20th June 1815
Following his victory at Planchenoit the previous day Napoleon issued new orders to Grouchy requiring him to continue the pursuit of Blucher's Brussans towards Louvain and Maastrich.
In the meantime the rest of the Armee du Nord advanced on Brussels which they occupied withut resistence by late afternoon. Intelligece reports from cavalry patrols and other sources indicated to Napoeon hat Wellington had retreated on Antwerp where the remnants of his army were now concentrating having gained two days march on the Armee du Nord thanks o Blucher's stand at Planchenoit and Grouchy's failure to disentangle himself in a timely manner from the battle of Wavre in which he had managed to become embroiled.
Napoleon had indeed won the first phase of the 1815 campaign but thanks to faulty French staffwork he had failed to win the decisive victory he had been aiming for. Brussels had fallen and both Wellington and Blucher had been badly mauled. Wellington in particular had suffered severely with a large portion of the Dutch Belgian contingent being destroyed or deserting. The British and other German contigents had also suffered severely. However, the French had suffered significant losses themselves during the five days of campaigning and were naring exhaustion.
Grouchy's pursuit of Blucher on the 20th was a slow and laclustre affair with no magor contacts and a few cavalry skirmishes. Napoleon needed to give his mai army, now conccentrating around Brussels before resuming operations. Napoleon was aware that the Russian and Austrian armies were closng on France's Eastern borders and needed to give careful consideration as to whether to continue operatiobns in Belgium in the hpe of winning a decisive victory against Wellington or Blucher or, alternatvely, whether he would now march to defend France's eastern Frontier.
Late in the evening a stormy meeting between Napoleon and his senior commanders including Soult, Ney, and the recentl promoted Marshal d'Erlon discussed the pros and cons of th strategic options now available to France.
Following his victory at Planchenoit the previous day Napoleon issued new orders to Grouchy requiring him to continue the pursuit of Blucher's Brussans towards Louvain and Maastrich.
In the meantime the rest of the Armee du Nord advanced on Brussels which they occupied withut resistence by late afternoon. Intelligece reports from cavalry patrols and other sources indicated to Napoeon hat Wellington had retreated on Antwerp where the remnants of his army were now concentrating having gained two days march on the Armee du Nord thanks o Blucher's stand at Planchenoit and Grouchy's failure to disentangle himself in a timely manner from the battle of Wavre in which he had managed to become embroiled.
Napoleon had indeed won the first phase of the 1815 campaign but thanks to faulty French staffwork he had failed to win the decisive victory he had been aiming for. Brussels had fallen and both Wellington and Blucher had been badly mauled. Wellington in particular had suffered severely with a large portion of the Dutch Belgian contingent being destroyed or deserting. The British and other German contigents had also suffered severely. However, the French had suffered significant losses themselves during the five days of campaigning and were naring exhaustion.
Grouchy's pursuit of Blucher on the 20th was a slow and laclustre affair with no magor contacts and a few cavalry skirmishes. Napoleon needed to give his mai army, now conccentrating around Brussels before resuming operations. Napoleon was aware that the Russian and Austrian armies were closng on France's Eastern borders and needed to give careful consideration as to whether to continue operatiobns in Belgium in the hpe of winning a decisive victory against Wellington or Blucher or, alternatvely, whether he would now march to defend France's eastern Frontier.
Late in the evening a stormy meeting between Napoleon and his senior commanders including Soult, Ney, and the recentl promoted Marshal d'Erlon discussed the pros and cons of th strategic options now available to France.
