involuntarily to experience when they arrive, on quitting the forest, at the branching of the roads which leads, on the right to Nivelles and Braine la Leude, and on the left to Ohain and Wavre. Every step which they make beyond this spot, as far as Charleroi, produces some grand recollection. Here, say they, it was fought-under the auspices of England and her Allies, against the infernal Genius of Evil, and his horrible satellites! Here, the monster was thrown down for ever by the heroes in whom England has gloried through all ages! It may one day be written on the monuments which shall rise at Waterloo, (what Quinaut has said of the Titans):

Les superbes géants, armés contre les cieux,
Ne nous donnent plus d'épouvante;
Nous avons vu tomber leur chef audacieux:

Wellington l'a contraint de vomir à nos yeux
Les restes enflammés de sa rage mourante;

Wellington est victorieux;

Et tout cède à l'effort de sa main foudroyante,

One month after the battle of the 18th of June, I visited the field of battle. At the distance of a mile and half from Brussels, the road ascends a considerable eminence, which commands a fine view of the city and surrounding country. The fields exhibited a profusion of divine bounty. We soon after entered an immense beech-forest, called Soignies. The road through it is a dreary vista of more than seven miles in length, very roughly paved, and barely wide enough for two carriages to pass with safety. Twelve or thirteen miles from Brussels is Waterloo, standing low and flat. Advancing a mile and half on the same road, are some small cottages which resemble an English hamlet, called Mont St. Jean, and which stands on the Northern boundary of the field of battle. From an adjoining eminence, the view resembles that of several large English fields uninclosed, and separated from each other by stout hedges, which mark the boundaries of respective parishes. Their produce had been chiefly rye and barley. From East and West, the eye ranges about twelve to fourteen miles, and five to six North to South.

The Duke of Wellington's Dispatch affords at once a clear idea of the position which the contending armies occupied. That of the British consisted of a range of gently rising grounds, rather than hills, while that of the army opposed to them was considerably more elevated. "So important a battle perhaps was never before fought within so small an extent of ground. I computed the distance between Hougoumont and Papelot, at three miles; in a straight line, it may probably not exceed two and a half.”

"Small theatre for such a tragedy."-SOUTHEY,

-

The Duke of Wellington appointed to command His Majesty's forces, He arrives at Brussels.-Organization of the AngloHanoverian army commanded by his Grace.*

ON the 28th of March, the Prince Regent was pleased to appoint Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington Commander of His Majesty's forces on the Continent of Europe; His Grace left Vienna immediately afterwards, and arrived at Brussels on the 5th of April, On the 10th, His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange took leave of the troops, as their Commander-in-Chief, in a general Order; in which he states, that in delivering over the command of the British and Hanoverians, he desired to congratulate them on that command being placed in the more able hands of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington. His Royal Highness took that opportunity of returning his thanks to Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton, the General Officers, and heads of departments, for the cordial support which they had on all occasions afforded him, and begged to express his approbation of the troops in quarters, adding, that he considered their strict preservation of discipline as the best pledge of their conduct in the

* Vide Dr. Halliday's account.-Paris, 1815.

field, should they be called into action. "His Royal Highness reflects with great pride and satisfaction," continues the General Order," that he is to continue to serve with the British Army, under a chief, with whom he has been so long associated."

The Duke of Wellington assumed the command on the 11th,* and his first care was to organize the army entrusted to his command. The King of the Netherlands was pleased to entrust His Grace with the command of his troops also; so that he became Generalissimo of the Allied Army.

