81. Schedule Your Battles Wisely

Part II, Book 1, Chapter 11

A Bad Guide for Napoleon, a Good Guide for Bülow

So who was the commander of the line of bayonets that just appeared? To Napoleon’s immense disappointment, it was not Grouchy.

Now, I know that it’s pronounced something like “Groo-shee,” but I see “Grouchy” and all I can picture is this guy:

The footnotes informed me that Grouchy was the commander of the French reserve cavalry, and he did not appear to save Napoleon’s ass at Waterloo because he was busy following Napoleon’s own orders to pursue the retreating Prussians from the Battle of Ligny, which had only happened two days previously, and which Napoleon had won. I think there’s a lesson here in not scheduling your battles too close together.

So no, the bayonets were not Grouchy’s men, they were Blücher’s. Who was Blücher? Off I go hunting around in the footnotes again! (Usually I follow the footnotes in real time as I read each chapter, but there were SO MANY footnotes thanks to the sheer number of Battle Facts that Hugo dumped on us that I just gave up.)

Ah, Blücher was the leader of the Prussian army, and is one of Wellington’s allies. Okay, I’m caught up now.

While Napoleon’s guide screwed up (or sabotaged him), the guide to Bülow, Blücher’s second-in-command, came through for the Prussians, and sent them on a path that, very importantly, did not result in them getting blocked by a gully. Hence the title of the chapter.

In the same way that I marvel at fate when I catch a flight in the nick of time, Hugo marvels at the fortuitous timing that ended up deciding the Battle of Waterloo. For Bülow, he tells us, barely made it to the battle on time, having hit numerous delays (one of which was that the French had set a street on fire, which is Peak French); and if it hadn’t rained and the battle had begun earlier, Napoleon would have won and been mopping the floor with Wellington by the time Blücher showed up.

In any case, Blücher and Bülow (I gotta say, it’s hugely confusing that both these guys’ names start with Bs and contain the Us with the little umlauts) saved the day by the seat of their pants. Bülow’s forces were weak and waiting for reinforcements, but Blücher saw his buddy Wellington in trouble and sent Bülow in anyway with the instructions, “We must give the English army some air.”

Aww, that’s the power of friendship!