La Haye Sainte

The farm of La Haye Sainte was built before 1536 by the Moitomont’s family from Braine l'Alleud. In 1618 they sold the farm to Jean Glibert. At that time the farm had 60 hectares of fields and meadows. The farm has been sold and gone through a couple of family heirs since then but at the time of Waterloo, the farm was rented to a man called Pierre Moreau. Moreau fell into despair having seen the farm after the battle and from 18th August 1815 until late into the 19th century the farm was in habituated by the family of Martin Viseur. In 1889 Théodore de Dobbeleer moved in and his descendants still run the farm to this day.

The whole complex of the farm of La Haye Sainte measured about 360 yards long and 80 yards wide. The farm consisted of a series of white washed outbuildings and walls made from red brick around a cobbled courtyard which was a typical layout in that farming region. The main entrance stood parallel on the Brussels road where the main gate was vaulted by a small roof.  On the inner side on top of the main gate was a dovecot. Going right of the main gate of the farm were a few small pigsties. On the Left hand side of the gate near the corner of the south/east wall was a small duck pond and a little further on a large barn with a grey slated roof with which was attached to the southern/western wall of the farm.

Through this barn there was a passage way for carriages, and it was for this reason that the barn had two gates, one in the east and one in the west-side. The first one ended in the courtyard, the second one in the fields adjoining the farm. In the northern part of the farm was mostly formed by the 17th century dwelling-house. Between this house and the pigsties was a small door leading out to the main road. This door too was covered by a small roof.  There were no windows on the east wall of the house. On the southern side of the house there are two doors the main door has some stone steps leading into the house. There are three large barred windows. On the grey slated roof there were two rows of dormer-windows; those of the upper row, four, were a bit smaller than those in the lower row, three in all. There was a large chimney stack on the east side of the roof with two smaller chimneys on the north and south side. On the northern side of the house there was a covered brick porch with another three large barred windows. The roof was the same as the south side.

Against the house there was a small stone construction, containing a natural well, which has since the battle dried up. In the same wall there were a door and three larger and one smaller barred window’s. On the west side of the house was formed by stables which continued in an L-shape towards stables on the west side and which ended at the large barn. The front of the stables were directed towards the courtyard there were ten doors, smaller square openings and some larger rectangular ones. The extreme south end of the stables was formed by a vaulted gate, which led from the courtyard to the fields on this side of the farm. The northern wall of the stables probably contained a few openings but there were no windows on the west wall. In 1815 the roofs of buildings might have been covered with red slate tiles.

The farm itself measured 60 yards long and 50 yards wide. On the north side of the farm there was a kitchen-garden which was bordered by hedges on its north and west side. On the east side there was a single storey dwelling perhaps a gardener’s cottage.  It had a pointed roof with grey slated tiles with white walls. Between the garden and the farm building itself there was a small open area and a terrace. The kitchen-garden measured 70 yards wide and 40 long.  

In 1815 there was an orchard on the south side of the farm; it leaned against the Brussels road and its east side was a bit longer than her west side. Having a width of 80 yards, here it measured 200 yards long. The orchard was completely bordered by a hedge, except for its north side facing the farm. Today, the orchard is a meadow and there are still some hedges on the south and eastern sides of the field.

La Haye Sainte stood in the middle of Wellington’s line during the battle of Waterloo and was situated on the Charleroi to Brussels road nearly a mile from Hougoumont. During the battle the farm escaped relatively unharmed; only the barn had been set on fire during the battle. This is the reason why it has kept so many of its original features.

The first soldiers to occupy the farm were the Hanoverian Light Infantry on the evening of 17^th June. In the pouring rain they killed all of the livestock and ducks that were in the farm yard and they ripped down the doors to the barn and the main doors to the courtyard for firewood to cook with. They also raided the wine cellars in the farm house. The Hanoverians moved out in the early morning of the 18^th.

To take their place the King’s German Legion were told to hastily fortify the farm in the morning of the battle. The troops were from the 2^nd Light Battalion commanded by Major Georg Baring and a part of the 1^st Light Battalion of the KGL. Although the barn doors had been pulled down and used as firewood, the main gates to the complex were still in-tack and put back into place.

