"Thou first and last of fields, king-making victory."--BYRON.
England has now been blest with thirty-seven years of peace. At no other
period of her history can a similarly long cessation from a state of
warfare be found. It is true that our troops have had battles to fight
during this interval for the protection and extension of our Indian
possessions and our colonies; but these have been with distant and
unimportant enemies. The danger has never been brought near our own
shores, and no matter of vital importance to our empire has ever been
at stake. We have not had hostilities with either France, America, or
Russia; and when not at war with any of our peers, we feel ourselves
to be substantially at peace. There has, indeed, throughout this long
period, been no great war, like those with which the previous history
of modern Europe abounds. There have been formidable collisions between
particular states; and there have been still more formidable collisions
between the armed champions of the conflicting principles of absolutism
and democracy; but there has been no general war, like those of the
French Revolution, like the American, or the Seven Years' War, or like
the War of the Spanish Succession. It would be far too much to augur
from this, that no similar wars will again convulse the world; but the
value of the period of peace which Europe has gained, is incalculable;
even if we look on it as only a truce, and expect again to see the
nations of the earth recur to what some philosophers have termed man's
natural state of warfare.
No equal number of years can be found, during which science, commerce,
and civilization have advanced so rapidly and so extensively, as has
been the case since 1815. When we trace their progress, especially
in this country, it is impossible not to feel that their wondrous
development has been mainly due to the land having been at peace. [See
the excellent Introduction to Mr. Charles Knight's "History of the
Thirty Years' Peace."] Their good effects cannot be obliterated, even
if a series of wars were to recommence. When we reflect on this, and
contrast these thirty-seven years with the period that preceded them,
a period of violence, of tumult, of unrestingly destructive energy,--a
period throughout which the wealth of nations was scattered like sand,
and the blood of nations lavished like water,--it is impossible not to
look with deep interest on the final crisis of that dark and dreadful
epoch; the crisis out of which our own happier cycle of years has been
evolved. The great battle which ended the twenty-three years' war of
the first French Revolution, and which quelled the man whose genius and
ambition had so long disturbed and desolated the world, deserves to be
regarded by us, not only with peculiar pride, as one of our greatest
national victories, but with peculiar gratitude for the repose which it
secured for us, and for the greater part of the human race.
One good test for determining the importance of Waterloo, is to
ascertain what was felt by wise and prudent statesmen before that
battle, respecting the return of Napoleon from Elba to the Imperial
throne of France, and the probable effects of his success. For
this purpose, I will quote the words, not of any of our vehement
anti-Gallican politicians of the school of Pitt, but of a leader of our
Liberal party, of a man whose reputation as a jurist, a historian and a
far-sighted and candid statesman, was, and is, deservedly high, not only
in this country, but throughout Europe. Sir James Mackintosh, in the
debate in the British House of Commons, on the 20th April, 1815, spoke
thus of the return from Elba:--
"Was it in the power of language to describe the evil. Wars which had
raged for more than twenty years throughout Europe; which had
spread blood and desolation from Cadiz to Moscow, and from Naples to
Copenhagen; which had wasted the means of human enjoyment, and destroyed
the instruments of social improvement; which threatened to diffuse among
the European nations, the dissolute and ferocious habits of a predatory
soldiery,--at length, by one of those vicissitudes which bid defiance to
the foresight of man, had been brought to a close, upon the whole, happy
beyond all reasonable expectation, with no violent shock to national
independence, with some tolerable compromise between the opinions of
the age and reverence due to ancient institutions; with no too signal or
mortifying triumph over the legitimate interests or avowable feelings
of any numerous body of men, and, above all, without those retaliations
against nations or parties, which beget new convulsions, often as
horrible as those which they close, and perpetuate revenge and hatred
and bloodshed, from age to age. Europe seemed to breathe after her
sufferings. In the midst of this fair prospect, and of these consolatory
hopes, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from Elba; three small vessels reached
the coast of Provence; our hopes are instantly dispelled; the work of
our toil and fortitude is undone; the blood of Europe is spilt in vain--
"'Ibi omnis effusus labor!'"
The Congress of Emperors, Kings, Princes, Generals, and Statesmen, who
had assembled at Vienna to remodel the world after the overthrow of the
mighty conqueror, and who thought that Napoleon had passed away for ever
from the great drama of European politics, had not yet completed their
triumphant festivities, and their diplomatic toils, when Talleyrand,
on the 11th of March, 1815, rose up among them, and announced that the
ex-emperor had escaped from Elba, and was Emperor of France once more.
It is recorded by Sir Walter Scott, as a curious physiological fact,
that the first effect of the news of an event which threatened to
neutralise all their labours, was to excite a loud burst of laughter
from nearly every member of the Congress. [Life of Napoleon, vol. viii.
chap. 1.] But the jest was a bitter one: and they soon were deeply
busied in anxious deliberations respecting the mode in which they
should encounter their arch-enemy, who had thus started from torpor and
obscurity into renovated splendour and strength:
"Qualis ubi in lucem coluber mala gramina pastus,
Frigida sub terra tumidum quem bruma tegebat,
Nunc positis novus exuviis nitidusque juventa,
Lubrica convolvit sublato pectore terga
Arduus ad solem, at linguis micat ore trisulcis." Virg. AEN.
Napoleon sought to disunite the formidable confederacy, which he knew
would be arrayed against him, by endeavouring to negotiate separately
with each of the allied sovereigns. It is said that Austria and Russia
were at first not unwilling to treat with him. Disputes and jealousies
had been rife among several of the Allies on the subject of the division
of the conquered countries; and the cordial unanimity with which they
had acted during 1813 and the first months of 1814, had grown
chill during some weeks of discussions. But the active exertions of
Tralleyrand, who represented Louis XVIII. at the Congress, and who both
hated and feared Napoleon with all the intensity of which his powerful
spirit was capable, prevented the secession of any member of the
Congress from the new great league against their ancient enemy. Still it
is highly probable that, if Napoleon had triumphed in Belgium over
the Prussians and the English, he would have succeeded in opening
negotiations with the Austrians and Russians; and he might have thus
gained advantages similar to those which he had obtained on his return
from Egypt, when he induced the Czar Paul to withdraw the Russian armies
from co-operating with the other enemies of France in the extremity of
peril to which she seemed reduced in 1799. But fortune now had deserted
him both in diplomacy and in war.
On the 13th of March, 1815, the Ministers of the seven powers, Austria,
Spain, England, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, and Sweden, signed a
manifesto, by which they declared Napoleon an outlaw; and this
denunciation was instantly followed up by a treaty between England,
Austria, Prussia, and Russia (to which other powers soon acceded), by
which the rulers of those countries bound themselves to enforce that
decree, and to prosecute the war until Napoleon should be driven from
the throne of France, and rendered incapable of disturbing the peace of
Europe. The Duke of Wellington was the representative of England at the
Congress of Vienna, and he was immediately applied to for his advice
on the plan of military operations against France. It was obvious that
Belgium would be the first battle-field; and by the general wish of the
Allies, the English Duke proceeded thither to assemble an army from the
contingents of Dutch, Belgian, and Hanoverian troops, that were most
speedily available, and from the English regiments which his own
Government was hastening to send over from this country. A strong
Prussian corps was near Aix-la-Chapelle, having remained there since
the campaign of the preceding year. This was largely reinforced by other
troops of the same nation; and Marshal Blucher, the favourite hero of
the Prussian soldiery, and the deadliest foe of France, assumed the
command of this army, which was termed the Army of the Lower Rhine; and
which, in conjunction with Wellington's forces, was to make the van of
the armaments of the Allied Powers. Meanwhile Prince Swartzenburg was to
collect 130,000 Austrians, and 124,000 troops of other Germanic States,
as "the Army of the Upper Rhine;" and 168,000 Russians, under the
command of Barclay de Tolly, were to form "the Army of the Middle
Rhine," and to repeat the march from Muscovy to that river's banks.
