Which battle fought on 16 June 1815 was a French victory over the Prussians?

The Battle of Ligny was the French victory over the Prussians fought on 16 June 1815. Napoleon’s Army of the North defeated Field Marshal Gebhard von Blücher’s Prussian army near the villages of Ligny and Saint-Amand in what is now Belgium.

Napoleon attacked because he wanted to separate the Prussian and Anglo-Allied armies before they could support each other. Fierce fighting continued through the afternoon, especially around Ligny village. In the evening, Napoleon committed the Imperial Guard and broke the Prussian centre, forcing Blücher to withdraw.

The victory was important but incomplete. The Prussian army was badly battered, yet most of it retreated in relatively good order. Napoleon mistakenly believed the Prussians were moving east, while they regrouped around Wavre and later marched to Waterloo. Ligny was therefore a French tactical victory—and the last battlefield victory of Napoleon’s career—but it did not destroy the Prussian army.