All of Barings pioneers had been ordered to go to fortify Hougoumont and so that left him to do the best he could, making loop holes with their bayonets and firing steps from anything they could find against the farms inner walls.

Major Baring posted three of his six companies in the orchard, two in the buildings and one in the garden. Baring was supported by the ½ Nassau Regiment and the light company of the 5^th Line battalion of the KGL during the battle.

Both Napoleon and Wellington realised the importance of the farms position and it was fought over and around for most of the day.

The first attack came from d’Erlon’s Corps at about 1 pm marching in columns the French stormed towards the orchard while a second French battalion column headed past the orchard for the main farm buildings itself. Threatening to be cut off the 200 riflemen among the fruit trees ran back to the wide open barn, Major Baring's horse collapsed with a broken leg. The riflemen pushed pass the French at the west barn entrance in a fierce scuffle and thanks to the men in the farm yard passing forward loaded Baker rifles to those in the barn, they were able to produce unbroken fire that the French didn’t dare enter the farm.

The French managed to surround La Haye Sainte and despite taking heavy casualties from the farm, they attached the centre of  Wellington’s line.

At 3 pm Napoleon ordered Marshal Ney to capture La Haye Sainte, while he was engaged with the 8,000 cavalry attack on the allied squares on the Brussels side of the ridge. He then failed to take the farm.

At 5.30 pm Napoleon re-issue orders for Ney to take the farm as the French had by then worked up close to the buildings by this time. By 8 pm Marshal Ney, heavily supported by artillery and some cavalry which was left after the failed charge, took personal command of the infantry regiment and with a company of engineers, captured La Haye Sainte after a furious assault.

The light battalion of the KGL which occupied the farm, had used up all of its ammunition and had to evacuate and retreat. Wellington was unable to send in reinforcements as they were still in square over the ridge. The French had manged to bring up some guns and started to fire from the farms cover, but riflemen of the 95^th who were in the sand pit to the east of the farm, started to pick the gunners off and the guns soon fell silent.

By 7 pm thanks to the French garrison in La Haye Sainte, the imperial Guard was able to climb the ridge and attack the allies on the Brussels side of the ridge. This final attack was beaten back and then it became a rout an hour later as the French army realised that the Prussians were coming fast from the east. During the French retreat, La Haye Sainte was recaptured some time before 9 pm when Blucher met Wellington at La Belle Alliance.

The Storming of La Haye Sainte by Richard Knotel

La Belle Alliance

 

On the morning June 18th 1815, Napoleon moved his headquarters from at Le Caillou, which is also the same place where he had spent the night passed the farm of Rossomme and moved up the road north to La Bella Alliance which was a small inn south of Brussels. This is where he spent most of his time at the Battle of Waterloo and where the Old Guard were deployed. This was at the centre of Napoleon’s line and he had a good view of the valley and of the battlefield around him. Late afternoon the Inn became a dressing station for the French soldiers but it was hit a few times when the Prussians advanced from Plancenoit.

 

After the battle at around 9pm, the Duke of Wellington and Blücher met close to the inn. Blücher suggested that the battle should be remembered as la Belle Alliance, to commemorate the European Seventh Coalition of Britain, Russia, Prussia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Sardinia, and a large number of German States who had all joined the coalition to defeat the French.

Wellington, who had made the decision to stand his ground near Waterloo and commanded the allied army which had been in action all day with the French, instead recommended Waterloo, the village just north of the battlefield, where he had spent the previous night. The Duke commenting that it would not do to name the battle after the enemy’s command post. Nevertheless in 1815 the Rondell plaza in Berlin was renamed Belle-Alliance-Platz to commemorate the victory against the French.

 

 

Today, the building is currently a night club.

Frischermont

Not much is known about the hamlet of Fichermont at the time of Waterloo which was on the far left of Wellington’s position, but during the morning of the 18th June it was defended by the 2nd Dutch division commanded by Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar before his pickets were forced to abandon the hamlet by a French patrol at about 10.30am.

The old name of the chateau is Frischermont, but nowadays the name of Fichermont is used although there are several other versions can be found.

