"Amongst the deaths, his Lordship has severely to lament that of Lieut.-col. Currie, Ass. Adj.-gen., and Captain Bolton, Royal Artillery; and he hopes that the wounds received by Maj.-gen. Adams, Colonel Duplat, Sir H. Ellis, and the other officers who were wounded, will not long deprive him of their services.

(Signed)

"W. HILL,

Assis. Adj.-gen. 2d Corps."

Communicated by French Officers.

After the battle of Ligny, Buonaparte, intending to lead his army against the English, arrived at the farm of Caillou, and fixed his head-quarters there on the 17th of June, at nine o'clock in the evening. The rain fell in torrents. The farm-house was abandoned by the farmer, named Boucqueau, an old man of eighty, who had retired to Planchenoit. It is situated on the high road from Charleroi to Brussels. It is half a league from the château of Hougomont and La Haye Sainte, and a quarter of a league from La Belle Alliance and Planchenoit. Supper was hastily served up, in part of the utensils of the farmer that remained. Buonaparte slept in the first chamber of this house: a bed was put up for him in the middle of this room, with blue silk hangings and gold fringe. His brother Jerome, the Duke of Bassano, and several Generals, lodged in the other chambers. All the adjacent buildings, gardens, meadows, and enclosures, were crowded with military and horses. On the 18th, from a very early hour in the morning, there were several visits and conferences. About nine o'clock, a breakfast was set before Buonaparte in his own plate. Before he left the farm to go forward, he desired the farmer to be sent for. The latter, who is the proprietor of the farm, found, when he came, all his effects broken or pillaged. He desired to speak to Napoleon, who was at a small distance reconnoitring the enemy's army: after much entreaty he was permitted to approach him; he found him surrounded by his staff, dressed in a grey frock, and wearing a two-cornered hat (chapeau à deux cornes). Napoleon asked him why he had gone away-whence he cameif Planchenoit was far off:- he pitied him with an appearance of interest, and ended by ordering a safeguard to be given, which availed him nothing.

The eminence on which Buonaparte was while he gave his orders during the battle, is part of the territory of Planchenoit; is called the Field of Trimotio, and is the property of several individuals: it is not far from the farm of Caillou. Buonaparte returned to this house for a moment during the battle. After he had lost it, endeavouring to avoid the crowd in the great road, he

threw himself into the orchard opposite this farm-house, to get the start of the mass of fugitives: a part of these being closely pursued, sought refuge in the buildings of the farm: they were set on fire, and several of them reduced to ashes. These details come from the farmer himself.

General Vandamme having been obliged to have Wavre evacuated, after being informed of the loss of the battle of Waterloo, remained constantly with the rear-guard; it was under these circumstances that he was severely wounded in the belly, by a ball; notwithstanding his pain and loss of blood, he still remained on horseback. When he reached the village where the army had just halted, he dismounted from his horse; his breeches were full of blood. A surgeon offered to dress his wound: "Let me alone," said he; "I have something else to do." He immediately began to examine the map, and to write his orders. The surgeon remarked to him, that he was losing much blood, and that in a quarter of an hour he might not even be able to continue his march, if he would not suffer himself to be dressed, and that he would do his duty without disturbing him. "Well, then," replied he, "on that condition only."

An orderly officer of Napoleon's, engaged in a charge of cavalry against an English square, before the village of Melles. The square was broken; an English officer was thrown down and severely wounded. He makes the sign of distress of a BROTHER MASON, at the moment when the orderly officer was passing by him, who gives him his hand, and orders one of his horsemen to take the greatest care of him. The English officer was immediately raised, and taken care of, at the particular recommendation of this French officer.

As much as the English distinguished themselves by their humanity, so much in the reverse was the conduct of the Prussians, who betrayed a determined rancour against the French, during this short campaign of 1815!

The Emperor, seeing the rout of the French army, and the impossibility of resisting the continually increasing forces of the enemy, arrived at eight o'clock in the evening, attended by a single officer, at the square formed by the 1st Regiment of the Guard. It was the last regiment which still kept a good countenance, and the Emperor hoped by its means to preserve and establish an order of retreat. "Grenadiers," said he, "we are going to reunite the army." It was near nine o'clock:-the Emperor was constantly in the square. The regiment was always surrounded by the light cavalry, who dare not approach: at length, on arriving at a large rivulet, the regiment was obliged to derange the order of its square in order to surmount this obstacle. The night, and a charge of cavalry made at the moment, at last threw the regiment into disorder; and in spite of the most vigorous resistance, and the

conduct and courage of Napoleon, the regiment was separated and obliged to retreat in the greatest disorder. The Emperor remained a part of the night with a company of these brave men, and arrived in the morning at Charleroi.

At the moment when the rout of the French army commenced, two grenadiers of the Guard, seeing the great park of artillery abandoned, with tears in their eyes quitted the ranks, and bade adieu to their comrades, crying-" We could not die in Egypt, or at Marengo, we must perish here;" they threw themselves upon one cannon, the park being already in the hands of the enemy: these unhappy grenadiers were sabred.

A column of prisoners passed on the 17th before the Emperor, who would not suffer the officers to be deprived of their swords. One of these officers complaining of the bad weather, expressed his surprise at seeing the Emperor covered with mud. The Emperor, hearing what he said, replied-" You must not wonder at that; I have resumed my old trade of a soldier."

Of seven officers sent by the Emperor to Marshal Grouchy, to give him orders to join the right of the French army, the four first went over to the enemy, the two next were taken prisoners, the seventh and last, not having left the Emperor's quarters till four o'clock, did not reach Marshal Grouchy till half-past seven. The Marshal, hearing the sound of the cannon become more distant, and apparently withdrawn in the direction of Charleroi, had no longer any doubt but that the French army had lost the battle.

