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shot struck him on the breast. As he fell from his At this moment he received intelligence that the horse, he affectionately exclaimed, "Good bye, March." Prussians were opening on his right flank, and threatIn vain his noble friend rendered him every possible ening his rear. He, however, disregarded the report, assistance; the tide of life ebbed fast. At this juncture affirming that these pretended Prussians were no other a movement of the French curassiers threatened to at- than Grouchy's córps; and even abused several aidestack a battalion of Nassau troops, near the spot on de-camp, who brought the intelligence, charging them which he lay. Lord March, perceiving the danger to with timidity, and dismissing them with ill-humour. which they were exposed, hastily endeavoured to form them into square. As he was thus employed, and animating the soldiers to wait with firmness the expected attack, Curzon lifted his head, and, with his dying breath, exclaimed, "Well done, March; that's right, my brave fellow, well done, well done!"

Buonaparte was equally astonished and chagrined at the obstinate resistance of the British troops. He incessantly took snuff in large pinches from his waistcoatpocket, violently snuffing up a part, and throwing the rest from him. "These English are devils!" he exclaimed; "will they never be beaten?" A moment afterwards he added, "I shall defeat them yet; though it is a pity to destroy such brave troops." He then turned to Soult. "How admirably these English fight! but they must soon give way." Soult, who had some experience of British courage and firmness, replied, that "he doubted whether they would ever give way." "Why?" indignantly asked Napoleon. "Because, sire, they will suffer themselves to be cut to pieces first."

The Corsican's attacks were now redoubled, and he began to expose himself to the thickest of the fire; though the accounts which have been published of the desperation with which he sought every danger, and his apparent determination to die on the field, are altogether unfounded.

Buonaparte now contemplated with a stern countenance the horrible scene of slaughter which presented itself to his view. The more numerous the obstacles which presented themselves, the more his obstinacy seemed to increase. He became indignant at these unforeseen difficulties; and, far from fearing to push to extremities an army which reposed boundless confidence in him, he ceased not to pour down fresh troops, and to give orders to march forward, to charge with the bayonet, to carry by storm. He was repeatedly informed from different points, that the day went against bim, and that the troops appeared to be disordered: but his only reply was, Forward! forward!-One general sent him information that he could not maintain his position, being dreadfully annoyed by a battery; and requested instructions how to elude its murderous fire-" Let him storm the battery !" said the unfeeling wretch, and turned his back on the aide-de-camp, who brought the message.

After so peremptory an answer, many of them, ashamed to have been mistaken, heedlessly advanced towards the Prussian Yagers; and, notwithstanding these kept up a sharp fire against them, they approached near enough to be either killed or taken prisoners. In no long time, however, Buonaparte was undeceived by a furious attack on the part of the Prussians: part of the sixth corps was detached to sustain this new shock, until Marshal Grouchy's corps, which was every moment expected, should come up. By his orders, General Labedoyere announced the arrival of Grouchy, and that he was attacking the enemy; and this false intelligence he also spread among the soldiers as he rode along the line.

No blame can be attributed to the Prussians with respect to the delay of their arrival. . Prince Blucher had put his army in motion at break of day. The corps of Borstel and Bulow were to march by St. Lambert, occupy a position there under cover of the forest near Fritschermont, and take the enemy in the rear when the moment should appear favourable. Ziethen's corps was to co-operate on the right flank of the enemy by Ohaim, and Thielman to follow slowly, and afford succour in case of need. But the first two of these corps had been placed on the east side of the river Dyle at Wavre; they had to cross by a narrow bridge, and, to add to the delay which this necessarily occasioned, the houses in the street leading to it had been set on fire by the French; so that the infantry passed with difficulty, the cavalry and artillery with still greater, and the ammunition was compelled to wait till the fire was extinguished. The passage, too, by the defile of St. Lambert, was far more difficult than had been expected; so that, when it was half-past four in the afternoon, only two brigades of Bulow's corps had arrived at the position which was assigned them.

The decisive moment was come; there was not an instant to be lost; and the general resolved immediately to begin the attack with the troops which they had at hand. Their way was through the forest of Soignies, a tract consisting of more than thirty thousand acres. By good fortune, the peasant who guided them, was a man of more than ordinary sagacity; and, instead of coming out of the forest at Fritschermont, he proposed to descend into the valley lower down, and come out in a direction towards Planchenoit, nearly

on the rear of the French reserves: "we shall take them all."

