CHAPTER XVI.

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO.

Napoleon, as we have seen, took up his headquarters on the evening of the 17th at the Caillou house on the Brussels road, about a mile and a half south of the little tavern known then and now as La Belle Alliance. All the afternoon and night it rained hard. We may suppose that, as his custom was, he slept during the evening. At 1 A.M. of the 18th, he mounted his horse, and, with Bertrand, rode out to the front.[671] Here he rode or walked along the line of the pickets until he had satisfied himself that Wellington’s army was in position, awaiting battle. The fires at which the soldiers of the English and Dutch army were drying and warming themselves left no doubt of this. He must have been occupied in this way more than two hours, as he was near the wood of Hougomont at half-past two in the morning.

After returning, various reports came in. Between 7 and 8 A.M. he received from an officer who had been sent to the advanced posts, word that the enemy were retiring. This information he at once communicated to d’Erlon,[672] whose corps was in the first line,—that of Reille not having got fully up,—and ordered him to put his troops in march and to pursue the enemy with vigor. But d’Erlon having judged the enemy’s movement quite differently, sent his chief-of-staff to the Emperor to tell him that he, d’Erlon, thought that the English were making their dispositions to receive battle. D’Erlon proceeds:—

“The Emperor came immediately to the advanced posts. I accompanied him; we dismounted in order to get near the enemy’s vedettes, and to examine more closely the movements of the English army. He perceived that I was right, and being convinced that the English army was taking position, he said to me:—

‘Order the men to make their soup, to get their pieces in order, and we will determine what is to be done towards noon.’”

Napoleon seems in fact not to have spared himself any trouble, and there evidently was no very conspicuous deficiency in the physical energy of a man who, after a good afternoon’s work in the saddle in directing the march of an army, was able to go out twice in the deep mud during a rainy night and morning to visit the outer pickets of his line of battle, nearly two miles from the house where he had established his headquarters.

The reason of this apparently rather unnecessary solicitude is really not far to seek. Napoleon felt as confident of beating Wellington’s army that day as he had felt of beating Blücher’s army on the day but one before, provided only that it would accept battle. He believed, and he was justified in believing, that his army was superior to that opposed to him, in fighting capacity certainly, and even, possibly, in numbers. He trusted to Grouchy to keep the Prussians off, as he had on the day of Ligny trusted to Ney to protect him against the English, and he may also have thought it possible that Grouchy would arrive on the field in time to make the victory more crushing,—playing, in this way, much the same _rôle_ which Napoleon had marked out for Ney at Ligny. He accordingly feared nothing so much as the retreat of the English.

That he supposed that Grouchy would cross the Dyle at Moustier is certainly a fair inference from Marbot’s report and letter, from which we have made extracts above.[673] That he should have been so certain about it, however, is remarkable, as he had given Grouchy no instructions[674] of any kind whatsoever since he had sent him the Bertrand order, and that left him entire freedom of action.

Another very remarkable thing is that Napoleon should not have drawn from the fact that Wellington was awaiting battle the inference that he was expecting the assistance, and the powerful assistance, of Blücher.[675] At least it would seem pretty certain that he did not draw this inference, for he took neither of the steps which, if he had come to that conclusion, would seem to be dictated by common sense,—he neither attacked Wellington as early as he possibly could, nor did he do anything to make sure of Grouchy’s intervention until 10 A.M., when he sent him the order which we have given above.[676] If, on his return to the Caillou house at half-past three or thereabouts in the morning, he had sent an officer to order Grouchy to march towards the main army by the bridges of Moustier and Ottignies, he would have done only what the fact of Wellington’s confronting him, which he had just ascertained with his own eyes, should have led him to do.

The rain ceased, according to Charras,[677] at 6 A.M.; Vaudoncourt,[678] a much earlier authority, puts it at 8 o’clock; Van Loben Sels[679] says that the rain had diminished at break of day, but it was not until 10 o’clock that the atmosphere became clear; Baudus,[680] who was at the battle on Soult’s staff, says the rain ceased towards 9 o’clock. We may probably assume that the rain had ceased by 8 o’clock, and that in another hour, had Napoleon so chosen, he might have begun the battle.

This, in point of fact, he originally intended to do. He had issued an order in good season to the corps-commanders, that they should see that the soldiers cleaned their guns and got their breakfasts, so that at 9 o’clock precisely they should be ready to commence the battle.[681] Drouot, who was a distinguished artillery-officer, and was then acting as adjutant-general of the Guard, tells us[682] that Napoleon intended to begin the battle by 8 or 9 at the latest. But Drouot advised a delay of two to three hours on account of the condition of the ground, which the heavy rain of the past afternoon and night had rendered too soft for the rapid and effective movements of artillery; and Napoleon, who was himself an artillery officer, and always made great use of this arm, yielded to the suggestion, and determined to put off the main attack till towards one o’clock P.M.

About 8 A.M. the Emperor rode along the lines,[683] examining the enemy’s position, which he had already, as we have seen, inspected twice since midnight. He then dictated an order of battle, or, rather, an order of movement, the result of which would be that the army would be arranged in three lines, ready for the attack. This marshalling of the army was, according to all accounts, a magnificent and imposing spectacle; the bands played; the men shouted “Vive l’Empereur!”; the movement was skilfully designed and beautifully executed; but, except as a way of occupying the time, it would probably never have been thought of. It began shortly before nine and was over by half-past ten.[684] It showed at any rate that had it been thought advisable, the battle might have been begun at 9 A.M.

After this pageant “Napoleon passed before the lines and was received by immense, by enthusiastic acclamations.”[685] He then, shortly before eleven o’clock, dictated his plan of attack. Of this we shall speak later on.

One cannot but be struck with a recurrence here of the same error to which we have had occasion to call attention before,—namely, the error of acting on the probabilities of the situation when it is admitted that a different state of things may nevertheless, in spite of the probabilities, exist, and that, if it does exist, a wholly different course of action must be taken, or a fatal result will inevitably follow. Napoleon was, very likely, warranted in thinking it probable that morning that, what with the loss and demoralization consequent on their defeat at Ligny, and what with the interference with their plans which Grouchy with his 33,000 men could reasonably be expected to make, he himself was safe against any intervention on the part of the Prussians. But he did not and could not know where the Prussians were; in fact, he had great reason to believe that a large part of them had gone to Wavre; and at that very moment he thought it very likely that their action in going to Wavre would induce Grouchy to come to him by way of Moustier. If, then, the exigency called in the Emperor’s mind for this course on the part of Grouchy, why did it not equally demand from Napoleon the promptest action against Wellington, and the exertion of every means to make sure of Grouchy’s intervention? This criticism is, in fact, only an extension of that made in reference to the step taken by Napoleon in detaching Grouchy’s large force when he felt it necessary at the same time to warn Grouchy expressly that the Prussians might be intending to unite with the English.

However we may explain these apparent contradictions, they certainly existed in Napoleon’s mind and also in his actions. He was so sure of having only the Anglo-Dutch army to fight that he deliberately postponed attacking it until he could do so in the most approved style; he was confident that if the Prussians had gone in the direction of Wavre with the intention of joining the English or of attacking the French, Grouchy would return to him by the bridge of Moustier. And yet, from 1 P.M. of the afternoon of the 17th to 10 A.M. of the 18th, he sent Grouchy no orders, and no information. Where such is the lack of ordinary care on the part of the commanding general, a great deal surely must depend upon the energy and capacity of the subordinate.

While this was the general situation at the French headquarters, the Duke of Wellington, having with his customary carefulness set his army in battle array, was quietly waiting until it should suit his adversary to assault his lines. Every hour’s delay was a distinct gain to him; and he knew it. He knew, what Napoleon of course could not know, that the Prussians were on their way to attack the French and to join the English.

At the same time, it must not be supposed that the Duke had no cause for anxiety. Of the defects of his army he was well aware. No one knew better than he that such a conglomerate mass of troops as that which he commanded, consisting, too, in great part of raw and untried soldiers, could not possibly be equal to the well-appointed army of Napoleon’s veterans whose blows he was soon to receive. His only reliance, therefore, was on Blücher’s promised support. As Sir James Shaw-Kennedy well says:—[686]

“In order at all to understand the views of the Duke of Wellington as to accepting battle on the field of Waterloo, it is essential to keep this arrangement [_i.e._, with Blücher] fully in view; otherwise the Duke might justly be accused of the utmost temerity and folly in accepting battle, as much the greater portion of his army consisted of mere Landwehr and of Dutch-Belgian troops. The latter, from political and other causes, could not be depended upon; which, in fact, had been already proved on the 16th. It would be an error to suppose that it was from any want of courage that the Dutch-Belgian troops could not be depended upon; proof enough exists that the people of those countries are capable of the most heroic and persevering exertions when engaged in a cause that they care to support; but under the circumstances in which they were placed on this occasion, they were without confidence, were not acting in a cause which they cordially supported, and showed that it was not one in which they wished to oppose themselves seriously to French troops.”

But Wellington felt that he could rely on Blücher’s promise, and he took his chance that Blücher would be able to fulfil his promise, and that he himself would be able to hold out until the promise should be fulfilled. These risks, however, were by no means small.

In the first place, the Duke not only did not know that Napoleon had given Grouchy two whole corps; he even supposed that he had given him but one, and that Napoleon was confronting him on the morning of the battle with his whole army, “with the exception of the 3d Corps, which had been sent to observe Marshal Blücher.”[687] This risk, fortunately for the Duke of Wellington, was not actually incurred. But, all the same, Wellington is entitled to the credit of having faced it with his eyes open.

Secondly, there was the chance that Grouchy might intervene, and prevent the Prussians from fulfilling their promise. We have already shown what Grouchy could have done in this way had he either acted of his own motion in accordance with the demands of the situation by marching at daybreak for the bridge of Moustier, or had followed the counsel of Gérard at noon.

The issue of the battle of Waterloo, in fact, might have been entirely changed if the movements of troops not under the control of either of the commanding generals had been other than they were; it is this fact among others which gives the battle a peculiar interest.

The position to the south of the villages of Mont St. Jean and Waterloo, known as the field of Waterloo, had been, some time before the campaign opened, reconnoitred by the English engineers; “the several sketches of the officers had been put together, and one fair copy made for the Prince of Orange; a second had been commenced for the Duke.”[688] The chief-of-engineers, Lieutenant-Colonel Smyth, who was present at the action of Quatre Bras, sent back to Brussels during the afternoon, presumably by the Duke’s direction, for a plan of this position; and the original sketches, which, together, constituted a plan, were forwarded to him by Captain Oldfield, the brigade-major of engineers.[689] The next morning, “upon the receipt of a communication from Blücher,”[690] the Duke obtained from Colonel Smyth these sketches, and gave them to Sir William De Lancey, his Deputy-Quartermaster-General, or chief-of-staff, “with orders” (as Major Oldfield states)[691] “to take up the ground on which we fought the next day. Colonel Smyth was at the same time desired to take the necessary measures for entrenching the village of Braine-la-Leud.”

