FURTHER PARTICULARS,*

OF THE

BATTLE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES:

FROM

DIFFERENT SOURCES.

"IT would be confessed that whatever the former fame of the Duke of Wellington might have been, yet, in all the varíous occurrences of his life, in all those great achievements which he had performed, and which had called for the thanks of the Nation, he had never before attained to a height of glory like the present. And in all the great events which he had been engaged in, and those scenes that he had witnessed, it had never before fallen to the lot of this illustrious Commander to render so great a service to his country, so extensive a benefit to the world.---There was in the present victory an acknowledged pre-eminence over all those that had preceded it: but when we looked at its influence and combination, in which are bound up all the interests of the civilized world, it was almost impossible to conceive an idea adequate to its magnitude and importance. -The position of the Allied Army, previously to the late one, was a very peculiar one, and, without meaning to impute blame, or to suppose any neglect of security, he must say that the circumstance of the armies not being actually engaged in hostilities, necessarily led to a distribution of force for the more convenient obtainment of subsistence for so large an army. The whole line of troops destined to act upon France not being equally advanced, it was clearly not the interest of the Allies to become the assailants; the army, therefore, which was to act upon the offensive, making its point of union the point it chose for an attack, must have a great advantage over an army situated as the Allied Army was; and yet it was impossible to alter that position; for if Marshal Blucher and the Duke of Wellington had

The Editor has to acknowledge his obligations for the kindness and attention of his friends in procuring for him many of the interesting letters and anecdotes, forming those particulars which precede the Official Documents, &c.

concentrated their forces, they must have left open a long line of country at the mercy of the Enemy, who might have made use of such a lapse for the most important ends: and therefore, not imputing any neglect of preparation to the Commander, it must be evident, that the attacking army would have the advantage. With such a force on the frontiers of France, it was with Buonaparté a great object to attack it in some powerful point, before the Combined Powers were all perfectly ready for operations; and accordingly he had acted with all the decision of character, and energy of mind that he was known to possess, and as soon as he could leave Paris, he joined his army, and directing it to the North, commenced his operations. In considering the nature and extent of the forces engaged, he must observe, that of the ten corps d'armée which France possessed, the five which were complete, were united under Buonaparté, together with his guard, and other cavalry. These troops had certainly maintained their ancient character; and one feature of the victory was, that it had been gained over the best troops of France, and that too, at a moment when they displayed all their ardour, and when their conduct even surpassed all that they had before performed; although this force did not amount to less than one hundred and thirty or forty thousand men, the flower of the French army! That was a regular and disciplined army, even before the Bourbons quitted France, and for which, since the return of Buonaparte, every thing had been done to make it effective; it was the force which had been selected, and combined to act upon the northern frontier. To particularize the conduct of any part of the Allied Army, would be invidious, where all had acquitted themselves with nearly equal bravery; but he might be allowed to say, that except the British part, (who themselves were only such as the country could spare at a time when a strong detachment of our veteran troops had been sent to America) nearly the whole was a green army: the Allies, particularly the Dutch, Belgians, Hanoverians, and troops of Nassau, were chiefly young soldiers; and deducting the absent corps, consisting of 25,000 under Prince Frederick, and the other corps distributed along the line to the northward, there was not in action a greater number than 64,000 men, to support the attack of the whole French army. He fully felt what we owed to the illustrious Prussians, who were ready to support the

British army, and enabled them to make that movement, without which the Duke could not have obtained such an advantage over a superior force. The effort he made was crowned with success; and with his energy of mind, and example of person, it was certain that much would be effected.-But from that example, it was dreadful to reflect on the risks to which his valuable life was exposed;-in fact, such was his dauntless activity, that he was much more exposed than any private soldier, who could only bear the hazard of a single spot; but the Duke was every where, at least wherever danger was.-Under the circumstances in which the Duke found himself at the end of the day, when the French had been repulsed, and Marshal Bulow advanced, he put himself in motion, and attacked the French; their lines did not resist as ours had done; he forced the second line, routed their whole army, and took more than half the artillery of their army and its ammunition.—It was impossible to attempt to predict what would be the result of this victory; but this much was certain, that the Duke of Wellington had been enabled to follow the Enemy, with an army, that had been either fighting or marching the whole day before. The French had attacked with their usual temerity: by this he did not mean to censure them; Buonaparté was justified in his attempt; he had been driven back; but if he could have succeeded, the effect would have been fully equal to the sacrifice made to obtain the object." Extract from Lord Castlereagh's Speech in the House of Commons, preparatory to his motion for a Vote of Thanks, June 23; which see, with the Officers included in the Waterloo Honours, at the end of this work.

