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On the Prussian front

— Napoleon's return to prominence in 1815 was an ugly surprise to other Western European powers. The Battle of Waterloo decided the rest.”

Napoleon’s return to prominence in 1815 was an ugly surprise to other Western European powers, which raised armies almost immediately the word was out.

Napoleon himself was past his best, yet in his arrogance he convinced himself that he could take on the British and the Prussians separately and defeat them both.

On 18 June, his forces were smashed and by nightfall he was heading for Paris, where he would eventually face imprisonment and exile.

This walk follows some of the countryside through which the Prussian armies approached, en route to the Waterloo battlefield from Wavre. A different walk near Waterloo covers the battlefield itself.

• Walking route: Ohain – Lasne – Couture-Saint-Germain – Ohain (loop) detailed commentary
• Distance: 12km
• Original route by Gert Sonck at Originele wandelingen in België

Detailed commentary

Larger map of this route

1. Leave the main square of Ohain left along the rue de l’Eglise Saint-Etienne. Descend onto the Route de la Marache and follow it as far as the Auberge de la Roseraie, at which point leave the road straight and follow Path 72, the “Sentier du Champs d’Ohain”. The path crosses the Smohain then through woodland and beside a field.
2. On reaching Path 9 – the “Chemin du Bois des Pauvres” – follow it to the right. It’s joined from the left by the “Sentier d’Aquinot” but just continue straight. Across a road take Path 65 through a pasture, the “Sentier du Monument Prussien”. Cross the next road and continue on Path 65 through a field in the direction of trees. Pass the monument and cross over the road at the end, still on Path 65, into a pine wood.
3. Cross the Route de l’Etat and continue on Path 65 to the right along the bank of Lasne. Avoiding the private road left, go straight on Path 26 – the “Sentier du Petit Champ” – as far as the road of the same name and turn right onto it, going as far as the Church of Couture-Saint-Germain. Turn left at the corner with the church door and onto a cobbled road, the Rue de la Chapelle Saint Germain.
4. Turn right and ignore Path 25 in favour of Path 23 straight ahead along the edge of a field to the opposite corner. Another small cobbled road then right onto the Rue du Village. At house number 51, go left towards a cemetery but just before that take the right Path NR19, the “Sentier de la Sapinière”.
5. Descend as far as the gateway of an abbey and turn right onto another descending path, as far as the river Lasne. Cross the river and turn left by a mill go into a large meadow. Follow the line of the river all the way to the very end of the pasture and turn right to reach the Route de l’Etat again. Safely follow it left as far as the old station junction.
6. Turn right on the junction and immediate right again onto a cobbled road, the Rue de Payot. At the head of the first bend, go right on Path 51 – the “Chemin de Faweyat” – running between pastures. At the road, go left and follow the cul-de-sac Tienne à Tout Vent. At house number 11 the road runs out, so follow Path 52, the “Sentier à Tout Vent”. The path goes more or less straight over a field to field to a junction of roads at which turn left onto a track.
7. Ignoring Path 44, turn right soon after onto the “Chemin de la Bruyère”. The Butte du Lion is now visible off to the left. Stay on the path as far as a crossing at the edge of woodland, at which take the right fork onto Path 54, the “Sentier du Camp du Colombier”. Follow it around the edge of the woodland and cross over the road (Rue du Fichermont), continuing on Path 54 through fields.
8. On reaching a whitewashed farmhouse turn left onto the Chemin du Bois du Greffier. Follow it straight downhill as far as the Rue de Genleau and turn right uphill onto that. Take the first left on the Chemin du Cheval de Bois and at the junction turn left again onto the Rue Baron de Xavier, going uphill on cobblestones. At the junction turn left onto the descending Rue Beau Chêne and asphalt.
9. As the Rue Beau Chêne bends to the left by the driveway of house 22, turn right onto Path 59, the “Sentier La Marmite”. Beyond the last house, the path runs between fences and comes beside the river Smohain, which must be crossed twice before rising to a path through the woods and the road beyond (Rue Pechère) onto which turn left.
10. At the end of the street take Path 66 between fences, the “Sentier du Pré des Ornois” and later cross over the Rue d’Aquinot with the Smohain on the left. Cross the Route la Marache and go straight between stables and a golf course. Follow Path 79, the “Sentier du Bois” across a field and diagonally to the left corner of the field. Follow the marked path between fences through the wood.
11. About two hundred meters on, follow the path to a right turn doglegging onto Path 62, the “Sentier du Pontceau”. This path is not always completely clear as it heads down through the Bois d’Ohain but keep the church of Ohain in view and eventually head out of the woods. Path 62 continues between rear gardens and a pine wood back to the Route de la Marache and the Auberge de la Roseraie.