CHAP. XII.- -1815. Continuation of the history of the campaign.-Description of the Field of Waterloo.-Character of the commanders.-Importance of the contest.-First attack on Hougoumont.Noble resistance of the guards.-Repulse of the French.-Second attack on the left.Fall of Sir T. Picton.-Gallantry of the 92d.-Scotch Greys.-Sir William Ponsonby. Third attack on the centre.-La Hay Sainte taken by the French.-Desperate charge of the whole French cavalry: its failure.-Dangerous situation of the Duke.-Approach of the Prussians.-Last attack of the infantry of the French guard.-Final rout of the French.-Meeting of Wellington and Blucher.-Flight of Napoleon.-Losses of the two armies.-Honours and rewards conferred on the conqueror and his troops.-List of the European victories of the duke of Wellington. THE field of battle at Waterloo is easily described. The forest of Soignies, a wood composed of beech trees, growing uncommonly close together, is traversed by the road from Brussels, a long broad causeway, which upon issuing from the wood, reaches the small village of Waterloo. Beyond this point the wood assumes a more straggling and dispersed appearance, until about a mile further, where, at an extended ridge, called the heights of Mount St. John, from a farmhouse of that name situated on the Brussels road, the trees almost entirely disappear, and the country becomes quite open. Along this eminence the British forces were disposed in two lines. The second line, which lay behind the brow of the hill, was in some degree sheltered from the enemy's fire. The first line, consisting of the selected corps of the infantry, occupied the top or crest of the ridge, and were on the left partly defended by a long hedge and ditch, which, running in a straight line from the hamlet of Mount St. Jean towards the village of Ohain, gives name to two farm houses. The first, which is situated in advance of the hedge, and at the bottom of the declivity, is called La Haye Sainte (the holy hedge), the other, placed at the extremity of the fence, is called Ter La Haye. The ground at Ter La Haye becomes woody and broken, so that it afforded a strong point at which to terminate the British line upon the left. A road runs from Ter La Haye and the woody passes of St. Lambert, through which the duke of Wellington maintained a communication by his left with the Prussian army. The centre of the English occupied the village of Mount Saint John, on the middle of the ridge, just where the great causeway from Brussels divides it into two roads, one of which branches off to Nivelles, and the other continues the straight line to Charleroi. A strong advanced post of Hanoverian sharp-shooters occupied the house and farm yard of La Haye Sainte, situated in advance upon the Charleroi road, and just at the bottom of the hill. The right of the British army, extending along the same eminence, occupied and protected the Nivelles road, as far as the enclosures of Hugoumont, and, turning rather backwards, rested its extreme right on a deep ravine.Advanced posts from thence occupied the village called Braine le Leude, on which point there was no engagement. The ground in front of the British position sloped easily down into lower ground, forming a sort of valley; not a level plain, but a declivity varied by many gentle sweeps and hollows, as if formed by the course of a river. The ground then ascends in the same manner to a ridge opposite that of Mount St. John, and running parallel to it, at the distance of twelve or fourteen hundred yards. This last was the position of the enemy. It is in some points nearer, and in others more distant, from the height or ridge of Mount St. John (or St. Jean), according as the valley between them is of less or greater breadth. This valley is entirely open and unenclosed, and on the day of the battle bore a tall and strong crop of corn. But in the centre of the val ley, about half-way between the two ridges, and situated considerably to the right of the English centre, was the Chateau de Goumount, or Hugoumont. This was a gentleman's house of the old Flemish architecture, having a tower and a battlement. It was surrounded on one side by a large farm yard, and on the other opened to a garden divided by alleys in the Dutch taste, and fenced by a brick wall. The whole was encircled by an open grove of tall trees, and covering a space of three or four acres, without any underwood. This Chateau, with the advantages afforded by its wood and gardens, formed a strong point of support to the British right wing, and rendered it difficult for the French to make a serious attack on that extremity of our line. On the other hand, had they succeeded in carrying Hugoumont, our line must have been confined to the heights, extending towards Merke Braine, which rather recedes from the field, and would in consequence have been much limited and crowded in its movements. The British line upon this right wing, at the commencement of the action, presented a convex segment of a circle to the enemy, but, as repeated repulses obliged the French to give ground, the extreme right was enabled to come gradually round, and the curve being reversed, became hollow