The Bois de Bossu is long gone. Nevertheless it played a major role during the battle of Quatre Bras and dominated the terrain. So what did it actually look like?
Back in 2008 I made my first large battlefield walks on the site and was accompanied by a friend whom I had met through our mutual interest in computer wargames from Talonsoft and playing the battles of Ligny, Quatre Bras and Waterloo and the many what-if scenario's. We learned we had much more in common and one day decided to drive down south to the famous crossroads.
This friend is Marco Bijl and besides his love for wargaming he is also a professional forestry expert. I later asked him if he was willing to give his ideas of what the Bois de Bossu had looked like in 1815, of what type of trees and shrub, etc. it was composed. All this to form a better understanding of where the fighting inside the wood had taken place. Well, Marco has written a short and very interesting analyses which will be presented in Volume Two!
You may perhaps also be interested Marco Bijl is writing a novel about the experiences of his forefather Evert Roelof Bijl, who served as a sergeant in the 8th National Militia Battalion in 1815.
