ten o'clock in the evening
Zieten , who was in command of the Prussian corps d'armée , defended the bridges at these three points stoutly , and then contested every foot of the ground , his cavalry making frequent charges ; so that at the end of the day the French had only advanced five miles . This stout resistance enabled Blucher to bring up two out of his other three corps , Bulow , whose corps was at Liege , forty miles away , receiving his orders too late to march that day . The rest of the Prussian army concentrated round the villages of Fleurs and Ligny . Accordingly at ten o'clock in the evening orders were issued by Wellington for the third division to march at once from Braine-le-Comte to Nivelles , for the first to move from Enghien to Braine-le-Comte , and for the second and fourth divisions to march from Ath and Grammont on Enghien . No fresh orders were issued to the troops round Brussels ; and although it was known at the ball that the troops were in readiness to march at a moment 's notice , there were none except the generals and a few members of the staff who had an idea that the moment was so near at hand . The regiments stationed at a distance from Brussels were assembled in the park by ten o'clock in the evening ; then arms were piled , and the men permitted to fall out . Only a few lighted fires , for the night was warm .