the road to Brussels!" The prodigious shouts of Five l'Empereur, with which the guards answered this appeal, led the Duke of Wellington and the troops under his command to expect an instant renewal of the attack, with Napoleon as the leader; the troops however advanced under the command of Marshal Ney, and the emperor, in failing to take the personal command of his guards, whom he destined to try the last cast of his fortune, disappointed both his friends and his enemies. The imperial guard, rallying in their progress such of the broken cavalry and infantry of the line as yet maintained the combat, advanced dauntlessly, and a momentary pause took place in the British fire. But no sooner did the head of the French columns present themselves within the range of the British artillery, than an enfilating fire opened upon them with an effect so tremendous as to present the appearance of a large body of men advancing perpetually from the hollow way without ever gaining ground on the plain. Enthusiasm, however, joined to the impulse communicated from the rear, at length carried the whole of the attacking force into the plain. A body of Brunswickers at first attempted to oppose them; but after an ineffectual resistance, they were defeated with immense slaughter. The French troops had now penetrated within the British lines; and it the British lines; and it seemed impossible for the duke to rally a suffi cient force to arrest their progress. They carried every thing before them, and once more in this strange and eventful battle victory inclined to the side of Napoleon: "In this state of affairs," says the French bulletin, "the battle was gained; we occupied all the positions which the enemy occupied at the outset of the battle........After eight hours' fire, and charges of infantry and cavalry, all the army saw with joy the battle gained, and the field of battle in our power."* But the English, it appears, did not know when they were beaten. Immediately in the rear was the Duke of Wellington, riding backwards and forwards, and, like the genius of the storm, directing its thunders; and on the brow of the hill, immediately in front of the French advancing columns, a regiment of British guards had been ordered to lie down, to shelter themselves from the enemy's fire. The imperial guard still advanced; and had approached within a hundred yards, when the duke suddenly exclaimed-" Up, guards, and at them." In an instant the guards sprung upon their feet, and assumed the offensive. The unexpected 1815 appearance of this fine body of men startled the BOOK V. French battalions, and they suddenly paused; but immediately recovering themselves, they ad- CHAP. VI. vanced still more rapidly, and at a given signal, their artillery filed off to the right and left. They approached within twenty yards of their opponents, and were in the act of dashing upon them with the bayonet, when a volley was poured upon them by the British, now formed in line four ranks deep, which literally threw the enemy back with the shock. A second volley heightened their confusion; and before they had time to deploy or to manoeuvre, the British cheered, and rushed furiously upon them with the point of the bayonet; but not one of the French guards stopped to cross bayonets with the household troops of the rival nation. poleon witnessed the recoil with the same clearness as the English general, but with feelings how different! He wished to rally the fugitives, and lead them in person to another effort; but Bertrand and Drouet threw themselves before him, and representing how much the safety of France and of the army depended upon his life, besought him to forbear. Napoleon suffered himself to be persuaded; and seeing that all was lost, fell back to his former station. Na The main body of the Prussians had already arrived-Marshal Blucher by Ohain, and General Bulow in the direction of Planchenoit.As the Prussian commander-in-chief pressed forward upon the enemy, intelligence was brought him that the corps which he had left at Wavre, under General Thielman, was pressed by a superior force, under Marshal Grouchy, and that they could with difficulty maintain their position. This news made little impression upon the veteran-it was at Waterloo, and not at Wavre, that the battle must be decided, and the advancing columns continued, under this impression, to urge on their forward movements. The countenance of the Duke of Wellington now brightened into a smile; his watch, so long held in his hand to mark the progress of time, while he invoked the arrival of night or of the Prussians, was restored to his pocket; and he exclaimed, exultingly, "There goes old Blucher at last; we shall beat them yet. "The decisive moment had arrived. The duke now ordered the whole line to move forward; nothing could be more beautiful. The sun, which had hitherto been veiled, at this instant shed upon the allies his departing rays, as if to smile upon the efforts they were making, and to bless them with success." The centre of the advancing army, led on by the Duke of BOOK V. Wellington in person,* proceeded in line to the While these events were passing in the "We must save ourselves." He then retreated with his staff about forty yards along the road, and halted about twenty yards from La Belle Alliance, where, putting the glass to his eye, he saw the Scotch Greys intermingled with, and furiously cutting, the French troops to pieces. This sight brought from him the exclamation-Qu'ils sont terribles ces chevaux gris!-How terrible are these grey horses!-[l faut nous dépecher; nous dépecher-we must decamp; we must decamp; and the emperor and his suite galloped off the field.”‡ Night had now come on, and the Duke of Wellington and Marshal Blucher met in the dark at La Belle Alliance, and embraced each other with transport. At the request of Marshal Blucher, the pursuit of the retreating army was consigned over to the Prussians, and while the exhausted English were preparing their bivouacs, their gallant allies made a momentary pause to greet them with their favourite air of "God save the King," which was returned with three hearty cheers, combining the mingled feelings of gratitude and exultation. The tremendous scenes of the day were surpassed by the horrors of the night. Marshal Blucher assembled all the superior officers of his army, and gave orders to send the last man and the last horse in pursuit of the enemy. The sun had long gone down, but no friendly darkness sheltered the fugitives; an unclouded moon, near her full, lighted the pursuers to their prey. The causeway, between Waterloo and Genappe, is described as presenting the appearance of an immense shipwreck; it was covered with innumerable cannon, caissons, carriages, baggage, and arms, forming one vast and almost impenetrable chaos. No rallying point had been given to the French army; and it was now impossible to cause any command to be heard. Fear exaggerated the horrors of the fugitives; and the night, without being dark, considerably augmented the general disorder. Even Marshal Ney, the second in command, was alone, totally ignorant of what had become of the emperor, and altogether incapable of arresting a single soldier to oppose the progress of the victors.§ The Prussians continued the pursuit during the whole night, and revenge itself was satiated with the blood of the panic struck victims. It may be pleaded, not as a justification, but as an explanation of the ferocious joy with which the Prussians followed and destroyed the retreating army, that a mutual and deadly hatred animated the Prussians and the French, and the san * General Alava's Dispatch to the Spanish Secretary of State. + Marshal Blucher's Official Report. Lacoste's Narrative. § Letter from Marshal Ney to the Duke of Otranto. |