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my, few troops were visible; but it ought to have been supposed, as the event proved, that they were concealed in the gorge which divided the plateau from the forest, and in the forest itself.

The head-quarters of lord Wellington were at Waterloo, in the rear of his lines, which stretched, as we have seen, across the roads of Brussels and Nivelles.

Scarcely had the French troops formed when Bonaparte, who had placed himself on the top of an eminence a little distance from the farm where he had spent the preceding night, on the right of the road, and from which he could distinguish every movement, gave orders for the fire to open. He walked along with folded arms, a little in front of his staff, who were grouped behind him. The whole day was blustering and at intervals rainy.

The 2d corps was placed on the left and marched against the farm of Hougoumont. The 1st rested its left upon the road, and attacked the centre; the 6th held the right. The guard was in reserve upon the heights. The cavalry was dispersed upon these different points; but its strongest columns were with the wings, particularly the right.

Towards noon the first cannon were fired from the French line, and numerous tirailleurs were detached to bring on the action. The left briskly attacked the farm of Hougoumont, the walls of which had been perforated by the infantry that occupied it in force and fought with extreme obstinacy. At the same time battalions and squadrons attacked the masses placed behind the farm and who continually reinforced it. After an hour's fighting, the English appeared to retire a little, and the

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French drew nearer; the artillery advanced, along the whole line, and the columns followed.

It was soon after announced that strong masses were to make a charge with the bayonet upon Mount St. Jean, whilst the cavalry on the wings was to debouch and attack the pieces of artillery which appeared but weakly supported. We waited impatiently for this important movement, the success of which, we promised ourselves, would be complete; but it was delayed by the obstinacy with which the English maintained the vil lages that covered their wings. They continually sent battalions to reinforce the farms of Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte; these our cavalry several times dispersed on their march. The villages, however, though assaulted with unexampled vigour, still held out. Wearied at last with so many fruitless efforts to expel the troops which occupied Hougoumont, we determined to fire it, and at the same moment fresh forces were dispatched against La Haye Sainte, who after a long and bloody combat, succeeded in getting possession. At every point the battle raged, with equal impetuosity on both sides. The artillery was mak. ing frightful havoc.

The points on which the wings of the English army rested being now carried, the French crossed the ravine and approached the English line, which poured upon them a deluge of balls and grape. The cavalry charged on the flanks. A formidable column of attack advanced towards Mount St. Jean, whence issued a most destructive fire. As the cavalry rushed forward to the plateaux to carry the artillery, they were charged in turn by the cavalry of the enemy which had concealed itself in the

ravine, and a horrible carnage ensued. Not a foot of ground was yielded on either side. New columns advanced and fresh charges were made. Three times the position was on the point of being carried, and three times, after performing prodigies of valour, the French were driven back.

At this moment hesitation and uneasiness became visible in the French army; some dismounted batteries retired; numerous wounded left the columns and spread an alarm as to the issue of the battle; a profound silence succeeded to the cries of exultation which the soldiers had sent forth, sure of marching to victory. With the exception of the infantry of the guard, we had seen all the troops engaged and exposed to a murderous fire; the action continued with excessive violence, and as yet had produced no determinate result.

a fire. "Take the battery," replied he, and turned his back upon the aid-de-camp. A wounded English officer was brought to him a prisoner. He asked, among other questions, the strength of the English army; the officer replied that it was very strong and had just received a reinforcement of 60,000 men. "So much the better," said Bonaparte, "the more there are, the more we shall beat." He sent off numerous expresses with dispatches which he dictated to a secretary, and often repeated, with an air of wildness, "forget not to proclaim every where that the victory is mine."

At this time, after all his efforts had proved unavailing, it was announced to him that the Prussian columns were debouching on our right flank and menaced our rear. Resolutely incredulous on this score, he replied to the various messengers, that they were poor observers, and the supposed Prussians none other than the corps of Marshal Grouchy. It became necessary however to yield to evi

statement, when these columns fell upon our right wing. A part of the sixth corps was sent off to sustain this new shock, until the arrival of Marshal Grouchy, on whom he calculated with certainty. A report was even circulated throughout the army, that Grouchy was already in line.