The exertions which the Allied Powers thus made at this crisis to
grapple promptly with the French emperor have truly been termed
gigantic; and never were Napoleon's genius and activity more signally
displayed, than in the celerity and skill by which he brought forward
all the military resources of France, which the reverses of the three
preceding years, and the pacific policy of the Bourbons during
the months of their first restoration, had greatly diminished and
disorganized. He re-entered Paris on the 20th of March, and by the end
of May, besides sending a force into La Vendee to put down the armed
rising of the royalists in that province, and besides providing troops
under Massena and Suchet for the defence of the southern frontiers of
France, Napoleon had an army assembled in the north-east for active
operations under his own command, which amounted to between one hundred
and twenty, and one hundred and thirty thousand men, with a superb park
of artillery and in the highest possible state of equipment, discipline,
and efficiency. [See for these numbers Siborne's History of the Campaign
of Waterloo, vol. i. p. 41.]
The approach of the multitudinous Russian, Austrian, Bavarian, and other
foes of the French Emperor to the Rhine was necessarily slow; but the
two most active of the allied powers had occupied Belgium with their
troops, while Napoleon was organizing his forces. Marshal Blucher was
there with one hundred and sixteen thousand Prussians; and, before the
end of May, the Duke of Wellington was there also with about one hundred
and six thousand troops, either British or in British pay. [Ibid. vol.
i. chap. 3. Wellington had but a small part of his old Peninsular army
in Belgium. The flower of it had been sent on the expeditions against
America. His troops, in 1815, were chiefly second battalions, or
regiments lately filled up with new recruits. See Scott, vol viii.
p. 474.] Napoleon determined to attack these enemies in Belgium. The
disparity of numbers was indeed great, but delay was sure to increase
the proportionate numerical superiority of his enemies over his own
ranks. The French Emperor considered also that "the enemy's troops were
now cantoned under the command of two generals, and composed of nations
differing both in interest and in feelings." [See Montholon's Memoirs,
p. 45.] His own army was under his own sole command. It was composed
exclusively of French soldiers, mostly of veterans, well acquainted with
their officers and with each other, and full of enthusiastic confidence
in their commander. If he could separate the Prussians from the British,
so as to attack each singly, he felt sanguine of success, not only
against these the most resolute of his many adversaries, but also
against the other masses, that were slowly labouring up against his
eastern dominions.
The triple chain of strong fortresses, which the French possessed on the
Belgian frontier, formed a curtain, behind which Napoleon was able to
concentrate his army, and to conceal, till the very last moment, the
precise line of attack which he intended to take. On the other hand,
Blucher and Wellington were obliged to canton their troops along a line
of open country of considerable length, so as to watch for the outbreak
of Napoleon from whichever point of his chain of strongholds he should
please to make it. Blucher, with his army, occupied the banks of the
Sambre and the Meuse, from Liege on his left, to Charleroi on his right;
and the Duke of Wellington covered Brussels; his cantonments being
partly in front of that city and between it and the French frontier, and
partly on its west their extreme right reaching to Courtray and Tournay,
while the left approached Charleroi and communicated with the Prussian
right. It was upon Charleroi that Napoleon resolved to level his attack,
in hopes of severing the two allied armies from each other, and then
pursuing his favourite tactic of assailing each separately with a
superior force on the battle-field, though the aggregate of their
numbers considerably exceeded his own.
The first French corps d'armee, commanded by Count d'Erlon, was
stationed in the beginning of June in and around the city of Lille, near
to the north-eastern frontier of France. The second corps, under Count
Reille, was at Valenciennes, to the right of the first one. The third
corps, under Count Vandamme, was at Mezieres. The fourth, under Count
Gerard, had its head-quarters at Metz, and the sixth under Count Lobau,
was at Laon. [The fifth corps was under Count Rapp at Strasburg.] Four
corps of reserve cavalry, under Marshal Grouchy, were also near the
frontier, between the rivers Aisne and Sambre. The Imperial Guard
remained in Paris until the 8th of June, when it marched towards
Belgium, and reached Avesnes on the 13th; and in the course of the same
and the following day, the five corps d'armee with the cavalry reserves
which have been mentioned, were, in pursuance of skilfully combined
orders, rapidly drawn together, and concentrated in and around the
same place, on the right bank of the river Sambre. On the 14th Napoleon
arrived among his troops, who were exulting at the display of their
commander's skill in the celerity and precision with which they had been
drawn together, and in the consciousness of their collective strength.
Although Napoleon too often permitted himself to use language unworthy
of his own character respecting his great English adversary, his real
feelings in commencing this campaign may be judged from the last words
which he spoke, as he threw himself into his travelling carriage to
leave Paris for the army. "I go," he said, "to measure myself with
Wellington."
The enthusiasm of the French soldiers at seeing their Emperor among
them, was still more excited by the "Order of the day," in which he thus
appealed to them:
"Napoleon, by the Grace of God, and the Constitution of the Empire,
Emperor of the French, &c. to the Grand Army.
"AT THE IMPERIAL HEAD-QUARTERS, AVESNES, JUNE 14th, 1815.
"Soldiers! this day is the anniversary of Marengo and of
Friedland, which twice decided the destiny of Europe. Then, as after
Austerlitz, as after Wagram, we were too generous! We believed in
the protestations and in the oaths of princes, whom we left on their
thrones. Now, however, leagued together, they aim at the independence
and the most sacred rights of France. They have commenced the most
unjust of aggressions. Let us, then, march to meet them. Are they and we
no longer the same men?
"Soldiers! at Jena, against these same Prussians, now so arrogant, you
were one to three, and at Montmirail one to six!
"Let those among you who have been captives to the English, describe the
nature of their prison ships, and the frightful miseries they endured.
"The Saxons, the Belgians, the Hanoverians, the soldiers of the
Confederation of the Rhine, lament that they are compelled to use their
arms in the cause of princes, the enemies of justice and of the rights
of all nations. They know that this coalition is insatiable! After
having devoured twelve millions of Poles, twelve millions of Italians,
one million of Saxons, and six millions of Belgians, it now wishes to
devour the states of the second rank in Germany.
"Madmen! one moment of prosperity has bewildered them. The oppression
and the humiliation of the French people are beyond their power. If they
enter France they will there find their grave.
"Soldiers! we have forced marches to make, battles to fight, dangers
to encounter; but, with firmness victory will, be ours. The rights, the
honour, and the happiness of the country will be recovered!
"To every Frenchman who has a heart, the moment is now arrived to
conquer or to die.
"NAPOLEON."
"THE MARSHAL DUKE OF DALMATIA. MAJOR GENERAL."
The 15th of June had scarcely dawned before the French army was in
motion for the decisive campaign, and crossed the frontier in three
columns, which were pointed upon Charleroi and its vicinity. The French
line of advance upon Brussels, which city Napoleon resolved to occupy,
thus lay right through the centre of the cantonments of the Allies.
Much criticism has been expended on the supposed surprise of
Wellington's army in its cantonments by Napoleon's rapid advance. These
comments would hardly have been made if sufficient attention had been
paid to the geography of the Waterloo campaign; and if it had been
remembered that the protection of Brussels was justly considered by
the allied generals a matter of primary importance. If Napoleon could,
either by manoeuvring or fighting, have succeeded in occupying that
city, the greater part of Belgium would unquestionably have declared in
his favour; and the results of such a success, gained by the Emperor at
the commencement of the campaign, might have decisively influenced
the whole after-current of events. A glance at the map will show the
numerous roads that lead from the different fortresses on the French
north-eastern frontier, and converge upon Brussels; any one of which
Napoleon might have chosen for the advance of a strong force upon that
city. The Duke's army was judiciously arranged, so as to enable him to
concentrate troops on any one of these roads sufficiently in advance of
Brussels to check an assailing enemy. The army was kept thus available
for movement in any necessary direction, till certain intelligence
arrived on the 15th of June that the French had crossed the frontier in
large force near Thuin, that they had driven back the Prussian advanced
troops under General Ziethen, and were also moving across the Sambre
upon Charleroi.
Marshal Blucher now rapidly concentrated his forces, calling them in
from the left upon Ligny, which is to the north-east of Charleroi.
Wellington also drew his troops together, calling them in from the
right. But even now, though it was certain that the French were in large
force at Charleroi it was unsafe for the English general to place his
army directly between that place and Brussels, until it was certain that
no corps of the enemy was marching upon Brussels by the western road
through Mons and Hal. The Duke therefore, collected his troops in
Brussels and its immediate vicinity, ready to move due southward upon
Quatre Bras, and co-operate with Blucher, who was taking his station at
Ligny: but also ready to meet and defeat any manoeuvre, that the enemy
might make to turn the right of the Allies, and occupy Brussels by
a flanking movement. The testimony of the Prussian general, Baron
Muffling, who was attached to the Duke's staff during the campaign, and
who expressly states the reasons on which the English general acted,
ought for ever to have silenced the "weak inventions of the enemy"
about the Duke of Wellington having been deceived and surprised by his
assailant, which some writers of our own nation, as well as foreigners,
have incautiously repeated. [See "Passages from my Life and Writings,"
by Baron Muffling, p. 224 of the English Translation, edited by Col.