or concave towards the French, enfilading the field of battle, and the high road from Brussels to Charleroi, which intersects it. It has been mentioned that the troops of France occupied the villages behind the ridge of La Belle Alliance. The position of Napoleon was by no means strong, but gave him the choice of his mode of attack on the British position. The left wing was commanded by Jerome Buonaparte, the centre by generals Reille and Erlon, and the right by count Lobau. The imperial guard was in reserve. The French army consisted of three corps of infantry, and nearly all the cavalry; amounting, with artillery, to not less than 110,000 men, 40,000 more being in reserve, or awaiting the Prussians on the right. The junction of Bulow's corps had made the Prussians as strong as they were before the late engagement. Lord Wellington's army, having lost about five thousand in killed and wounded, may be computed at 75,000, and the united forces of the allies would thus amount to 155,000, rendering the opposing armies nearly equal in number. The following was the original estimate of the duke of Wellington's force, but various circumstances conspired to diminish the ef fective strength of the different regiments. The whole was divided into two corps d'armée. The first, which afterwards formed part of the centre, was under the command of his royal highness the prince of Orange, and comprised the 1st, 3d, and 5th divisions, led on by generals Cooke, Allen, and Picton. The second corps was commanded by general lord Hill, and composed of the 2d, 4th, and 6th divisions: the two former of which were under the orders of sir H. Clinton, and general Hinuber, and the sixth was nominally commanded by sir H. Cole, who had not yet joined the army. This invincible and triumphant force contained 1st Brig.-Major-gen. sir H. Vivian.—7th, 10th, and 18th hussars. 7th Brig.-Col. baron de Arentschildt. 1st and 3d hussars. 4th Brig.-Major-gen. C. Grant.-13th, 15th, and 23d light dragoons. Col. Estaff-Prince Regent's hussars, Bremen and Verdun hussars. INFANTRY. 1st Brig-Major-gen. Maitland.-1st foot guards, 2d and 3d battalions. 2d Brig.-Major-gen. Byng.--Coldstream and 3d guards, 2d battalions. 3d Brig.-Major-gen. Adams.-52d and 71st foot, 1st batts.-95th foot 3d batt. 4th Brig.-Col. Mitchel.-14th foot, 3d batt. 23d and 51st foot. 5th Brig. Major-gen. Halkett, 30th, 33d, 69th, and 73d foot, 2d batt. 6th Brig.-Major-gen. Johnstone.-35th, 54th, 2 batts. 59th, and 2d batt. 91st foot. 7th Brigade.-Major-gen. Mackenzie, 36th 2 batts. 37th 2d batt. and 81st 2 batts. The K.G.L. 1st brig.-Col. Halkett.-1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th line. 2d Brig.-Col. Outhleter.-5th and 8th line, and 1st and 2d light infantry. The ground occupied by the opposing armies was the smallest in extent of front, compared with the numbers engaged, that has been described in military annals since the conflicts of Marathon and Thermopyla. The English line did not extend beyond a mile and a half, nor the French line above two miles. This circumstance will partly account for the unparalleled losses which each party sustained, and for the destruction occasioned by the artillery. The imperfect dawn of the 18th was attended by the same broken and tempestuous weather by which the night had been distinguished. But the interval of rest, such as it was, had not been neglected by the British, who had gained time to clean their arms, distribute ammunition, and make every preparation for the final shock of battle. Provisions had also been distributed to the troops, most of whom had thus the means of breakfasting with some comfort, and notwithstanding the wetness of their clothes, occasioned by the inclemency of the night, they assumed their respective positions in admirable order At five o'clock the English army formed its final arrangements. The front of the right was thrown back to avoid the ravine, which would have exposed it to the enemy, and was nearly at right angles with the centre. It consisted of the second and fourth English divisions, the third and sixth Hanoverians, and the first of the Netherlands, and was commanded by lord Hill. The centre was composed of the corps of the prince of Orange, supported by the Brunswick and Nassau regiments, with the guards, under general Cooke, on the right, and the division of general Alten on the left. The left wing, consisting of the divisions of generals Picton, Lambert, and Kempt, extending, as we have before mentioned, to the left of Ter La Haye, which it likewise occupied, protected the extremity of the left, and prevented it from being turned. The cavalry was principally posted in the rear of the centre's left. The leaders of the approaching contest were confessedly the first generals of the age. Napoleon, reserving the first rank to himself, had frequently confessed that the duke of Wellington was the second general in the world. He always accompanied this acknowledgment by lamenting that he had not been so fortunate as to meet him in the field of glory. When he departed from Paris, to place himself at the head of his troops, he observed to his friends, that he was at last going to measure