To this position, then, well understood and mapped out, the Duke of Wellington fell back on the afternoon of the 17th from Quatre Bras with that part of his army which was under his immediate command, and to it also he directed the greater part of the troops which were at Nivelles and other places. (See Map 13.)

The position was a strong one. The first or main line of battle crossed the Charleroi-Brussels pike at right angles where the road from Ohain and Wavre strikes into it, nearly three-quarters of a mile south of the hamlet of Mont St. Jean, where the _chaussée_ to Nivelles branches off from the pike. To the east of this pike the English left extended for a mile or so,—for more than half this distance on the crest of a gentle slope; but the little villages of Smohain, Papelotte and La Haye, lying from a quarter to a half a mile in front, were occupied. To the west of the pike the line ran along the same ridge for nearly a third of a mile, when it turned somewhat towards the southwest, but still ran along the crest of the ridge, and so continued for nearly a half a mile farther. Here the line was covered by a garden and a considerable wood enclosing a solid old building, known as the Chateau of Hougomont. This building and its enclosures lay about 350 yards in front of the main line of battle, at its extreme right, and they were occupied in force. The ridge was admirably suited for defensive purposes. The reverse slope offered excellent protection for infantry lying behind it; and in front, there were no trees or other impediments; every movement of the enemy was plainly to be seen, and was exposed to fire. Moreover the ground over which the enemy must advance for the attack was so moist and muddy, that all rapidity of movement, even of cavalry, was out of the question.

Wellington had on the field the whole of the 1st, 2d, 3d, 5th and 6th British divisions, one brigade (Mitchell’s) of the 4th division, the 2d and 3d Dutch-Belgian divisions, and the contingents from Brunswick and Nassau,—numbering in all 49,608 infantry, 12,408 cavalry and 5,645 artillery, with 156 guns,—a total of 67,661 men.[692]

These troops, as we have before observed,[693] were stationed on the field without reference to the corps to which they belonged. The reason for this probably was that the Duke desired to distribute his foreign troops, on some, at any rate, of whom he placed no great reliance, among his British troops and those of the King’s German Legion, which were his main dependence. Then, inasmuch as the army had never before acted by corps, or, in fact, at all, in the field, no special inconvenience was to be apprehended from this arrangement.

The army of the Duke was composed as follows:—[694]

British troops:— Infantry 15,181 Cavalry 5,843 Artillery 2,967 ------ 23,991

King’s German Legion:— Infantry 3,301 Cavalry 1,997 Artillery 526 ------ 5,824

Total British and King’s German Legion ------ 29,815 Men

Hanoverians:— Infantry 10,258 Cavalry 497 Artillery 465 ------ 11,220 „

Brunswickers:— Infantry 4,586 Cavalry 866 Artillery 510 5,962 „

Nassauers:— Infantry 2,880 „

Dutch-Belgians:— Infantry 13,402 Cavalry 3,205 Artillery 1,177 17,784 „

Total as above. 67,661 „

To the eastward, or English left, of the turnpike, were stationed in the first line the 5th and 6th British divisions, the 2d Dutch-Belgian division, and the British cavalry brigades of Vivian and Vandeleur. This part of the line seems to have been commanded by Sir Thomas Picton,[695] although it is not clear whether he had any authority except over his own division, the 5th. Of these troops the cavalry were stationed on the extreme left. One brigade of Dutch-Belgians, that of Prince Bernhard of Saxe Weimar, occupied the villages of Smohain, Papelotte and La Haye. The English infantry were placed on the reverse of the slope of the ridge, so as to be sheltered from the enemy’s fire. But the other Dutch-Belgian brigade, Bylandt’s, was, as Sir James Shaw-Kennedy says,[696] “posted, most unaccountably, in front of the Wavre road, on the slope. * * * In this position, it was jutted forward in front of the real line of battle, which was mainly the Wavre road. It was directly exposed to the fire of the greatest French battery that was on the field, and singly exposed to the first onset of the French attacking columns.” Who was responsible for this inconsiderate and dangerous measure we do not know. In rear of the left wing, and protected from the French fire, stood the Union brigade, so called, of Major General Sir William Ponsonby, composed of the Royal Dragoons, the Scots Greys, and the Inniskilling Dragoons.

The right of the left wing rested on the Charleroi turnpike. The 3d British division, Alten’s, continued the line to the west of the turnpike. On the westerly side of the pike, and about 300 yards to the south of the point where the Wavre road crosses it, was the farmhouse of La Haye Sainte, which was strongly occupied by a battalion of the King’s German Legion under Major Baring. An _abatis_ was formed across the road at the south end of the boundary wall of the house,[697] but it was broken up during the course of the battle.

Beyond the third division, on the allied right, were stationed the two brigades constituting the 1st division, Cooke’s,—a part of the 2d brigade, Byng’s, occupying, with some Nassau and other foreign troops, the Chateau and enclosures of Hougomont.

The 2d division, Clinton’s, was in reserve near Merbe Braine, as was also the Brunswick contingent. The 3d Dutch-Belgian division, Chassé’s, was on the extreme right, and partly in the village of Braine-la-Leud. The heavy cavalry brigade of Lord Edward Somerset was stationed in the rear, near the Charleroi pike; the Dutch-Belgian cavalry were farther to the right.

It is plain from the foregoing that, with the exception of the unfortunate brigade of Bylandt, the army was skilfully arranged so as to escape as far as was possible the fire of the enemy’s artillery, which was known to be extremely formidable. The occupation of Hougomont was most carefully attended to; the walls were loop-holed,—not only of the house, but of the garden; and, surrounded, as it was, on the sides nearest the French by a considerable wood, it was a really strong place. So long as it was held, the right of Wellington’s line was practically unassailable.[698] The farmhouse of La Haye Sainte on the Brussels road was also made very strong, although, owing to some oversight, no adequate mode of reinforcing the defenders, or of supplying them with ammunition, was provided. No earth-works had been thrown up anywhere.[699] An _abatis_ had, as has been observed, been placed across the Charleroi road, and another was thrown across the Nivelles road in rear of Hougomont.

Napoleon brought to the field of Waterloo the 1st, 2d, and 6th Corps (_minus_ the division of Teste), the Imperial Guard, the heavy cavalry of Kellermann and Milhaud, the light cavalry of Domon, detached from the 3d Corps, and of Subervie, detached from the cavalry-corps of Pajol,—a total of 71,947 men, of whom 48,950 were infantry, 15,765 cavalry, and 7,232 artillery. There were 246 guns.[700]

The 1st Corps constituted the right of the first line. Its left rested on the Charleroi turnpike near the inn of La Belle Alliance, and its light cavalry observed the villages of La Haye and Papelotte on the extreme right. The 2d Corps continued the first line to the west, the cavalry of Piré being stationed beyond the Nivelles road. The 6th Corps and the Guard, with the cavalry of Kellermann and Milhaud, were in reserve.

Of the three divisions of the 2d Corps present at the battle,—that of Girard having been left at Ligny,—the division of Jerome was on the left, that of Foy in the centre, and that of Bachelu on the right,—its right resting on the Charleroi road.

Of the four divisions of the 1st Corps, that of Donzelot was the left, and its left rested on the Charleroi road; then came that of Allix, commanded by Quiot; then that of Marcognet, and then that of Durutte. This last was opposite Papelotte and La Haye.

The two armies were nearly equal in numbers; and had that of the Duke of Wellington been equal in point of material to that of the Emperor, the advantage of position which it possessed would have fully made up for the slight superiority in numbers possessed by the French. As it was, however, the superiority of the French, not only in artillery and cavalry, but so far as a large part of the Anglo-Dutch army was concerned, in _moral_, was unquestionable, and Wellington’s only justification for receiving battle lay, as Kennedy points out above, in his expectation of receiving help from Blücher.

Napoleon, as we have seen, dictated his plan of battle before eleven o’clock. It provided that,[701] as soon as the whole army should be ranged in order of battle, about 1 P.M., and the Emperor should give the order to Marshal Ney, the attack should commence, having for its object to get possession of the village of Mont St. Jean, where the road from Nivelles strikes into the Charleroi turnpike. This attack was to be made by the 1st Corps, supported on the left by the 2d Corps. To aid this attack a formidable battery of seventy-eight guns, many of them twelve-pounders, was to be moved forward on the east side of the road to a ridge which ran in front of and parallel to the French line of battle, and only 600 yards from the English position.

The Emperor had then definitely decided before eleven o’clock to defer the principal move of the day till about one in the afternoon. In this decision he was mainly, if not wholly, influenced by the difficulties which he saw would be caused by the deep mud of the fields over which his troops would have to manœuvre.

The determination of Napoleon to make his main effort against the village of Mont St. Jean, so as to possess himself of the principal avenue of retreat open to the enemy,—the road to Brussels,—has always elicited the commendation of military men. The Emperor undoubtedly intended to aid the attack of the 1st Corps by advancing the 6th Corps in its support; but this, as we shall see, owing to the intervention of the Prussians, he did not attempt. Whether, in case the attack had succeeded, so far as to give to the French the possession of the Brussels road, the Forest of Soignes would have afforded cover to Wellington’s retreating army, as English writers have always maintained, or would have necessitated the abandonment of the greater part of their artillery, as Napoleon contended, is a question which we will not undertake to discuss here.

At 11.30 A.M., before the time arrived for beginning the main operation of the day, Napoleon ordered Reille to attack Hougomont with his left division, that of Prince Jerome.[702] This movement, intended only as a diversion, was undertaken without any sufficient examination of the enemy’s position, and in the most inconsiderate manner.[703] Neither Jerome, who commanded the division, nor Guilleminot, who, Charras maintains, really controlled its operations, took the pains to direct the boiling courage and superfluous energy of the men, which, skilfully used, might have resulted in obtaining at least partial success. For example, the western entrance of the Chateau was perfectly open to artillery fire, and, had a few heavy guns been employed, the doors and adjacent wall would have been demolished, and the building would probably have been taken,[704] although it is doubtful if it could have been held. Bags of powder, also, would have destroyed the garden wall, but no one thought of supplying them to the men.[705] In consequence of these neglects, the soldiers of Jerome’s division, after possessing themselves of the wood and orchard, were shot down by their opponents from behind the garden wall, and from the loopholes in the house and its outbuildings, and could make no further progress. This, of itself, was, perhaps, of no great consequence; but Reille, impatient of being thwarted, and still neglecting to ascertain the precise reasons of the ill-success of the attack, sent in the division of Foy to support that of Jerome. In fact, later in the day, the division of Bachelu was also employed in this useless and most costly attempt to get possession of Hougomont. When it is considered that the 2d Corps contained on this morning not far from 12,000 foot soldiers, and that very few of them assisted in the attacks on the main line of the English army, one gets an idea of the wasteful, and, in fact, inexcusable mismanagement of the resources of the French army on this day. Not more than half the above number of men were employed to maintain the position.

