troops to Soult; and getting into a carriage set out for Paris, taking the road by Rheims and Soissons. At 11 A. M. on the 19th, he passed through Gerpemies, melancholy and disconcerted, said the peasants, at whom he inquired the nearest road to Philippeville. At Philippeville the sentries refused him admittance till recognized by the governor. Part of the fugitives bent their footsteps to this place. This alarmed him least it should draw the allies also. Messengers were sent to spread alarm among the runaways-these called out "Save yourselves, the Cossacks! the Cossacks! It required no more-the fugitives were off in a moment. The Emperor passed Rocroy in

the night. At one P. M. on the 20th, he passed through Rheims, in a carriage, absolutely shut up, followed by another in which was four General Officers, one of whom was supposed to be Labodeyere. At Beaumont all fled upon the advance of the Prussians. The soldiers thought they had been betrayed, and, therefore, dispersed; each seeking his own home.* So complete was the dispersion and destruction of this army, that, aċcording to accounts produced to the Chamber of Representatives at Paris, by the time it reached Avesnes, only 20,000 men could be rallied. Ney, however, gives a still more deplorable account; for he says, that at Avesnes "it was impossible to rally a single soldier."+ His account of the flight places the disorganization of the remnant left, in the strongest and most disastrous point of view; and shews that never was any army so completely overthrown. Ney had all his horses killed, and was covered with contusions. He owed his life to a corporal of the Guard, who supported and never forsook him. "I arrived," said that Officer," at Marchiennes-au-Pont, at 4 A. M. on the 19th, without Officers-ignorant of the fate of the Emperor, whom some time before the termination of the battle, I supposed to be either killed or taken." He then went to Charleroy-next to Avesnes, but still no accounts of the Emperor. Lastly, he set out for Paris, in order to lay the situation of affairs before the Minister of War; and only when within three leagues of the capital, he learned that the Emperor passed in the same direction and upon the same errand a few hours before him. Notk

• Zeithen's dispatch, Beaumont, June 20th.
† Do. do.

Ney's letter, June 26th.

ing could show defeat and confusion in a stronger light than this flight, and the ignorance of each others motions which reigned amongst the General Officers." Philippeville and Avesnes," said the enemy, "have been given out as the point of re-union;" and there he stated that Prince Jerome and General Morant bad rallied a part of the army. It is remarkable that he takes no notice of any other Officer, no not even of Soult. Grouchy, however, gives a different account, concerning a place being appointed for re-union. In his dispatch of the 20th June, wrote from Dinant, he stated, that he was then at a loss how to act, as the Officer who had brought to him-from the Emperor, the accounts of the loss of the battle of Waterloo, "informed me," said he, "that your Majesty was retreating on the Sambre, without being able to indicate any particular point on which I should direct my march." It is now time to return to his operations.

Early in the morning of the 19th, Grouchy was attacked in the position in which we left him; but, after a severe struggle, he succeeded in compelling Thielman to abandon Wavre and the mill of Bielge, and to fall back upon the rest of the army. Grouchy continued at the same time to advance: and, as he himself informs us, was "in front of Rosierne, ready to march upon Brussels, when he received the sad accounts of the loss of the battle of Waterloo." He then found himself in a truly perilous situation; but after much difficulty, and a considerable loss, he succeeded in effecting his escape from Wavre to Namur. Here he was attacked by the Prussians; and, after a bloody conflict, compelled to abandon the place, and make the best of his way to Dipant. He states that in this attack the Prussians lost" several thousands of men, as the contest was very severe." His own loss could not have been less than theirs, and has been stated at 5000 men, around this place. Besides these, the loss on the attacks on Wavre must have been very considerable; for he complains of the "embarassment on his march arising from the numerous transports of wounded;" and which, to save them, compelled him to hold the town of Namur for a considerable time, the defence of which he entrusted to Vandamme. That Grouchy was hard + Grouchy's dispatch.

*French official account.

pressed, and must have suffered severely, is very evident; as, under these circumstances, he confesses that he had not the means nor the time necessary for blowing up the bridge at that place. The combat at and round Namur was in reality very bloody. The action began at 5 P. M. The French manned the walls and made an obstinate resistance, but they were finally obliged to abandon them. The Prussians then entered the city, and the combat was maintained in the streets; but at length the French were compelled to fly. Grouchy, Vandamme, and Pajol, were with this force. The loss was severe, the country around was covered with killed and wounded. Previous to this a division of 8000 men of Grouchy's army had been attacked and dispersed, the German accounts stating its loss at 5000 men.It is to be regretted that we have not a regular account of these affairs, which were certainly very serious. All we at present know from official authority, except that of Grouchy, is that the fighting on this side continued very severe during the whole of the 18th, 19th, and most of the 20th. The loss must consequently have been very great.-Grouchy certainly took with him in advance from 35 to 40,000 men, and brought back only 25,000.

