rans,

taken, and the whole materiel of the army. Thus ended the day of Waterloo; a day which will ever shine proudly resplendent in the annals of Britain, and be held in lasting remembrance by a grateful world. Never did France in her brightest days send into the field a nobler army than that which fought at Waterloo. It was entirely composed of vetewhom many years of service had accustomed to all the manœuvres of war, and rendered expert, fearless, determined, and, in their own estimation, invincible; -whose devotion to their leader was chivalrous, boundless and sublime; who were animated by the deadliest hatred against their opponents; who had sworn to conquer or to die; who had, two days before, overcome the most celebrated general of northern Europe; - and who, flushed with victory, were now rushing on a retreating foe, from whom, indeed, they expected a brave and obstinate resistance, but whom, in their own opinion, they were sure of conquering. This army was under the command of a general who had vanquished and overrun every state of Europe, and who had shewn, by the events of the four last days, that his eagles, lately checked in their flight, were

once more triumphantly expanding their wings, and promising again to soar to the very pinnacle of glory;—a general who again displayed all those super-eminent military talents which he was once supposed to possess, and who now availed himself of all the energies of his troops, with a skill, promptitude, and resolution, which in no former combat were excelled.

Against this formidable and overwhelming force, the British general could only produce an army greatly inferior in number, somewat dispirited at the retreat of the former day; a little in awe of those who had vanquished the Prussians, and compelled the veteran Blucher to flee; an army, the greater part of which had now for the first time taken the field; army composed of various, and perhaps discordant materials, and part of which might possibly deceive and betray him in the hour of peril. Yet, with this disparity of force, the illustrious Wellington fought and conquered.

an

The London Gazette Extraordinary.

DOWNING-STREET, JUNE 22, 1815. Major the Hon. H. Percy arrived late last night with a despatch from Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington, K. G., to Earl Bathurst, his Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the War Department, of which the following is a copy:

MY LORD,

WATERLOO, JUNE 19, 1815.

Buonaparte having collected the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, and 6th corps of the French army and the Imperial Guards, and nearly all the cavalry on the Sambre, and between that river and the Meuse, between the 10th and 14th of the month, advanced on the 15th, and attacked the Prussian posts at Thuin and Lobez, on the Sambre, at daylight in the morning.

I did not hear of these events till the evening of the 15th, and I immediately ordered the troops to prepare to march; and afterwards to march to their left, as soon as I had intelligence from other quarters, to prove that the enemy's movements upon Charleroy was the real attack.

The enemy drove the Prussian posts from

the Sambre on that day; and General Zieten, who commanded the corps which had been at Charleroy, retired upon Fleurus; and Marshal Prince Blucher concentrated the Prussian army upon Sombref, holding the villages in front of his position of St.-Amand and Ligny.

The enemy continued his march along the road from Charleroy towards Bruxelles, and on the same evening, the 15th, attacked a brigade of the army of the Netherlands, under the Prince de Weimar, posted at Frasnes, and forced it back to the farm-house on the same road, called Les Quatre-Bras.

The Prince of Orange immediately reinforced this brigade with another of the same division, under General Perpoucher, and in the morning early regained part of the ground which had been lost, SO as to have the command of the communication leading from Nivelles and Bruxelles, with Marshal Blucher's position.

In the mean time I had directed the whole army to march upon Les Quatre-Bras, and the 5th division, under Lientenant-General Sir Thomas Picton, arrived at about half-past two in the day, followed by the corps of troops under the Duke of Brunswick, and afterwards by the Contingent of Nassau.

At this time the enemy commenced an attack upon Prince Blucher with his whole force, excepting the 1st and 2d corps, and a corps of cavalry under General Kellerman, with which he attacked our post at Les Quatre-Bras.

The Prussian army maintained their position with their usual gallantry and perseverance, against a great disparity of numbers, as the 4th corps of their army, under General Bulow, had not joined, and I was not able to assist them as I wished, as I was attacked myself, and the troops, the cavalry in particular, which had a long distance to march, had not arrived.

We maintained our position also, and completely defeated and repulsed all the enemy's attemps to get possession of it. The enemy repeatedly attacked us with a large body of infantry and cavalry, supported by a numerous and powerful artillery; he made several charges with the cavalry upon our infantry, but all were repulsed in the steadiest manner. In this affair his Royal Highness the Prince of Orange, the Duke of Brunswick, and Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton, and Major-General Sir James Kempt, and Sir Denis Pack, who were engaged, from the commencement of the enemy's attack highly distinguished themselves, as well as