66

would easily carry with the bayonet. To these observations they replied with one general shout of "Vive L'Empereur!" which was distinctly heard as far as the British lines.

The allies now conceived that Buonaparte was about to attack them in person. He thought proper, however, to remain under shelter of the rising bank, while his devoted guards defiled before him under the command of Ney, and ascended the eminence.

Then," said he, I gency and that they had never disappointed his expectations. He stated that the enemy, greatly dimiThe moment at which they arrived, was truly criti- nished in numbers, could offer no effectual resistance, cal: nor can we reflect, without shuddering, how much, and that they had nothing to encounter but an artil-. at this moment, depended on the knowledge and fide-lery, which was indeed formidable, but which they lity of a single peasant; who, had he been less disposed to serve the allies, or less intelligent, might easily have led them into a hollow way impassable to their cannon. When Napoleon was at length convinced that the corps which he had so obstinately taken for that of Marshal Grouchy, consisted of Prussians, he felt the critical situation in which he was now placed; but, as he did not believe that the main body of the Prussians could come up for some hours, he hoped that success was yet in his power. He therefore resolved to attack the weakest part of the British line with his whole concentrated force, and thus endeavour to defeat the Duke of Wellington before his reinforcements could arrive. Accordingly, leaving the sixth corps to keep the Prussians in check, he brought forward the whole of the cavalry of the imperial guard, and directed it on the centre of the British position. The shock, for the moment, was irresistible; the allied troops gave way; the heights were carried, and several guns were taken by the French. The Duke of Wellington, however, hastened to the spot, and placed himself at the head of some English and Brunswickers. He addressed to them a few sentences, which he well knew would inflame their ardour, and led them against the enemy, who, flushed with success, were advancing to the very rear of his lines. Suddenly the victory was wrested from their grasp. The artillery which they had taken was hastily abandoned, and they fled with precipita

tion.

At this period, the Prince of Orange received a musket-ball in his shoulder, as he was rallying some of his troops who had shrunk from the impetuous attack of the French. In a previous stage of the combat he had been hurried away by the ardour of the fight, and taken prisoner; but a battalion of his troops rushing to his assistance, immediately effected his rescue.

The decision of the battle, the fate of Europe, now depended upon these troops. The fire of the allies abated; and, with indescribable feelings, they contemplated the approach of those chosen battalions, who had been so long the terror of Europe, and who had never yet been vanquished. The pause, however, was but for a moment. Every cannon opened at once on the foe, and swept away entire ranks. But as those in front fell, others instantly rushed forward to fill up the chasms, and, with stern and unbroken front, the imperial guard still continued to advance.

Some Brunswickers first attempted to oppose them: but, after an obstinate resistance, they were defeated with immense slaughter. The French penetrated within the lines; and, for a short space, the victory was more than doubtful.

In a hollow of the ground, directly in front of the French, and sheltered from the fire of their artillery, lay a regiment of the British guards. The Duke of Wellington had placed himself on a ridge behind them, and, on the imperial guard advancing within a hundred yards, he suddenly exclaimed, "Up, guards, and at them." The unexpected appearance of this fine body of men startled the French battalions, and they suddenly paused; but immediately recovering themselves, they advanced more rapidly, while their artillery filed off to the right and the left. They then approached within twenty yards of their opponents, and were in the act of rushing upon them with the bayonet; when a volley was poured upon them by the British, which literally knocked them backward with its shock. A second volley threw them into greater confusion, and, before they could either deploy or manoeuvre, the British cneered and rushed upon them with such impetuosity, that they suddenly turned, and fled in the utmost confusion.

The troops of Count Lobau had, in the mean time, repulsed the advanced-guard of the Prussians, and driven them back into the woods. Animated by this success, and at the same time sensible how necessary it was for him to avail himself of it, Napoleon put himself at the head of his guard, consisting of fifteen hundred men, and made one last desperate effort on the centre of the British. He led them on till he came to hollow part of the road, where he stopped under a ravine, protected from the fire of the British artillery. The Duke of Wellington, perceiving the disorder of Here he addressed his troops. He reminded them how the French, and the advance of the Prussians on their often he had relied on their valour in cases of emer-right flank, immediately commanded the British troops

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to form line, and assume the offensive. The whole line formed four deep, and, supported by the cavalry and artillery, rushed down the slopes and up the corresponding bank, driving before them the flying French, whose confusion became each moment more irretrievable. The tirralleurs of the imperial guard attempted to cover the retreat; but they were charged by the British cavalry, and literally cut to pieces.

