As the clouds of imminent war against Napoleon thicken, the story continues with the cantonment of the Dutch-Belgian cavalry near the French border and takes an ominous turn when hostilities break out.
“More information about a possible French build-up was now reaching general HQ which left little doubt that a French attack might be expected soon.
On June 12 th, De Constant Rebecque received a detailed quantitative list of all the French troops cantonned in the Maubeuge region from a deserted French officer. It even contained an estimate of the quality of the French forces: “ l´infanterie est généralement en très bon étât. Sa cavalerie manque des chevaux non plus que les cavaliers ne sont pas exercés. On estime que la cavalerie du corps ci-dessus mentionné ne formerons, au plus, le suprême. Quant à l´artillerie de campagne elle est plus nombreuse et meilleure qu´on ne croit. Bonaparte compte beaucoup sur elle. Il a bien cinq cent bouches à feu à l´armée..˝. In total the entire French army counted some 227.000 men. The Dutch Secretary of State Fagel concluded that on the basis of the French officers estimate, Napoleon had left Paris and that he would push for an attack on Namur on the 10 th. This statement left the allies guessing about Napoleon´s main attack: was it Namur to the east or Mons to the west?
On June 13 Collaert reported in a letter to de Constant Rebecque that General van Merlen had captured a French deserter of the 5 th Lancers, who told his interrogators that “on the 12th of June Napoleon had passed the review of his troops at Maubeuge and that Napoleon had spent the night at Avesnes and also that the 5 regiments of lancers with three companies of horse artillery were supposed to pass the Sambre today”.
On the same day, Major de Paravicini of Van Merlen´s brigade reported to headquarters that according to General Dornberg at Mons, who was in his turn informed by General von Zieten in Charleroi, French troops under the orders of General van Damme were in Maubeuge. General Behr of the Dutch garrison in Mons, reported that the Division of Reille was also concentrating on Maubeuge in the evening of the 12 th of June and that this could mean that the French were preparing for a military operation.
The various reports from Van Merlen's men were quickly passed on to the general headquarters of the Prince of Orange. These and other reports confirmed the impression at the prince's headquarters that Napoleon would soon strike and most likely via the road Charleroi-Quatre-Bras-Brussels. No changes were made in the appointed alarm positions, which would place the brunt of the Netherlands troops in front of or in the flanks of a French advance straight towards Brussels, either via Mons or via Charleroi.
General de Constant Rebecque noted in his diary on June 14 th 1815: “ Bonaparte will spend the night today at Beaumont, and his whole army is present between Solre-sur-Sambre and Florennes, ready to throw itself on Charleroi”.