Yorke. See also the 178th number of the QUARTERLY. It is strange that
Lamartine should, after the appearance of Muffling's work, have repeated
in his "History of the Restoration" the myth of Wellington having been
surprised in the Brussels ball-room, &c.]
It was about three o'clock in the afternoon of the 15th, that a Prussian
officer reached Brussels, whom General Ziethen had sent to Muffling
to inform him of the advance of the main French army upon Charleroi.
Muffling immediately communicated this to the Duke of Wellington; and
asked him whether he would now concentrate his army, and what would
be his point of concentration; observing that Marshal Blucher in
consequence of this intelligence would certainly concentrate the
Prussians at Ligny. The Duke replied--"If all is as General Ziethen
supposes, I will concentrate on my left wing, and so be in readiness to
fight in conjunction with the Prussian army. Should, however, a portion
of the enemy's force come by Mons, I must concentrate more towards my
centre. This is the reason why I must wait for positive news from Mons
before I fix the rendezvous. Since, however, it is certain that the
troops MUST march, though it is uncertain upon what precise spot they
must march, I will order all to be in readiness, and will direct a
brigade to move at once towards Quatre Bras." [Muffling, p. 231.]
Later in the same day a message from Blucher himself was delivered to
Muffling, in which the Prussian Field-Marshal informed the Baron that he
was concentrating his men at Sombref and Ligny, and charged Muffling to
give him speedy intelligence respecting the concentration of Wellington.
Muffling immediately communicated this to the Duke, who expressed his
satisfaction with Blucher's arrangements, but added that he could not
even then resolve upon his own point of concentration before he obtained
the desired intelligence from Mons. About midnight this information
arrived. The Duke went to the quarters of General Muffling, and told
him that he now had received his reports from Mons, and was sure that
no French troops were advancing by that route, but that the mass of
the enemy's force was decidedly directed on Charleroi. He informed the
Prussian general that he had ordered the British troops to move forward
upon Quatre Bras; but with characteristic coolness and sagacity resolved
not to give the appearance of alarm by hurrying on with them himself. A
ball was to be given by the Duchess of Richmond at Brussels that night,
and the Duke proposed to General Muffling that they should go to the
ball for a few hours, and ride forward in the morning to overtake the
troops at Quatre Bras.
To hundreds, who were assembled at that memorable ball, the news that
the enemy was advancing, and that the time for battle had come, must
have been a fearfully exciting surprise, and the magnificent stanzas of
Byron are as true as they are beautiful; but the Duke and his principal
officers knew well the stern termination to that festive scene which
was approaching. One by one, and in such a way as to attract as little
observation as possible, the leaders of the various corps left the
ball-room, and took their stations at the head of their men, who were
pressing forward through the last hours of the short summer night to the
arena of anticipated slaughter.
[There was a sound of revelry by night,
And Belgium's capital had gather'd then
Her Beauty and her chivalry, and bright
The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men;
A thousand hearts beat happily; and when
Music arose with its voluptuous swell,
Soft eyes look'd love to eyes which spake again,
And all went merry as a marriage bell;
But hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell,
Did ye not hear it?--No; 'twas but; the wind,
Or the car rattling o'er the stony street;
On with the dance! let joy be unconfined;
No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet
To chase the glowing Hours with flying feet--
But, hark!--that heavy sound breaks in once more,
As if the clouds its echo would repeat;
And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before!
Arm! Arm! it is--it is--the cannon's opening roar!
Within a window'd niche of that high hall
Sate Brunswick's fated chieftain; he did hear
That sound the first amidst the festival,
And caught its tone with Death's prophetic ear;
And when they smiled because he deem'd it near,
His heart more truly knew that peal too well
Which stretch'd his father on a bloody bier,
And roused the vengeance blood alone could quell;
He rush'd into the field, and, foremost fighting, fell.
Ah! then and there was hurrying to and fro,
And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress,
And cheeks all pale, which but an hour ago
Blush'd at the praise of their own loveliness;
And there were sudden partings, such as press
The life from out young hearts, and choking sighs
Which ne'er might be repeated; who could guess
If ever more should meet those mutual eyes,
Since upon night so sweet such awful morn could rise!
And there was mounting in hot haste: the steed,
The mustering squadron, and the clattering car,
Went pouring forward with impetuous speed,
And swiftly forming in the ranks of war;
And the deep thunder peal on peal afar;
And near, the beat of the alarming drum
Roused up the soldier ere the morning star;
While thronged the citizens with terror dumb,
Or whispering, with white lips--"The foe!
They come! they come!"
And Ardennes waves above them her green leaves,
Dewy with nature's teardrops, as they pass,
Grieving, if aught inanimate e'er grieves,
Over the unreturning brave,--alas!
Ere evening to be trodden like the grass
Which now beneath them, but above shall grow
In its next verdure, when this fiery mass
Of living valour, rolling on the foe
And burning with high hope, shall moulder cold and low.
Last noon beheld them full of lusty life,
Last eve in Beauty's circle proudly gay,
The midnight brought the signal-sound of strife,
The morn the marshalling in arms,--the day
Battle's magnificently stern array!
The thunder-clouds close o'er it, which when rent
The earth is covered thick with other clay,
Which her own clay shall cover, heaped and pent,
Rider and horse,--friend, foe,--in one red burial blent.]
Napoleon's operations on the 16th had been conducted with signal skill
and vigour; and their results had been very advantageous for his plan of
the campaign. With his army formed in three vast columns, [Victoires et
Conquetes des Francais, vol. xxv. p. 177.] he had struck at the centre
of the line of cantonments of his allied foes; and he had so far made
good his blow, that he had affected the passage of the Sambre, he had
beaten with his left wing the Prussian corps of General Ziethen at
Thuin, and with his centre he had in person advanced right through
Charleroi upon Fleurus, inflicting considerable loss upon the Prussians
that fell back before him. His right column had with little opposition
moved forward as far as the bridge of Chatelet.
Napoleon had thus a powerful force immediately in front of the point
which Blucher had fixed for the concentration of the Prussian army, and
that concentration was still incomplete. The French Emperor designed
to attack the Prussians on the morrow in person, with the troops of his
centre and right columns, and to employ his left wing in beating back
such English troops as might advance to the help of their allies, and
also in aiding his own attack upon Blucher. He gave the command of this
left wing to Marshal Ney. Napoleon seems not to have originally intended
to employ this celebrated General in the campaign. It was only on the
night of the 11th of June, that Marshal Ney received at Paris an order
to join the army. Hurrying forward to the Belgian frontier, he met the
Emperor near Charleroi. Napoleon immediately directed him to take the
command of the left wing, and to press forward with it upon Quatre Bras
by the line of the road which leads from Charleroi to Brussels, through
Gosselies, Frasne, Quatre Bras, Genappe, and Waterloo. Ney immediately
proceeded to the post assigned him; and before ten on the night of the
15th he had occupied Gosselies and Frasne, driving out without much
difficulty some weak Belgian detachments which had been stationed in
those villages. The lateness of the hour, and the exhausted state of
the French troops, who had been marching and fighting since ten in the
morning, made him pause from advancing further to attack the much more
important position of Quatre Bras. In truth, the advantages which the
French gained by their almost superhuman energy and activity throughout
the long day of the 15th of June, were necessarily bought at the price
of more delay and inertness during the following night and morrow, than
would have been observable if they had not been thus overtasked. Ney has
been blamed for want of promptness in his attack upon Quatre Bras; and
Napoleon has been criticised for not having fought at Ligny before the
afternoon of the 16th: but their censors should remember that soldiers
are but men; and that there must be necessarily some interval of time,
before troops, that have been worn and weakened by twenty hours of
incessant fatigue and strife, can be fed, rested, reorganized, and
brought again into action with any hope of success.
