"army on the march " Topic

Did the armies use only the main roads between cities and towns ? Were the secondary field roads used too ?

Armies used whatever roads they could. Maps were always a problem and making sure that different roads went where their commanders wanted.
Stepehn

roads were usually reserved for artillery and waggons

I know Blucher's Prussian army used several parallel roads during the march toward Waterloo and against Napoleon's flank.

Was Napoleon's army approaching Waterloo marching along one highway ?

Yes, armies could use the minor tracks, but the only roads suitable for heavy military traffic (ie all the wagons and artillery) tended to be the highways.

There is only one such road from from Quatre Bras to Brussels, but there are lots of horrible muddy cross country tracks which Bluchers army slogged along.

As noted above, even when following a road, the infantry tended to march in the fields either side.

For strategic movement, armies needed a highway to carry their wagon traffic, siege trains etc.

For (grand) tactical movement, they could use minor paths or go cross-country. However, this might limit what artillery they could bring with them, and would be associated with greater attrition in the form of fatigue, disorder, stragglers, guns bogged down or wheels broken, etc. I've just been reading about Scherer's French army doing exactly that while retreating across the Adda to escape the Austrians, and how this cost him heavy losses of all kinds and harmed the army's morale and turned them against him.

Chris

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