If he had done so we might have started at one o'clock to-day, and should have been in line with the Prussians to-morrow.

I suppose he thought Blucher would send, and Blucher thought he had sent; and so between them nothing was done, and we only got the news at seven o'clock this evening.

Nine precious hours thrown away.

It is just a blunder of this sort that makes all the difference between failure and success in war.

Had the message been sent, we and the Dutch divisions and the troops from Braine le-Comte might all have been up by the morning.