Battle of Wavre Battle of Wavre The Battle of Wavre was the final major military action of the Hundred Days campaign and the Napoleonic Wars. It was fought on 18–19 June 1815 between the Prussian rearguard, consisting of the Prussian III Corps under the command of General Johann von Thielmann (whose chief-of-staff was Carl von Clausewitz) and three corps of the French army under the command of Marshal Grouchy. A blocking action, this battle kept 33,000 French soldiers from reaching the Battle of Waterloo and so helped in the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. Following defeat at the Battle of Ligny two days
British Army during the Napoleonic Wars clashed, but because brigades and even regiments were rarely exercised in battlefield manoeuvres and tactics, they were inferior in larger numbers. Wellington in particular was highly unimpressed by the quality and intelligence of many of his cavalry officers. He said: During the wars, many émigré units were formed from refugees from countries occupied by France, and from among deserters and prisoners of war from the French armies. The oldest of these was the 60th Regiment, which had originally been raised in 1756 for service in America, and which had long been composed primarily of Germans. During the Napoleonic Wars, most