The main operation of the day was to be, as we have said, an advance by the 1st Corps under d’Erlon to break the centre of the English line at and near the junction of the Wavre road with the turnpike. The great battery of seventy-eight pieces of cannon continued firing for an hour and a half at a distance of less than a third of a mile from the crest in front of which lay the brigade of Bylandt, and behind which lay the brigades of Kempt and Pack and Best of Picton’s division. At half-past one Napoleon ordered d’Erlon forward.

His attack was to be made in four columns, marching in _échelon_, the left in advance. The formation of these columns was so extraordinary, and so ill-suited for the work to be done, that it has always excited the comment of military men. We owe to Charras[706] a clear explanation of this formation. The first, or left, column consisted of the brigade of Bourgeois of the division of Allix,—the other brigade of this division, that of Quiot, being assigned to the special task of capturing La Haye Sainte. This brigade of Bourgeois contained four battalions, one behind another; each battalion stood in three ranks, one behind the other; and there was a distance of five paces between the battalions. The front of this column, therefore, consisted of one-third of the number of men in the leading battalion; and there being four battalions in the brigade, there were of course twelve ranks in the column. It was the same, _mutatis mutandis_, with the other columns. Donzelot’s division, which contained nine battalions, had, therefore, twenty-seven ranks in its column; the divisions of Marcognet and Durutte, which had only eight battalions each, had each twenty-four ranks. This formation was quite an exceptional one. A column very generally in use at that day consisted of a battalion in the centre, in line,—that is, in three ranks,—flanked on either side, by battalions in column of divisions, capable of promptly forming line or square. And then there were other convenient formations in frequent use. But these formations of d’Erlon’s divisions were unwieldy,—they lacked mobility. Why Ney and d’Erlon should have departed from the usual practice on this occasion, no one knows.[707]

The story of d’Erlon’s charge has been often told.[708] How the soldiers of the unfortunate brigade of Bylandt, utterly unable, as they were, after having been exposed to the fire of the great battery for an hour and a half, to resist alone the impact of such an enormous force, broke in confusion and fell to the rear amid the undeserved curses of their English allies;[709] how the French in their unwieldy masses pressed forward to the crest of the ridge to receive the fire at short range of the brigades of Pack and Kempt, which only the leading battalions were able, owing to the faulty formation of the columns, to return at all; and how, when staggered by the fire, and while endeavoring to disengage their closely following ranks, Ponsonby’s brigade of heavy cavalry charged them furiously, riding down between the columns, throwing them into confusion, cutting down the exposed foot-soldiers, capturing two eagles, and many prisoners, disabling some 15 guns, and forcing the three left columns to fall back in disorder,—all this is familiar to all readers of the story of Waterloo. It is difficult to find a parallel to this clumsily executed movement of d’Erlon’s. At the same time, faulty as the formation of the columns was, the troops got actually on the crest of the British position; and had there been any timidity or hesitation on the part of their adversaries, the columns would undoubtedly have forced their way through the British line. But the necessary time was not allowed them. Sir Thomas Picton was alive to the danger; he was prompt to seize the opportunity; his troops by their close and deadly fire threw the heads of the columns into confusion, and then charged them with the bayonet. Lord Uxbridge, who commanded the cavalry, rode over from his own position on the other side of the turnpike, and ordered Ponsonby to charge. He then returned to lead Somerset’s cavalry brigade in a successful charge on the west of the pike. The whole affair was a great and deserved success for the English. Their cavalry, however, was very severely handled on returning to its original positions.

Shortly before d’Erlon moved out, Napoleon had seen a body of troops on the heights of St. Lambert, far off on his right. It was soon ascertained that they were Prussians. He then sent off the 1 P.M. order to Grouchy.[710] By the time that the unfortunate charge of the 1st Corps had resulted in the repulse narrated above, certainly before 3 P.M., Napoleon had decided that he must employ the 6th Corps in resisting the Prussians, and not in supporting the 1st Corps in further operations against the English, as he had originally intended to do. But whatever shape the next movement might assume, the first thing to be done was evidently to carry the farmhouse of La Haye Sainte, which had just been unsuccessfully attempted.

This was undertaken in the same reckless and careless manner which had characterized the assault on Hougomont. Although the French had an abundance of heavy guns, none were used to batter down the doors and walls, in front of which the bravest officers and men could accomplish but little, and were sacrificed to no purpose.[711] The place was finally taken shortly before 4 P.M.[712]

But the capture of La Haye Sainte was only a necessary preliminary to a serious attack on the enemy’s main line. Napoleon (or perhaps Ney) seems to have thought that the troops of d’Erlon had been too severely handled to warrant the expectation of any immediate aid from them. They would require an hour or two, perhaps, to recover. At any rate, it was determined to assail the English centre to the west of the Charleroi road, and as the infantry of the 1st Corps were not for the moment available, and as that of the 2d Corps, or at least, the greater part of it, was engaged in attacking Hougomont, it was decided to make the assault this time with cavalry alone.

The troops on this portion of Wellington’s line,—between the Charleroi road and Hougomont,—had been subjected only to artillery fire, and even that had not been anything like as severe as that sustained by the troops exposed to the great French battery on the opposite side of the road. They consequently were in good condition to resist cavalry,[713] especially considering that the bad ground over which the cavalry must pass would be certain to diminish the force of their assaults. Sir James Shaw-Kennedy, who was on this part of the line, tells us that the opinion at the time among the English officers was that the attack was premature.

This was also Napoleon’s own opinion; he seems to have yielded to Ney’s solicitations against his own judgment. But at this time, shortly after 4 P.M., the advance of Bülow’s Corps occupied the constant attention of the Emperor; he was constrained to leave the conduct of the battle against Wellington to Marshal Ney, in whose tactical skill and management he had great confidence, and to devote himself mainly to the task of directing the movements of the 6th Corps and of those portions of the Guard, which from time to time he was obliged to detach for its support, so as to prevent the Prussians from seizing the village of Planchenoit and thus menacing the communications of the army. Napoleon’s neglect of the conduct of the operations against the English has often been the subject of comment and severe criticism; but we imagine that he was far more anxious to hinder the Prussians, who were aiming, so to speak, at a vital part, from succeeding, than even to defeat the English. To fend off the Prussians was an absolute necessity; to drive the English from the field, a thing no doubt very desirable; but as there was no fear that they would take the offensive, and as, if they did, the army, or, at least, the great bulk of it, was in line of battle opposed to them, no great danger was to be apprehended from them. Whereas the Prussians were striking at the flank and rear, aiming to get control of the Charleroi road, and thus of the line of communications and retreat of the army. To prevent their succeeding in this was, therefore, of vital importance. Hence Napoleon attended to this himself, and left to Ney the conduct of the fight against Wellington’s army.

Marshal Ney, then, determined to carry the allied centre by charges of cavalry. He seems to have made no effort to support this attack by the infantry of the 2d Corps, although it would certainly have been quite possible to have withdrawn at least Bachelu’s division from the wood of Hougomont and to have used it with good effect. But Ney was originally an officer of cavalry; this fact may have made him think it possible to accomplish more with cavalry alone than to others would seem practicable. At any rate, from 4 to 6 P.M. the splendid divisions of Milhaud, Lefebvre-Desnouettes, Kellermann and Guyot were successively launched against the English lines. Every one has heard of the magnificent gallantry of these fine troops; every one knows the indomitable steadiness with which their repeated onsets were borne. At the close of these assaults the French cavalry had become wellnigh exhausted; and they had not broken a single square. Nevertheless, the English, Hanoverian, Nassau and Brunswick troops had suffered severely; obliged to remain in squares for fear of the repeated irruptions of the French cavalry, they presented an easy mark to the French infantry skirmishers of Donzelot’s division, which with a portion of Quiot’s was finally brought over from the east side of the turnpike, as well as to the artillery from the French main position, which, necessarily silent while the cavalry were on the plateau, constantly recommenced its fire as soon as the cavalry retired down the slope, as was done many times during these two hours. In fact this part of the allied line was finally weakened so much that it was very near giving way, as we shall shortly see. At one time, all the troops for nearly half a mile to the west of the Brussels pike had retired from exhaustion, and in disorder, and the Duke himself had to lead up fresh troops to take their places.[714]

More, however, might have been accomplished by the French. For instance, the enfilading batteries, which towards the close of the day, dismounted Mercer’s guns[715] and practically destroyed several squares of infantry, might have been employed quite as easily two hours before, and more of them might well have been used.[716]

But no use whatever was made, except as above stated, of the very great advantage afforded by the position of La Haye Sainte for the posting of batteries which should sweep the whole line of the allies, dismount their guns, riddle their squares, and render their infantry unable to resist the shock of cavalry. Nor was the infantry of the 1st Corps brought up in season. As for that of the 2d Corps, Ney hardly made any use of it at all; he suffered it to remain in the wood and enclosures of Hougomont.

Napoleon said, and it cannot be seriously disputed, that the heavy cavalry of the Guard, the division of Guyot, went in without his orders. Whether Ney ordered it in is, however, doubtful. His chief-of-staff, Colonel Heymès, denies that he did. He says that the cavalry of the Guard went in of its own accord. (Doc. Inéd., pp. 16, 17.) At any rate, it was a great mistake, whoever committed it, as all the authorities freely say. It destroyed the last cavalry-reserve of the army.

While these operations were going on in front, Napoleon was personally superintending the desperate and gallant fight made by the two divisions of the 6th Corps under Lobau against Bülow’s advance. The two leading divisions of the IVth Corps, which moved out about 4.30 P.M., were easily checked at first; but they rallied, and were reinforced by the rest of the corps; and, between 5 and 6 P.M., Lobau was driven back, and Planchenoit itself was threatened. The Emperor was obliged to put in the Young Guard, which, with three batteries, occupied Planchenoit, while the 6th Corps extended on its left so as to connect with the right of the 1st Corps. But the Prussians drove the Young Guard out of the village; and the Emperor had to order in three battalions of the Old and Middle Guard with two batteries. These troops, gallantly supported by the Young Guard, retook the town, and the Prussians fell back some distance. Napoleon then seems to have thought that the attack of the Prussians was exhausted. It was nearly seven o’clock.[717] In this action the fighting on both sides was very obstinate. The French troops were superior in point of experience to those of Bülow,—those of the 6th Corps were led by a very able officer, Lobau, and the regiments of the Guard were the _élite_ of the army. Hence, though much inferior in numbers, they obtained this success, which under other circumstances, would have been decisive. But in this case their enemies had reinforcements at hand. Pirch I., at the head of the IId Corps, was only two miles in rear.

