Posted 10 years ago
vetraio50
(751 items)
A very different card is this drawing of the Château de Ligny. It is a reminder of Napoléon Bonaparte’s 'Last Victory'. It takes us back just two days before the Battle of Waterloo: June 16 1815.
Going back a bit further to the 13th of March 1815 saw the powers at the Congress of Vienna declare Napoléon Bonaparte an 'outlaw'.
Four days later, the United Kingdom, Russia, Austria, and Prussia promised to put 150,000 men each into the field to end his rule.
So began the 'Hundred Days' that led to Napoléon Bonaparte’s downfall.
Napoléon moved 128 000 men up to the Belgian border and crossed over on June 15 1815. Marshal Ney attacked the Dutch forces on one side at Quatre Bras and Napoléon took on the Prussians at Ligny. Bonaparte defeated the Prussians under the command of General Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher at Ligny and forced a retreat of the allied forces.
Napoleon had 74,800 men and 252 guns.
Blücher had 96,000 men and 224 guns.
It was a savage fight at Ligny. The Prussian casualties were 16,000 killed and wounded and 21 guns lost: approx. 15 % of their strength. The French casualties were 12,000 killed and wounded.
“Ligny was ablaze from end to end. The smoke and heat became insufferable, and the Frenchmen and Prussians moved in a grimy, reddish haze. The battlefield became hell on earth. Every street, building, and garden was disputed - bayonets and musket butts were the weapons of choice. The Old Guard entered Ligny and swept everything before them with the bayonet, moving like a raging bull with lowered head.”
http://www.napolun.com/mirror/napoleonistyka.atspace.com/Ligny_1815.htm
The town of Ligny was almost obliterated. The Château of the Counts of Looz was the scene of a siege.
This is one of only a few images of the feudal castle of Ligny.
Today not a stone of it remains!
Ligny was the scene of a Pyrrhic victory for Napoléon. Two days later and the Allied forces regrouped at Waterloo for a final bloody battle. Ligny is just 30 km or 20 miles away from Waterloo.
This is a bi-lingual card published by E. G. a Belgian firm that I believe is E. Grégoire.
so sad that nothing remains of this stuuning place , very beautiful!!! :)
Yeah I know but no one cared for the ruins. It was still recognisable until 1825 but then it was used as a quarry for building new homes nearby. The site had no historical significance at the time. It was a bitter memory.
Many thanks SEAN!
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Your very welcome Kevin!!! and thankyou for sharing this !!
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AND TO YOU TOO SEAN!!!
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Great post!
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I went back to brush up on 'my Waterloo', as I remembered that the Prussian Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt, Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshall) of the Prussian Army -- aka "Marschall Vorwärts" / 'Marshall Forwards' because he characteristically pushed forward relentlessly and agressively -- and his troops had suffered grievous losses at Ligny, and that they might not have made Waterloo in time to assist Wellington had not the Field Marschall rallied from his injuries, dispatched some of the Prussians to Wellington, and then with the rest of his men, driven forward himself through extremely deep mud to Waterloo. I seem to recall that the English came to despair of the Prussians arriving in time, and that Wellington would have - all things being equal - lost to the French at Waterloo had not "Marschall Vorwärts" and company arrived. Here's a para from "Wiki" that describe's the Marschall's injuries at Ligny, and how he rallied to resume his 'Forwarding' towards Wellington and victory against Napoleon.
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Hundred Days and later life
After the war he retired to Silesia, but the return of Napoleon from Elba soon called him back to service. He was put in command of the Army of the Lower Rhine, with General August von Gneisenau as his chief of staff. In the campaign of 1815, the Prussians sustained a serious defeat at the outset at Ligny (June 16), in the course of which the old field marshal was repeatedly ridden over by cavalry and lay trapped under his dead horse for several hours, his life saved only by the devotion of his aide-de-camp, Count Nostitz. He was unable to resume command for some hours, and Gneisenau drew off the defeated army and rallied it. After bathing his wounds in brandy, and fortified by liberal internal application of the same, Blücher rejoined his army. Gneisenau feared that the British had reneged on their earlier agreements and favored a withdrawal, but Blücher convinced him to send two Corps to join Wellington at Waterloo.[6] He then led his army on a tortuous march along muddy paths, arriving on the field of Waterloo in the late afternoon. With the battle hanging in the balance Blücher's army intervened with decisive and crushing effect, his vanguard drawing off Napoleon's badly needed reserves, and his main body being instrumental in crushing French resistance. This victory led the way to a decisive victory through the relentless pursuit of the French by the Prussians. The allies re-entered Paris on July 7.
Prince Blücher remained in the French capital for a few months, but his age and infirmities compelled him to retire to his Silesian residence at Krieblowitz. He retained to the end of his life the wildness and tendency to excesses which had caused his dismissal from the army in his youth, but these faults sprang from an ardent and vivid temperament which made him a leader of people. While by no means a military genius, his sheer determination and ability to spring back from errors made him a competent leader.[7] He died at Krieblowitz on September 12, 1819, aged 76. After his death, an imposing mausoleum was built for his remains.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gebhard_Leberecht_von_Bl%C3%BCcher
Alas, I cannot finish this splendid series this morning, as duty calls. I'll be back!
Many thanks for your comments on old "Marschall Vorwärts"!
Onwards and upwards Blücher?
Ah, here I return to the scene of the crime. Sorry! I was unable to return in timely fashion. I have loved these Belgian postcards and your scintillating commentary. I seem to visit CW nowadays in the fashion of a 'hit and run' accident. Thank you very much for your forbearance! Especially with the cake basket. I don't care much for Art Nouveau, finding only the organic 'whiplash' of the poor flowers congenial. Grossly ignorant comment of mine on your cake basket. Should think before I comment. Loved the 'Victorian' form of basket (originally English form), loved the 'Louis Carroll' head - just thought that the flowers weren't suffering enough to be 'best' Art Nouveau. What nonsense! Please pardon this nonsense - it was unintentional! Have tried to find the manufacturer of the basket, by the way - unsuccessfully. I did find some interesting Gorham pieces from the period that featured heads more similar to your 'Carroll head' than any other period heads I have encountered, but not close enough to merit mentioning. It was the lack of marks on the basket that originally inclined me to seek an American maker. But enough. I sincerely apologize, and sincerely thank you,
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