to their comrades, on the 16th, had roused their utmost anger; and the tarnish which their arms had sustained on that day, they were resolved, if possible, to wipe away. They rushed into close combat with their formidable adversaries, and both parties fought with the keenest resentment and deadliest rancour. No quarter was thought of-none was asked-None was given! "No room to poise the lance, or bend the bow, But hand to hand and man to man they grow; Swords flash in air, or glitter on the ground." He The combat on this side continued long uncertain; while the battle, with the British army, raged with the same violence as ever. The situation of the enemy from this moment was desperate; but that despair lent strength for the moment. brought up fresh troops, and the battle every moment became more bloody. So severe was it, that for some time all that the Prussians could do was to maintain their position. More Prus sian troops, however, came into line. More were still advancing and near at hand. Bulow's force soon amounted to 30,000 men, and were still further to be increased by the remainder of the 2d corps. Bonaparte, without relinquishing his object in front, found it necessary to re-enforce the troops opposed to the Prussians. He accordingly sent General Duhesme with the young guard, and several battalions of the reserve, to this part of the line; and, as he would have us believe, with success. "The enemy," said he, "were by this means kept in check, repulsed, and fell back: he had exhausted his forces, and we had nothing more to fear."+. The Prussians may have been, while yet few in numbers, obliged to recede till joined by their comrades; but, unfortunately for the enemy, their having exhausted their forces was not the fact. But it was necessary for him to make some excuse for the extreme folly of his conduct, in pursuing with such obstinacy his attempts in front, while utter destruction hovered in his rear. According to the French offi cial account, it was this moment that was indicated for an at Pope's Homer. Iliad, Book xv. line 860, &c. tack upon the centre of Mount St. Jean, and which, as we have already noticed, was made by the enemy, and proved like all: the previous attacks, unsuccessful. Only the 4th corps, under Bulow, had as yet come up. Blucher, with the 1st corps, as he was approaching the scene of action, received, about six o'clock in the afternoon, intelligence from Thielman that he had been attacked, and was hard pressed at Wavre by a formidable force of the enemy, and "who were already disputingwith him the possession of the town."* Notwithstanding,that his rear was thus threatened, and with superior forces, Blucher, with that presence of mind which characterizes a great General, turned his attention to the more important objects in front; sensible that if the danger at this point was removed, that which menaced Wavre would give him no uneasiness. "The Field Marshal did not suffer himself to be disturbed by this news; it was on the spot where he was, and no where else, that the affair was to be decided." He, therefore, directed General Thielman to do the best that he could, and not to lock to him for any immediate assistance. And what does Europe-what does Britain owe to this gallant veteran for this prompt and judi cious determination. Had he wavered—had doubt perplexed his mind-had he turned to secure his rear, what might have been the consequence to Europe? above all, what would have been. the consequence to our own brave countrymen? How many more attacks must they have still had to sustain from those fierce spirits which Prussian bravery laid low? The mindtrembles to reflect upon what might have been the consequences had Blucher even hesitated. Thanks to his undaunted soul, which banished doubts or fears from his bosom. Iemarched forward. The columns where the General-in-chief was, continued their movements in advance, and pressed the right wing of the French army closer and closer; and, while assailing its flank, they also threatened its rear. Yet still it stood firm— still the combat raged-still it remained undecided. While things were going on in this manner at this point, Thielman, thus left to himself, maintained an obstinate and bloody struggle at Wavre. We must not omit this part of the subject. It formed a part, and no mean part, of the battle of Waterloo. It has been but too little attended to. Thielman Prussian official account of the battle of the 18th. † Do do. did his duty; and had he yielded or given way early on that eventful day, Bulow's corps would have been taken in the rear, as Bonaparte had calculated that it would be, almost as soon as it was engaged. The consequences would have been, that more British and Prussian blood would have been shed at Waterloo, than what was; and the French army might have escaped defeated, but not annihilated. Though the brave Thielman was not on the heights of Mount St. Jean, he was equally well employed. On the evening of the 17th, Soult transmitted to Grouchy an order to proceed with the 3d and 4th corps of the French army, under Girard and Vandamme, and with the 3d corps of cavalry, under General Pajol, towards the Dyle, in order to throw himself in the rear of the Prussian army, which they at that time conceived to be disorganized, and incapable of much resistance. They accordingly marched with this force, from 35 to 40,000* men, by St. Lambert, and on the right bank of the Dyle. On the 18th, he fell in with the Prussian forces, consisting of the 3d corps, under Thielman, which had suffered least in the battle of the 16th, and a very severe combat was the consequence. That part of the town of Wavre situated on the right bank of the Dyle, was carried, after much resistance. The Prussians, said Grouchy, "were immediately driven into Wavre, and General Vandamme's corps attacked that town, and was warmly engaged."