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Plancenoit 18151815 dadiepiombo40 21-01-2010 8:58 Pagina 10 PLANCENOITPLANCENOIT 18151815 10 di Lorenzo Innocenti Se tutti conoscono la battaglia di Waterloo essi avessero il tempo di concentrarsi a ri- While everyone knows about che pose fine alla carriera di Napoleone dosso delle frontiere francesi e dessero il via the Battle of Waterloo, the Bonaparte come Imperatore dei Francesi per ad una invasioneSample che avrebbe file ripetuto la battle that ended Napoleon’s farlo entrare nella leggenda come esule rele- campagna del 1814 sicuramente con lo stes- career as Emperor of France gato sullo scoglio di Sant’Elena, pochi hanno so esito: la sua sconfitta. and brought him into legend as the exile that invece analizzato lo scontro di Plancenoit Gli unici due eserciti coalizzati già schierati was sent to the rock called Saint Helena, few che fu in tutto e per tutto una battaglia nella a ridosso della frontiera francese e dislocati have ever analysed the Battle of Plancenoit, battaglia, durante quel fatidico 18 Giugno in territorio belga erano quello anglo belga that was a veritable battle within the battle 1815. (circa 93.000 uomini e 204 cannoni) al co- and that took place on that same fateful 18th Per meglio capire come andarono le cose, oc- mando di Lord Wellington dispiegato tra June 1815. corre prima brevemente riassumerne gli ante- Bruxelles, Hal e Nivelles e quello prussiano In order to better understand how things fatti. Napoleone, dopo essere evaso dall’iso- (118.000 uomini con 304 cannoni) del Feld went we must first take a closer look at the la d’Elba dove le potenze coalizzate avevano Maresciallo Blucher avente per base logisti- events that led up to the battle. After esca- sperato di relegarlo, era tornato sul trono di ca la città di Namur. ping from Elba where the coalition had ho- Francia cacciandone i Borboni. Il piano di Napoleone era semplice quanto ped to imprison him, Napoleon retook the I coalizzati - praticamente tutte le potenze audace e ripeteva lo schema adottato in tante French throne from the Bourbons. The co- europee - avevano quindi dichiarato guerra campagne: separare gli eserciti nemici per alition – nearly all the European powers – all’Imperatore dei francesi, ma non al popolo poi batterli in battaglie separate con una su- declared war on the French Emperor but not francese,sperando in questa maniera di sepa- periorità numerica locale: la Grande Armée on the French people, thus hoping to divide rarne i destini. poteva infatti contare su 124.000 uomini e su their destinies. But thanks both to the fame Sia per il prestigio di cui Napoleone godeva 370 pezzi d’artiglieria. which Napoleon enjoyed in France and the in Francia, sia per gli enormi errori commes- Varcata la frontiera nelle prime ore del 15 huge errors that had been committed by the si dai Borboni al loro rientro che avevano in- Giugno, Napoleone riuscì quindi a sconfig- Bourbons when they returned (who had first nanzitutto mortificato l’esercito depurandolo gere parzialmente l’esercito prussiano nella of all humiliated the army by removing all da tutti quegli elementi giudicati “bonaparti- battaglia di Ligny, mancando però l’obbietti- men judged to be “Bonapartists” and cutting sti” mettendoli a mezza paga, il popolo fran- vo del suo annientamento, mentre nel frat- pay by half), the French population mostly cese si schierò (con l’eccezione delle provin- tempo il Maresciallo Ney tentava inutilmen- sided around their own Emperor (except for ce di sentimento monarchico) in gran parte te di impossessarsi dell’importante incrocio the monarchical provinces). intorno al proprio Imperatore. stradale di Quatre Bras tenuto dalle divisioni Napoleon now had to move before his Napoleone a questo punto doveva giocare di Wellington: l’indomani comunque il co- enemy, trying to beat at least part of the co- d’anticipo per cercare di sconfiggere almeno mandante inglese, messo al corrente della alition armies before they had time to re- una parte degli eserciti coalizzati prima che sconfitta prussiana iniziò a ritirarsi verso group on the French borders and invade, so- dadiepiombo40 21-01-2010 8:58 Pagina 11 © ERREGRAFICA La mething which would have had Bruxelles. mattina a similar ending to the 1814 A questo punto del 18 campaign and the same result: Napoleone dette l’incari- Giugno 1815 ve- defeat. co al maresciallo Grouchy deva l’esercito inglese The only two coalition armies already de- di tallonare l’esercito prus- che aveva deciso di dare ployed on the French border and in Belgium siano (ritenuto ormai sconfit- battaglia appoggiandosi ad una were the Anglo-Belgians under Lord to) impedendone a tutti i costi il dorsale di dolci colline che ne ripara- Wellington between Brussels, Hal and ricongiungimento con quello in- va gran parte dello schieramento alla vista Nivelles (around 93,000 men and 204 guns) glese, mentre