Ligny

a village in Namur Province, Belgium, where on June 16, 1815, Napoleon I defeated General G. von Blũcher’s Prussian Army.

With a view to defeating the Prussian troops before they joined the Duke of Wellington’s Anglo-Dutch Army, which was staying at Quatre Bras, Napoleon launched his main forces (68,000 to 72,000 men and 210 guns) against Blũcher’s army (84,000 men and 216 guns) at Ligny. At the same time he ordered Marshal M. Ney’s group (42,000 to 44,000 men) to occupy Quatre Bras, which was an important road junction, and crush the English troops. In the course of the engagement the French broke through the Prussian front and forced them to retreat. But because General d’Erlon’s French corps did not succeed in cutting off the road of retreat to Blũcher’s troops, the Prussian Army was not defeated and later played an important role in Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo. The Prussians lost more than 20,000 men and 40 guns, and the French lost about 11,000 men.