Morning after the battle.—Extraordinary and distressing appearance
of the field.—Solicitude for the wounded.—The Duke goes back
to Brussels to consult the authorities and soothe the extreme
excitement.—Humane conduct of all classes towards the wounded.—The
allied army proceeds to Nivelles; joined by our detached
force.—His Grace issues a general order.—Overtakes the army. On
the 21st we cross the frontier into France.—Proclamation to the
French people.—Napoleon abdicates in favour of his son.—Cambray
and Péronne taken.—Narrow escape of the Duke.—Grouchy retreats
upon Paris, closely pursued by the Prussians.—The British and
Prussian armies arrive before Paris.—Combat of Issy.—Military
convention.—The allies enter the capital on the 7th of July.—Louis
XVIII enters next day.—Napoleon surrenders at sea, July 15th.—He is
exiled to St.-Helena, where he dies in 1821.—Reflections.
On our awaking next morning, each of us must have experienced
something like astonishment, not unmingled, I hope, with feelings of
gratitude, that amidst such carnage as he had witnessed, his life
and strength were still spared, to fight again, if need should be,
the battles of his country. We knew we had beaten the French, and
that too, completely; for our last charge had succeeded at every
point. But they were not defeated because they were deficient either
in bravery or discipline. Their bearing throughout the day was that
of gallant soldiers: their attacks were conducted with a chivalric
impetuosity and admirably sustained vigour, which left no shadow of
doubt upon our minds of their entire devotedness to the cause of
Napoleon, of their expectation of victory, and the determination of
many of them not to survive defeat. The best and bravest of them
fell; but not till they had inflicted almost equal loss upon their
conquerors. To deny them the tribute of respect and admiration which
their bravery and misfortunes claim, would tarnish the lustre of our
martial glory. The British soldier is content with victory: he abhors
insult and cruelty; he has a pleasure in being just and generous
to a fallen foe. That the French in their flight from Waterloo
were unnecessarily butchered during many hours by the exasperated
Prussians, is a fact, which I can more easily explain than justify.
The field of battle, after the victory, presented a frightful and
most distressing spectacle. It appeared as if the whole military
world had been collected together, and that something beyond human
strength and ingenuity had been employed to cause its destruction.
Solicitude for the wounded prompted the Duke to ride back to
Brussels immediately after the sanguinary contest. The assistance
of the town authorities was requested, in collecting and removing
the wounded from the field, burying the dead, etc., as well as to
restore confidence amongst the population, and allay the extreme
excitement which prevailed throughout Belgium. Right nobly did the
inhabitants of Brussels respond to his appeal. The clergy, as might
have been expected, were foremost in their exertions to relieve the
dreadful agonies of so many gallant and innocent sufferers: the
highest in rank rivalled the hardier classes in performing the most
trying offices for the mangled heroes that filled the hospitals, and
encumbered even many private dwellings. Ladies, of the honoured names
of Mérode and Robiano set an illustrious example, by their presence
on the field the morning after the battle; the scene of carnage, so
revolting to their delicate and tender nature, stimulating, instead
of preventing, their humane exertions. Many other ladies, like
ministering angels, shared in this work of mercy to the wounded,
of whatever nation they might be, or in whatever cause they had
fallen[78].
The allied army proceeded on the 19th to Nivelles, (a most wonderful
military exploit after such a desperate battle,) where it was joined
by the detached force under prince Frederick and general sir Charles
Colville. His Grace overtook us on the 21st, on which day we entered
France. On the day previous to the allied army entering the country,
the Duke issued the following
GENERAL ORDER.
“NIVELLES, June 20th, 1815.
“1. As the army is about to enter the French territory, the
troops of the nations which are at present under the command of
field-marshal the duke of Wellington, are desired to recollect
that their respective sovereigns are the allies of his Majesty the
king of France, and that France ought, therefore, to be treated as
a friendly country. It is therefore required that nothing should
be taken either by officers or soldiers, for which payment be not
made....
“2. The Field-Marshal takes this opportunity of returning to the
army his thanks for their conduct in the glorious action fought
on the 18th inst., and he will not fail to report his sense of
their conduct, in the terms which it deserves, to their several
sovereigns.
“WELLINGTON.”
The Duke’s head-quarters on the 21st were at Malplaquet, the scene
of one of the great Marlborough’s victories, in 1709. He immediately
issued a proclamation to the French people, which exemplifies the
wisdom, firmness and moderation that ever marked the career of our
illustrious commander. He worthily represented a brave, victorious,
but humane people, the inhabitants of the British empire.
PROCLAMATION.
“Be it known to the French people, that I enter their country at
the head of a victorious army, not as an enemy, (excepting to the
usurper, the declared enemy of the human race, with whom we can
have neither peace nor truce,) but to assist them to throw off the
iron yoke by which thy have been borne down.
“For this purpose I have issued the accompanying orders to my army;
let all who shall infringe those orders be reported to me.
“The French people, however, must be aware that I have a right to
require them so to conduct themselves, that I may be warranted in
protecting them from all aggression.
“They will therefore provide whatever shall be demanded of them by
persons duly authorized, receiving in exchange receipts in proper
form and order: they will remain peaceably in their dwellings, and
will hold no correspondence nor communication with the usurper or
his adherents.
“All persons abandoning their homes after our entry into France, or
absenting themselves in order to serve the usurper, shall be looked
upon as his partisans and our enemies; and their property shall be
confiscated and applied to the maintenance of the troops[79].
“WELLINGTON.
“Given at head-quarters, MALPLAQUET, “June 22d, 1815.”