Having on the night of the 15th placed the most advanced of the French
under his command in position in front of Frasne, Ney rode back to
Charleroi, where Napoleon also arrived about midnight, having returned
from directing the operations of the centre and right column of the
French. The Emperor and the Marshal supped together, and remained in
earnest conversation till two in the morning. An hour or two afterwards
Ney rode back to Frasne, where he endeavoured to collect tidings of
the numbers and movements of the enemy in front of him; and also busied
himself in the necessary duty of learning the amount and composition
of the troops which he himself was commanding. He had been so suddenly
appointed to his high station, that he did not know the strength of
the several regiments under him, or even the names of their commanding
officers. He now caused his aides-de-camp to prepare the requisite
returns, and drew together the troops, whom he was thus learning before
he used them.
Wellington remained at the Duchess of Richmond's ball at Brussels till
about three o'clock in the morning of the 16th, "showing himself very
cheerful" as Baron Muffling, who accompanied him, observes. [Muffling,
p. 233.] At five o'clock the Duke and the Baron were on horseback, and
reached the position at Quatre Bras about eleven. As the French, who
were in front of Frasne, were perfectly quiet, and the Duke was informed
that a very large force under Napoleon in person was menacing Blucher,
it was thought possible that only a slight detachment of the French
was posted at Frasne in order to mask the English army. In that event
Wellington, as he told Baron Muffling, would be able to employ his whole
strength in supporting the Prussians: and he proposed to ride across
from Quatre Bras to Blucher's position, in order to concert with him
personally the measures which should be taken in order to bring on
a decisive battle with the French. Wellington and Muffling rode
accordingly towards Ligny, and found Marshal Blucher and his staff
at the windmill of Bry, near that village. The Prussian army, 80,000
strong, was drawn up chiefly along a chain of heights, with the villages
of Sombref, St. Amand, and Ligny in their front. These villages were
strongly occupied by Prussian detachments, and formed the keys of
Blucher's position. The heads of the columns which Napoleon was forming
for the attack, were visible in the distance. The Duke asked Blucher
and General Gneisenau (who was Blucher's adviser in matters of strategy)
what they wished him to do, Muffling had already explained to them in
a few words the Duke's earnest desire to support the Field-Marshal, and
that he would do all that they wished, provided they did not ask him to
divide his army, which was contrary to his principles. The Duke wished
to advance with his army (as soon as it was concentrated) upon Frasne
and Gosselies, and thence to move upon Napoleon's flank and rear. The
Prussian leaders preferred that he should march his men from Quatre Bras
by the Namur road, so as to form a reserve in rear of Blucher's army.
The Duke replied, "Well, I will come if I am not attacked myself," and
galloped back with Muffling to Quatre Bras, where the French attack was
now actually raging.
Marshal Ney began the battle about two o'clock in the afternoon. He had
at this time in hand about 16,000 infantry, nearly 2,000 cavalry, and 38
guns. The force which Napoleon nominally placed at his command exceeded
40,000 men. But more than one half of these consisted of the first
French corps d'armee, under Count d'Erlon; and Ney was deprived of the
use of this corps at the time that he most required it, in consequence
of its receiving orders to march to the aid of the Emperor at Ligny. A
magnificent body of heavy cavalry under Kellerman, nearly 5,000 strong,
and several more battalions of artillery were added to Ney's army
during the battle of Quatre Bras; but his effective infantry force never
exceeded 16,000.
When the battle began, the greater part of the Duke's army was yet on
its march towards Quatre Bras from Brussels and the other parts of
its cantonments. The force of the Allies, actually in position there,
consisted only of a Dutch and Belgian division of infantry, not quite
7,000 strong, with one battalion of foot, and one of horse-artillery.
The Prince of Orange commanded them. A wood, called the Bois de Bossu,
stretched along the right (or western) flank of the position of Quatre
Bras; a farmhouse and building, called Gemiancourt, stood on some
elevated ground in its front; and to the left (or east), were
the inclosures of the village of Pierremont. The Prince of Orange
endeavoured to secure these posts; but Ney carried Gemiancourt in
the centre, and Pierremont on the east, and gained occupation of the
southern part of the wood of Bossu. He ranged the chief part of his
artillery on the high ground of Gemiancourt, whence it played throughout
the action with most destructive effect upon the Allies. He was pressing
forward to further advantages, when the fifth infantry division under
Sir Thomas Picton and the Duke of Brunswick's corps appeared upon the
scene. Wellington (who had returned to Quatre Bras from his interview
with Blucher shortly before the arrival of these forces) restored the
fight with them; and, as fresh troops of the Allies arrived, they were
brought forward to stem the fierce attacks which Ney's columns and
squadrons continued to make with unabated gallantry and zeal. The only
cavalry of the anglo-allied army that reached Quatre Bras during
the action, consisted of Dutch and Belgians, and a small force of
Brunswickers, under their Duke, who was killed on the field. These
proved wholly unable to encounter Kellerman's cuirassiers and Pire's
lancers; the Dutch and Belgian infantry also gave way early in the
engagement; so that the whole brunt of the battle fell on the British
and German infantry. They sustained it nobly. Though repeatedly charged
by the French cavalry, though exposed to the murderous fire of the
French batteries, which from the heights of Gemiancourt sent shot and
shell into the devoted squares whenever the French horseman withdrew,
they not only repelled their assailants, but Kempt's and Pack's
brigades, led, on by Picton, actually advanced against and through their
charging foes, and with stern determination made good to the end of the
day the ground which they had thus boldly won. Some, however, of the
British regiments were during the confusion assailed by the French
cavalry before they could form squares, and suffered severely. One
regiment, the 92d, was almost wholly destroyed by the cuirassiers. A
French private soldier, named Lami, of the 8th regiment of cuirassiers,
captured one of the English colours, and presented it to Ney. It was a
solitary trophy. The arrival of the English Guards about half-past six
o'clock, enabled the Duke to recover the wood of Bossu, which the French
had almost entirely won, and the possession of which by them would have
enabled Ney to operate destructively upon the allied flank and rear.
Not only was the wood of Bossu recovered on the British right, but the
inclosures of Pierremont were also carried on the left. When night set
in the French had been driven back on all points towards Frasne; but
they still held the farm of Gemiancourt in front of the Duke's centre.
Wellington and Muffling were unacquainted with the result of the
collateral battle between Blucher and Napoleon, the cannonading of which
had been distinctly audible at Quatre Bras throughout the afternoon and
evening. The Duke observed to Muffling, that of course the two Allied
armies would assume the offensive against the enemy on the morrow; and
consequently, it would be better to capture the farm at once, instead
of waiting till next morning. Muffling agreed in the Duke's views and
Gemiancourt was forthwith attacked by the English and captured with
little loss to its assailants. [Muffling, p. 242.]
Meanwhile the French and the Prussians had been fighting in and round
the villages of Ligny, Sombref, and St. Armand, from three in the
afternoon to nine in the evening, with a savage inveteracy almost
unparalleled in modern warfare. Blucher had in the field, when he began
the battle, 83,417 men, and 224 guns. Bulow's corps, which was 25,000
strong, had not joined him; but the Field-Marshal hoped to be reinforced
by it, or by the English army before the end of the action. But Bulow,
through some error in the transmission of orders, was far in the rear;
and the Duke of Wellington was engaged, as we have seen, with Marshal
Ney. Blucher received early warning from Baron Muffling that the Duke
could not come to his assistance; but, as Muffling observes, Wellington
rendered the Prussians the great service of occupying more than 40,000
of the enemy, who otherwise would have crushed Blucher's right flank.
For, not only did the conflict at Quatre Bras detain the French troops
which actually took part in it, but d'Erlon received orders from Ney to
join him, which hindered d'Erlon from giving effectual aid to Napoleon.
Indeed, the whole of d'Erlon's corps, in consequence of conflicting
directions from Ney and the Emperor, marched and countermarched, during
the 16th, between Quatre Bras and Ligny without firing a shot in either
battle.