The whole of the mighty and important operations were carried on within a tract of country extending from Thuin to Ligny, about 20 miles, from Ligny to Waterloo about the same distance, and from Waterloo to Thuin about 25 miles. There is no doubt that Buonaparté would have been attacked as soon as the Russians had come up; but in point of fact, he commenced hostilities, without any menacing movement on the adverse side. He issued an Order of the Day on the 14th to his soldiers, appealing to their passions, by reminding them that that day was the anniversary of Marengo and of Friedland.* On the follow

* Vide Documents in the French Official Accounts following.

e

ing morning, at day-light, he put the whole of his army in motion, and attacked the Prussian posts established on the Sambre; in the course of the day, he succeeded in driving them from that river, making himself master of the ground from Thuin to Fleurus. According to Buonaparte's account of the result, in the various contests on the 15th, the Prussians lost 2000 men, while the French only experienced a loss of 10 killed, and 80 wounded! Buonaparté also claims a victory on the 16th. He however admits, that he lost 3000 men on that day; but says he took many thousand prisoners, and 40 pieces of cannon! On Sunday the 18th, the grand struggle was made. The whole weight of the French force, with the exception of Vandamme's corps, was thrown upon the army of the Duke of Wellington, whose line was within fifteen miles of Brussels. The battle began about ten o'clock in the morning, with a furious attack on a post occupied by us in front of our right. This was supported by a very heavy cannonade upon our whole line, with repeated attacks of infantry and cavalry, until seven in the evening, when the Enemy made a desperate attempt to force our left, in which, after a severe contest, he was defeated, and retired in great disorder. This was the happy moment, seized by the genius and resolution of our unrivalled Hero, to advance his whole line of infantry, supported by cavalry and artillery, against the Enemy, who was unable to resist the English attack. The first line was driven back on the second, and the second was almost instantly broken. All was now total rout and confusion; artillery, baggage, every thing was abandoned; and the true British perseverance of General and soldiers was crowned with a success so much the more precious, as it had remained long in a state of the most awful suspense. The French fought with greater desperation than ever before witnessed; but it may be added, that after their rout, they became more completely broken than ever, threw away their arms by whole regiments, and were, in short, wholly dispersed and disorganised. The loss on the part of the British has been severe, but on that of Buonaparté it is almost beyond calculation. On all sides was seen a total disregard of personal danger. The leaders were mingled in the heat of the fray, like the meanest soldier. Marshal Blucher, it is said, was for some moments a prisoner. As to Buonaparté, he was more than once inclosed among the British

troops, and disentangled, as it were, by miracle. He led on the guard himself to the charge; and seemed to feel, that there could be no hope for his power, but in the absolute jeopardy of his life.

LETTER FROM AN OFFICER TO HIS FRIEND IN CUMBERLAND.

Camp of Clichy.

"All the sharers of my tent having gone to Paris, and my servant having manufactured a window-shutter into a table, and a pack-saddle into a seat, I will no longer delay answering your two affectionate letters, and endeavour to comply with your demand of an account of the battle such as it offered to my own eyes.

"On the 15th of June, every thing appeared so perfectly quiet, that the Duchess of Richmond gave a ball and supper, to which all the world was invited; and it was not till near ten o'clock at night that rumours of an action having taken place between the French and Prussians were circulated through the room in whispers: no credit was given to them, however, for some time; but when the General Officers, whose corps were in advance, began to move, and when orders were given for persons to repair to their regiments, matters then began to be considered in a different light. At eleven o'clock the drums beat to arms, and the 5th Division, which garrisoned Brussels, after having bivouacked in the Park until day-light, set forward towards the frontiers. On the road we met baggage and sick coming to the rear; but could only learn that the French and Prussians had been fighting the day before, and that another battle was expected when they left the advanced posts. At two o'clock we arrived at Genappe, from whence we heard firing very distinctly; half an hour afterwards we saw the French columns advancing, and we had scarcely taken our position when they attacked us. Our front consisted of the 3d and 5th Divisions, with some Nassau people, and a brigade of cavalry, in all about 13,000 men; while the French forces, according to Ney's account, must have been immense, as his reserve alone consisted of 30,000, which, however, he says, Buonaparté disposed of without having advertised him. The business was begun by the first battalion of the 95th, which was sent to drive the Enemy out of