This, however, Napoleon of course could not know. Hence, thinking that the danger from the Prussians was practically over, he hastened towards the front, where for the last hour, ever since the conclusion of the cavalry attacks, the battle had languished. It had in fact consisted during this period only of a general skirmish firing along the centre of the English position to the west of the Brussels pike, the result of which, however, was, undoubtedly, to weaken perceptibly the strength and _moral_ of the allied troops. This part of the English line was in fact in a bad way at this period of the battle.[718] As Sir James Shaw-Kennedy, who was on this part of the line on the staff of the 3d division, says:—[719]

“La Haye Sainte was in the hands of the enemy; also the knoll on the opposite side of the road; also the garden and ground on the Anglo-Allied side of it; Ompteda’s brigade was nearly annihilated, and Kielmansegge’s so thinned, that those two brigades could not hold their position. That part of the field of battle, therefore, which was between Halkett’s[720] left and Kempt’s[721] right, was unprotected; and being the very centre of the Duke’s line of battle, was consequently that point, above all others, which the enemy wished to gain. The danger was imminent; and at no other period of the action was the result so precarious as at this moment. Most fortunately Napoleon did not support the advantage his troops had gained at this point by bringing forward his reserve; proving that he did not exert that activity and personal energy in superintending and conforming to the progress of the action, which he ought to have done.”

As to this last observation, we have just seen how the Emperor was employed during this critical period of the action. He was in truth fighting another battle with inferior forces against the Prussians, and this, too, at a distance of a mile and a half from the English line of battle.[722] The criticism on Napoleon is therefore unfounded; it is due simply to the fact that his occupation during this period of the battle was not borne in mind by General Shaw-Kennedy. But the fact remains; if there had been no other battle to fight,—no desperate action at Planchenoit, requiring the presence and personal direction of the Emperor,—if the attack upon the allied lines could have been made under the eye and direct orders of Napoleon himself,—in the opinion of Kennedy, whose account of the battle is one of the best we have, it would have gone hard with Wellington’s army. Add to this, that if there had been no other battle to fight, the Emperor could have brought 16,000 fresh men to bear upon this exhausted force of Wellington’s. It should be added, also, that the English heavy cavalry of Somerset and Ponsonby, which had been well nigh exhausted by their charges at the beginning of the action, and had suffered more or less during the afternoon, were not able to render efficient service at the close of the day.

Napoleon, as we have seen, as soon as he had, as he supposed, definitely repulsed the Prussians in the neighborhood of Planchenoit, hastened to the front, where he must have arrived somewhere about seven o’clock. His absence from the field during this time was, as we have seen, not due to any fault or neglect of his, but nevertheless it was most unfortunate for the success of his army.[723] Marshal Ney had exhausted, as he supposed,[724] all the resources available to him. Over the Imperial Guard he had no authority; and the only infantry in the army that had not been put in belonged to the Guard. Meanwhile Wellington had exerted himself to the utmost to restore at least a semblance of strength to his line of battle west of the turnpike; he had rallied the men of Alten’s division, who had been shaken by the fall of that officer, who was severely wounded; he had brought forward some Brunswick troops; he had ordered Chassé’s (3d) Dutch-Belgian division from its position near Merbe Braine to a position in rear of the guards; he had brought over to the centre the light cavalry brigades of Vivian and Vandeleur from the extreme left. He had, in fact, done all that could be done, and he was now awaiting the next move of his antagonist with a coolness, vigilance and alertness which the discouraging aspects of the fight did not in the least affect. But his situation was a perilous one. His losses had been very great. His English troops were much exhausted; the patience and confidence of most of his foreign allies were nearly worn out; and on that part of his line lying to the west of the turnpike his artillery was mostly dismounted. He had, however, in reserve some of his best troops, and one or two batteries.

Maitland’s brigade of guards and Adam’s brigade of Clinton’s division had suffered but little, and were troops of the best quality.

Ney had acquainted the Emperor with the state of things in his front, and had been informed that, as soon as he could, the Emperor would sustain him with a part of the Guard. Meantime, he was to collect as much of the cavalry, and of Reille’s infantry, as he could, to support the attack which might soon be expected to be made by the Guard, supported by the infantry of the 1st Corps.

It was, as must be sufficiently apparent to the reader, out of the question at this period of the action for Napoleon to organize an attack against the English lines with the Imperial Guard, in any such fashion as that which he employed with such crushing effect on the day but one before, at Ligny. To begin with, the cavalry of the Guard, both the light and the heavy, had been shattered, and virtually ruined for the time being, by their repeated, ineffectual and costly efforts to carry the plateau during the previous few hours. Then, but a fraction of the infantry and artillery of the Guard was disposable. The Young Guard, consisting of eight battalions, organized in four regiments, with twenty-four guns, was in Planchenoit,[725] where, also, was one of the eight battalions of the Old Guard (grenadiers), two battalions of the Middle Guard (chasseurs), and two batteries.[726] Two more battalions[727] of the Old Guard and one battery were on the road which, leading from Planchenoit to the Charleroi pike, comes out near the Maison du Roi, and one battalion of the Middle Guard was at the farm of Chantelet, in the neighborhood of the Caillou house, where were the headquarters-baggage and trains. As each of the divisions of the Guard consisted of eight battalions, there were therefore but ten battalions left which could be employed against the English.[728] But, in addition to these detachments, for which we have the authority of Charras, we learn from Damitz,[729] who states with more minuteness than any other author the disposition made of the Imperial Guard, that one battalion of grenadiers and one of chasseurs were brought forward from Rossomme and stationed near La Belle Alliance. This left but eight battalions disposable for the projected attack.

These eight battalions[730] constituted four regiments, namely, the 3d and 4th grenadiers (Old Guard) and the 3d and 4th chasseurs (Middle Guard). The 3d and 4th regiments of grenadiers constituted the brigade of General Roguet; the 3d regiment was commanded by General Poret de Morvan, the 4th by General Harlet. The 3d and 4th regiments of chasseurs constituted the brigade of General Michel; the 3d regiment was commanded by General Mallet, the 4th by General Henrion.[731] The whole force, which could not have much exceeded 3,000 men, was under the command of General Friant, a very distinguished officer, titular colonel of the 1st regiment of foot-grenadiers of the Guard.

The Imperial Guard, which consisted of 24 battalions, organized into 12 regiments, of which 4 belonged to the Old Guard, 4 to the Middle Guard, and 4 to the Young Guard, had been stationed at the beginning of the day just in front of the farm of Rossomme, and on either side of the Charleroi turnpike. From this point 16 battalions had been detached to various points, as we have seen. The Emperor in person now took the remaining 8 battalions[732] from this position to the front, and handed them over to Ney just to the south of La Haye Sainte. This was about 7 P.M. Here he addressed them; he encouraged them, and urged them to make their best efforts. These eight (or, probably, only six battalions) were then formed in as many columns, each of a front of two companies, and arranged in _échelon_,[733] the right battalion in front.[734] This was the 1st battalion of the 3d regiment of grenadiers, commanded by General Poret de Morvan. Two batteries of horse-artillery, placed on the left flank, accompanied the infantry. There seems to have been no arrangement for the proper support of the movement by cavalry, although a body of cuirassiers did, shortly before the main shock took place, charge Napier’s battery. They were, however, easily and speedily driven off. The French cavalry was, in fact, nearly exhausted. Protection on the left of the advancing column, however, the Guard imperatively needed, as, in its march towards the enemy, its left flank would inevitably be exposed to all the troops stationed between the north end of Hougomont and the main British line. On its right, the column was protected from a flank attack by the troops of the 1st Corps. (See Map 14.)

It was, according to all the accounts, Napoleon’s intention that Reille should disengage at least one division of his corps from the enclosures of Hougomont, and support this charge of the Guard on the left; but this does not seem to have been even attempted. D’Erlon, on the other hand, must have exerted himself to the utmost to support the Guard; for the divisions of Donzelot and Quiot most gallantly and forcibly attacked the Anglo-Allied line for about a third of a mile to the west of the turnpike, overthrowing and driving back the Brunswick and Nassau troops, and even the Hanoverians and English, so that the personal interposition of the Duke was required to reëstablish the line. These attacks were made about the time when the Guard began its forward movement, and they had the effect of shaking the allied troops on this part of the field so much that they certainly could not have stood another serious and well-sustained assault, such as might have been delivered by the Imperial Guard.

But the movement of the column[735] of the Imperial Guard was not made in this direction, but diagonally across the field towards the enemy’s right centre, where Wellington had stationed his reserves, and where he had at least one battery, Bolton’s, then commanded by Napier, in good condition.

The English, as soon as they perceived the famous bearskin caps of the Imperial Guard, directed all their disposable guns upon their approaching foes; but, whether it was owing to the smoke, or to the inequalities of the ground, the Guard does not seem to have suffered until it got to close quarters with the 1st (Maitland’s) brigade of the English guards.[736]

The leading battalion of the Guard was, as we have seen, formed in column with a front of two companies in three ranks. As each battalion had four companies,[737] and consisted of about 500 men,[738] there would be about 75 men in the front rank of the leading battalion, allowing for the file-closers. To its left and rear, marching in _échelon_, were the other battalions which constituted the attacking force, accompanied by two batteries of horse artillery of six pieces each, which kept up a destructive fire as the infantry advanced. We quote from the journal of an officer[739] in the English guards:—

“Suddenly the firing ceased, and, as the smoke cleared away, a most superb sight opened on us. A close column of Grenadiers (about seventies in front) of _la Moyenne Garde_,[740] about 6,000 strong, led, as we have since heard, by Marshal Ney, were seen ascending the rise, _au pas de charge_, shouting “_Vive l’Empereur_.” They continued to advance till within fifty or sixty paces of our front, when the brigade[741] were ordered to stand up. Whether it was from the sudden and unexpected appearance of a corps so near them, which must have seemed as starting out of the ground, or the tremendously heavy fire we threw into them, _La Garde_, who had never before failed in an attack, _suddenly_ stopped. Those, who from a distance and more on the flank could see the affair, tell us that the effect of our fire seemed to force the head of the column bodily back.

“In less than a minute above 300 were down. They now wavered, and several of the rear divisions began to draw out as if to deploy, whilst some of the men in their rear beginning to fire over the heads of those in front was so evident a proof of their confusion that Lord Saltoun * * * holloaed out, ‘_Now’s the time, my boys._’ Immediately the brigade sprang forward. _La Garde_ turned, and gave us little opportunity of trying the steel. We charged down the hill till we had passed the end of the orchard of Hougomont, when our right flank became exposed to another heavy column (as we afterwards understood, of the chasseurs of the _Garde_) who were advancing in support of the former column. This circumstance, besides that our charge was isolated, obliged the brigade to retire towards their original position.”

It is plain from this account that the head of the French column consisted of some 70 (or 75) men, as we have pointed out would be the case if the leading battalion was in column with a two company front; and that the fire of Maitland’s brigade, which must have had a front of about 450 men, added to that of a part of Halkett’s brigade, to that of Napier’s battery, and to that of the Dutch-Belgian battery of Van der Smissen,[742] which General Chassé had most opportunely brought up, destroyed this leading battalion and one or more of those in _échelon_ with it on its left and rear. It is also clear from this account that the pursuing troops soon found themselves flanked by the other battalions of the Imperial Guard, which they took to be a separate column, and were obliged to fall back. It is very unlikely, by the way, that they advanced as far as the end of the orchard of Hougomont, a quarter of a mile from their position.