Just as the English army had deployed into line for the general charge, the sun beamed out, as if to shed his setting glories upon the conquerors of that eventful day. Fatigue and diminution of numbers, even wounds, were forgotten, when the whole line, supported by the cavalry and artillery, were ordered to charge. Headed by the Duke of Wellington himself, with his hat in his hand, the troops advanced with the utmost spirit and rapidity.

The French fought with desperation, but all their efforts we in vain: their first line was speedily thrown back on the second, and both became united in one tide of general and undistinguished flight. Baggagewaggons, artillery-carts, guns overthrown, and all the impediments of a hurried flight, encumbered the field as well as the causeway, without mentioning the thickstrewn corpses of the slain, and the bodies of the still more miserable wounded, who, in vain, implored compassion, as fugitives and pursuers drove headlong over them in the agony of fear or the ecstacy of triumph. All the guns which were in line along the French position, to the number of one hundred and fifty, fell into the immediate possession of the allies.

The last effort of the Corsican's troops, and their entire defeat, are thus beautifully described by Walter

Scott, in his "Field of Waterloo:"

.

"On came the whirlwind-like the last, But fiercest sweep of tempest blast

On came the whirlwind-steel gleams broke
Like lightning through the rolling smoke,
The war was wak'd anew.

Three hundred cannon-mouths roar'd loud,
And from their throats, with flash and cloud,
Their showers of iron threw.
Beneath their fire, in full career,
Rush'd on the ponderous cuirassier,
The lancer couch'd his ruthless spear
And hurrying as to havoc near,

The cohorts' eagles flew.

In one dark torrent, broad and strong,
The advancing onset roll'd along,
Forth harbinger'd by fierce acclaim,
That, from the shroud of smoke and flame
Peal'd wildly the imperial name.
But, on the British heart were lost
The terrors of the charging host;
For not an eye the storm that view'd
Chang'd its prond glance of fortitude;

Nor was one forward footstep staid,
As dropp'd the dying and the dead.
Fast as their ranks the thunders tear,
Fast they renew'd each serried square;
And, on the wounded and the slain,
Clos'd their diminish'd files again,

Till, from 'heir line, scarce spears'-lengths three,
Emerging from the smoke they see
Helmet, and plume, and panoply,-

Then wak'd their fire at once!
Each musketeer's revolving knell,
As fast, as regularly, fell,
As, when they practise to display
Their discipline on festal day.

Then down went helm and lance,
Down were the eagle banners sent,
Down reeling steeds and riders went,
Corslets were pierc'd, and pennons rent;
And, to augment the fray,
Wheel'd full against their staggering flanks,
The English horsemen's foaming ranks
Forc'd their resistless way.

Then, to the musket-knell succeeds
The clash of swords-the neigh of steeds-
As plies the smith his clanging trade,
Against the cuirass rang the blade:
And, while amid their close array,
The well-serv'd cannon rent their way;
And, while amid their scatter'd band
Rag'd the fierce rider's bloody brand;
Recoil'd in common rout and fear,
Lancer, and guard, and cuirassier,
Horsemen and foot,-a mingled host,

Their leaders fallen, their standards lost."

The last gun fired was a French howitzer, which was turned upon the retreating army, and discharged by Captain Campbell, aide-de-camp to General Adam, with his own hand, who had thus the honour of con

cluding the battle of Waterloo. The march and ad

vance of the Prussians crossed the van of the British army, after they had attacked the French position, about the farm-house of La Belle Alliance, and there the Duke of Wellington and Prince Blucher accidentally met, and congratulated each other upon their jointsuccess. Here, too, the victorious allies of both countries exchanged military greeting,-the Prussians halting their regimental band to play "God save the King," while the British returned the compliment with three cheers to the honour of Prussia. Marshal Blucher then

gave orders that every man and horse in his army capable of action should press upon the rear of the fugitives, without giving them a moment's time to rally.

It was now half-past nine at night; and the moon arose with more than ordinary splendour. The van of the Prussian army accelerated its march, and the French were pursued without intermission, and became absolutely disorganized. The Prussians put no limit to their revenge, and listened to no cries of mercy: their light-horse, always formidable on such occasions,

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The Terror flight of Prenaparte after the Battle of Waterloe having his hat hoord in his Carriage,

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