It was General Drouet (Count d'Erlon) who had solicited the Emperor to employ General Bourmont, and, assuring Napoleon of the fidelity of that General, he said, "Sire, I answer for him with my head."

On the 16th, in the morning, General Drouet was greatly at a loss how he should appear before the Emperor, after the conduct of General Bourmont, who had just gone over to the enemy, carrying with him all the plans, notices, and memoirs relative to the opening of this campaign, which he had in his care as Chief of the Staff of Marshal Ney.

The Emperor taking General Drouet by the head, in his two hands, and shaking it, smiling, said, "Well, my dear General, this head belongs to me." "Yes, Sire!" replied the General, "that base De Bourmont has deceived me; he has betrayed your Majesty."

Extract of a Letter from an Officer in the Commissariat.

"We have picked up several wounded. I cannot omit a circumstance that occurred yesterday: while on the field among the wounded, we discovered a French soldier, most dreadfully cut

down the face, and one of his legs broken by a musket-ball: common humanity induced me to offer him assistance: he eagerly requested some drink; having a flask of weak gin-and-water I had taken purposely for the wounded, I gave it him, and could not help remarking how many thousand had suffered for the ambition of one man. He returned me the flask, and looking with a savage pride on the dead bodies that lay in heaps around him, he cried, as strong as his weakness would allow him, Vive Napoléon! la gloire de la France!!! Such an instance will give you a strong idea of the infatuation of these people. Brussels presented a melancholy scene: each side of a great number of the streets was laid with straw, on which the wounded were placed till proper places could be obtained for them. The inhabitants certainly behaved very well to them."

Extract from Mr. Warden's (Surgeon of the Northumberland) "LETTERS FROM ST. HELENA," lately published by Mr. Ackermann, as the Substance of his Conversations with Buonaparte and his immediate Attendants. Page 201.

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Napoleon, it seems, was completely ignorant of the movement made from Frasnes, by Count Erlon (Drouet), on the 16th: for when he appeared near Ligny, Napoleon actually deployed a column of French to him, mistaking his force at the time for a division of the Prussian army. Erlon was now made acquainted with the defeat of the Prussians, and, without thinking it necessary to have any communication with Napoleon as to future operations, returned to his original position. That division of the army, therefore, became totally useless for the day, both to the Emperor and Marshal Ney. Grouchy, losing sight of Blücher, and taking the circuitous route which he pursued, was represented as having committed a most fatal error. Whilst the right wing of the French, in the battle of the 18th, was engaged in defeating the flank movements of Bulow, of which they were perfectly apprised, Marshal Ney had orders to engage the attention of the English during this part of the action; but by no means to hazard the loss of his troops, or to exhaust their strength. Ney, it appears, did not obey the order, or met with circumstances that rendered it impracticable for him to adhere to it.* He was stated to have contended for the occupation of a height, and thus weakened his corps so that when the Imperial Guards were brought to the charge, he was unable to assist them. I understand that Napoleon

*The Editor is more willing to believe it arose from this cause than any dereliction of orders; it is supposed, that the extraordinary exertion of a brigade of artillery advantageously posted contributed no little to the disappointment Buonaparte met with, as it regards this affair of these gallant troops.-Vide "French Officer's Account," p. 99.

had crossed the Sambre with 110,000 men. In the battle of Ligny and Quatre Bras he lost 10,000; Grouchy's division was 30,000, in order to follow Blücher; leaving an effective force, on the morning of the battle, of 71,000.”

The following Details have been given by superior Officers in the Belgic Army, and offer some particulars not otherways known.

The 5th Belgic Regiment of Light Dragoons and the 6th Hussars distinguished themselves in the battle of the 16th at Quatre Bras. Colonel Edward Merex commanded the first of these regiments, and ordered Major Count Looz to disengage the above-mentioned Hussars, who were vigorously pursued into the plain beyond our cannon, on which our cannoneers had been sabred, while he himself charged upon the road to Charleroi, where the enemy's cavalry was advancing in a mass. This brave Colonel succeeded in breaking it, and pursued it beyond the French lines. This success seems to have decided the victory, and to have hindered the enemy from getting to Brussels the same day. It is probable that he would have been able to get there but | for this resistance; 20,000 of his troops were between Nivelles and the position of Quatre Bras, while the road to Brussels was uncovered. Colonel Merex received four wounds, and had a horse killed under him. Captain Von Remoorter had also a horse killed under him, and received a wound through the body. The 7th battalion of Belgic infantry likewise signalised itself on that day (the 16th). It lost several brave officers. The same 5th Regiment of Light Dragoons, in the battle of the 18th, charged and manoeuvred the united cavalry in a mass. It was while fighting at the head of it that the brave Lieutenant-general Van Merlen was struck by a cannon-ball. He died two hours after his wound, in a cottage of Mont St. Jean, near the barrier. This regiment lost 150 men, and as many horses. The brigade of Belgian Carabineers, composed of the 1st, 2d, and 3d Regiments, covered themselves with glory on the 18th of June. It was placed on a plateau opposite the farm of La Belle Alliance; an advantageous position, which Napoleon desired to carry, because it favoured the operations of the whole line of the army, by covering the roads of Namur and Nivelles. The brigade had on its left an Hanoverian battalion in square, and on the right an English battalion in square. Three French regiments of Cuirassiers and a regiment of Lancers made several charges to break this brigade, but in vain. Napoleon made a division of infantry of the Guard advance, with a great number of pieces of artillery of large calibre; the brigade was exposed to a terrible fire of grape-shot. At the same time there was a brisk fire of musketry; but our square battalions protected our brigade of Carabineers, who remained immovable. The attempts of the enemy's cavalry, in several successive charges, not