The first time the chateau has been mentioned in history was back in the year 1250. In that year Léon, seigneur in Brussels, approved of the donation of 1.75 hectares of land, at Fichermont, to the Abbaye of Aywiers.

At the end of the 17th century Antonie Xavier, maitre de camp and brigadier of the cavalry in Spanish service had the title of Seigneur of Fichermont. After his death at the battle of Seneffe in 1674, the territory of Lasne was established as a barony.

His descendants sold the chateau on 21st January 1805, with four hectares as garden to a Brussel lawyer called Jean Charles de Hardy de Beaulieu.

The chateau as it stood in 1815 probably dated from 1550 and its remains probably still existed in the early 12th century.

The chateau was made up by a series of buildings, comprising of the chateau and a farm, formed in 1815 in a rectangular shape of about 80 x 50 meters around a large cobblestone courtyard. It consisted of two wings with some annexes.

In its southwest corner was a huge barn with a high vaulted gate opened in a wall which connected the barn to the house. The front of this part was flanked by a large square tower, which had no windows, only loopholes. Each side of the tower was in turn crowed by a very small tower. This tower was situated in the northeast corner of the complex.

The tower and the adjoining buildings dominated the track which led in a steep slope towards la Marache. The chateau and the barn were on the north-west and south-west side of the courtyard. On the north side the complex was bordered by a garden and a park. High trees surrounded the whole complex which formed a small triangular wood but today the chateau is in ruins.

By midday of the 18th June, Prussian officers had been watching the French through their telescopes for several hours. Major. von Falkenhausen, leading a patrol of Prussian Uhlans, went as far as the main Brussels road south of La Belle Alliance, behind Napoleon's entire army. Farther north, General von Valentini, Bulow's chief of staff, together with few adjutants, entered Fichermont and encountered a farmer, who was seized, set on an artillery horse, and made to accompany the Prussians to the edge of the wood. As they made their way the ripening grain in the fields was taller than a man, and a few British deserters could be glimpsed walking back from the field of battle. Valentini pushed on beyond it (Fichermont wood), dismounted and studied the horizon with telescope. Here and there he spotted a few French sentries, but none of them thought to look to the right, in his direction.

The first Prussian corps to arrive was Bülow's IV Corps. His objective was Plancenoit, which the Prussians intended to use as a springboard into the rear of the French positions. Blücher intended to secure his right upon Frichermont using the Bois de Paris road. Blücher and Wellington had been exchanging communications since 10am and had agreed to this advance on Frichermont if Wellington's centre was under attack. French cavalry patrols were attacked and dispersed. Bulow then sent 2 battalions to link up with Wellington and protect his exposed flank. The Fusiliers of the18th and Fusiliers of the 3rd Silesian Landwehr marched toward Frichermont, Smohain and Papelotte. The Prussian infantry met the Nassauers and opened fire. The Nassauers replied and the musketry continued for 10 minutes before both sides realized their mistake.

General Bülow noted that the way to Plancenoit lay open and that the time was 16:30pm. Bulow writes: "It was half past four in the afternoon, when the head of our column advanced out of the Frichermont wood. The 15th Brigade under Gen. von Losthin deployed quickly into battalion columns, throwing out skirmishers. The brigade's artillery, along with the Reserve Artillery (of Bulow's Corps), followed up rapidly, seeking to gain the gentle ridge." Hiller's 16th Brigade moved out to the left. Prussian cannonballs began falling not far from Napoleon, some hit La Belle Alliance filled with wounded French soldiers. Napoleon turned his telescope in the direction the shots came from. Also about this time, the famous French cavalry attack was in full flow, charges by Domont's and Subervie's lancers and chasseurs slowed down the Prussian advance. One of the lancer regiment was led by Col. Surd who previous day after the combat at Gennappe had one arm amputated but insisted on maintaining command of his unit.
The cavalry charges were followed by a skirmish battle between the French and Prussian infantry. General Mouton's VI Army Corps was outnumbered by the Prussians and to prevent outflanking his right wing Mouton began retreating.

