near Mons:
More
and more French troops were spotted on the roads leading to Mons.
Major-General Dornberg, of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, had
also made contact with some French Dragoons coming up along the
second road leading into Mons from the south. He estimated the
strength of the enemy in front of him to at least 2,000 cavalrymen
and some 15 guns. As he was rather worried about his left flank,
knowing that unreliable Dutch and Hanoverian cavalry was stationed
there, he decided to rather withdraw to the North of the town and
redeploy there – hoping that more troops would arrive there to
delay the enemy. He knew that cavalry alone would not be enough to
stop the enemy in front of him, as he had seen that there was
infantry following close after the cavalry in front of him.
It
looked as if it would be a rather fluent battle around Mons, with the
Allied forces falling back slowly until their strength was gathered
significantly enough to oppose the advancing enemy on the ground of
their choosing.
At Charleroi:
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The
two batteries deployed to the west of town had opened fire on the
dense French columns on the road, as soon as they had come into
range. 14 x 6 pounders engaged what was soon to be identified as
Engineers of the Imperial Guard. General-Major Pirch of the 2nd
Infantry brigade watched with some worry as the French deployed more
and more guns on the ground to the south of Charleroi, well in range
of his position on the other side of the river. Those guns would also
cause some problems while he withdrew to the north, he pondered.
Nevertheless he decided to make the French pay for every inch of
ground and thus ordered some hundred skirmishers to defend the bridge
leading into town. Supported by his guns, he thought they'd be able
to delay the spotted troops for a bit, while not falling prey to the
soon deployed cavalry. He immediately identified this cavalry as the
“Chasseurs à cheval de la garde impériale” - the mounted guard
chasseurs, with their distinctive red and black bearskins – one of
the most famous units in Napoleon's guard. Behind those units he saw
more units pouring down the chaussee, which looked to be wearing
equally impressive uniforms – so more guards.
He
dispatched a courier to his corps commander and requested permission
to abandon Charleroi, should the enemy decide to press this matter
with superior forces. While he was waiting for a response he already
started getting his wagon train onto the road and ready for departure
towards the north.
Just
at this very moment, after the courier, a young lieutenant under his
command accompanied by a sergeant, had left his position, he saw a
tightly packed column advance against his skirmishers at the bridge.
Supported by what looked to be at least 20 guns now, this column,
which he believed to be at least 200 men strong, advanced towards his
men. Rather than to stand and fight it out, his skirmishers decided
to fall back into the houses to either side of the road, firing as
they fell back. A wise choice, Pirch thought, since there was no
formed infantry nearby to support his skirmishers, simply because he
had considered it unwise to move more units across the river, as he
was certain that sooner or later he would have to withdraw from the
town altogether.
This
quick and well executed attack by the French, however, had robbed
Pirch of his strong forward position and thus he was well aware that
he would soon have to make the decision on whether to engage with his
entire brigade or fall back.
He
knew that there was a strong position on a small rise supported by
some heavy guns of the corps artillery just to the north of
Charleroi, but there were only two brigades of infantry (including
his own) and some very weak supporting cavalry squadrons in the
general area. This would be by far not enough to engage even half of
Napoleon's very strong guard corps. And, the guard used to never show
up on its own – there would be regular infantry close behind it,
General-Major Pirch was sure of it!
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