It was now near seven o'clock. Bonaparte, who had remained on the eminence where he had first taken his station, and from which he could clearly see all that pass-dence, and admit the truth of the ed, contemplated with a ferocious eye, the hideous spectacle of this butchery. The more obstacles multiplied, the more his obstinacy increased. He became exasperated at so many unexpected difficulties; and indifferent about sacrificing an army whose confidence in him was boundless, he incessantly sent fresh orders to press forward with the bayonet. Repeated messages were brought to him that the day went hard; that the troops ap. peared worn out. "Let them advance," replied he; " let them ad

vance.

A general sent to advertise him that his position was untenable, being raked by a battery; and enquired at the same time what he must do to escape so murderous

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The fact was that a part of the army of Marshal Blucher having been concentrated after the battle of the 16th in the neighbourhood of Wavre, had concealed its movements from Grouchy, and being joined by the fourth Prussian corps under the command of General Bulow, had advanced with all speed to co-operate with Lord Wellington.

Bonaparte, still inflexible, and

thinking that the moment had arrived for deciding the fate of the day, formed a fourth column of attack almost entirely composed of the guard, and charged upon Mount St. Jean. He had previously dispatched orders to every point, to second this movement, on which the victory depended. These veteran warriors assailed the plateau with characteristic intrepidity; the army was electrified in every part, and the battle renewed along the whole line. The guard charged repeatedly, but was uniformly repulsed. Mowed down by a tremendous explosion of grape, these brave grenadiers closed their thinned ranks with promptitude and coolness; marching fearlessly, nothing could stop them except death or severe wounds: but the hour of defeat had come. Immense masses of infantry, sustained by numerous bodies of cavalry, to whom we had nothing to oppose, since ours had been totally destroyed, rushed upon them with fury, and surrounding them on all sides, admonished them to surrender. "The guard never surrenders-it dies," was the reply.-No quarter was given after this; almost all fell fighting desperately. This shocking massacre lasted as long as their resistance, which ceased only when it was too obviously fatal. The few survivors retreated in disorder to their first position.

But whilst these events were passing in the centre, the Prussian columns which had arrived upon our right, continued to advance and press vigorously the few troops who were there to oppose them. The sound of cannon and musquetry was heard in the rear and gradually approached nearer. Our troops fought but lost ground. The right wing at length retrograded perceptibly, and the Prus

sians were upon the point of debouching upon the road.

When it became known that the guard had been repulsed; when its battalions, scattered and dwindled to a remnant, were seen in precipitate retreat, a general panic seized the army. It broke in all directions, seeking safety in a headlong flight. Bonaparte, in despair, collected as a last effort some battalions of the old and young guard, which had not been engaged, and pushed them against the enemy, now issuing in masses from their position: but intimidated at what it saw passing around, and overwhelmed by numbers, this feeble reserve was soon routed.

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The army then, spontaneously and at once, abandoned its positions and poured along like a torrent; the artillery-men deserted their pieces; the cannoneers and wagoners cut loose their horses; the infantry, the cavalry, the troops of every description formed a promiscuous mass, all flying for safety along the road and across the fields. A crowd of wagons which had been stationed on each side of the road followed in this precipitate flight, and rushing to one point blocked up the passage. point of rendezvous had been indicated, and it was now too late to issue any orders; generals and other commanders, lost in the crowd and swept along by it, were separated from their corps; nor did there exist a single battalion behind which to rally. Since no provision had been made to secure an orderly retreat, it was impossible to remedy this universal confusion. A rout so complete could not be anticipated, and was hitherto unknown in the French armies, numerous as had been their disasters.

The guard too, that immoveable

and his cavalry especially being much exhausted, would have scarcely been able to follow the French so closely as to prevent

phalanx, which had, in our greatest reverses, invariably served as a rallying point and rampart for the rest of the army, was now overthrown and fled with the multi-them from rallying, but the Prustude. Every one struggled to save himself; some pushed on to outstrip those before, whilst others collected in groups, and instinctively followed those in front; some were afraid to leave the road and attempted to force a passage through the wagons by which it was obstructed, whilst others pursued the plan of turning out to the right or left as they thought safest. Fear exaggerated the perils of the moment; and the night which supervened, although not very dark, contributed much to heighten the disorder.