It may be that the rear battalions of the Guard inclined in their advance, by accident or oversight, more to their left than they should have done, and thus presented the appearance of a separate column. General Maitland says:—[743]

“As the attacking force moved forward, it separated; the chasseurs inclined to their left. The grenadiers ascended the acclivity towards our position in a more direct course, leaving La Haye Sainte on their right, and moving towards that part of the eminence occupied by the 1st brigade of Guards.”

He also speaks of the effect of the fire of the batteries which accompanied the Guard:—

“Numerous pieces of ordnance were distributed on the flanks of this column. The brigade suffered by the enemy’s artillery, but it withheld its fire for the nearer approach of the column. The latter, after advancing steadily up the slope, halted about twenty paces from the front rank of the brigade.

“The diminished range of the enemy’s artillery was now felt most severely in our ranks; the men fell in great numbers before the discharges of grape shot and the fire of the musketry distributed among the guns.”

General Maitland goes on to describe the repulse of the French attack:—

“The smoke of the [French] artillery happily did not envelop the hostile column, or serve to conceal it from our aim.

“With what view the enemy halted in a situation so perilous, and in a position so comparatively helpless, he was not given time to evince.

“The fire of the brigade opened with terrible effect.

“The enemy’s column, crippled and broken, retreated with the utmost rapidity, leaving only a heap of dead and dying men to mark the ground which it had occupied.”

The attempt of some of the rear battalions to deploy, noticed by Captain Powell, is thus mentioned by Charras:—[744]

“Unhappily, whether by orders, or by the instinct of the soldier, the Guard deploys, in order to reply to the musketry which decimates it from moment to moment; and, by this movement, it masks the two batteries which have followed it, which have taken position on the crest of the plateau, and whose fire has, up to this instant, protected its flanks.”

But what the leading battalions of the Guard needed at the moment when they were being destroyed by the superior fire of the brigade of English guards was not so much the continued effect of the fire of artillery upon the brigade as the prompt advance of cavalry, which would have compelled Maitland to throw his regiments into squares.

Failing this, the best thing for the Guard would have been a flank attack on Maitland’s brigade by troops of the 1st Corps; but this was averted by the gallant and skilful conduct of Sir Colin Halkett and Colonel Elphinstone in bringing the remains of Halkett’s brigade, which had suffered terribly during the past hour, to the left of the English guards, and thus protecting them in their contest with the Imperial Guard.[745] In fact the attack on Halkett’s brigade by Donzelot’s troops at this time was very sharp, and at one time caused great confusion. It was a critical moment; for, if Halkett had been beaten, Donzelot’s troops would have flanked Maitland’s brigade, and, attacked as it then would have been, on front and flank, it would have been forced to retire, and perhaps even routed. Donzelot’s troops did their best to gain a foothold on the plateau; they did gain a temporary success; they knew the importance of the task assigned to them, and gallantly strove to support the charge of the Guard. On the other hand, the intelligent appreciation of the emergency on the part of Halkett and his subordinates, and their obstinate and courageous maintenance of their exposed position deserve the highest commendation.

If this attack of the Imperial Guard had been supported on the right by cavalry, this resistance on the part of Halkett’s and Maitland’s commands could not have been encountered.

It seems probable that the failure of the attack of the Guard upon Maitland’s brigade involved in confusion both the 3d and 4th regiments of grenadiers (Old Guard), the four (or, more probably, three) battalions of which were the leading battalions in the whole column. This, however, is by no means certain. All we know is, that those troops which were not swept off the field by the charge of Maitland’s guards, among which assuredly were the 3d and 4th regiments of chasseurs (Middle Guard), ignorant, probably, of the fate which had befallen their comrades, steadily pursued their way towards the right centre of the English position. As the eight (or, more probably, six) battalions of the original column were formed in _échelon_, the right in advance, it is plain that the march of the four (or, more probably, three) rear battalions would bring them on a part of the English line to the English right of the position of Maitland’s brigade,—in fact, “towards that part of” the English “position which had been vacated by the second brigade of Guards, when it moved to Hougomont.”[746] In this direction, then, these remaining battalions of the Imperial Guard advanced. To all intents and purposes they now constituted a second column. As a second column they must have appeared not only to the men of Maitland’s brigade, when their pursuit of the leading and defeated battalions brought them on a line with the left _échelons_ of the original formation, but also to the troops of the brigade of Sir Frederick Adam, who, having been lying behind a ridge, a little to the north of Hougomont, were now advanced, and found the French guard in full march for the summit of the acclivity.

The initiative seems to have been assumed without a moment’s hesitation by Sir John Colborne, the lieutenant-colonel of the 52d regiment, who brought his command into line parallel to the flank of the Imperial Guard, and at once opened fire. This action was approved on the spot by General Adam, who ordered the other regiments of the brigade to support the 52d. The French column was obliged to halt, and to deploy to its left, in order to return the fire, and for a few minutes the action was very heavy on both sides.[747] But the other British regiments coming up, and the French, who were acting at a manifest disadvantage in being thus compelled to halt when half way up the slope, and resist an unexpected and resolute attack on their flank while they were exposed also to the fire from the enemy’s batteries in front, becoming evidently uneasy, Colborne ordered a charge, which broke the column up completely. He followed the disintegrated and demoralized battalions without an instant’s hesitation even across the Charleroi turnpike.

In this attack, the Imperial Guard was supported on its left flank neither by cavalry nor by the infantry of Reille’s Corps. Had either been employed, the disaster could not have happened. A charge of cavalry would have forced the 52d to form square; an advance of Bachelu’s division, or a part of it, would have engaged all the attention of Adam’s brigade, and permitted the Guard to pursue its way unmolested to the crest of the hill.

What would have succeeded the repulse and defeat of the Imperial Guard had the Prussians not interposed, no one of course can tell. But while these movements were going on, about 7.30 P.M., the van of Zieten’s Corps reached Papelotte;[748] and the division of Steinmetz, supported by cavalry and artillery, turning at once the right of the 1st Corps and the left of the 6th, advanced upon the field of battle, spreading terror and confusion throughout the right wing of the French army. Durutte’s and Marcognet’s divisions abandoned their positions; Lobau retired towards Planchenoit; while the immense success which the English had obtained over the French left in routing the Imperial Guard was instantly improved by Wellington in ordering his two remaining and as yet untouched cavalry brigades, those of Vivian and Vandeleur, to charge. These bodies of horse, which had been, in the latter part of the afternoon, brought over from the English left to the rear of their centre, were now launched upon the troops of Donzelot and Quiot, and the remains of the French cavalry; and then the Duke, seeing that the battle was won, ordered the whole line to advance. (See Map 12.)

There was no resistance of any consequence made, except by the scattered regiments of the Imperial Guard, and by the 6th Corps under the Count de Lobau, which held Planchenoit against the renewed assaults of Bülow’s Corps, supported now by two divisions of the corps of Pirch I. until the retreat of the army beyond that point was assured. The Emperor did what he could; he exerted himself in every way;[749] his headquarters-cavalry charged the English light horse; but the army was too much exhausted to make any extraordinary exertions; and, attacked both in front and flank as the French were, nothing but extraordinary exertions could possibly suffice to check the victorious enemy, superior in numbers as well as in position. Hence with the exception of the 6th Corps, whose task was a definite one, and undoubtedly comprehended by every soldier in it, and of which one of the most courageous and efficient officers in the French army had charge, no resistance on a large scale was offered. The 1st Corps was hopelessly disorganized, and necessarily so; the 2d Corps could no doubt have effected an orderly retreat on Nivelles,[750] but Reille did not see the necessity of this course, and perhaps could not have been expected to do so. Most of the battalions of the Guard preserved their organization, and resisted heroically to the last. The Emperor was finally forced to take refuge in one of the squares of the Guard, and in its midst he was safely borne off his last field of battle.[751]

The French army was routed; but its condition was made exceptionally bad because only one avenue of retreat was followed, and also because this avenue was practically blocked at Genappe by the supposed necessity of crossing the Dyle on a single bridge.[752] Had the army been able to spread itself over an open country, it is not likely that the rout would have been so complete, and it is quite certain that the captures of artillery would not have been so great. But the Prussian cavalry took up the pursuit which neither the Prussian nor the British infantry were sufficiently fresh to maintain; and in the exhausted condition of body and bewildered state of mind in which the mass of the French soldiers were when the catastrophe came, little was needed to complete their demoralization. At Genappe over a hundred pieces of cannon were abandoned, and from that point on no attempt was made to keep up even a semblance of order.

Such was the famous battle of Waterloo. It has become a synonym for hopeless and irremediable disaster. It is not, however, necessary here to review the causes of the catastrophe. What we have still to say on this head we shall put into the Notes to this chapter. But there is one subject that properly belongs here.

What would have been the effect if Grouchy had detained the corps of Bülow and Pirch I., so that they could not have taken part in the action?

In this discussion we shall assume the correctness of our conclusions, reached previously, that if Grouchy had started at daybreak for the bridge of Moustier, or even if he had followed the counsel of Gérard, he would almost certainly have prevented Bülow, Pirch I. and Thielemann from taking any part in the battle.[753] We shall not reargue these questions, for they have been already fully discussed.

Let us suppose, then, that Napoleon could have utilized his whole force against the army of Wellington during the whole afternoon; that he could have given his personal direction to the conduct of the action; that he could have followed up the repulse of the 1st Corps with a new attack in which Lobau should support d’Erlon, and in which the cavalry should take its proper part; that he had been on the spot when La Haye Sainte fell, and had improved that advantage as he well knew how to do; that he had had the whole of the Imperial Guard—infantry, cavalry, and artillery,—at his disposal for the carrying of Wellington’s position; it seems to us there can be no reasonable question as to the result; the Duke would have been badly beaten, and the action would in all probability have been over, or substantially so, by six o’clock. This question is not asked to gratify the imagination, or for purposes of speculation, but simply that we may form a judgment on the adequacy of Napoleon’s means to the end which he had in view; for, if military history cannot assist us in forming correct opinions on the adequacy of certain available means to the attainment of certain proposed objects, it is of no use whatever. The view we hold as to the necessity of Blüchers support to Wellington’s success is the same as that which we have seen[754] put forth by Sir James Shaw-Kennedy, where he is justifying the Duke for accepting battle at Waterloo.[755]

As for Zieten, he could not have come up till half-past seven o’clock, which would have been too late for him to be of any use to the English. The probability is that he would have joined the other corps that were fighting Grouchy. It is hardly likely that he would have pursued his intention of joining Wellington, after he had heard that the other three corps were not likely to interfere in the battle between Napoleon and Wellington. This would have been to run a great risk; and one that under the circumstances no prudent officer would run. We are supposing now that Zieten hears at Ohain, for instance, that the other corps are engaged with Grouchy at St. Lambert or Couture,—now, then, he must admit that if Grouchy shall be able, owing to obstinate or skilful fighting, or to the lateness of the hour, or to chance, to prevent Bülow, Pirch I. and Thielemann from attacking Napoleon that afternoon, the chances are that Napoleon will defeat Wellington before he, Zieten, can possibly arrive; and, therefore, for him to proceed further than Ohain will simply be to involve himself in the disaster of the Anglo-Dutch army.

