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him then, and ordered him to an adjacent field, where were several others under similar circumstances: that he had the mortification to witness from thence the overthrow of numbers of the men during their retreat, but at last, to his great satisfaction, saw the heavy brigade advance to the charge, who, in their turn, overthrew every thing in their way, literally rolling both men and horses of the French over to a considerable distance, by the tremendous force of their charge, and cutting down all before them. Seeing the face of affairs to be changed, he contemplated upon an escape; and having communicated his idea to a brother officer near him, they together made for another part of the field, and had hardly gained the summit of a steep bank when, looking back, they observed a small French detachment enter the field, and cut down in cold blood all the prisoners there waiting for the orders of their captors, to the number of thirty or forty, while only himself and companion escaped."

42d Highland Regiment.*

"The 42d Regiment was ordered to advance along with a Belgian corps, to support the Prussians, who were under fire. In the march, owing either to their own superior quickness or to the want of ardour in the Belgians, the latter were left behind; and in a field of high standing corn a column of French Lancers advanced upon them. Col. Macara ordered the regiment to form a square, in doing which two companies were left out, or were rather in the act of falling in, when they were pierced by the Lancers, and in one moment overwhelmed, and literally annihilated. The Lancers then attacked the square, and repeated the charge several times. One half of them were also mowed down, together with the brave Colonel; upon which Lieut.-col. Dick took the command, though wounded by a musket-ball; he succeeded in rallying and forming them into a diminished square, and thus presented an undaunted resistance to the enemy. The Lieutenantcolonel was at length, from the loss of blood, carried from the field; when he was succeeded by Captain Davidson, who had been previously twice wounded, but remained in the field till near the close of the 16th, when he received his death wound: but the gallant remnant of the men succeeded in putting the Lancers to flight.

* Extract of a Letter from a Private in the 42d Regiment to his Father.
"General Hospital, Antwerp, June 24, 1815.

"On the 15th, about twelve o'clock at night, we turned out, and at two in the morning marched from the city of Brussels to meet the enemy, who were advancing in great force on that city. About three o'clock in the afternoon of the 16th we came up with them. Our whole force did not exceed 12,000 men, who were fatigued with a long march of upwards of twenty miles, encumbered with

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Lieut. Col. Macara 42. Battle of Quatre Bras.

Published by Beeth. Nov 13 1816,

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On the 16th, this regiment had killed and wounded 284, on the 18th, 49."

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The plan is mostly intended to illustrate the following letter, which relates chiefly to the glorious part which the 92d took in the contest;

knapsacks and other luggage. The day was uncommonly warm, and no water to be had on the road; however, we were brought up in order of battle. The French being strongly posted in a thick wood, to the number of 40,000 men, including cavalry and lancers, gave us very little time to look around us ere the

it however gives detail, and will serve to explain the movements of other Highland regiments, who came thus early into the contest. The 92d Regiment is designated by its number, in three different positions. The dotted line indicates the course of its advance against the enemy, The horizontal road is that leading from Brussels, by which our troops came up. The small circle in front of the second position of the 92d in the ditch, is the spot where the Duke of Wellington was so exposed. The road from the house, No. 2, to the village of Quatre Bras, No. 6, is that by which the French cavalry made the desperate charges recounted below. No. 5 is the garden referred to in the letter as the scene of a dreadful resistance. No. 7 is the Brunswick cavalry, which were routed. The third position of the 92d, in the right-hand corner, close to the wood, is the spot to which their gallant remnant had reached, when they were relieved by the Guards. Here they were exposed to a flank fire from a column and a battery, besides a fire from the body which they had so nobly driven back. The cavalry columns are indicated, on both sides, by a half circle extending from the parallelogram. The guns will be easily distinguished.

92d Regiment, written 21st of June, from Brussels, by a
wounded Officer.

"The 9th Brigade consisted of 1st, or Royal Scots, 42d, 44th, and 92d regiments. The 8th brigade, the 32d, 28th, 79th, and 95th. We marched 30 miles that night, and came up with the

fight commenced on both sides, in an awful and destructive manner, they having every advantage of us, both as to position and numbers, particularly in cavalry, and the British dragoons had not yet come up. The French cavalry charged the British line of infantry three different times, and did much execution, until we were obliged to form squares of battalions, in order to turn them, which was executed in a most gallant manner, and many hundreds of them never returned. Still they sent up fresh forces, and as often we beat them back. The battle lasted until it was quite dark, when the enemy began to give way; our poor fellows who were left alive following them as long as they could see, when night put an end to the fatigues of a well-fought day. Thousands on both sides lay killed and wounded on the field of battle: and as the greater part of the action lay in corn-fields along a vast tract of country, many hundreds must have died for want of assistance through the night, who were not able of themselves to crawl away. I was wounded by a musket-ball, which passed through my right arm and breast, and lodged in my back, from whence it was extracted by a surgeon in the hospital of this place. Captain M. is most severely wounded, having several shots through his body, and the regiment, in general, are mostly cut off. We have heard, since we came here, that our fine brigade, which entered the field on that eventful day, consisting of the 3d battalion Royal Scots, 42d, 44th, and 92d regiments, are now formed into one battalion, not exceeding in the whole 400 men. Lord Wellington retired in the night to wait for reinforcements, and next day our cavalry and the rest of the army arrived. Thus I have given you as full an account of affairs, principally what I witnessed on the 16th. Nothing can exceed the kindness and attention of the inhabitants of this city to our wounded men; the hospital is constantly filled with ladies and gentlemen, who, although speaking a different language, personally administer to our wants with the kindest attention, distributing clean shirts, bread, wine, coffee, tea, milk, and fruit of all sorts, with every requisite for our comfort and accommodation."

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