The enemy, perceiving what passed, lost no time in detaching a numerous cavalry in pursuit. Whilst some squadrons took the road, and seized upon the wagons which had not time to escape, other formidable bodies advanced upon our flanks. The carriages of the imperial household, having remained at the farm where Bonoparte had lodged, were the first prize which fell into the hands of the Prussians, together with a vast quantity of baggage. All the cannon which had been in battery, and the ammunition wagons attached to them, had been left where they were stationed, and fell into the power of the enemy about the same time. Thus in less than half an hour, nearly all the materiel of the army had disappeared. As soon as the English and Prussians completely effected their junction, the two Generals Wellington and Blucher met at the farm of La Belle Alliance, and concerted the means of following up their success. The former having suffered a heavy loss in the action,

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sian cavalry being fresh, pushed on and hotly pursued without allowing us a moment of rest. The fugitives thus pressed, quickly travelled the two leagues which separated Gemappe from the field of battle, and arrived at this little town with the intention of passing the night there. To oppose some obstacles to the approach of the enemy, they hasted to collect wagons in the road and barricade the entrance of the principal street; some pieces of cannon were placed to

defend it; bivouacs were pitched in the town and its neighbourhood, and the wearied soldiers hurried to the houses to seek rest and food. But scarcely were these dispositions for defence completed, when the enemy appeared; a few cannon fired upon the nearest cavalry, kindled a universal alarm, the camp was instantly broken up; every one fled, and the retreat recommenced with more confusion than ever.

In the midst of this chaos, no one knew what had become of Bonaparte. It was asserted by some that he had perished in the battle. When this news was announced to a well-known general officer, he replied in the words of Megret after the death of Charles XII. at Frederickstadt, "The piece is finished." Others pretended, that having made several charges at the head of the Guard, he had been dismounted and taken prisoner. The same uncertainty rested on the fate of Marshal Ney and most of the generals in chief. A great number declared that they had seen Bonaparte pass, seeking his own safety in the midst of the

crowd; and averred that they knew him perfectly by his gray riding coat and his dappled horse. This account was the true one. At the moment when the last battalions of the guard which he led, were defeated, Bonaparte, borne along with them and surrounded on every side by the enemy, entered an orchard adjoining the farm of Caillou. In this place he was met by two wandering horsemen of the guard, to whom he discovered himself and who conducted him carefully through the Prussian parties spread over the plain, but, happily for him, intent upon seizing and pillaging the carriages. Notwithstanding the shades of the night, he was perceived and recognized repeatedly, and his presence indicated by the ejaculations of the soldiers, who said to each other in a low voice," There is the emperor: there is the emperor!" These words were for him a signal of alarm, and he hurried off as fast as the multitude in which he was entangled would permit. Where were now those thundering acclamations with which his troops had been wont to salute him, as soon as he appeared among them?

During the whole night, the French army continued its disastrous march, strewing the road with its wrecks, and every moment assailed by charges which consummated its disorganization. The terror which prevailed was so great that numerous groups of well-armed cavalry and infantry suffered themselves to be attacked without attempting a defence, by a few miserable lancers, whom to repel it was only necessary to face. At the break of day the sad remains of our force arrived at at Charleroi and Marchienne, and hastened to repass the Sambre. This unfortunate, but so recently

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magnificent army, in utter disor der and worn down with fatigue, presented a more shocking appearance from the great number of wounded who had followed on foot or on horseback. These, pallid, haggard, covered with bloody rags with which they had bound up their wounds, and intermingled with the disorderly columns which choaked the road, brought forcibly to our recollection the scenes of carnage which we had just witnessed.

In proportion as the wagons approached the Sambre, they were retarded by those in front, and collected in numbers on the roads which led to the bridges of Charleroi and Marchienne. The enemy's cavalry soon appeared and surprised them entangled with each other. The affrighted drivers cut their horses loose, and followed by all their train, rushed tumultuously towards the bridges and along the river to seek a passage. Thus all that remained of our artillery and equipage, was abandoned to the enemy, who likewise made here a great number of prison

ers.

That portion of the army which had crossed the Sambre, supposed from this circumstance that they would have time to refresh themselves, and accordingly bivouacked in the orchards and meadows on the right bank of this river; but no sooner were they apprized of the approach of the enemy by the confusion on the opposite bank, than they made off in haste, without waiting for a single order, without attempting to cut down the bridges or giving themselves time to reconnoitre. All fled at once.

At a short distance from Charleroi, they fell in with two roads, one of which leads to Avesnes, the other to Philippeville. Having no

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