But while we must state our conviction that Grouchy would have prevented the defeat of Napoleon had he crossed the Dyle, we certainly do not consider him the sole cause of the defeat.

FOOTNOTES:

[671] Corresp., vol. 31, p. 219; Charras, vol. 1, p. 263.

[672] Drouet, pp. 96, 97; Vaudoncourt, vol. 4, p. 24.

[673] _Ante_, pp. 268 _et seq._

[674] The question of the alleged orders sent to Grouchy during this night will be treated of in Appendix A; _post_, p. 353.

[675] Van Loben Sels, p. 319.

[676] _Ante_, p. 265.

[677] Charras, vol. 1, p. 265.

[678] Vaudoncourt, vol. 4, 24.

[679] Van Loben Sels, p. 270.

[680] Baudus, vol. 1, p. 225.

[681] Doc. Inéd., XVIII, p. 52; App. C, xxxi; _post_, p. 387.

[682] Thiers, vol. xx, p. 157, n.

[683] Charras, vol. 1, p. 270.

[684] Charras, vol. 1, p. 274.

[685] Ib., p. 275.

[686] Kennedy, p. 131.

[687] Wellington’s Official Report: Gurwood, vol. xii, p. 481.

[688] Oldfield MSS.; Porter’s Hist. Royal Engineers, vol. 1, p. 380. A copy of this sketch is inserted opposite page 565 of C. D. Yonge’s “Life of Wellington”; London: Chapman and Hall; 1860. See, also, p. 616 of the same work.

[689] Curiously enough they were very nearly lost in the action; the officer who had them in his keeping, Lieutenant Waters, being unhorsed in the _melée_.

[690] Probably the information brought by Lieutenant Massow; _ante_, p. 233.

[691] Oldfield MSS.

[692] Siborne, vol. 1, pp. 460, 461; App. xxx. Charras, vol. 1, p. 269, n. 2, raises the total to 70,187 men of all arms, of whom 13,432 were cavalry. He gives the number of guns as 159.

[693] _Ante_, p. 35, n. 3.

[694] Siborne, vol. 1, pp. 460, 461: App. xxx.

[695] Sir Lowry Cole, commanding the 6th British division, was not in the action.

[696] Kennedy, p. 61; Waterloo Letters, pp. 30, 31, Sir W. Gomm.

[697] Waterloo Letters, pp. 403, 404.

[698] Kennedy, p. 65.

[699] Oldfield MSS.

[700] Siborne, vol. 1, p. 461: App. xxxi. Charras (vol. 1. p. 238, n.) gives the total as 72,447 men and 240 guns.

[701] Doc. Inéd., XIX, pp. 53, 54; App. C, xxxii; _post_, p. 388.

[702] We shall not attempt to give a complete tactical description of the battle of Waterloo. The narratives of Siborne, Charras, Hooper, La Tour d’Auvergne, and others give all the facts. With the exception of two or three points, their accounts do not differ materially.

[703] The following extract from a letter by Baron Müffling written on June 24, 1815, is directly in point here:—

“Before we arrived there I said to the Duke, ‘If only there were an apparently weak point in the right flank of your position, so that Bonaparte might assail it right furiously, and neglect his own right wing to such an extent that he should fail to discover the march of the Prussians!’

“And see! when we arrived there, there lay the advanced post of Hougomont, upon which he (B.) indeed fell.” Militär Wochenblatt, Nov. 14, 1891.

[704] La Tour d’Auvergne, p. 266; Charras, vol. 1, p. 281.

[705] Charras, vol. 2, p. 18.

[706] Charras, vol. 1, p. 288, and note 2.

[707] Charras, vol. 1, p. 288; La Tour d’Auvergne, p. 274. D’Erlon in his autobiography throws no light on the matter; Drouet, p. 97.

[708] Nowhere better, perhaps, than in Erckmann-Chatrian’s “Waterloo.”

[709] Siborne, vol. 2, pp. 5, 6.

[710] _Ante_, p. 270.

[711] Charras, vol. 2, p. 18. Colonel Heymès of Ney’s staff says that more than 2,000 men were killed in endeavoring to get possession of La Haye Sainte. Doc. Inéd., p. 17. This, however, must be an excessive estimate.

[712] Charras, vol. 1, pp. 302, 303; vol. 2, p. 18; Hooper, p. 213, n.; O’Connor Morris, p. 352. Other authorities put the capture of La Haye Sainte two hours later. Colonel Heymès of Ney’s staff places the hour between 6 and 7 P.M. Doc. Inéd., pp. 18, 19.

[713] Kennedy, pp. 114-116. Kennedy’s account of this part of the battle, as indeed of all parts of it, is most valuable; but we think he is in error in supposing that La Haye Sainte had not fallen before these cavalry attacks were made.

[714] Kennedy, pp. 127 _et seq._; Siborne, vol. 2, pp. 152 _et seq._

[715] Mercer, vol. 1, p. 325; Napoléon à Waterloo, p. 315; Siborne, vol. 2, pp. 154, 155. Mercer in his Diary seems to think these enfilading batteries were Prussian; but see his letter and plan in the Waterloo Letters, pp. 214 _et seq._ _Cf._ Waterloo Letters, p. 330.

[716] Van Loben Sels, p. 333.

[717] Charras, vol. 1, p. 318.

[718] Siborne, vol. 2, pp. 152 _et seq._; Van Loben Sels, p. 295. _Cf._ Porter’s Hist. Royal Engineers, vol. 1, p. 382: Waterloo Letters, p. 339, where the hour is fixed by Lieutenant-Colonel Dawson Kelly at “about half-past six.”

[719] Kennedy, p. 127.

[720] Halkett’s brigade was on the main line, nearly half of a mile west of the pike.

[721] Kempt’s brigade was on the east side of the Brussels pike; its right rested on it.

[722] It is almost exactly a mile and a half from the point of intersection of the Brussels turnpike with the Wavre road to the church in Planchenoit.

[723] See Napoléon à Waterloo, pp. 313, 318.

[724] The principal question as to this is in regard to the corps of Reille, a part of which, certainly, might have been more usefully employed in sustaining the cavalry attacks than in fighting in the wood of Hougomont, or on the Nivelles road on the west side of Hougomont. See Heymès’ statement in Doc. Inéd., pp. 17, 18.

[725] Charras, vol. 1, p. 316.

[726] Ib., p. 317.

[727] Ib., p. 321, n.; correcting the statement on p. 318, which speaks of only one battalion of grenadiers being on the road to the Maison du Roi.

[728] Charras, vol. 1, p. 321.

[729] Damitz, vol. 1, p. 285. Damitz gives a complete roster of the Guard, and, in fact, of the whole army, at the end of his first volume. He also gives the numbers of the regiments and battalions detached in and around Planchenoit.

[730] Damitz, vol. 1, p. 285, states that owing to the losses suffered at Ligny these eight battalions had been consolidated into six. Batty (pp. 106, 107) also says that the 4th regiment of grenadiers consisted of but one battalion, and that the same was true of the 4th regiment of chasseurs.

[731] At least this was the fact on the 16th of June, prior to the battle of Ligny. See the Roster at the end of Damitz’ first volume. All these officers, except Henrion, are mentioned by Charras (vol. 1, p. 322) as participating in this charge. _Cf._ Gore, p. 59. This work is an explanation, in 1817, of Craän’s Map of the Field.

[732] Ney: Letter to the Duke of Otranto; Jones, p. 387. But Drouot (Jones, p. 227) and Napoleon (Corresp., vol. 31, p. 238) say four battalions only, and the latter adds “of the Middle Guard.” It is not unlikely that the other battalions had previously been brought up to the neighborhood of La Haye Sainte.

[733] Charras, vol. 1, p. 321.

[734] This is implied in Damitz’ statement, vol. 1, p. 286, as well as from Charras’ statement that the horse-batteries were on the left flank of the column. It is distinctly so stated in Van Loben Sels, p. 295.

[735] We call the whole mass, consisting of columns of battalions,—division (or two company) front,—arranged in _échelon_,—a column, merely for convenience’ sake. It may be remarked that the French infantry were formed in three ranks.

[736] Waterloo Letters, pp. 254, 257; _Contra_, Siborne, vol. 2, p. 166.

[737] St. Hilaire: Hist. de la Garde, p. 634.

[738] Charras, vol. 1, p. 67.

[739] Captain Powell, in Waterloo Letters, pp. 254, 255.

[740] This is an error. “La Moyenne Garde” consisted solely of the chasseurs of the Guard; the grenadiers constituted the Old Guard, strictly so called. It is not uncommon to find the grenadiers and chasseurs spoken of as constituting the Old Guard; this is Charras’ usage. But it is an error to speak of the grenadiers of the Middle Guard. The grenadiers whom he saw were the 1st battalion of the 3d regiment,—_ante_, p. 317. See Napoléon à Waterloo, p. 315, n. 1; pp. 321, 325, 327, n. 1. _Contra_, Gore, p. 75.

[741] The 1st brigade of guards, about 1,800 strong,—Siborne, vol. 1, p. 460. App. xxx. They were formed in four ranks.

[742] Relation Belge, pp. 74 _et seq._

[743] Waterloo Letters, pp. 244, 245.

[744] Charras, vol. 1, pp. 325, 326.

[745] See Waterloo Letters, pp. 320, 321; Siborne, vol. 2, pp. 170, 171, n.; See, also, Waterloo Letters, pp. 330, 331, 339, 340.

[746] Waterloo Letters, p. 245; Maitland’s narrative.

[747] Waterloo Letters; Colborne’s narrative, pp. 284, 285; Gawler’s narrative, p. 293.

[748] Charras, vol. 1, p. 327, n.

[749] Charras, vol. 1, p. 331.

[750] Doc. Inéd., p. 62; Reille’s Statement.

[751] Hist. de l’Ex-Garde, pp. 538, 539.

[752] Charras, vol. 1, p. 334.

[753] _Ante_, pp. 261, 283.

[754] _Ante_, pp. 294, 295.

[755] _Cf._ Wellington’s Report (Gurwood, vol. xii, p. 484; App. C, xii; _post_, pp. 372, 373). where he says that _he attributes the successful result of the day to the assistance he received from the Prussians_.