Such were the results of a day, characterised by the enemy as "so glorious to the French arms, and yet so fatal."* A day which, in the language of Ney, "had no example in their military annals;" and wherein, while tracing the causes which led to it," he dreaded almost as much to discover the truth as to remain in ignorance of it."+ Such is a feeble outline of the gigantic combat of Waterloo, and its more immediate consequences. Such was a battle wherein every movement and attack made in it, was equal in importance, and in severity, to those which had formerly decided the fate of kingdoms. Considering every circumstance, it was certainly the bloodiest in modern times. The most important and most decisive it unquestionably was. loss on both sides was not short of 130,000 men. Blucher, who is a very short, but a very accurate calculator, tells us, that on the 18th, the French army at Waterloo was above 130,000, of which only 40,000 escaped, thus leaving a loss of above 90,000 men, at Waterloo alone. The killed and wounded, all acFrench official pecount. +Ney's letter to Fouche, June 26th.

The

counts agree, exceeded 60,000; but how many beyond this number it is difficult to determine, as the prisoners are variously estimated at from 15 to 30,000, many of whom besides were wounded. Baron de Capellan, the governor of Brussels, in an official proclamation, stated the number of prisoners known on the 19th, to be from 12 to 14,000, but many more were perhaps taken and sent to other places. It is, however, the only official authority which I have seen that specifies any particular number. To the above we must add the loss sustained by Grouchy, which, at the very lowest account, must have been 9000, if not nearly double; and, with the lesser number, we have a total loss of 104,000 men, on the part of France, in consequence of the battle of Waterloo. The loss of the allies was also great. It was "immense," said Wellington-it" was horrid," said Alava. It was "extraordinary," said the Austrian account. The British and Hanoverian (in British pay) loss was nearly 11,000. The Dutch, Belgians, and the troops of Brunswick and Nassau, was certainly not less than 10,000; but as their returns, which I have seen, include the total loss on both the 16th and 18th together, I cannot separate them exactly. The Dutch and Belgian loss, by their official dispatches, was 4136. The Nassau loss was 2800.* The Brunswick loss I have not been able to ascertain correctly. In an account of the life of the Duke, lately published in Germany, it is said that their loss, on the 16th alone, amounted to 3000 men. If so, their total loss could not be less than 4 or 5000. But take it at 3000. The loss of the Hanoverians was also severe, but uncertain. "These two days," said General Alten in his official dispatch, June 20th, to the Government of Hanover, “have indeed cost us much, the greatest part of our most distinguished Officers have fallen." Of the real loss, however, I can obtain no accounts, but if we are to judge of its proportion from their total strength; and from the sum bestowed by the Waterloo fund for their relief, 4 or 5000 is perhaps within the mark.The loss of the Prussians also on this day must have exceeded 12,000 men. The returns are given en masse for both days; but we cannot err far when we know that Bulow's corps, which had not been previously engaged, lost above 6400 men; and

• Prince Bernhard of Saxe Wiemar, official letter, June 19th

and Thielman's, which suffered little on the 16th, lost above 4700. The total loss of all the allies, on this bloody day, was certainly not less than 30,000* killed and wounded. Prussian loss stands as under, viz.

1st corps, from 15th June to 2d July,

The total

23d June

And which loss, separated, stood as follows, viz.

The reader has only to cast his eye over the preceding details, and from the places where engaged he may perceive what the carnage was where the Prussians met their foes; for there can be little doubt, but that nearly all those returned missing were killed and wounded, on the 16th, though many of the latter were taken. Let us now put the total loss on both sides, dur ing these dreadful days, into one general table.

• Austrian official report Heidelberg, June 21st, says generally, that exclusive of the loss of the Prussians on the 18th, the total loss of all the allies" may amount to 30,000 killed and wounded." The reader will see, when the Prussian loss, and those returned missing on the 16th, are added, that the number corresponds very nearly.

+ Leaving Grouchy 25,000, and main army 40,000, as Grouchy and Blucher both state. The French account lately published at Paris, admits that their army at Waterloo, exclusive of Grouchy, was 120,000 strong. The author says they had 20,000 dead, but adds in a true French way of reckoning, that the loss of the allies (meaning under Wellington) was also 20,000. True, but not all dead.