ORIGINAL: Chickenboy
ORIGINAL: warspite1
ORIGINAL: Orm
And the fact that Blucher held is promise and showed up in time.
warspite1
Not really. Unless my memory is fading he was considerably later than the 2pm he promised Wellington. Don't get me wrong, the Prussians presence was important - but Wellington stood based on the promise that the Prussians would arrive - it wasn't the case (as some like to portray) that Wellington was lucky the Prussians turned up.
I think shared credit for a near run thing is in order. But for the presence of the Prussians, the day would have been lost. They allowed a combined victory where none would have existed. Why is that so hard to acknowledge?
warspite1
I have no
certain knowledge that the day would have been lost without the Prussians (no one does) - although on the basis that it was a close run thing with them (even if they were late to the party, Napoleon still had to take action from around 1pm when they were seen in the distance) it would seem possible that at best the two sides would have fought themselves to a standstill in the absence of the Prussians and - depending on whether Napoleon exploited the opportunity - may even have won the day.
However, there is one thing of which I do have certain knowledge. The revisionist idea that Blucher and the Prussians
won the battle. That is as ridiculous as not giving the Prussians any recognition for their part in the victory. It rather ignores the contribution of the British, German and Dutch-Belgians that had been fighting the French for hours. If the Prussians
won it as some authors now like to tell us, it rather begs the question what was going on between 11:20am and 3:30pm when the Prussians first engaged the French on the extreme left?
Wellington knew the limitations of his army - the lack of cavalry and artillery amongst them. It wasn't 'lucky' for Wellington that Blucher happened to show up to save the day, he fought on the basis that Blucher would arrive and his men - German, British and Dutch-Belgian - were fighting and dying long before the Prussians arrived.
So to be clear. What I rail against is not the idea that the Prussians did not play a part in the victory - it is the absurd notion that they alone won it - and that Wellington was lucky because he hadn't planned for the Prussian arrival.