swords with Wellington, of whom he had no doubt that he should give a good account. Buonaparte had rushed on with all his accumulated force. It was the last effort of despair. No new levies were at hand to repair his losses in case of disaster: victory alone could procure him reinforcements, and absolute defeat would be decisive of his fate. If success should attend him, the enthusiasm of the French would again be roused, thousands and ten thousands of additional troops would flock to his standard, and he would be enabled to protract the war till the close of the campaign. The generals and the soldiers felt how much depended on the event of the day, and fought with unexampled impetuosity. As the troops of the respective armies advanced to their positions, Napoleon ascended an ob servatory a little in the rear, and on the the reports of travellers, that the strokes highest ground adjacent to the scene of which were fatal to human life have scarcely battle. From this spot he commanded the injured them; though their trunks are filled whole of both lines. He expressed his asto- with holes, and their branches broken and nishment and admiration at the fine appear destroyed, their verdure is still the same. ance of some of the British troops. How Wild flowers are still blooming, and raspbersteadily," said he to his aide-de-camp, do ries ripening beneath their shade; while huge these troops take their ground! How beau- black piles of human ashes, dreadfully offentifully do those cavalry form! Observe sive in smell, are all that remain of the heroes (pointing to the Scotch Greys) these grey who fell upon that fatal spot. Beside some horse. Are they not noble troops? Yet in graves at the out-skirts of the wood, the half an hour I shall cut them to pieces." little wild-flower " Forget-me-not" continues to bloom, and the gaudy red poppy springs up around, as if in mockery of the dead. The chateau itself was set on fire by shells, during the cannonade. In the garden behind the house, the roses, orange-trees, and geraniums, still flower in beauty, and the pear-tree and fig-tree bear their fruit: presenting a melancholy contrast to the ruined house, the mouldering piles, and the surrounding scene of death and desolation.Even when the heaps of dead were reduced to ashes, the broken swords, shattered helmets, torn epaulets, and sabre scabbards bathed in blood, told too plainly the dreadful strife that had taken place, and the mournful reflection could not be suppressed, that the glory which Britain gained upon this sacred spot was purchased by the blood of her noblest The duke of Wellington had dispatched a courier on the preceding evening to prince Blucher, stating that he expected an attack, and requesting the co-operation of as many divisions as he could spare. The marshal promised to join him in person, and proposed, that should the French army decline the combat, the combined English and Prussian troops should become the assailants. When the formidable forces of the French were all drawn up on the opposite heights, one of the officers of the duke ventured to express some alarm, and wished that the Prussians were arrived. "The roads are heavy," replied his grace. "They cannot be here before two or three o'clock, and my brave fellows will keep double that force at bay until then." After some skirmishing between the piquets, and about ten o'clock, the French commenced the engagement, with a furious attack on the post at the wood and garden of the chateau of Hugoumont, which was occupied by general Byng's brigade of guards. It was a point of particular importance to the enemy to gain this post, as, from its situation, it commanded a considerable part of our position. It was furiously and incessantly assailed by large and reinforced bodies of the enemy, and gallantly and successfully defended by the British. Napoleon himself directed the charge of the French imperial guards against it, but, though fighting under the immediate eye of their leader, they were broken, repulsed, and finally cut to pieces, by the British guards. Thirty pieces of English artillery played continually over this wood, to assist its defence, while the enemy directed against it their hottest fire. Every tree in the wood of Hugoumont was pierced with balls, but it appears, from sons. In the mean time, to cover his real design, and to prevent the duke from sending reinforcements to Hugoumont, the action was briskly commenced throughout the whole of the line. But when Buonaparte was convinced that he had failed in accomplishing his first object, the fire of musquetry and cannon became more terrible and murderous. Columns of French infantry and cavalry, preceded by a formidable artillery, advanced from every point, ascended the eminence on which the British were posted, and precipitated themselves on their squares. In vain the French artillery mowed down whole ranks of their opponents. The chasms were instantly filled, and not one foot of ground was lost. "What brave troops!" said Napoleon to his staff. "It is a pity to destroy them; but I shall beat them at last." The British reserved their fire until the enemy had approached within a few paces, and then, |