perate with my left wing, under the
command of Marshal Ney, against the English."

The Emperor did not reach Fleurus until close on 11 a.m., and was
undoubtedly taken aback to find Grouchy still there, held in check by
the enemy strongly posted around Ligny. Grouchy has been blamed for
not having already attacked them; but surely his orders bound him to
wait for the Emperor before giving battle: besides, the corps of
Gerard, which had been assigned to him was still far away in the rear
towards Chatelet.[484] The absence of Gerard, and the uncertainty as
to the enemy's aims, annoyed the Emperor. He mounted the windmill
situated on the outskirts of Fleurus to survey the enemy's position.

It was a fair scene that lay before him. Straight in front ran the
high-road which joined the Namur-Nivelles _chaussee_, some six miles
away to the north-east. On either side stretched cornfields, whose
richness bore witness alike to the toils and the warlike passions of
mankind. Further ahead might be seen the dark lines of the enemy
ranged along slopes that formed an irregular amphitheatre, dotted with
the villages of Bry and Sombref. In the middle distance, from out a
hollow that lay concealed, rose the steeples and a few of the higher
roofs of Ligny. Further to the left and on higher ground lay St.
Amand, with its outlying hamlets. All was bathed in the shimmering,
sultry heat of midsummer, the harbinger, as it proved, of a violent
thunderstorm. The Prussian position was really stronger than it
seemed. Napoleon could not fully see either the osier beds that
fringed the Ligny brook, or its steep banks, or the many strong
buildings of Ligny itself. He saw the Prussians on the slope behind
the village, and was at first puzzled by their exposed position. "The
old fox keeps to earth," he was heard to mutter. And so he waited
until matters should clear up, and Gerard's arrival should give him
strength to compass Bluecher's utter overthrow while in the act of
stretching a feeler towards Wellington. From the time when the Emperor
came on the scene to the first swell of the battle's roar, there was a
space of more than four hours.

This delay was doubly precious to the allies. It gave Bluecher time to
bring up the corps of Pirch I. and Thielmann under cover of the high
ground near Sombref, thereby raising his total force to about 87,000
men; and it enabled the two allied commanders to meet and hastily
confer on the situation. Wellingto