+ The enemy, however, after he had gained this point, found much difficulty in crossing the river. So severe was the combat, that Girard himself was wounded in the breast by a ball, when endeavouring to carry the mill of Bielge. It could not, however, be carried, But Grouchy's orders were urgent, and his object most important. "Impatient," said he, "to co-operate with the army of your Majesty on that important day, I detached several-corps to force the passage of the Dyle, and to march against Bulow." In a few words, he attempted to turn the position, which he could not force; but even that, notwithstanding his superiority in numbers, he was for some time prevented from effecting, and not during that "important day." While Vandamme continued the at • Count Flahaut, in the Chamber of Peers, June 23d, from authentic sources, dated, that Grouchy had 40,000 men under his command after this battle. ♦ Grouchy's dispatch, Dinant, June 20th Do. da fack on the town of Wavre and on the mill of Bielge, Grouchy arrived at Limale passed the river, and, after an obstinate struggle, the French division of Vichery, consisting of infantry ́and "the cavalry," carried the heights. In Wavre and Bielge the Prussians, however, remained immoveable against all the cfforts of the enemy; and, by the time the heights, above mentioned, were carried, it was so late that nothing more could be done. "Night," said Grouchy, "did not permit us to advance any farther; and I no longer heard the cannon on the side where your Majesty was engaged." Thus it is obvious how long and obstinate the combat at this point was. Thielman, though much inferior in numbers, was enabled by the difficult nature of the country, interspersed with defiles, woods, and ravines, to oppose an obstinate resistance to the enemy, which, from his impetuosity, must have cost him dear; but what was of still greater importance, it kept all Grouchy's force from the point where it was so much wanted; and, though the distance was only about 12 miles, it was in the words of Ney, the same to the rest of the army as if he "had been 100 leagues from the field of battle." The loss on both sides was very severe, but I have no means of stating it accurately. Thielman's corps lost, from 15th June to 3d July, 4724 men, most of whom, if not all, certainly fell at this point; Grouchy, from the numbers he carried forward and what he brought away, must have suffered still more severely, as we shall be better able to ascertain in the sequel. Here, under the clouds of night, a long and lasting night to French expectations, let us leave him and return to those points where, with regard to the period of the contest, the sun was not set, and where the cannon was still heard as loud as ever on the field where Napoleon was engaged. It was seven o'clock in the evening. The issue of the battle on the heights of Mount St. Jean, appeared still uncertain, and remained undecided. The British continued to resist and the French to attack, as if the combat was only beginning. "Thou wouldst have thought, so furious was their fire, No force could tame them and no toil could tire; As if new vigour from new fights they won, + Ney's Letter. • Grouchy's dispatch, Dinant, June 20th, 1815. The British army and their companions remained at their post without wavering for a moment, against every effort of overwhelming and furious numbers, led on by a skill which was of the first order, and by a spirit which neither relented nor melted at the sight of human suffering or blood. It was a dreadful moment. Many of the British soldiers despaired of victory, but made up their minds to die where they stood. Their General alone did not despair of success. His strength was impaired; but Napoleon's nearly exhausted. At this moment the 5th division was reduced from 6000 to 1800 men, and these stationed in that part of the line, against which the utmost fury of the enemy was directed. With these were the 42d and 92d regiments, the latter reduced to less than 200 men. The Commander in chief generally remained near a village in the centre, from whence he could see the whole field of battle. Near him were some of the Brunswick troops. Hougomont with its gallant guardians defied all the shells, balls, bayonets, and swords of the enemy. Nothing could move them. All personal feeling was forgot in the enthusiasm of the moment, and each individual throughout the British line, fought as if all depended upon his individual exertions. The French troops acted from a similar impulsc. The rashness, self-confidence, and vanity of Bonaparte, had, however, carried himself and his army into a situation, from which there scarcely remained. a chance to extricate himself without total destruction. He' saw his situation. He made the most desperate efforts to remedy his rashness, and to ward off the consequences of his But these exertions, which in ordinary cases might have borne him through, in this instance served only to make his fate more fatal. Defcated in his previous furious attempt against the British line, he resolved to make a last desperate effort against the left centre, near the farm of La Haye Sainte, in order to pierce the line at that point which had suffered most. It was his last stake. Like the deep gambler he had already set his fortune and his fame upon the cast of the die, and had lost both. These were gone, irretrievably gone. His throne alone remained. He staked the mighty prize. He seized the box in agony-he threw-he failed. He rashly pitched his all against the firm rock of British valour—that error. |