Battle of Ligny
The Battle of Ligny, fought June 16, 1815, was a French victory under Napoleon against the Prussian army under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher in the Napoleonic Wars. It was Napoleon's last victory.
Ground
The Prussians had deployed along the Ligny Brook. They held all the farmhouses, and looked in a more or less good defensive position. However, Blücher had overstretched his left flank, and exposed his right to the French artillery.
Battle
Between 1430 hours to 1500 hours, Napoleon started his attack. He ordered his III and a bit of II Corps to attack St. Amaund, a farmhouse, and attacked Ligny itself.
The first attacks on Ligny were not successful at first, but the French evantually got through. The St. Amaund attack was more successful. The French broke through, but were still resisted by the Prussians. They rid the place of Prussians at 1700 hours.
Then, some troops were spotted on the Prussians' left flank. This could not be Michel Ney - he was meant to come on the right.
They turned out to be D'Erlon's I Corps. But just as they were about to get there, to the emperor's rage, they turned around. Ney had called them to his front. In the end, the I Corp's got nowhere. Had they been on either front, whichever side would have won and driven the British and the Prussians out.
Due to the confusion, the Prussians regrouped and tried one last counterattack. It didn't work. In the end the Prussians were routed and fled when the Imperial Guard attacked them.
Conclusion
Had Ney or even only D'Erlon's Corps come, the battle surely would have been won and the British and the Prussians driven out. However, all that was managed was the slaughter of 30,000 men or so and the dragging on until 18th June, Waterloo.
