"To the guns" Ney - Waterloo 1815
It is around 4 p.m. and the 13th Cavalry Division with its almost 1,200 horsemen, consisting of the 1st, 4th, 7th and 12th Cuirassiers, under General Comte Pierre Watier, begins to climb the plateau.
Napoleon had previously ordered Marshal Ney to launch a major attack on La Haye Sainte at around 3:30 p.m.
For this, Ney assembled two brigades of the 1st Corps, the 13th and 14th Heavy Cavalry Divisions and the two brigades of light cavalry of the Imperial Guard.
In La Haye Sainte, Major Baring, who had received two companies of the 1st Light Battalion of the King's German Legion as reinforcements, entrusted them with the defense of the garden, while the rest of his troops took up positions in the buildings.
As the French columns advanced, they came under heavy rifle fire, but this did not stop their progress.
When Wellington saw the approaching French, he reinforced his line and formed his center into squares.
In front of these squares of 18,000 infantry, Wellington positioned 56 guns with strict orders to fire as many shots as possible at the advancing enemy and then withdraw into the squares.
As soon as the French turned around, they were to renew their fire on the retreating enemy.
At the same time, Ney noticed signs of a retreat by the Allied troops.
However, these were only troops escorting French prisoners and wagons full of wounded.
Ney immediately ordered his cavalry to attack the supposedly retreating Allies in order to break through between La Haye Sainte and Hougoumont.
At around 4:00 p.m., approximately 5,000 cavalrymen began galloping through the valley toward Wellington's center. The British gunners waited until the French cavalry was about 100 meters away and then opened fire with all their guns, mowing down almost the entire front line and then withdrawing into squares. The Allied soldiers in their squares formed a massive wall of bayonets, which the French desperately tried to break through. The Allies were able to hold their position against several French attacks.
The idea for the small diorama came to me from a vignette by Mike Blanks.
Marshal Ney with his staff, the ADCs, Colonel Heymes, Colonel Crabbe, and Ched de Escadron Levasseur begin their ascent to the plateau to attack the British artillery positions.
The small scene was intended to depict as many different French cavalry units that took part in the first attack as possible.
Cuirassiers as well as mounted hunters and lancers of the Imperial Guard.
Moderator
Supporting Member (Bronze)
