Hi Bernard,

[Bit of a SPOILER here so fair warning to those who haven’t yet read the book] I’m currently reading ‘Waterloo’ and on pages 48 and 49 you raise an interesting point: why did news of Napoleon’s advance through Chaleroi take ten hours instead of four? Wellington claimed the courier who delivered such reports had to be ‘the fattest in all the Prussian army’ as reasons for such lateness! However, I’m wondering whether the Duke feigned ignorance, playing it coolly and calmly, just as when he’d discovered he’d been ‘humbugged’ whilst attending the Duchess of Richmond’s ball (which as you pointed out had become a convenient command HQ as most senior army personnel were already nearby). Besides the fact he wanted to remain in place to safeguard his route of reinforcement – and line of retreat – he wasn’t really certain which way Napoleon would jump. Possibilities of feints, false or erroneous reports, rumours, all clouded that vital issue of where the main attack would come. But do you believe Wellington told a ‘white lie’ in order to buy more time for his troops to prepare? He wasn’t one for rash action, more calculated strategy, and took matters at a more cautious pace. Normally, the Prussian army prided itself on exemplary standards; it could be that the Prussian messenger had trouble reaching Brussels (having to skirt round French patrols, for example) rather than a lax attitude towards duty. Whether he received any report from Chaleroi, at 9am or 3pm, do you think Wellington feigned ignorance to sit back, prepare, and to draw the French in to a battleground of his choosing?

Robert Douglas