141 ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS TO THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO, WITH CIRCUMSTANTIAL DETAILS BY A NEAR OBSERVER; CHIEFLY COMMUNICATED BY STAFF AND REGIMENTAL OFFICERS THE Battle of Waterloo has formed one of the greatest epochs. in history and politics. Everything which relates to the immortal day of the 18th of June, 1815, is secure of fixing our attention. The histories of the campaign of four days, which has put an end to the power of the modern Gengis Khan, may well be multiplied, for all are insufficient to satisfy the public curiosity as they have appeared; and new works are offering themselves on all sides, and in every form. The fields of Waterloo, the farms of Mont St. Jean, La Haye Sainte, and La Belle Alliance, and the ruins of the château of Hougomont (more properly Gomont), have already become classic soil. They are visited at this day by all travellers, as the world went formerly to visit holy places. People set out from Brussels, and the three leagues which are to be passed through the forest of Soignies, like a new Via Sacra, by inspiring a self-recollection, prepare the minds of those who perform this species of pilgrimage for the strong emotions which they are involuntarily to experience when they arrive, on quitting the forest, at the branching of the roads which lead 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 foughtunder 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, 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 a 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 and 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 Hougomont 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-Organisation 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 depart * Vide Dr. Halliday's account. Paris, 1815. ments, 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 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 organise 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 everything to the command of its respective chief, it was expressly declared, that everything 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 anything 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 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. * 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 be Commander of his Majesty's forces on the Continent of Europe, all reports in future are to be made to his Grace." + Vide p. 13. 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 1st corps occupied Valenciennes, and the 2d Maubeuge. On its right it communicated with the army of the Ardennes and that of the Moselle, while its left rested on 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 organization, 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 outposts of the Prussian army. This army was commanded by Field-marshal Prince Blücher of Wahlstadt, 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 General 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 midday. 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 Nivelles and Namur. The 5th Division of the British army, with the corps of the Duke of Brunswick-Oels, left Brussels about 2 A.M. on the 16th, and advanced towards the position where the whole army was ordered to assemble. One brigade of the Dutch troops, which was in advance towards Charleroi, had been attacked when the Prussians fell back on the 15th, and driven from its advanced position near Frasnes; but the Prince of Orange having moved up another brigade of the same army, they were able to repulse the enemy, and in the evening they regained the greater part of the ground which had been lost throughout the day. On the morning of the 16th, Prince Blücher, who was determined to meet Buonaparte with all his strength, had posted the army under his command on the heights between the villages of Brie and Sombref, and to some distance beyond Sombref. In front of this line he occupied the villages of St. Amand and Ligny with a very considerable force. The enemy was delayed in his advance for some hours, on the morning of the 16th, in passing the Sambre with the remainder of his troops. But as soon as that was accomplished, Buonaparte made his dispositions for attack, while he carried the great body of his force against the Prussian line. Marshal Ney, who had joined the army on the evening of the 15th, and who had been appointed to command the left wing, was directed to advance by Gosselies and Frasnes, and attack the British position. The force under Marshal Ney consisted of the 1st and 2d corps of infantry, and four divisions of cavalry. The 3d, 4th, and 6th corps, with the Guard in reserve, were ordered to attack the Prussian position in front, while the 5th corps under Grouchy, and a division of cavalry, were detached towards Sombref, on the Namur road, with the view of manœuvring on that flank. On débouching from Fleurus, Buonaparte had an opportunity of reconnoitering the position of Marshal Blücher with more pre L |