On 16 June 1815, two days before Waterloo, Napoleon fought two battles at once in present-day Belgium. At Ligny he beat Blücher's Prussians, who escaped north; at Quatre Bras Marshal Ney and Wellington fought to a standstill at a crossroads. Each battle has its own full story below.
Ligny, 1815
Napoleon attacked Blücher's Prussian army along the Ligny stream, and after an afternoon of fighting in the villages the Imperial Guard broke the Prussian center at dusk. Blücher was trapped under his dead horse, but much of his army escaped north to fight again at Waterloo.1
Read the full story of Ligny, 1815 ›Quatre Bras, 1815
Marshal Ney attacked the Anglo-Allied army at the crossroads of Quatre Bras, held in the morning by a Dutch-Belgian division until Wellington's reinforcements arrived. The battle ended in a stalemate at nightfall, and Ney's fight kept d'Erlon's corps away from Ligny.2
Read the full story of Quatre Bras, 1815 ›
