page_title: Waterloo campaign: Ligny through Wavre to Waterloo
section_title: Prussians take possession of Wood of Paris
hierarchical_section_title: Waterloo campaign: Ligny through Wavre to Waterloo / Wavre to Waterloo, 18 June / Prussians take possession of Wood of Paris
caption_attribution_description: English: " Chateau of Frischermont. It was on this spot, that Sir T. Picton received his death. Here, also, through the woods, the Prussians under the command of Bulow came up, towards the close of the battle".
context_page_description: After their defeat at the Battle of Ligny the Prussians successfully disengaged and withdrew to north to Wavre where they reorganised and then three corps advanced westward to attack the right flank of the French army at the Battle of Waterloo. The French were desultory in the aftermath of Ligny. Napoleon wasted the morning of 17 June by taking a late breakfast and going to see the previous day's battlefield before organising a pursuit of the two Coalition armies. He took the reserves and marched with Marshal Ney in pursuit of the Duke of Wellington's Anglo-allied army, and he gave instructions to Marshal Grouchy to pursue the Prussians wherever they were going and harry them so that they had no time to reorganise.
  Both Napoleon and Grouchy assumed that the Prussians were retreating towards Namur and Liege, with a view to occupy the line of the river Meuse, and so during 17 June Grouchy sent the bulk of his cavalry ranging in that direction as far as Perwez. In his despatch to Napoleon written at 22:00 he was still thought that most of the Prussian army was retreating north-east, although he by then realised that two Prussian corps were heading north towards Wavre.
context_section_description: Since the reconnaissance patrols had been pushed forward, early in the day and successfully established communication with the Anglo-allies, it then became desirable to explore the ground that lay more to the right front of the Prussians, in the direction of the right flank of the main French army, in order to ascertain the nature of any precautionary measures adopted by Napoleon to impede the junction of the two Coalition armies. Major Lützow, of the staff, was sent upon this duty, with a detachment of the 2nd Silesian Hussars; and on reaching the Wood of Paris, he not only found this unoccupied, but discovered that no steps whatever had been taken by the French to cover and secure their right flank. A Prussian troop of Hussars advanced beyond the Wood of Paris, to a point near Frischermont, whence it had a good view of both the French and Anglo-allied dispositions and movements; and where it was not even menaced by the approach of any hostile party.
  As Major Lützow, fully alive to the importances of speedily occupying the Wood of Paris, was returning to communicate the above intelligence to Blücher, he met General Grolman, the Quartermaster General of the Army, to whom he immediately explained how matters stood: when this officer directly pushed forward the Silesian Hussars and two battalions of infantry from Bülow's vanguard, to take possession of the wood; these troops having just crossed the defile of Saint-Lambert. Grolman at the same time sent a message to Blücher, suggesting that the 15th and 16th brigades should be ordered to follow the vanguard as soon as they should be collected on the Waterloo side of the defile.
caption: Châteaux Frischermont, shortly after the Battle of Waterloo.
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