest marshal. Emmanuel Grouchy's reputation suffered greatly as a result of his failure to contain the Prussians at Wavre, allowing Blucher to bring most of his army to Waterloo at a critical juncture late in the day. But how difficult was Grouchy's task? Could you do any better and save Napoleon? This scenario was designed to find out.
1:00pm: Our scenario begins earlier in the afternoon than the historical battle, allowing the French player a chance to demonstrate his more aggressive approach. Our French commander sent Vandamme's III Corps down the road to Wavre, in the heart of the Prussian defensive line. [Below: The battlefield of Wavre in the early afternoon]
1:30pm: There is a bit of a long-jam along the muddy road, so Vandamme fans his troops out into the fields, deploying them into a line of battle. Ineffective Prussian artillery fire fails to slow the French advance. Behind the banks of the Dyle River, the Prussians wait patiently. They are deployed to cover four of the five river crossings, with about 2,000 cavalry held in reserve.
1:00pm: Our scenario begins earlier in the afternoon than the historical battle, allowing the French player a chance to demonstrate his more aggressive approach. Our French commander sent Vandamme's III Corps down the road to Wavre, in the heart of the Prussian defensive line. [Below: The battlefield of Wavre in the early afternoon]
1:30pm: There is a bit of a long-jam along the muddy road, so Vandamme fans his troops out into the fields, deploying them into a line of battle. Ineffective Prussian artillery fire fails to slow the French advance. Behind the banks of the Dyle River, the Prussians wait patiently. They are deployed to cover four of the five river crossings, with about 2,000 cavalry held in reserve.
2:00pm: Vandamme's lead division charges head-long into the town of Wavre, only to be repulsed by Prussian regulars, backed up by a Landwehr reserve formation. Elsewhere along the front, the rest of Vandamme's corps has fanned out to threaten the two river crossings near Wavre. Back on the muddy road, Exelman's cavalry has arrived and appears to be trotting for the western-most crossing at a the village of Limale.
2:30pm: Undeterred by his initial repulse, Vandamme orders a second attack on Wavre. One of his brigades barely manages to gain a foothold across the river. The Prussians are forced back! But von Thielemann is not ordering his cavalry to bolster this part of the line. Instead, he directs them west to cover the distant river crossing at Limale, now threatened by French cavalry.
[Right: Vandamme forces a crossing of the Dyle] 3:00pm: A furious Prussian counter-attack at Wavre drives the French back across the river, while Prussian batteries pound the oncoming columns with fire. Vandamme has a tough afternoon ahead.... |
3:30pm: The see-saw continues with Wavre changing hands a fourth time. Hubert's division takes the lead and secures the town--maybe for good this time? A more fluid picture develops to the west, where Grouchy has sent all of his cavalry and Gerard's newly-arrived IV Corps to cross the river and cut behind the Prussians, hopefully to get on the road to Waterloo! Napoleon needs help! But Grouchy's initial probe across the river is beaten back with heavy losses by Stengel's thin defensive line.
4:00pm: Predictably, Wavre changes hands...AGAIN. Desperate to regain the town, a brigade of Landwehr manage to get the job done. This is fast becoming a costly piece of real estate, with both sides bleeding manpower somewhat fruitlessly. It now appears the battle will be decided by events at the western crossings, several miles from Wavre. Stengel continues to hold fast, but Exelman's cavalry have found an undefended crossing and they splash across the Dyle!
4:00pm: Predictably, Wavre changes hands...AGAIN. Desperate to regain the town, a brigade of Landwehr manage to get the job done. This is fast becoming a costly piece of real estate, with both sides bleeding manpower somewhat fruitlessly. It now appears the battle will be decided by events at the western crossings, several miles from Wavre. Stengel continues to hold fast, but Exelman's cavalry have found an undefended crossing and they splash across the Dyle!
4:30pm: It is now late in the afternoon--probably too late to save Napoleon--but Grouchy doesn't know that. He must be pleased with the direction of the battle, because Hubert's exhausted division has taken Wavre (yes, again) and Exelman's cavalry are across the river, clashing with the outnumbered Prussian hussars. Most spectacularly, Gerard's corps has broken through the center of the Prussian line, crossing the river at a mill and blowing a huge hole in Theilemann's front!
Victory Objectives:This was a much bloodier affair than the historical battle (about 8,000 total casualties), and Grouchy ended the afternoon with a nice tactical victory. But he failed to get any troops on the road to Waterloo in time to stop Blucher's army on the march.
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Marshal Grouchy's Report
Unlike the actual Grouchy, I knew two key pieces of information before the battle: (1) I had to make something big happen before 5pm; and (2) I had the Prussians outnumbered by over 2-to-1.
Armed with this hindsight, my plan was to use Vandamme's corps to fan out and threaten as many crossings as possible, which would thin out the Prussian line. Meanwhile, my considerable reserves of cavalry and infantry would race immediately for the western crossings, toward Waterloo.
Frankly, the plan worked exactly as I intended. The Prussians had to defend a wide front, and over time I broke through their line in multiple places. But much to my disappointment (and amazement), the afternoon was over before I could say "Viva l'Empereur!" and I wasn't able to cover the five miles needed to reach the board exit for Waterloo. After playing this scenario, I have no idea how Grouchy could have been expected to stop Blucher's departure--unless he acted much sooner than the afternoon of June 18. If I played the scenario again, I could have sent Vandamme's corps immediately west. This would have saved me two turns of movement, but also would have allowed the Prussians to concentrate west, as well. I doubt this strategy would have changed the final result, but maybe we'll play it again and find out!
Armed with this hindsight, my plan was to use Vandamme's corps to fan out and threaten as many crossings as possible, which would thin out the Prussian line. Meanwhile, my considerable reserves of cavalry and infantry would race immediately for the western crossings, toward Waterloo.
Frankly, the plan worked exactly as I intended. The Prussians had to defend a wide front, and over time I broke through their line in multiple places. But much to my disappointment (and amazement), the afternoon was over before I could say "Viva l'Empereur!" and I wasn't able to cover the five miles needed to reach the board exit for Waterloo. After playing this scenario, I have no idea how Grouchy could have been expected to stop Blucher's departure--unless he acted much sooner than the afternoon of June 18. If I played the scenario again, I could have sent Vandamme's corps immediately west. This would have saved me two turns of movement, but also would have allowed the Prussians to concentrate west, as well. I doubt this strategy would have changed the final result, but maybe we'll play it again and find out!