Blucher had, in fact, a superiority of more than 12,000 in number over
the French army that attacked him at Ligny. The numerical difference was
even greater at the beginning of the battle, as Lobau's corps did not
come up from Charleroi till eight o'clock. After five hours and a half
of desperate and long-doubtful struggle, Napoleon succeeded in breaking
the centre of the Prussian line at Ligny, and in forcing his obstinate
antagonists off the field of battle. The issue was attributable to his
skill, and not to any want of spirit or resolution on the part of
the Prussian troops; nor did they, though defeated, abate one jot in
discipline, heart, or hope. As Blucher observed, it was a battle in
which his army lost the day but not its honour. The Prussians retreated
during the night of the 16th, and the early part of the 17th, with
perfect regularity and steadiness, The retreat was directed not towards
Maestricht, where their principal depots were established, but
towards Wavre, so as to be able to maintain their communication with
Wellington's army, and still follow out the original plan of the
campaign. The heroism with which the Prussians endured and repaired
their defeat at Ligny, is more glorious than many victories.
The messenger who was sent to inform Wellington of the retreat of the
Prussian army, was shot on the way; and it was not until the morning of
the 17th that the Allies, at Quatre Bras, knew the result of the battle
of Ligny. The Duke was ready at daybreak to take the offensive
against the enemy with vigour, his whole army being by that time fully
assembled. But on learning that Blucher had been defeated, a different
course of action was clearly necessary. It was obvious that Napoleon's
main army would now be directed against Wellington, and a retreat was
inevitable. On ascertaining that the Prussian army had retired upon
Wavre, that there was no hot pursuit of them by the French, and that
Bulow's corps had taken no part in the action at Ligny, the Duke
resolved to march his army back towards Brussels, still intending to
cover that city, and to halt at a point in a line with Wavre, and there
restore his communication with Blucher. An officer from Blucher's army
reached the Duke about nine o'clock, from whom he learned the effective
strength that Blucher still possessed, and how little discouraged his
ally was by the yesterday's battle. Wellington sent word to the Prussian
commander that he would halt in the position of Mont St. Jean, and
accept a general battle with the French, if Blucher would pledge himself
to come to his assistance with a single corps of 25,000 men. This was
readily promised; and after allowing his men ample time for rest and
refreshment, Wellington retired over about half the space between Quatre
Bras and Brussels. He was pursued, but little molested, by the main
French army, which about noon of the 17th moved laterally from Ligny,
and joined Ney's forces, which had advanced through Quatre Bras when the
British abandoned that position. The Earl of Uxbridge, with the British
cavalry, covered the retreat of the Duke's army, with great skill and
gallantry; and a heavy thunderstorm, with torrents of rain, impeded the
operations of the French pursuing squadrons. The Duke still expected
that the French would endeavour to turn his right, and march upon
Brussels by the high road that leads through Mons and Hal. In order to
counteract this anticipated manoeuvre, he stationed a force of 18,000
men, under Prince Frederick of the Netherlands, at Hal, with orders to
maintain himself there if attacked, as long as possible. The Duke halted
with the rest of his army at the position near Mont St. Jean, which,
from a village in its neighbourhood, has received the ever-memorable
name of the field of Waterloo.
Wellington was now about twelve miles distant, on a line running
from west to east, from Wavre, where the Prussian army had now been
completely reorganised and collected, and where it had been strengthened
by the junction of Bulow's troops, which had taken no part in the battle
of Ligny. Blucher sent word from Wavre to the Duke, that he was coming
to help the English at Mont St. Jean, in the morning, not with one
corps, but with his whole army. The fiery old man only stipulated that
the combined armies, if not attacked by Napoleon on the 18th, should
themselves attack him on the 19th. So far were Blucher and his army from
being in the state of annihilation described in the boastful bulletin by
which Napoleon informed the Parisians of his victory at Ligny. Indeed,
the French Emperor seems himself to have been misinformed as to the
extent of loss which he had inflicted on the Prussians. Had he known in
what good order and with what undiminished spirit they were retiring, he
would scarcely have delayed sending a large force to press them in their
retreat until noon on the 17th. Such, however, was the case. It was
about that time that he confided to Marshal Grouchy the duty of pursuing
the defeated Prussians, and preventing them from joining Wellington. He
placed for this purpose 32,000 men and 96 guns under his orders. Violent
complaints and recriminations passed afterwards between the Emperor and
the marshal respecting the manner in which Grouchy attempted to perform
this duty, and the reasons why he failed on the 18th to arrest the
lateral movement of the Prussians from Wavre to Waterloo. It is
sufficient to remark here, that the force which Napoleon gave to Grouchy
(though the utmost that the Emperor's limited means would allow) was
insufficient to make head against the entire Prussian army, especially
after Bulow's junction with Blucher. We shall presently have occasion to
consider what opportunities were given to Grouchy during the 18th, and
what he might have effected if he had been a man of original military
genius.
But the failure of Grouchy was in truth mainly owing to the indomitable
heroism of Blucher himself; who, though he had received severe personal
injuries in the battle of Ligny, was as energetic and ready as ever in
bringing his men into action again, and who had the resolution to expose
a part of his army, under Thielman, to be overwhelmed by Grouchy at
Wavre on the 18th, while he urged the march of the mass of his troops
upon Waterloo. "It is not at Wavre, but at Waterloo," said the old
Field-Marshal, "that the campaign is to be decided;" and he risked a
detachment, and won the campaign accordingly. Wellington and Blucher
trusted each other as cordially, and co-operated as zealously, as
formerly had been the case with Marlborough and Eugene. It was in full
reliance on Blucher's promise to join him that the Duke stood his ground
and fought at Waterloo; and those who have ventured to impugn the
Duke's capacity as a general, ought to have had common-sense enough to
perceive, that to charge the Duke with having won the battle of Waterloo
by the help of the Prussians, is really to say that he won it by the
very means on which he relied, and without the expectation of which the
battle would not have been fought.
Napoleon himself has found fault with Wellington for not having
retreated further, so as to complete a junction of his army with
Blucher's before he risked a general engagement. [See Montholon's
Memoirs, vol. iv. p. 44.] But, as we have seen, the Duke justly
considered it important to protect Brussels. He had reason to expect
that his army could singly resist the French at Waterloo until the
Prussians came up; and that, on the Prussians joining, there would be
a sufficient force united under himself and Blucher for completely
overwhelming the enemy. And while Napoleon thus censures his great
adversary, he involuntarily bears the highest possible testimony to
the military character of the English, and proves decisively of what
paramount importance was the battle to which he challenged his fearless
opponent. Napoleon asks, "IF THE ENGLISH ARMY HAD BEEN BEATEN AT
WATERLOO, WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE USE OF THOSE NUMEROUS BODIES OF
TROOPS, OF PRUSSIANS, AUSTRIANS, GERMANS, AND SPANIARDS, WHICH WERE
ADVANCING BY FORCED MARCHES TO THE RHINE, THE ALPS, AND THE PYRENEES?"
[Ibid.]
The strength of the army under the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo was
49,608 infantry, 12,402 cavalry, and 5,645 artillerymen with 156 guns.
[Siborne, vol. i. p. 376.] But of this total of 67,655 men, scarcely
24,000 were British, a circumstance of very serious importance, if
Napoleon's own estimate of the relative value of troops of different
nations is to be taken. In the Emperor's own words, speaking of this
campaign, "A French soldier would not be equal to more than one English
soldier, but he would not be afraid to meet two Dutchmen, Prussians, or
soldiers of the Confederation." [Montholon's Memoirs, vol. iv. p. 41.]
There were about 6,000 men of the old German Legion with the Duke; these
were veteran troops, and of excellent quality. Of the rest of the
army the Hanoverians and Brunswickers proved themselves deserving of
confidence and praise. But the Nassauers, Dutch, and Belgians were
almost worthless; and not a few of them were justly suspected of a
strong wish to fight, if they fought at all, under the French eagles
rather than against them.
Napoleon's army at Waterloo consisted of 48,950 infantry, 15,765
cavalry, 7,232 artillerymen, being a total of 71,947 men, and 246 guns.
[See Siborne, UT SUPRA.] They were the flower of the national forces of
France; and of all the numerous gallant armies which that martial land
has poured forth, never was there one braver, or better disciplined, or
better led, than the host that took up its position at Waterloo on the
morning of the 18th of June, 1815.
