Description
Waterloo medal 1815 bronze rare no ribbon but superb condition,
Napoleon expected Ney to occupy the Quatre Bras cross-roads during the afternoon of the 15th of June
1815. For some unexplained reason, Ney failed to do so. One of Wellington‘s officers, the Prince of SaxeWeimar, arrived at Quatre Bras with a small force of infantry and guns. Recognising the importance of the
cross-roads, Saxe-Weimar remained there.
Prince Bernard of Saxe Weimar was the commander of the second brigade of the Dutch Second Division. It was his brigade that was the first to arrive at Quatre Bras, and joined later by the First Brigade, they held the cross roads there for some 24 hours until reinforced by Wellington late in the afternoon on the 16th. The battle of Quatre Bras is somewhat overshadowed by the much larger affair at Waterloo a couple of days later. If Wellington was ‘humbugged’ by Napoleon in the opening stages of the campaign, it was the Dutch Brigades that initially saved the day at Quatre Bras and handed back some degree of initiative and contol to Wellington. Some commentators have said that the holding action by these two brigades of the Dutch 2nd Division was one of the most important actions by any of the coalition brigades in the whole of the Waterloo Campaign.
Karel_Bernhard_van_Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach
Following the Battle of Quatre Bras, Prince Bernhard commanded the Dutch Forces holding Wellingtons far left wing, including the important farm houses at Papelotte, Frischermont and La Haie. Papelotte was temporarily taken by the French but subsequently recaptured. The Dutch forces here were also responsible for linking up with the Prussians although my understanding was that there was some initial ‘Blue on Blue’ action before the two armies were joined to advance against the French!
