even in the creations of Romance; He, who never headed the battalions
of his countrymen except in a just and righteous cause, and never once
failed to lead them on to victory and honour; He, who was not only the
"Victor of Victors," the greatest of Conquerors, but also the greatest
Pacificator the world ever saw--for he used the triumphs of War only
to obtain the blessings of Peace;--He, whose first thought in victory
was mercy, whose first care was to ensure, not the spoils, but the
protection of the vanquished;--He, who, when he sheathed his conquering
sword, consecrated the powers of his mighty genius, his mind, and life,
to the welfare of his country; who worked her weal through evil report
and good report, unmoved by the cabals of Faction, the intrigues of
Power, and the slanders of Malignity;--He, whose Spirit, whilst he
lived, was our Shield and Buckler, our Stay and Support; his counsels
our best resource; his name our tower of strength; and his very
existence our surest defence.
Alas, for England! Woe! woe to our country! The grave has closed over
him; but his sacred ashes shall still guard our land. Around his
honoured tomb every British heart will rally to rout and vanquish
the hostile foe who dares to set foot on British ground. Every heart
will be roused, every arm raised to repel the insult. His name shall
be our everlasting panoply of defence; his life, his example, his
memory, shall live in our hearts, and to the latest posterity England's
proudest boast shall be the name of Wellington.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 38: _Times_, November 18th, 1852.]
[Footnote 39: Lord Lovaine's speech, November 12th.]
[Footnote 40: It is well known that the word "Glory" does not once
occur in the multifarious dispatches of the Duke of Wellington.]
APPENDIX.
A. (p. 44).
The desertion of General Bourmont did not take place during the Battle
of Quatre Bras, but on the day before. He and his Staff joined the
Prussian General Ziethen as the French were advancing on Charleroi, on
June 15. The mistake, however, is hardly the writer's fault, as Sir F.
Head, the English authority for the statement, misprints the date. (See
Hooper's _Waterloo_, p. 68.)
B. (p. 93).
The decisive part which the Prussian army played in the Battle of
Waterloo is often overlooked, as it is here. Readers must bear in mind
that the junction of the two armies of the Allies was preconcerted by
Wellington and Blücher, and that the battle would not have been fought
under other circumstances. It is true that the Prussian advance from
Wavre, whence it had retreated after the Battle of Ligny on the 16th,
was delayed, whereby an undue strain was placed upon and nobly borne
by the English infantry, but the first Prussian corps under Bülow was
known to be approaching by three o'clock. Their advance on the village
of Planchenoit, on the right of the French position, caused Napoleon to
detach to his right 16,000 French troops, out of the 72,000 with which
he began the battle, and at last engaged his attention so far as that
he left Ney to conduct the attack upon Wellington's army. Though it
may be true, as Mrs. Eaton states, that the Prussians did not "make
their appearance" (_i.e._ to the British troops) till seven o'clock (p.
130), they were nevertheless in conflict with the French for some hours
before, and considerably modified their attack on Wellington's position.
C. (p. 145).
The allegations of cowardice brought against Napoleon at the time,
and frequently repeated, do not meet with the slightest support from
accurate historians. It is almost certain that when Wellington, on the
17th, withdrew his army from Quatre Bras to the position in which he
accepted battle on the following day, Napoleon was with the head of
the French column which followed up the retreat, and was within cannon
shot of the British artillery and of Lord Uxbridge, who commanded the
cavalry.
At the close of the Battle of Waterloo he showed no lack of courage.
"During the attack of the Imperial Guard he had ridden as far as the
orchard of La Haye Sainte; when the Guard recoiled he had rallied them;
when the 52nd and other regiments of the brigade pursued so promptly he
had gradually fallen back with the steadier masses of the fugitives,
surrounded by the truly _dévourés_ of those days, the veterans of the
Guard."--_Hooper_, p. 238.
It was only when the Prussians, almost fresh upon the field, undertook
the pursuit, that he diverged from the press and rapidly made his way
to Charleroi, where he obtained a carriage.
D. (p. 148).
The celebrated order of Wellington to the Guards is perhaps, in its
popular form, not quite authentic. When towards the close of the battle
Ney, unhorsed, was leading the column of the Old Guard up the slope of
the British position, behind the crest of which the British infantry
was lying, Wellington said, "Up, Guards, and make ready!" they "sprang
to their feet within fifty yards of the astonished French, and poured
in a volley which struck the column like a bolt of iron ... and when
the Duke cried, 'Charge!' and the British Guards dashed forward with a
cheer, Ney's veterans broke and fled."--_Hooper_, p. 231. The approach
of cavalry caused the British to retreat to their position on the hill,
but in the meantime the second column of the French Guard had been
routed by a bold and skilful charge of the 52nd Regiment, followed up
by cavalry, whilst the Prussians were successfully pushing back the
right wing of the French. Then the English leader saw that his time,
at last, was come. To quote again Mr. Hooper's stirring description:
"On the ridge near the Guards, his figure standing out amidst the smoke
against the bright north-western sky, Wellington was seen to raise his
hat with a noble gesture, the signal for the wasted line of heroes to
sweep like a dark wave from their coveted position, and roll out their
lines and columns over the plain. With a pealing cheer, the whole line
advanced just as the sun was sinking, and the Duke, sternly glad, but
self-possessed, rode off into the thick of the fight, attended by only
one officer, almost the last of the splendid squadron which careered
around him in the morning."--P. 234.
E. (p. 149).
Though the meeting of Wellington and Blücher at La Belle Alliance has
been made the subject of a well-known picture, it is not founded on
fact. The actual meeting took place nearer Rossomme, some distance
further south on the Charleroi road, along which the routed army was
struggling. From this point the pursuit was left to Blücher's troops.
LONDON:
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End of Project Gutenberg's Waterloo Days, by Charlotte Annie Waldie Eaton