After presenting Wellington's Anglo-Allied army in the two previous volumes, this part presents the treatment of the Prussian ally. In addition to the English and their allies from Holland, Belgium, Hanover, Brunswick and Nassau, the Prussian army of the Lower Rhine, four army corps strong, under the charismatic leader Blücher, also opposed Napoleon's troops. It acted independently under its own command and played a decisive role in the victory over the French troops in June 1815. This volume contains a description of the Battle of Ligny on 16 June 1815, which was fought in parallel with the Battle of Quatre Bras (see Volume 2 of the series). At Ligny, the Prussian troops met French formations under the direct command of Napoleon, who wanted to exploit the strategic advantage of separating the Prussians from Wellington's troops. He did not succeed, however, as the Prussian formations were able to withdraw in an orderly fashion in the evening, opting for a route of retreat that allowed decisive intervention during the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815. Two maps from Siborne's rare atlas facilitate an understanding of the course of the Battle of Ligny. As in the previous two volumes, the plates by artist Charles Lyall are critically annotated using today's knowledge of uniform studies. A detailed description of the organisation and uniforms of the Prussian troops in 1815 completes the work. This volume thus fills the longstanding gap of a comprehensive work on the Prussian army of 1815, despite several special publications.
Group
Books (first-hand)
Title
Uniformen der Armeen von Waterloo. Band 3: Preußische Armee