Whilst the Duke was addressing this language to the French people,
the fallen usurper, having awakened from his short dream of empire
and spoliation, made a last but fruitless effort to continue
to delude his discomfited partisans. On the very same day that
Wellington’s proclamation went forth from Malplaquet, Napoleon issued
the following declaration:
“PALACE OF THE ÉLYSÉE,
June 22d, 1815.
“FRENCH PEOPLE!
“In commencing hostilities to uphold your national independance,
I relied upon the combined efforts and good will of all classes,
as well as the cooperation of all official persons in the country.
Hence sprang my hopes of success, and willingness to set at
defiance all the proclamations of the powers against me.
“Circumstances appear to me to be altered. I tender myself in
sacrifice to the hatred of the enemies of France. May they be
sincere in their declarations! May their hostility really aim at
nothing but me personally!
“My political life is at an end; and I proclaim my son, under the
name of Napoleon the Second, Emperor of the French.
“The present ministers will constitute provisionally the council of
state.
“My interest in my son’s well-being leads me to invite the Chambers
to proceed without delay to provide a regency by an enactment for
this purpose.
“Make united efforts to preserve the public peace and your national
independence.
“NAPOLEON.”
This production neither aroused the French to make fresh sacrifices
for his sake, nor stayed the victorious march of the allies upon
Paris.
On the 24th of June we took Cambray, which was given up on the
following day to Louis XVIII. This was the last occasion on which I
saw a shot fired in a hostile manner.
Our first brigade of guards took Péronne on the 26th. The Duke on
this occasion had a narrow escape. After directing his staff to get
under shelter in the ditch of an outwork, he posted himself in a
sally-port of the glacis. A staff officer, having a communication
to make to his Grace, came suddenly upon him and drew the attention
of the enemy, who treacherously discharged a howitzer loaded with
grape at the point; it shattered the wall against which the Duke was
standing, and made (to use the words of one who saw him immediately
afterwards,) “his blue coat completely _red_.”
Meanwhile Grouchy, who was at Wavre, having heard of the utter
failure of his Imperial master at Waterloo, commenced a retreat on
Paris, vigorously followed by the two Prussian corps under Thielmann
and Pirch. During this retreat, Grouchy displayed more skill, energy
and decision, than in his pursuit of the Prussians, on the 17th and
18th.
The Prussians, who were on our left, had several sharp engagements
with the enemy during their advance upon Paris; and both armies
reached the environs of the capital on the 1st of July. Hostilities
ceased, and a military convention was signed in the evening of the
3d. On the morning of this day Zieten’s corps had a sharp action, in
which they were victors, at Issy near Paris.
The campaign thus, by a singular coincidence, was brought to a close
by the same troops that opened it. The allied and Prussian armies
entered Paris on the 7th of July, and were followed next day by Louis
XVIII. Before the end of the month, the armies of Europe congregated
in and round Paris, amounted nearly to the enormous number of a
million of men in arms.
Napoleon, in the mean time, had left the capital. The Emperor
surrendered at sea, on the 15th of July[80], to captain Maitland, of
the Bellerophon. By a decree of the allied powers, he was sent to
St.-Helena, where he died May 5th, 1821.
Since these events, more than thirty years have passed over us; and
peace between the two greatest nations of the globe, England and
France, has been uninterruptedly maintained. Long may it continue,
to the honour of those whose blood and valour purchased it, and to
the lasting happiness of the civilized world! It was the prospect of
securing this immense benefit to mankind that united all European
nations against the ambition of Napoleon, and that afforded the
best comfort under the distressing sacrifices made to ensure his
overthrow. Perhaps no people benefitted by his fall so much as the
French themselves: his triumphs (often great in a military point of
view,) left nothing in their hands, whilst they filled every family
in France with mourning. The conscription was a more searching
tyranny than civilized men had ever before endured; and all this
blood flowed in vain. Our Gallic neighbours have sometimes mistaken
the tone of triumph in which we speak of the downfall of Napoleon,
and have regarded it as insulting to them: nothing is farther from
the mind and heart of the British soldier, who is always ready to
acknowledge their military excellence.
[Illustration: (end of chapter; image of a soldier)]
FOOTNOTES:
[78] A number of poor fellows who were carried to the houses of the
neighbouring villages, met with the most humane treatment: many there
breathed their last, under circumstances somewhat less appalling than
on the battle field. There still lives at Waterloo a most respectable
old lady, at whose house several of our officers were quartered
before the battle. Madame Boucqueau (the lady in question) saw these
gallant men go forth in the morning; they did not all return at the
close of the day. She remembers well that an officer, who appeared
to her to hold superior rank, came back to her house in the evening,
and said to her exultingly, “_Me voici encore, madame; c’est fini:
ils sont à nous_.” (“Here I am again; it is over: we have won the
day.”) The worthy dame has in her possession a silver cup, presented
to her late husband by British gratitude. As it does honour to all
parties concerned, and is a sample, no doubt, of many an interchange
of kindly feelings amidst the horrors of war, I have great pleasure
in recording here the inscription which is on this cup:
“A small mark of grateful respect from Colonel Sir W. Robe, of the
British Royal Artillery, knight commander of the Bath, and knight
of the Tower and Sword: To Sieur Maximilian Boucqueau, of Waterloo,
for kindness in the last moments, and attention to the remains of a
beloved son, Lieutenant W. L. Robe, of the British horse artillery,
who nobly fell at Waterloo.”
[79] _See_ the original in French, in GURWOOD, vol. XII, p. 494-495.
[80] Those curious of historical coincidences will observe that
Napoleon opened the campaign on the 15th of June.