Quatre-Bras

Quatre-Bras, a village of Belgium, about 10 miles SSE. of Waterloo, situated at the intersection of the great roads from Brussels to Charleroi, and from Nivelles to Namur, whence its name ('four arms'). On 16th June 1815, two days before the battle of Waterloo (q.v.), Quatre-Bras was the scene of a desperate battle between the English under Wellington and the French under Ney. The honours of the field remained with the former; but the severe defeat of Blücher the same day at Ligny compelled Wellington to retreat. The loss on the English side was 5200, on the French 4140, amongst the Allies being the Duke of Brunswick, the gallant chief of the Black Brunswickers. A monument to his memory, a bronze lion 10½ feet high, was erected in 1890.