Perhaps those who have not seen the field of battle at Waterloo, or the
admirable model of the ground, and of the conflicting armies, which was
executed by Captain Siborne, may gain a generally accurate idea of the
localities, by picturing to themselves a valley between two and three
miles long, of various breadths at different points, but generally not
exceeding half a mile. On each side of the valley there is a winding
chain of low hills running somewhat parallel, with each other. The
declivity from each of these ranges of hills to the intervening valley
is gentle but not uniform, the undulations of the ground being frequent
and considerable. The English army was posted on the northern, and the
French army occupied the southern ridge. The artillery of each side
thundered at the other from their respective heights throughout the day,
and the charges of horse and foot were made across the valley that has
been described. The village of Mont St. Jean is situate a little behind
the centre of the northern chain of hills, and the village of La Belle
Alliance is close behind the centre of the southern ridge. The high road
from Charleroi to Brussels (a broad paved causeway) runs through both
these villages, and bisects therefore both the English and the French
positions. The line of this road was the line of Napoleon's intended
advance on Brussels.
There are some other local particulars connected with the situation of
each army, which it is necessary to bear in mind. The strength of the
British position did not consist merely in the occupation of a ridge of
high ground. A village and ravine, called Merk Braine, on the Duke of
Wellington's extreme right, secured his flank from being turned on that
side; and on his extreme left, two little hamlets called La Haye and
Papelotte, gave a similar, though a slighter, protection. Behind the
whole British position is the extensive forest of Soignies. As no
attempt was made by the French to turn either of the English flanks,
and the battle was a day of straightforward fighting, it is chiefly
important to ascertain what posts there were in front of the British
line of hills, of which advantage could be taken either to repel or
facilitate an attack; and it will be seen that there were two, and that
each was of very great importance in the action. In front of the British
right, that is to say, on the northern slope of the valley towards its
western end, there stood an old-fashioned Flemish farm-house called
Goumont, or Hougoumont, with out-buildings and a garden, and with a
copse of beach trees of about two acres in extent round it. This was
strongly garrisoned by the allied troops; and, while it was in their
possession, it was difficult for the enemy to press on and force the
British right wing. On the other hand, if the enemy could take it, it
would be difficult for that wing to keep its ground on the heights, with
a strong post held adversely in its immediate front, being one that;
would give much shelter to the enemy's marksmen, and great facilities
for the sudden concentration of attacking columns. Almost immediately
in front of the British centre, and not so far down the slope as
Hougoumont, there was another farm-house, of a smaller size, called La
Haye Sainte, [Not to be confounded with the hamlet of La Haye at the
extreme left of the British line.] which was also held by the British
troops, and the occupation of which was found to be of very serious
consequence.
With respect to the French position, the principal feature to be noticed
is the village of Planchenoit, which lay a little in the rear of their
right (I.E. on the eastern side), and which proved to be of great
importance in aiding them to check the advance of the Prussians.
Napoleon, in his memoirs, and other French writers, have vehemently
blamed the Duke for having given battle in such a position as that of
Waterloo. They particularly object that the Duke fought without
having the means of a retreat, if the attacks of his enemy had proved
successful; and that the English army, if once broken, must have lost
all its guns and MATERIEL in its flight through the Forest of Soignies,
that lay in its rear. In answer to these censures, instead of merely
referring to the event of the battle as proof of the correctness of the
Duke's judgment, it is to be observed that many military critics of
high authority, have considered the position of Waterloo to have been
admirably adapted for the Duke's purpose of protecting Brussels by a
battle; and that certainly the Duke's opinion in favour of it was not
lightly or hastily formed. It is a remarkable fact (mentioned in the
speech of Lord Bathurst when moving the vote of thanks to the Duke in
the House of Lords), [Parliamentary Debates, vol. xxxi. p. 875.] that
when the Duke of Wellington was passing through Belgium in the preceding
summer of 1814, he particularly noticed the strength of the position of
Waterloo, and made a minute of it at the time, stating to those who were
with him, that if it ever should be his fate to fight a battle in that
quarter for the protection of Brussels, he should endeavour to do so
in that position. And with respect to the Forest of Soignies, which the
French (and some few English) critics have thought calculated to prove
so fatal to a retreating force, the Duke on the contrary believed it to
be a post that might have proved of infinite value to his army in the
event of his having been obliged to give way. The Forest of Soignies
has no thicket or masses of close-growing trees. It consists of tall
beeches, and is everywhere passable for men and horses. The artillery
could have been withdrawn by the broad road which traverses it towards
Brussels; and in the meanwhile a few regiments of resolute infantry
could have held the forest and kept the pursuers in check. One of
the best writers on the Waterloo campaign, Captain Pringle, [See the
Appendix to the 8th volume of Scott's Life of Napoleon.] well observes
that "every person, the least experienced in war, knows the extreme
difficulty of forcing infantry from a wood which cannot be turned." The
defence of the Bois de Bossu near Quatre Bras on the 16th of June had
given a good proof of this; and the Duke of Wellington, when speaking
in after years of the possible events that might have followed if he had
been beaten back from the open field of Waterloo, pointed to the wood
of Soignies as his secure rallying place, saying, "they never could have
beaten us so, that we could not have held the wood against them." He was
always confident that he could have made good that post until joined by
the Prussians, upon whose co-operation he throughout depended. [See
Lord Ellesmere's Life and Character of the Duke of Wellington, p. 40.]
As has been already mentioned, the Prussians, on the morning of the
18th, were at Wavre, which is about twelve miles to the east of the
field of battle of Waterloo. The junction of Bulow's division had more
than made up for the loss sustained at Ligny; and leaving Thielman
with about seventeen thousand men to hold his ground, as he best could,
against the attack which Grouchy was about to make on Wavre, Bulow and
Blucher moved with the rest of the Prussians through St. Lambert upon
Waterloo. It was calculated that they would be there by three o'clock;
but the extremely difficult nature of the ground which they had to
traverse, rendered worse by the torrents of rain that had just fallen,
delayed them long on their twelve miles' march.
An army indeed, less animated by bitter hate against the enemy than was
the Prussians, and under a less energetic chief than Blucher, would have
failed altogether in effecting a passage through the swamps, into
which the incessant rain had transformed the greater part of the ground
through which it was necessary to move not only with columns of foot,
but with cavalry and artillery. At one point of the march, on entering
the defile of St. Lambert, the spirits of the Prussians almost gave way.
Exhausted in the attempts to extricate and drag forward the heavy guns,
the men began to murmur. Blucher came to the spot, and heard cries from
the ranks of--"We cannot get on." "But you must get on," was the old
Field-Marshal's answer. "I have pledged my word to Wellington, and you
surely will not make me break it. Only exert yourselves for a few hours
longer, and we are sure of victory." This appeal from old "Marshal
Forwards," as the Prussian soldiers loved to call Blucher, had its
wonted affect. The Prussians again moved forward, slowly, indeed, and
with pain and toil; but still they moved forward. [See Siborne, vol. ii.
p. 137.]
The French and British armies lay on the open field during the wet and
stormy night of the 17th; and when the dawn of the memorable 18th of
June broke, the rain was still descending heavily upon Waterloo. The
rival nations rose from their dreary bivouacs, and began to form, each
on the high ground which it occupied. Towards nine the weather grew
clearer, and each army was able to watch the position and arrangements
of the other on the opposite side of the valley.
The Duke of Wellington drew up his army in two lines; the principal one
being stationed near the crest of the ridge of hills already described,
and the other being arranged along the slope in the rear of his
position. Commencing from the eastward, on the extreme left of the first
or main line, were Vivian's and Vandeleur's brigades of light cavalry,
and the fifth Hanoverian brigade of infantry, under Von Vincke. Then
came Best's fourth Hanoverian brigade. Detachments from these bodies of
troops occupied the little villages of Papelotte and La Haye, down the
hollow in advance of the left of the Duke's position. To the right of
Best's Hanoverians, Bylandt's brigade of Dutch and Belgian infantry was
drawn up on the outer slope of the heights. Behind them were the ninth
brigade of British infantry under Pack; and to the right of these last,
but more in advance, stood the eighth brigade of English infantry under
Kempt. These were close to the Charleroi road, and to the centre of the
entire position. These two English brigades, with the fifth Hanoverian,
made up the fifth division, commanded by Sir Thomas Picton. Immediately
to their right, and westward of the Charleroi road, stood the third
division, commanded by General Alten, and consisting of Ompteda's
brigade of the King's German legion, and Kielmansegge's Hanoverian
brigade. The important post of La Haye Sainte, which it will be
remembered lay in front of the Duke's centre, close to the Charleroi
road, was garrisoned with troops from this division. Westward, and on
the right of Kielmansegge's Hanoverians, stood the fifth British brigade
under Halkett; and behind, Kruse's Nassau brigade was posted. On the
right of Halkett's men stood the English Guards. They were in two
brigades, one commanded By Maitland, and the other by Byng. The
entire division was under General Cooke. The buildings and gardens of
Hougoumont, which lay immediately under the height, on which stood
the British Guards, were principally manned by detachments from Byng's
Brigade, aided by some brave Hanoverian riflemen, and accompanied by
a battalion of a Nassau regiment. On a plateau in the rear of Cooks's
division of Guards, and inclining westward towards the village of Merk
Braine, were Clinton's second infantry division, composed of Adams's
third brigade of light infantry, Du Plat's first brigade of the King's
German legion, and third Hanoverian brigade under Colonel Halkett.
