he had chosen was about to throw in the way of his retreat", and again on page 207 — "The position of Mont-Saint-Jean was ill-chosen. The first requisite of a field of battle, is, to have no defiles in its rear. The injudicious choice of his field of battle, rendered all retreat impossible." However, Napoleon's view was contradicted by Jomini, who pointed out that Wellington had good roads behind his centre and each wing which would have made a retreat through the forest safer than across an open field: Napoleon's cavalry would have been hampered by the forest in their attempts to turn any retreat into a rout. Some have argued that there was no bottom to the forest and it would not have hampered an extraction given Wellington's superlative expertise in handling an army disengaging from the enemy, while others have suggested that Wellington if pressed intended to retreat eastwards towards Blücher's Prussian army so the interior of the wood was of little military significance. See also Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos Rood-Klooster (Rouge-Cloître) Groenendael Priory List of Waterloo Battlefield locations Enfants Noyés Nature Reserve, a nature reserve in the Sonian Forest References External links Sonian Forest Platform (in Dutch and French) Forests of Belgium Urban forests in Belgium Geography of Brussels Geography of Flemish Brabant Geography of Walloon Brabant Tourist attractions in Brussels Tourist attractions in Flemish Brabant Tourist attractions in Walloon Brabant Waterloo Battlefield locations Auderghem Hoeilaart La Hulpe Overijse Sint-Genesius-Rode Tervuren Uccle Waterloo, Belgium Watermael-Boitsfort Woluwe-Saint-Pierre Primeval Beech Forests in Europe