The French infantry tried to halt the Prussians with a very strong skirmish line but one of the Prussian battalions moved up and deployed, continually trying to force their way forward. Bulow writes: "The enemy disputed every foot of ground, but not with any great determination. Six battalions of the 16th Brigade now came up to assault Plancenoit. They formed three attack columns next to each other, with 2 battalions of the 14th Brigade following up in support. Just as this brigade formed up behind the 16th, the 13th Brigade under Gen. von Hake arrived and moved up behind the 15th."

The 15th Brigade IV Corps was sent to link up with the Nassauers of Wellington's left flank in the Frichermont-La Haie area with the brigade's horse artillery battery and additional brigade artillery deployed to its left in support. Napoleon sent Lobau's corps to intercept the rest of Bülow's IV Corps proceeding to Plancenoit. The 15th Brigade threw Lobau's troops out of Frichermont with a determined bayonet charge, then proceeded up the Frichermont heights, battering French Chasseurs with 12-pounder artillery fire, and pushed on to Plancenoit. This sent Lobau's corps into retreat to the Plancenoit area, and in effect drove Lobau past the rear of the Armee Du Nord's right flank and directly threatened its only line of retreat. Hiller's 16th Brigade also pushed forward with six battalions against Plancenoit. Napoleon had dispatched all eight battalions of the Young Guard to reinforce Lobau, who was now seriously pressed. (See The Battlefield Plancenoit)

 

Hamlet of Frischermont

 

Plancenoit

 

Plancenoit is a large village in Belgium 1.3 miles NW of Waterloo and it was a key strategic point during the battle of Waterloo, as it was the main focal point of the Prussians’ flank attack on Napoleon’s army on the 18th June.

The village of 1815 had around 500 inhabitants and they had all fled their homes the day before the battle. In the middle of the northern part of the village lying on a gentle slope, stood an 13th century church called St Catherine made of white stone it had a church yard surrounded by a low stone wall.

St Catherine’s was severely damaged during the battle and it was demolished but rebuilt in 1857 and was designed by an architect called Coulon. The southern side was mainly flat with most of its buildings made of wooden like huts with straw roofs. Plancenoit had a main cobblestone street which ran from east to west and was divided by a stream.

 

 

The first Prussians to arrive on the Waterloo battlefield was General Von Bülow’s IV Corps at about 3.00 pm after a long march from Wavre. His orders from Blücher were to secure the village so that Blücher could launch an attack into the French right flank.

When Napoleon learned of the Prussian arrival on the field, Napoleon sent Lieutenant General Lobau’s French VI Army corps to oppose them.

First the Prussian 15th Brigade of Von Losthin some 6,000 men, attacked the French deployed in Frichermount with a bayonet charge they managed to push them out. They then pushed on to attack the French Cavalry and artillery on the heights.

Von Hiller’s Prussian 16th Brigade then moved forward to take possession of Plancenoit at 16.30pm pushing Lobau’s Corps out of the village. With General Von Bülow’s men in Plancenoit, the 15th Brigade linked up with the Nassau Brigade which was on Wellington’s left. 

Lieutenant General Lobau counterattacked Plancenoit in an effort to win back the village. Napoleon on hearing the Plancenoit had been taken sent his 8 Battalions of the Young Guard to reinforce the French VI Army Corps and to push the Prussians back. After some bitter fighting the Young Guard managed to retake Plancenoit only to be counterattacked and driven back out. To stabilise the situation Napoleon sent 2 Battalions of his Old Guard. They attacked with their bayonets and after another fierce fight they recaptured the village without firing a single shot.

 

 

The Prussians were still not giving up the village so likely, and with a combined grouping of around 30,000 men under General Von Bulow and General Prich 1 attacked Plancenoit again against 20,000 Frenchmen who were in and around the village. The Old Guard and the other supporting troops were able to hold on for over an hour before a massive Prussian counterattack evicted them after some ferocious and bloody street hand to hand fighting. Plancenoit was fought over around five times that day and each time the wounded and dying on both sides were bayonetted to death. The last to leave was the Old Guard who defended the burning church and cemetery. The French casualties were horrific; for example it is said that the 1st Tirailleurs of the young Guard suffered 92% losses while two-thirds of Lobau’s Corps ceased to exist.  

In June every year, the village plays host to an annual re-enactment of the battle. A monument in the village commemorates the Prussian troops who died in the battle.