The National Register. — London, England, 1815-06-25 00:00:00

4 nc? f -- Ithine would fight reluctantly against them ; that the monarchs who had devoured Poinnd, Itaiv. Salrory. Bel .. &um, and the Secondary States of Gerrattny, wished also to swallow up France, in which they would find their tomb : and warned them that they would have forced marches to make, battles to fight, dangers to encounter— but that with steadiness they would succeed, and finished by calling upon every Frenchman who had a heart to con quer or perish. Ile then moved his advanced posts the same day across the frontier, placing his head quarters at Beaumont, and occupy ing with fcu:• carps of his army So!re, Ham-cur-Ileum and PhilippeTi!le. The Rubicon thus passed, he pushed en his operations with hi, usual rapidity. To explain these we draw oilr information from three sources which agree in almo:t every particular—the Duke of Wellington's dispatc'..!eF, the luminous statement made by Lord Castlereagh, to Ifousc*of Commons, and the accounts of the enemy him f. received up to the 17th. On the 13th at day light in the morning lie drove back the Prussian advanced posts, entered Charleroi at mid day, and in the afternoon forced back a brigade of the TITIV of the Netherlands under the Prince of Weymar, which gave him the command of the celebrated plain of Flettrus. Here the enemy boasts he took 5 pieces of clenon, 1000 prisoners, and killed an equal number, whilst in fact from his great superiority of numbers, he ought to have taken the whole brigade, had it not so bravely defended itself. He then placed his left, which tccupied the position of the Qualre Bras, under Marshal N-7y. and made dispositions with his right and his centre, to attack the army of Prince Blucher at Ligny, on the ot! , er side.of the plain of Ileums. This brought on the action of the 16th, in. whith the two armies of the Duke of Wellington and Prince Blucher were engaged, and -which seems to have been nearly as tremendous as that of the 18th. The Prince of Orange having reinforced the corps of the Prince of Weymar, early in the morning regained part of the ground which bad been lost. Mean while Lord Wellington ordered the whole army to march upon the Quatre Bras, and at half past two Sir Thomas Dicton arrived with the sth division, and was followed by the contingents of Brunswick and Nassau. At that time Napoleon made a simultaneous attack on the Prussian and English armies, and a most sanguinary evgagetnent ensued. Repeated charges were made to dislodge us from our position, but though numbers were cut down, their place was instantly supplied, and the ef forts of the enemy proved ineffectual. The Prussians also maintained their ground bravely; but according to JUNE 23. Lord Castlereagh's statement, " notwithstanding the in trepidity for which the Prussians had been always diE tinguished, the French advanced in such masses again.:t them, that their posts were driven in, and they were forced to (ham back their right wing. It then became necessary for the Englis . h to fall back." The Prussians retired 14 miles to Wavre, and the British about the same distance to Waterloo, but in a different direction. In this battle the enemy claims a victory, which he says was completed by a charge rnarle by Buonaparte in person at the head of EL guard, , six battallions of the old guard, the Dragoons, the Horse Grenadiers and the Cuirassiers, and which separated the two armies. lie boasts of having taken 21)00 prisoners and 411 pieces of cannon, with a loss, on !7.5 part, of 3,000 men only. Here, however, Lori'. Bathurst's account is more unfavourable ; for be state]. in 0. - . e If c...use of Peers, that the Prussian loss in the battic of the 160:, 44 Vas upwards of 16,000 men." Our own is mentioned by the Duke of Wellington as great, but the returns have not been received. It •vvas . in this action the Duke of Brunswick Oels fell, fighting gallantly at the head of the troops. The retreat of the Prussians was ef fected during the night; but ours,as became Britons, the next morning in open day, without any molestation on the part of the enemy, who only caused us to be followed by a large body of cavalry, which the Earl of Uxbridge suc cessfully charged. The 17th was thus spent in marches on both sides. The enemy advanced with increased confi dence, and believing he had obtained such an advantage over the Prussians, that it was unnecessary longer to direct a considerable portion of force against them, totally changed the plan of his operations. He now sent but one corps to watch them, and collected the rest on the heights in our front to art against us. When the 18th dawned, a day whose glories will brighten our annals through the long lapse of ages, our Commander, left to his own re sources, and with an army whose numbers did not exsved 64,000 men, prepared to repel the attacks of a superior force, guided by a Captain hitherto deemed invincible. Tie took Op an excellent position before Waterloo, about nine miltis in advance of Brussels. His right was pro tected by a ravine, and its front by the house and garden of Ho4ountont. His left extended to a height above the hamlet of La Haye, and its front was defended by the farm of La llaye Sainte. Both these advanced posts, which were strongly occupied, must have been carried before any sensible impression could be produced upon our centre. Thus prepared, he awaited the attacks of the enemy. These were not long delayed. Having marshalled his army on the heights and established a powerful line of batteries to support his charges, Napoleon assailed the Dirr z osivtg, 11 r- e4' , 4siki' - */ ' < 6-4 - ':t '•. 14. ..,,,,, , ... ' . 1 - .:P .P;;1 , I 0' .'*. ; . IA 4- 4 ' „- 11.17".1, TIIE NATIONAL REGISTER.