_NOTES TO CHAPTER XVI._

1. That the tactics employed by the French at the battle of Waterloo in their operations against the army of the Duke of Wellington were unworthy of the experience and reputation of their commanders is almost universally admitted. The word “commanders” is used advisedly, because Ney seems to have had the immediate direction of the 1st and 2d Corps even when the Emperor was personally superintending the battle, and when Napoleon was called off to direct the defence of Planchenoit, Ney was certainly in sole control. But this does not fully exonerate the Emperor from responsibility for the dispositions which were made.

The faulty formation of d’Erlon’s Corps in its great assault on the English left was the first blunder. The employment of the whole of Reille’s Corps in the attack on Hougomont was the next. Then the negligent and wasteful way in which the attacks on both Hougomont and La Haye Sainte were conducted warrant severe criticism. The employment of all the reserve cavalry of the army was a most unheard of and uncalled for proceeding; they were all put in, and kept in until they were all exhausted. One would certainly suppose that Ney, who was responsible for this proceeding, must have seen, long before the close of the afternoon, that the cavalry were being completely ruined, and that no appreciable injury was being inflicted on the enemy.

We cannot but think that if Napoleon had personally directed the battle at this period, this useless and wasteful employment of the cavalry would not have been made. And we cannot help thinking, also, that the Emperor would have brought some at least of Reille’s troops out of the enclosures of Hougomont to support any attacks of cavalry which he might have ordered, either in conjunction with the divisions of Donzelot and Quiot, or with the Imperial Guard, which, but for the attack of the Prussians, he would no doubt have put in between 4 and 5 o’clock. We must bear in mind, that Napoleon was fighting the Prussians near Planchenoit during a large part of the afternoon, and, in fact during the critical period of the battle; and that he cannot fairly be held liable to the censure for the tactics used in the fight against the English, which some English writers, in forgetfulness of this fact, have undertaken to apply to him.

The 1st Corps, after its severe repulse, rallied well and did extremely good work. The persistent attacks of Quiot’s and Donzelot’s infantry showed great enterprise and daring, up to the very last; and these troops deserve all praise. No doubt the bravery of the men of the 2d Corps in their ineffectual attacks on Hougomont was equally commendable; but it was a great waste of material to employ the entire corps in such an operation as attacking Hougomont. Hougomont should have been attacked, undoubtedly, but only by a moderate force; very possibly it might have been carried, had proper means been employed.[756] But it was of far more importance to utilize the infantry of the 2d Corps in breaking the English lines to the eastward of Hougomont, in conjunction with cavalry or the Imperial Guard, than to persist in throwing fresh regiments against the brick walls of the house and garden. Hougomont might in fact have been turned; and, if the last charge had succeeded, it would have been. A notable exception to the unfavorable criticism on the French tactics on this day is made by all historians when speaking of the gallant, skilful and obstinate defence of Planchenoit against the Prussians by the 6th Corps under the Count de Lobau, assisted by the Young Guard and some regiments of grenadiers and chasseurs. No praise is too high for these troops.

2. The English tactics deserved, and have always received, the high commendation of historians. Not only was the Duke himself always watchful and alert, but his efforts were admirably seconded by his officers. The unfailing energy and enterprise shown even at the very close of this exhausting day by the Duke himself and his lieutenants is at least quite as remarkable as the obstinacy and courage displayed in resisting the repeated attacks of their antagonists. The conduct of Maitland, Halkett and Colborne in the last great emergency exhibits the tenacity, courage, presence of mind, and readiness to seize the opportunity, which are the great military virtues, existing in undiminished vigor at the close of a most bloody and doubtful contest.

3. The account given in the text of the charge of the Imperial Guard does not agree fully with any of the narratives, but will be found, on reflection, it is submitted, to harmonize most of the conflicting evidence. The subject is a large one, and the testimony is very confusing. It is impossible to reconcile all the statements. But it is believed that the view maintained in the text,—that the Imperial Guard advanced in one body, or column, not in two; that this column (as we may call it, for lack of a better term) consisted at most of eight, and probably of only six battalions, each formed in close column of grand divisions,—that is, with a front of two companies,—the usual practice in those days,—presenting about 75 men in the front rank,—that these battalions advanced in _échelon_, the right in advance,—explains most of the discrepancies, and accounts for all or nearly all the important statements contained in the different narratives. It was the leading battalions of this column which were met and defeated by Maitland’s guards; it was the rear battalions which were flanked and routed by the 52d and the other regiments of Adam’s (light) brigade.

A. There is, in our judgment, no foundation for the hypothesis of two columns, which, introduced by Siborne, has received the indorsement of Chesney, Kennedy and Hooper. It is opposed to the contemporaneous authorities of both nations. Napoleon’s report of the battle,[757]—Ney’s letter to the Duke of Otranto,[758]—Drouot’s speech in the chamber of Peers,[759]—speak but of one column,—of one attack,—of one repulse. Sir Digby Mackworth, who was on Lord Hill’s staff, in a position where he could observe everything, wrote in his journal at eleven o’clock at night, after the battle was over, as follows:—[760]

“A black mass of the grenadiers of the Imperial Guard, with music playing and the great Napoleon at their head, came rolling onward from the farm of La Belle Alliance. * * * The point at which the enemy aimed was now evident. It was an angle formed by a brigade of guards [Maitland’s] and the light brigade [Adam’s] of Lord Hill’s Corps.”

Mackworth then goes on to describe the contest, and the rout of the enemy. There is not a word of there being two columns and two attacks.

This is true, it is believed, of all the early narratives by British officers.[761] It may fairly be deduced from this evidence that the repulse of the right and advanced battalions by the guards, and the attack on the left and rear ones by the light brigade were nearly synchronous,—the latter being probably a few minutes later than the former.

B. The claims put forward on behalf of the light brigade (Adam’s), and specially of the 52d regiment, next demand our consideration.

Gawler, a distinguished officer of the 52d, in his “Crisis and Close of the Action at Waterloo”[762] admits that “the headmost companies of the Imperial Guard * * * crowned the very summit of the position.” He says that “the fire of the brigade of guards then opened upon them, but they still pressed forward.” And he claims[763] that their attack was repulsed not “by a charge of General Maitland’s brigade of guards,” “but * * * by a charge of the 52d, covered by the 71st regiment, without the direct coöperation of any other portion of the allied army.”

Unfortunately for this claim, however, we have it from another officer of the 52d, Leeke, that Gawler was on the extreme right of the regiment.[764] In this position, as Leeke remarks, he could not have seen what took place at the head of the French column.[765] When he says, therefore, that the flank attack of the 52d alone overthrew the Imperial Guard, he is speaking without any personal knowledge of what took place in the front of that column, and we are thrown back on the evidence of the officers of Maitland’s brigade.

Leeke has a curious theory on this matter. He says that the advance of the Guard was preceded and covered by “a mass of skirmishers,”[766] and that it was these skirmishers and these only that were driven off by Maitland’s brigade.

In order to maintain this contention, Leeke is compelled to assume the presence in front of the main body of the Imperial Guard of “massed skirmishers” thrown out by the Guard, and also that the battalions of the Guard never got nearer to Maitland’s brigade than 300 yards.[767]

But this is mere guess work. Sharpin, an officer in Napier’s battery, which was stationed close to Maitland’s brigade, says:—[768]

“We saw the French bonnets just above the high corn and within 40 or 50 yards of our guns. I believe they were in close columns of grand divisions.”

Says Captain Powell of the 1st Foot Guards:—[769]

“A close column of grenadiers (about seventies in front) * * * were seen ascending the rise * * * They continued to advance till within 50 or 60 paces of our front.”

Says Captain Dirom of the same regiment:—[770]

“The Imperial Guard advanced in close column with ported arms, the officers of the leading division in front waving their swords. The French columns showed no appearance of having suffered on their advance, but seemed as regularly formed as if at a field-day. When they got within a short distance we were ordered to make ready, present and fire.”

Leeke’s theory of “massed skirmishers” needs no further refutation. There can be no question that the officers of Maitland’s guards saw right before them the leading battalions of the Imperial Guard formed in the ordinary manner, in close columns of grand divisions. The skirmishers had all been withdrawn by the time the leading battalions reached the top of the acclivity.

It should, however, be added that the left and rear battalions which Colborne attacked in flank were entirely unaffected by the charge of Maitland’s brigade. The British guards did undoubtedly charge the troops in their front, and drove them down the hill a short distance, but on finding other troops, _i.e._, the four (or, more probably, three) rear and left battalions of the Imperial Guard, on their right flank, they retired to the crest of the hill, and certainly did not assist the 52d and the other regiments of Adam’s brigade in their brilliant flank attack. The credit of having overthrown the rear half of the column of the Imperial Guard is due entirely to that brigade; and it assuredly was a most skilfully designed and daringly executed movement. Colborne saw at a glance that the several battalions of the Guard could not be deployed in such a way as to return anything like as destructive a fire as that which the unbroken line of the 52d could deliver. The Guard undoubtedly did its best; the firing was very hot for a time; Gawler says[771] his regiment lost 150 officers and men in four or five minutes. But his men were perfectly steady; their fire was at very close range and well kept up; they had the advantage of position; the loss of the French columns was fearful;[772] and when Colborne, perceiving that the moment had come, ordered a charge, the Guard broke into a confused mass, and were pursued to and across the Charleroi road. The flank attack of Adam’s brigade was certainly a most brilliant, and yet a well-justified, manœuvre,—impossible to any but veteran troops, and which none but an experienced, vigilant and daring officer would ever have ordered. Colborne took, it must be admitted, great risks. He says himself[773] that, as his skirmishers opened fire on the Guards, his attention was completely drawn to his position and dangerous advance,—a large mass of cavalry having been seen on the right. Certainly it must have required some nerve to decide to run such a risk as this, and on his own responsibility too, for he advanced his regiment before receiving any order from General Adam. But success justified his decision.

4. Whether Napoleon was warranted in ordering the Guard forward, or rather that portion of it which could be mustered, is a question which has been much discussed, and, we are inclined to think, to no great profit. The answer must depend on the extent of the information possessed by Napoleon as to the actual condition of things at the time when he ordered the movement; and this, of course, must be mainly a matter of conjecture. The order was given somewhere about half-past six o’clock,—an hour before Zieten arrived at Papelotte; and Napoleon certainly did not expect him. Bülow had been forced to retire. The news from the front received by the Emperor when he was conducting the fight against the Prussian flank attack near Planchenoit had been decidedly favorable. The army of Wellington was reported as manifestly getting weaker and weaker. The guns placed near La Haye Sainte had done serious damage to the English squares and batteries. The activity and energy of Quiot’s and Donzelot’s infantry showed no abatement. It seems to us that the Emperor had good reason to think that the English lines would give way before a determined attack made by fresh troops, and those the veterans of the Imperial Guard. He told Ney to mass on the right of Hougomont all the troops of Reille’s Corps that he could collect, to concentrate the divisions of Quiot and Donzelot near La Haye Sainte, and to prepare to support the attack with cavalry.[774]

He must, however, have been grievously disappointed as to the execution of this order by Marshal Ney. When the Emperor brought up the Guard, Bachelu’s infantry had not been drawn out of the wood of Hougomont.[775] Piré’s cavalry, which were in perfectly good condition, had not been brought over from the Nivelles road.[776] No attempt apparently had been made to organize any cavalry force from the wrecks of the splendid divisions which Ney had so obstinately and blindly launched again and again upon the English squares. And the Emperor, who must have expected that an officer of the ability and experience of Marshal Ney would have made some at least of the necessary arrangements for the proper support of the charging column, must have experienced a disappointment as sudden as it must have been bitter, when he saw the battalions of the Guard ascend the plateau without a regiment of cavalry to protect their flanks, or any part of the 2d Corps supporting their attack.