egli stesso avrebbe di Napoleone e soprattutto al fuoco della sua and the Prussians led by Field Marshall condotto il grosso della Grande Armée potente artiglieria. Blucher who were based around Namur 11 contro Wellington cercando di prendere L’Imperatore perse qualche ora per attendere (118,000 men with 304 guns). Bruxelles e sperando di sconfiggerlo definiti- che il terreno, inzuppato per le enormi piog- Napoleon’s plan was as simple as it was da- vamente, se questi avesse accettato battaglia. ge che erano cadute dal giorno precedente, si ring, and repeated the tactics used in many Napoleone sperava che i due eserciti alleati si asciugasse consentendo così un più efficace campaigns: separate the enemy armies and sarebbero ritirati lungo direttrici divergenti: i utilizzo dellaSample sua potente artiglieria: file i proiet- then beat them in different battles with local prussiani verso Namur e gli inglesi verso tili infatti sparati su un terreno bagnato si sa- numerical superiority: the Grande Armée co- Bruxelles e la costa; invece essi si ritirarono rebbero conficcati in esso, mentre su un ter- unted “only” 124,000 men and 370 guns. parallelamente senza mai perdere del tutto il reno asciutto, sarebbero rimbalzati creando After crossing the border in the early hours contatto. un devastante “effetto bowling”, dove le fan- of the 15th June, Napoleon partially beat the Prussians in the Battle of Ligny but failed to wipe them out completely while Marshal Ney attempted, in vain, to take the important crossroads at Quatre Bras held by Wellington’s divisions: the next day the British commander would retreat to Brussels after hearing about the Prussian defeat. Napoleon ordered Marshal Grouchy to fol- low the Prussian army (that he thought de- feated) and prevent its reaching the British army at all costs, while Napoleon himself would lead the majority of the Grande Armée against Wellington and try to take Brussels, hoping to wipe them out if they ac- cepted open battle. Napoleon thought that the two allied armies would retreat along different routes: the Prussians towards Namur and the British to- wards Brussels and the coast; but they re- treated parallel to each other and never really lost contact. On the morning of the 18th June 1815 the British, who had decided to give battle, de- ployed on a ridge of gentle hills that hid dadiepiombo40 21-01-2010 8:58 Pagina 12 terie nemiche avrebbero ricoperto il ruolo dei most of their numbers from At around 4.30pm the 12,000 men of the 15th ”birilli”. Napoleon’s sight and above and 16th Prussian infantry Brigades left the Egli aveva nel frattempo inviato un messag- all from his powerful guns. woods and were send against the thin French gio al Maresciallo Grouchy contenente l’or- The Emperor lost a few hours lines that, after bitter fighting, inevitably star- dine di manovrare impedendo che qualunque waiting for the ground to dry (it was muddy ted to fall back towards the village of rinforzo prussiano potesse giungere in soc- after the heavy rain) to allow more effective Plancenoit. The village could be seen from corso di Wellington. use of his powerful artillery: shots fired into far off thanks to the tall church tower was at Quello che Napoleone ignorava era che inve- wet ground would just get embedded in the the rear of the French right flank: it’s fall ce il grosso dell’esercito prussiano era riusci- mud, while on dry ground they would boun- would allow the Prussians to surround and to ad eludere l’inseguimento francese e che ce and give a deadly “bowling-ball effect”, crush the Grande Armée already busy against dalla vicina cittadina di Wavre ben tre corpi where the enemy infantry would be the the British lines. d’armata erano già in marcia per arrivare in “skittles”. By around 5.30pm Lobau had lost around tempo sul campo di battaglia di Waterloo a In the meantime he sent a message to Marshal 2,000 men and retreated with the survivors to sostenere gli Inglesi. Grouchy with an order to move and prevent Plancenoit, deploying what was left of the Grande quindi fu la meraviglia Prussian reinforcements from reaching 19th division inside the village, while ele- dell’Imperatore quando verso le 11.30 vide Wellington. But Napoleon didn’t know that ments of the 20th would protect the left flank. sul suo fianco destro comparire in lontanan- most of the Prussian army had escaped the The Prussians appeared; 14,000 men from the za delle colonne di fanteria: erano Prussiani o pursuing French, and three Army Corps were 13th and 14th infantry brigades: the Prussian i Francesi di Grouchy? in fact marching from nearby Wavre to get to columns fought house to house and managed Il dubbio venne quasi subito dissipato dopo the Battle of Waterloo in time to support the to push the French out of Plancenoit at an ex- che una pattuglia del 7° Ussari francese gli British.
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