The Duke formed his second line of cavalry. This only extended behind
the right and centre of his first line. The largest mass was drawn up
behind the brigades of infantry in the centre, on either side of the
Charleroi road. The brigade of household cavalry under Lord Somerset was
on the immediate right of the road, and on the left of it was Ponsonby's
brigade. Behind these were Trip's and Ghingy's brigades of Dutch and
Belgian horse. The third Hussars of the King's German Legion were to
the right of Somerset's brigade. To the right of these, and behind
Maitland's infantry, stood the third brigade under Dornberg, consisting
of the 23d English Light Dragoons, and the regiments of Light Dragoons
of the King's German Legion. The last cavalry on the right was Grant's
brigade, stationed in the rear of the Foot-Guards. The corps of
Brunswickers, both horse and foot, and the 10th British brigade of foot,
were in reserve behind the centre and right of the entire position. The
artillery was distributed at convenient intervals along the front of
the whole line. Besides the Generals who have been mentioned, Lord Hill,
Lord Uxbridge (who had the general command of the cavalry), the Prince
of Orange, and General Chasse, were present, and acting under the Duke.
[Prince Frederick's force remained at Hal, and took no part in the
battle of the 18th. The reason for this arrangement (which has been much
cavilled at), may be best given in the words of Baron Muffling:--"The
Duke had retired from Quatre Bras in three columns, by three chaussees;
and on the evening of the 17th, Prince Frederick of Orange was at Hal,
Lord Hill at Braine la Leud, and the Prince of Orange with the reserve,
at Mont St. Jean. This distribution was necessary, as Napoleon could
dispose of these three roads for his advance on Brussels. Napoleon on
the 17th had pressed on by Genappe as far as Rossomme. On the two other
roads no enemy had yet shown himself. On the 18th the offensive was
taken by Napoleon on its greatest scale, but still the Nivelles road was
not overstepped by his left wing. These circumstances made it possible
to draw Prince Frederick to the army, which would certainly have
been done if entirely new circumstances had not arisen. The Duke had,
twenty-four hours before, pledged himself to accept a battle at Mont St.
Jean if Blucher would assist him there with one corps, of 25,000 men.
This being promised, the Duke was taking his measures for defence, when
he learned that, in addition to the one corps promised, Blucher was
actually already on the march with his whole force, to break in by
Planchenoit on Napoleon's flank and rear. If three corps of the Prussian
army should penetrate by the unguarded plateau of Rossomme, which was
not improbable, Napoleon would be thrust from his line of retreat by
Genappe, and might possibly lose even that by Nivelles. In this case
Prince Frederick with his 18,000 men (who might be accounted superfluous
at Mont St. Jean), might have rendered the most essential service."--See
Muffling, p. 246 and the QUARTERLY REVIEW, No. 178. It is also worthy of
observation that Napoleon actually detached a force of 2,000 cavalry to
threaten Hal, though they returned to the main French army during the
night of the 17th. See "Victoires at Conquetes des Francais," vol. xxiv.
p 186.]
On the opposite heights the French army was drawn up in two general
lines, with the entire force of the Imperial Guards, cavalry as well as
infantry, in rear of the centre, as a reserve.
The first line of the French army was formed of the two corps commanded
by Count d'Erlon and Count Reille. D'Erlon's corps was on the right,
that is, eastward of the Charleroi road, and consisted of four divisions
of infantry under Generals Durette, Marcognet, Alix, and Donzelot, and
of one division of light cavalry under General Jaquinot. Count Reille's
corps formed the left or western wing, and was formed of Bachelu's,
Foy's, and Jerome Bonaparte's divisions of infantry, and of Pire's
division of cavalry. The right wing of the second general French line
was formed of Milhaud's corps, consisting of two divisions of heavy
cavalry. The left wing of this line was formed by Kellerman's cavalry
corps, also in two divisions. Thus each of the corps of infantry that
composed the first line had a corps of cavalry behind it; but the
second line consisted also of Lobau's corps of infantry, and Domont
and Subervie's divisions of light cavalry; these three bodies of troops
being drawn up on either side of La Belle Alliance, and forming the
centre of the second line. The third, or reserve line, had its centre
composed of the infantry of the Imperial Guard. Two regiments of
grenadiers and two of chasseurs, formed the foot of the Old Guard under
General Friant. The Middle Guard, under Count Morand, was similarly
composed; while two regiments of voltigeurs, and two of tirailleurs,
under Duhesme, constituted the Young Guard. The chasseurs and lancers of
the Guard were on the right of the infantry, under Lefebvre Desnouettes;
and the grenadiers and dragoons of the Guards, under Guyot, were on the
left. All the French corps comprised, besides their cavalry and infantry
regiments, strong batteries of horse artillery; and Napoleon's numerical
superiority in guns was of deep importance throughout the action.
Besides the leading generals who have been mentioned as commanding
particular corps, Ney and Soult were present, and acted as the Emperor's
lieutenants in the battle.
English military critics have highly eulogised the admirable arrangement
which Napoleon made of his forces of each arm, so as to give him the
most ample means of sustaining, by an immediate and sufficient support,
any attack, from whatever point he might direct it; and of drawing
promptly together a strong force, to resist any attack that might be
made on himself in any part of the field. [Siborne, vol. i. p. 376.]
When his troops were all arrayed, he rode along the lines, receiving
everywhere the most enthusiastic cheers from his men, of whose entire
devotion to him his assurance was now doubly sure. On the northern side
of the valley the Duke's army was also drawn up, and ready to meet the
menaced attack.
Wellington had caused, on the preceding night, every brigade and corps
to take up its station on or near the part of the ground which it was
intended to hold in the coming battle. He had slept a few hours at his
headquarters in the village of Waterloo; and rising on the 18th, while
it was yet deep night, he wrote several letters to the Governor of
Antwerp, to the English Minister at Brussels, and other official
personages, in which he expressed his confidence that all would go well,
but "as it was necessary to provide against serious losses; should any
accident occur," he gave a series of judicious orders for what should be
done in the rear of the army, in the event of the battle going against
the Allies. He also, before he left the village of Waterloo, saw to the
distribution of the reserves of ammunition which had been parked there,
so that supplies should be readily forwarded to every part of the line
of battle, where they might be required, The Duke, also, personally
inspected the arrangements that had been made for receiving the wounded,
and providing temporary hospitals in the houses in the rear of the
army. Then, mounting a favourite charger, a small thorough-bred chestnut
horse, named "Copenhagen," Wellington rode forward to the range of hills
where his men were posted. Accompanied by his staff and by the Prussian
General Muffling, he rode along his lines, carefully inspecting all
the details of his position. Hougoumont was the object of his special
attention. He rode down to the south-eastern extremity of its
enclosures, and after having examined the nearest French troops, he made
some changes in the disposition of his own men, who were to defend that
important post.
Having given his final orders about Hougoumont, the Duke galloped back
to the high ground in the right centre of his position; and halting
there, sat watching the enemy on the opposite heights, and conversing
with his staff with that cheerful serenity which was ever his
characteristic in the hour of battle.
Not all brave men are thus gifted; and many a glance of anxious
excitement must have been cast across the valley that separated the two
hosts during the protracted pause which ensued between the completion
of Napoleon's preparations for attack and the actual commencement of
the contest. It was, indeed, an awful calm before the coming storm, when
armed myriads stood gazing on their armed foes, scanning their number,
their array, their probable powers of resistance and destruction, and
listening with throbbing hearts for the momentarily expected note
of death; while visions of victory and glory came thronging on each
soldier's high-strung brain, not unmingled with recollections of the
home which his fall might soon leave desolate, nor without shrinking
nature sometimes prompting the cold thought, that in a few moments he
might be writhing in agony, or lie a trampled and mangled mass of clay
on the grass now waving so freshly and purely before him.