The Duke formed the whole of the force under his command, consisting of British, Dutch, and Hanoverian troops, with the contingents of Nassau and Brunswick Oels, into two great corps. He gave the command of the first corps to His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange, and that of the second to Lieutenant-General Lord Hill. This was done, as his Grace stated in his general order, with the view of amalgamating the whole; and to enable them to move together, and act in concert. But though the whole were thus united, and each corps subjected in every thing to the command of its respective Chief, it was expressly declared, that every thing which related to the discipline of the Officers and soldiers of each nation, the provisioning, clothing, and equipment, and means of transport, was to remain under the direction of the Officers, civil and military, of the respective nations. Each grand corps consisted of so many divisions of cavalry and infantry, and each division of so many brigades.†

Our cavalry and horse artillery, in passing through the Netherlands, excited universal admiration. The fineness of our horses, and their equipments, were far superior to any thing they had ever seen; and the Jacobins were quite delighted to think, that Buonaparte would soon be able to mount his dragoons with such fine horses. Indeed, they did not hesitate to say, that the English

* General Order, dated 11th of April, 1815, Head-Quarters, Brussels. His Royal Highness the Prince Regent having appointed Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington to bé Commander of His Majesty's forces on the Continent of Europe, all reports, in future, are to be made to His Grace.

+ Vide Vol. I. pages 21, 22, 23.

might fight by sea, because it was our element, but that our troops would not stand one hour before Buonaparte. Our army was too showy to be good, and our soldiers too civil to be brave! Such was the language of the discontented in Belgium, of whom there were a few; but the event has proved how much they were mistaken.

Opening of the campaign.—Buonaparte takes Charleroi, and advances into Belgium.-Battle of St. Amand and Ligny, in which the Prussian Army is defeated.-British defeat Marshal Ney's corps at Quatre-Bras.

What was properly called the French army of the North, consisted only of two corps; but these corps were composed entirely of old soldiers, the elite of the whole Empire, and such as were most attached to the person of Buonaparte. About the beginning of June, the head-quarters of this army were at Laon; the first corps occupied Valenciennes, and the second Maubeuge. On its right, 'it communicated with the army of the Ardennes, and that of the Moselle, while its left rested upon the strong garrison of Lille. The whole of these armies, however, had been put in motion some days previous to Buonaparte's quitting the Capital. The army of the North, and that of the Ardennes, effected a junction at Beaumont, on the 13th; and the army of the Moselle, whose headquarters were at Metz, quitted its cantonments on the 5th and 6th, and came into the grand line by Philippeville on the same day. All these movements were effected with the usual precision and alacrity of the French armies; and when Buonaparte arrived at Avesnes, he found his whole force in line, and ready to move on any point. As yet, his intentions were unknown, even to his own Generals; but on the morning of the 14th, he put an end to their suspense, by a general order, which was the first and last he had occasion to issue during the campaign.

The force which Buonaparte had with him, consisted of five corps of infantry, and four corps of cavalry.

The Allied army under the Duke of Wellington, after its or ganization, was cantoned along the frontiers of Belgium, from Nieuport to Charleroi. The head-quarters of the Duke of Wellington remained at Brussels, with the reserve of the army; and, although the troops were so placed, that they could be collected on any point in the space of twelve hours, yet no order could be given for their moving, until the direction in which Buonaparte intended to advance, was perfectly ascertained.

On the 15th of June, the campaign commenced with the dawn of day, by an attack upon the out-posts of the Prussian army. This army was commanded by Field Marshal Prince Blucher of Wahlstatt, consisted of four corps, and occupied the remainder of the Belgic frontier. The points of concentration of the several corps, were Fleurus, Namur, Ancy, and Hannut. Buonaparte advanced the 2d corps of his army by Thuin, along the banks of the Sambre, (a part of it having crossed that river at Solre sur Sambre), upon the town of Charleroi, and drove the advanced posts of Gen. Ziethen's corps back upon the bridge of Marchienne. After a very smart action, the Prussian General was obliged to retire behind the river, and collect his corps near Fleurus: and as he considered Charleroi untenable, the troops stationed in that town were withdrawn, and the French cavalry entered it about mid-day. The Prussians defended their advanced posts on the 15th with great bravery, and it was only the overwhelming force which was brought against Ziethen's corps, that induced that General to withdraw his advance, in order that he might concentrate his whole force near Fleurus, which he did so effectually, as to put a stop to the enemy's progress for that day.

There was now no longer any doubt, as to the direction by which Buonaparte intended to penetrate into Belgium; and the Duke of Wellington immediately gave orders for the army under his command, to concentrate on the extreme of its position, near the great road from Brussels to Charleroi, and in a line between