The charge, such as it was, of the Imperial Guard at Waterloo was most firmly and gallantly met and repulsed. But it should never be forgotten that it was not the sort of charge which Napoleon was in the habit of making with his Guard; that it was, at best, a charge of 8 battalions out of 24,—of 12 guns out of 96,—and that no cavalry at all, light or heavy, supported the charging column. Made, as it was, without supports, except so far as Donzelot’s gallant infantry protected its right flank, it was a terrible mistake to make it. And it is all but certain that if proper care and skill had been expended on the preparations and accompaniments of the movement,—if, in a word, Ney had kept his head cool and his hand steady, as did the Duke,—Piré’s lancers and Bachelu’s division would have given abundant employment to the whole of Adam’s brigade, and a few squadrons of horse could have protected the advance on the right. This is not, we submit, going too far in the region of conjecture. Bachelu and Piré, at any rate, were close at hand, and under Ney’s command, and were, so far as we know, doing nothing at the time when the charge was ordered.

Ney, in fact, contributed apparently little, except his example of desperate courage, to the success of the day. But courage, though indispensable, does not take the place of judgment and presence of mind.[777] Ney failed most unmistakably to make the most of his resources; he lost sight, practically, of one of the two corps under his orders; he used up all his cavalry; and he neglected to make even the preparations and arrangements which were yet feasible to second the attack of the Guard. It is impossible not to contrast his conduct with that of Wellington, whose admirable forethought and coolness gave him the control of the situation, and enabled him to utilize fully all the resources which at the close of this trying day still remained to him.

5. We have not thought it necessary to do more than to call attention to the fact that the Duke of Wellington retained some 18,000 men of Colville’s division at Hal and Tubize throughout this perilous and bloody day. The best English authorities[778] unhesitatingly condemn the Duke’s action in this regard. Says Sir James Shaw-Kennedy:—[779]

“Wellington certainly ought to have had Colville, with the force under his command, on the field of battle at Waterloo. There was no cause whatever for his being kept in the direction of Hal. It would have been a gross error on the part of Napoleon to have detached any important force on that road, and Colville should, early on the morning of the 18th, have been ordered to march to Waterloo, if he had no information of the advance of the enemy on Hal.”

6. It may be thought by some that the effect upon the corps of Bülow and Pirch I. of the appearance of Marshal Grouchy’s command, marching from Moustier and Ottignies upon Lasne and St. Lambert, has been stated too strongly in the text. But we cannot think so. Imagine 30,000 or 40,000 men marching in a long column along miry roads to attack an enemy, and still some miles from the field of battle, perceiving a body of troops of apparently equal or nearly equal strength moving right upon their line of march, which is also their line of communications. How many officers in Bülow’s position would not have halted to resist such an attack?

It is to be observed, that the dilemma in which Bülow and Pirch I. were placed by knowing that Grouchy was attacking Wavre was quite a different one. In the first place, they, as we now know, estimated Grouchy’s force at only half its strength,—they never, it must be remembered, actually saw it; and in the second place, Grouchy might well be detained by Thielemann at and about Wavre until the battle of Waterloo had been won.

If, however, Grouchy had been observed marching from the Dyle directly on their columns _en route_ for Planchenoit, the Prussian commanders almost certainly would have been compelled to halt and to give him battle. And this they must have done even although they might have been satisfied that their forces were superior in numbers. A smaller force, if it is directed on the line of march of a larger one, almost inevitably must detain it.

7. The complete ruin which overtook the French army at Waterloo is to be attributed mainly to the unexpected appearance and vigorous attack of Zieten’s Corps at the close of the day, when the French had become thoroughly exhausted, and when, owing to the darkness, it was impossible for the Emperor to accomplish anything in the way of rallying them or making new dispositions. The English had certainly won a great success in routing the Imperial Guard; but they were not strong enough to drive the French army from the field, even with the assistance which Bülow and Pirch I. afforded on the side of Planchenoit. They had cleared their front of the enemy from Hougomont to the turnpike; but they were in no condition to attack the strong position of the French, defended by the troops of the 2d Corps, and crowned with many and powerful batteries. The French centre, Müffling tells us,[780] remained immovable after their right wing was in full retreat, and it was not until some of Zieten’s batteries, which had been brought over to the west of La Haye Sainte, opened fire, that it began to retire. Then Wellington ordered his whole line to advance. But it was a very thin line indeed, consisting, as Müffling says, only of small bodies, of a few hundred men each, and at great intervals from each other. Müffling goes on to say:—[781]

“The advance of such weak battalions, with the great gaps between, appeared hazardous, and General Lord Uxbridge, who commanded the cavalry, drew the Duke’s attention to the danger; the Duke, however, would not order them to stop. * * * The Duke with his practised eye perceived that the French army was no longer dangerous; he was equally aware, indeed, that, with his infantry so diminished, he could achieve nothing more of importance: but if he _stood still_, and resigned the pursuit to the Prussian army _alone_, it might appear in the eyes of Europe as if the English army had defended themselves bravely indeed, but that the Prussians alone decided and won the battle.”

The rout of the divisions of Durutte and Marcognet was entirely due to Zieten’s attack; this is universally admitted. Had it not been for Zieten, then, the only contest that would have gone on that evening would have been at and near Planchenoit; and it is hard to suppose that Napoleon could not have maintained his position there, if he had had his whole army to draw from when the Young Guard and Lobau needed reinforcements. To the unexpected irruption of Zieten’s Corps,—or rather of his leading division of infantry, all his cavalry, and most of his artillery,—arriving at the close of the day, on the flank of the army, and in perfectly open ground, is the rout of the French army, therefore, principally to be attributed.

8. It only remains to discuss the question of the responsibility for the intervention of the Prussians, as between the Emperor and Marshal Grouchy. It may fairly be said that if either of them had taken all the steps which the situation, as it presented itself to his mind, demanded, this intervention might have been prevented.

If the Emperor, when he thought it possible that the Prussians might be intending to unite with the English, had taken Grouchy with him, and had stationed his two corps, or one of them, on the day of the battle, at or near Lasne and St. Lambert, or if he had employed one or both of Grouchy’s corps in attacking the English, Blücher, it is safe to say, would not have interfered in the duel between Napoleon and Wellington.

If, after sending Grouchy off, Napoleon had informed him of the impending battle, and had charged him to return to the main army by way of Moustier if he found that the Prussians had gone to Wavre, it is altogether probable that the march of the Prussians would have been arrested.

On the other hand, if Grouchy had acted of his own motion on sound military principles at daybreak of the 18th, or even had been willing to follow the counsel of Gérard at noon, the same result would probably have been attained.

Napoleon took a wholly unnecessary risk when he detached Grouchy with such a large force, after he had reason to apprehend that the Prussians were intending to unite with the English, and he negligently omitted to take the usual means to reduce this risk by supplying his lieutenant with the necessary information, and with precise orders in case he should find that Blücher intended to coöperate with Wellington. He trusted to Grouchy to take the right course, and Grouchy failed to do so. Both Napoleon and Grouchy are therefore responsible for the intervention of the Prussians and the loss of the battle.

FOOTNOTES:

[756] _Ante_, pp. 303, 304.

[757] Corresp., vol. 28, p. 343; Jones, p. 384.

[758] Jones, p. 387.

[759] Ib., p. 227.

[760] Sidney’s Life of Lord Hill, p. 309.

[761] Jones (Artillery Operations), p. 177; Sharpin in the “Waterloo Letters,” pp. 228 _et seq._; Gore, pp. 58 _et seq._ See, also, Captain Batty’s account (pp. 106 _et seq._,) in his “Historical Sketch of the Campaign of 1815”: London, 1820. He was an ensign in the 1st regiment of foot-guards in Maitland’s brigade. He speaks, it is true, of the chasseurs of the Guard “forming another attack”; but he says that it was when Maitland was advancing, that he perceived the chasseurs “so far advanced as to menace the right flank of the brigade,”—which is substantially the view maintained in the text. _Cf._ Siborne, vol. 2, p. 170, where the same statement is made. Yet Siborne (vol. 2, p. 174) says that “between the heads of the two attacking columns there was a distance during their advance of _from ten to twelve minutes’ march_.” How such an interval was possible, when the contest of the Guard with Maitland’s brigade was of such extremely short duration, is not apparent. See Maitland’s statement in “Waterloo Letters”, pp. 244, 245; also statements of Powell and Dirom; pp. 255, 257, 258.

[762] Gawler, p. 15.

[763] Ib. pp. 31, 32.

[764] Leeke, vol. 1, p. 84.

[765] Lord Seaton, then Sir John Colborne, who commanded the 52d, admits that he did not himself see, and could not have seen, any movement of the guards. He simply claims that the Imperial Guard halted when his skirmishers opened fire on their flank. Leeke, vol. 1, p. 101.

[766] Ib., pp. 43, 44, 84.

[767] Leeke, vol. 1, p. 84. See also his letter to the Editor of the Army and Navy Gazette, August 17, 1867.

[768] Waterloo Letters, p. 229. _Cf._ a statement of an officer in the same battery,—Jones, p. 177,—probably Sharpin.

[769] Waterloo Letters, pp. 254, 255.

[770] Waterloo Letters, p. 257.

[771] Ib., p. 293; _Cf._ Colborne’s Letter, p. 285.

[772] Leeke, vol. 1, p. 104; Letter of Colonel Brotherton.

[773] Ib., p. 101.

[774] Charras, vol. 1, p. 321.

[775] Wellington brought up about this time to the right centre of his line Chassé’s Dutch-Belgian Division, besides other troops.

[776] Wellington about this time brought over the brigades of Vivian and Vandeleur to the threatened centre of his line, as well as the remnants of Somerset’s and Ponsonby’s brigades.

[777] On Marshal Ney’s state of mind at this time, see Gourgaud, pp. 48, n.; 111, 112; Corresp., vol. 31, pp. 249, 250; Muquardt, p. 149, n.; Life of Sir W. Napier, vol. 1, p. 505,—where Soult gives his opinion on Ney’s conduct; Berton, p. 41, where Ney’s extraordinary letter to Fouché (Jones, pp. 385 _et seq._) is examined.

[778] Chesney, p. 217; Hamley, p. 198.

[779] Kennedy, p. 174.

[780] Müffling; Passages, p. 249.

[781] Müffling; Passages, p. 250.