Such thoughts WILL arise in human breasts, though the brave man soon
silences "the child within us that trembles before death," [See Plato,
Phaedon, c. 60; and Grote's History of Greece, vol. viii. p. 656.] and
nerves himself for the coming struggle by the mental preparation which
Xenophon has finely called "the soldier's arraying his own soul for
battle." [Hellenica, lib. vii. c. v. s. 22.] Well, too, may we hope and
believe that many a spirit sought aid from a higher and holier source;
and that many a fervent though silent prayer arose on that Sabbath morn
(the battle of Waterloo was fought on a Sunday) to the Lord of Sabaoth,
the God of Battles, from the ranks, whence so many thousands were about
to appear that day before his judgment-seat.
Not only to those who were thus present as spectators and actors in
the dread drama, but to all Europe, the decisive contest then impending
between the rival French and English nations, each under its chosen
chief was the object of exciting interest and deepest solicitude.
"Never, indeed, had two such generals as the Duke of Wellington and the
Emperor Napoleon encountered since the day when Scipio and Hannibal met
at Zama." [See SUPRA, p. 82.]
The two great champions, who now confronted each other, were equals in
years, and each had entered the military profession at the same early
age. The more conspicuous stage, on which the French general's youthful
genius was displayed, his heritage of the whole military power of the
French Republic, the position on which for years he was elevated as
sovereign head of an empire surpassing that of Charlemagne, and the
dazzling results of his victories, which made and unmade kings, had
given him a formidable pre-eminence in the eyes of mankind. Military men
spoke with justly rapturous admiration of the brilliancy of his first
Italian campaigns, when he broke through the pedantry of traditional
tactics, and with a small but promptly-wielded force, shattered army
after army of the Austrians, conquered provinces and capitals, dictated
treaties, and annihilated or created states. The iniquity of his
Egyptian expedition was too often forgotten in contemplating the
skill and boldness with which he destroyed the Mameluke cavalry at the
Pyramids, and the Turkish infantry at Aboukir. None could forget the
marvellous passage of the Alps in 1800, or the victory of Marengo,
which wrested Italy back from Austria, and destroyed the fruit of
twenty victories, which the enemies of France had gained over her in the
absence of her favourite chief. Even higher seemed the glories of
his German campaigns, the triumphs of Ulm, of Austerlitz, of Jena, of
Wagram. Napoleon's disasters in Russia, in 1812, were imputed by
his admirers to the elements; his reverses in Germany, in 1813, were
attributed by them to treachery: and even those two calamitous years had
been signalised by his victories at Borodino, at Lutzen, at Bautzen, at
Dresden, and at Hanau. His last campaign, in the early months of 1814,
was rightly cited as the most splendid exhibition of his military
genius, when, with a far inferior army, he long checked and frequently
defeated the vast hosts that were poured upon France. His followers
fondly hoped that the campaign of 1815 would open with another "week
of miracles," like that which had seen his victories at Montmirail
and Montereau. The laurel of Ligny was even now fresh upon his brows.
Blucher had not stood before him; and who was the Adversary that now
should bar the Emperor's way?
That Adversary had already overthrown the Emperor's best generals, and
the Emperor's best armies; and, like Napoleon himself, had achieved a
reputation in more than European wars. Wellington was illustrious as the
destroyer of the Mahratta power, as the liberator of Portugal and Spain,
and the successful invader of Southern France. In early youth he had
held high command in India; and had displayed eminent skill in planning
and combining movements, and unrivalled celerity and boldness in
execution. On his return to Europe several years passed away before any
fitting opportunity was accorded for the exercise of his genius. In
this important respect, Wellington, as a subject, and Napoleon, as a
sovereign, were far differently situated. At length his appointment
to the command in the Spanish Peninsula gave him the means of showing
Europe that England had a general who could revive the glories of Crecy,
of Poictiers, of Agincourt, of Blenheim, and of Ramilies. At the head of
forces always numerically far inferior to the armies with which
Napoleon deluged the Peninsula;--thwarted by jealous and incompetent
allies;--ill-supported by friends, and assailed by factious enemies at
home; Wellington maintained the war for several years, unstained by any
serious reverse, and marked by victory in thirteen pitched battles,
at Vimiera, the Douro, Talavera, Busaco, Fuentes d'Onore, Salamanca,
Vittoria, the Pyrenees, the Bidassoa, the Nive, the Nivelle, Orthes, and
Toulouse. Junot, Victor, Massena, Ney, Marmont, and Jourdain,--marshals
whose names were the terrors of continental Europe--had been baffled
by his skill, and smitten down by his energy, while he liberated the
kingdoms of the Peninsula from them and their Imperial master. In vain
did Napoleon at last despatch Soult, the ablest of his lieutenants,
to turn the tide of Wellington's success and defend France against the
English invader. Wellington met Soult's manoeuvres with superior skill,
and his boldness with superior vigour. When Napoleon's first abdication,
in 1814, suspended hostilities, Wellington was master of the fairest
districts of Southern France; and had under him a veteran army, with
which (to use his own expressive phrase) "he felt he could have gone
anywhere and done anything." The fortune of war had hitherto kept
separate the orbits in which Napoleon and he had moved. Now, on the ever
memorable 18th of June, 1815, they met at last.
It is, indeed, remarkable that Napoleon, during his numerous campaigns
in Spain as well as other countries, not only never encountered the Duke
of Wellington before the day of Waterloo, but that he was never until
then personally engaged with British troops, except at the siege of
Toulon, in 1793, which was the very first incident of his military
career. Many, however, of the French generals who were with him in 1815,
knew well, by sharp experience, what English soldiers were, and what
the leader was who now headed them. Ney, Foy, and other officers who had
served in the Peninsula, warned Napoleon that he would find the English
infantry "very devils in fight." The Emperor, however, persisted in
employing the old system of attack, with which the French generals
often succeeded against continental troops, but which had always failed
against the English in the Peninsula. He adhered to his usual tactics of
employing the order of the column; a mode of attack probably favoured by
him (as Sir Walter Scott remarks) on account of his faith in the extreme
valour of the French officers by whom the column was headed. It is a
threatening formation, well calculated to shake the firmness of ordinary
foes; but which, when steadily met, as the English have met it, by heavy
volleys of musketry from an extended line, followed up by a resolute
bayonet charge, has always resulted in disaster to the assailants. [See
especially Sir W. Napier's glorious pictures of the battles of Busaco
and Albuera. The THEORETICAL advantages of the attack in column, and
its peculiar fitness for a French army, are set forth in the Chevalier
Folard's "Traite de la Colonne," prefixed to the first volume of his
"Polybius," See also the preface to his sixth volume.]
It was approaching noon before the action commenced. Napoleon, in his
Memoirs, gives as the reason for this delay, the miry state of the
ground through the heavy rain of the preceding night and day, which
rendered it impossible for cavalry or artillery to manoeuvre on it till
a few hours of dry weather had given it its natural consistency. It has
been supposed, also, that he trusted to the effect which the sight of
the imposing array of his own forces was likely to produce on the part
of the allied army. The Belgian regiments had been tampered with;
and Napoleon had well-founded hopes of seeing them quit the Duke of
Wellington in a body, and range themselves under his own eagles. The
Duke, however, who knew and did not trust them, had guarded against the
risk of this, by breaking up the corps of Belgians, and distributing
them in separate regiments among troops on whom he could rely. [Siborne,
vol. i. p. 373.]
At last, at about half-past eleven o'clock, Napoleon began the battle by
directing a powerful force from his left wing under his brother, Prince
Jerome, to attack Hougoumont. Column after column of the French now
descended from the west of the southern heights, and assailed that
post with fiery valour, which was encountered with the most determined
bravery. The French won the copse round the house, but a party of the
British Guards held the house itself throughout the day. The whole of
Byng's brigade was required to man this hotly-contested post. Amid
shell and shot, and the blazing fragments of part of the buildings,
this obstinate contest was continued. But still the English were firm in
Hougoumont; though the French occasionally moved forward in such numbers
as enabled them to surround and mask it with part of their troops from
their left wing, while others pressed onward up the slope, and assailed
the British right.