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

406 cular iliewed that he was no less acquainted with the science of at. tack thin of defence. In the last engagement, that from its unparallel ed splewlour seemed to cast a shade upon all his other achievements, both th-se triodes of warfar.• were employed—for nine hours the Duke of Wellington had accomplished every thing that defence could per form, a d jut rhi - ee hours h a t had acted with all the energy and vigour of attack. With respect to the engagement of the ltith of June, he wished to make a few remarks, that full justice might be done to the triumph th.l then had been obtained. it appeared, that during the •avhole of that day the Prussians had valiantly maintained their post, though with consi.lerable loss, and the Duke of Wellington, hearing el the advance of the enemy, immediately tent a corps under the orders of General Picton, to assist them, and the contest was maintained until the close of the day. Yet the enemy was bold enough to claim „victory. not over the Pruasiaps, but over the English, on that occa sion ; the fact, however, was, that the Prussians did act quit the po sition they had taken until sonic time after the French had resigned the struggle, nor did the enemy venture to occupy it until the ensning morning. The I ritish troops did not quit their ground until the mid dle of that day, and the enemy did not dare to molest them on retiring. It had been the design of the Duke of Wellington to have renewed the battle on the next day (the I 'lib), but the Pru e ssians having already lost ]'3,003, Atiarshal Blucher deemed it more prudent to withdraw to Wavre, and the Duke of Wellington in consequence took up a posi tion at Waterloo. To this ground the Brituh commander was no .stranger, fOr in th 2 course of the summer, while in Flanders, he had taken a military survey of the cou n try, anal it was a singular coin cidence, that lie had then said, that if it should ever be his fate to head an ar a - ny for the defence of the city of Brussels, Waterloo % . ,:is?uld be the position that he should think best adapted tia the pnr pose. The event had shesvn how well the Duke tf• Wellington had judged upon the subject. It was at Wateiloo that th.: enemy had thought fit to attack hint with all the intrepidity that character ized the nation ; the attack had been repelled with equal intrepidity, and with a firmness and revolution never to be rivalled. In the course of that contest the Duke of Wellington had performed the duties be- J inging to all ranks : at one Lim: he was acting as Field I%Jarshal, di recting and guiding the grand operations —now he appeared as a Gene ral of Division, or the Commaoder of a corps, and now he headed a regiment in a determined and impetuous chan;e. At the close of the clay the Emperor put himself at the head of his Guards, and made a aigorous attack, which was met Jay the British Guards, who fortu nately did not experleace that tank which was charg,:d against the _Duke of Wellington and Marshal Blucher. The British Guards met, overthrew, and completely routed the choicest troops of the enemy. This defensive resistance continued for nine hours, when the Duke of Wellington finding that the Prussians were ready to assist him, like al lion rushing from his d.n, fell upon the French army, drove them from their fast, and from their second line, and at length aecom j)!ibbed a deleat so perfect as to shatter and disperse every column. .13y dispatches which his Lordship ( Bathurst) had that day received, it appeared that the eflZ•cts of this victory had been 5000 prisoners brought into Brussels, 2000 more on the road, and others whose ar ri:ial might be daily expected. The amount of artillery and baggage \vas already known, but no intelligesice had act been received of the result of the pursuit kept up by the Prussian army. It now re mained for him to make a fcw observations upon the inelancholy'view of the subject; if indeed, any view of such a glorious achievement could considered melancholy It was not to be expected that this mighty achivcment should be accomplished without severe loss—it was wisely decreed by providence that unmixed joy or grid shOUld never be experienced ; every victory had its allay of regret for the price that had purchased it, and in this instance it was in a large pro- • dr- , • THE NATIONAL REGISTER. JITNE t 2). portion. Private and peculiar sorrows in this case almost lost thole quality from the extent of the losses, and they were not easily to be repaired to the service. Among the principal officers killed was the name of the manly and able General Piston, and the firm but amiable Sir W. Ponsonby. The fall of the Dul:e of Brunswick must be felt with sincere grief, by all who knew his manners or his talents ; and for a proper estimate of General Sir W. G ordon, he would refer to the extract Olal private letter, addressed by the Duke of Wellington to the Earl of Aberdeen, on the melancholy event of the death of that gallant officer. " I cannot cbserved the Duke of Wellington) ex press to you the regret and sorrow with which I contemplate the losses the country and the service have sustained ; none in-re sever than that of Genet,' Sir Wm. Gordon. The glery resulting from such actions, so dearly 17ouiht, is no consolation to me, and 1 cannot imagine that it is ally to you ; but, I trust, the result • has been so decisive, that little doubt will remain that our exertiens will be re warded by the attainment of our first object ;—then it is that the glory of the actions in which our friends have fallen may be some cont.ola tint]." With regard to the wounded, one of the most serious was tlae case of the Earl of Uxbridge, who headed every charge of cava:ry until be was no longer able to sit his horse, but his Lordship 'Ba thurst) ardently hoped that recovery rsas probable. At the head of the list also was the name of that heroic youth, who, in the field, had acquired a right to the love and admiration of the people of Bel. g'um, and had obtained a better title than the mere formalities of fa mily descent. It now remained for him only to state that it was his intention to propose to the House also a vote of thanks to Marshal Prince Blucher, and to the army under his command, for, um - Inez: 7 tionably, he bore the early brunt of the action, and without his al.- sisrance the Duke of Wellington could not have made that atta..k which terminated so gloriously on . the 18th of June. 7he Prussian yeteran, on the 16th, unfortunately had a fall trout his horse, which confined him to his bed ; but w;len he heard that the Duke of Wel lington was attacked, he headed his troops, and led them to the field to revenge the blood spilt by his army on the previous day, when no quarter had been allowed by the enemy. lie c ß oncluded by moving the thanks of the House, in the usual form, to hield Marshal the Duke of Wellington, K. G. &c. The Marquis of Lt.N4rowNL, in a linc culo,c:iuin en the gallant Duke s gave his entire and warmest support to th: motion, which Was carried ucminc contradicente. Lail BA Titoitsr then moved the Thanks of the House to the Print e of Orange, Baron /then, Gcncral Darneh, Lord E. Somerset, and seve ral other Officer:, of distinction, which was carried, as well 'as the for mer Resolution. His Lordship also moved a Resolution of Thanks to Marshal Pri:.l•e Blucher, to the Prussian army, and to the troups of the Allies the orders of the Duke of Wellington. Jt was agreed to. TIT E REGryr's The Earl of LtvL&roo.. then rose to move an Address, in a►:;,wer to his Royal Highness the Pr:Lice Rebe►it's Message, reconinieuilitig.the House to concur in making additional provision for the Duke of INcl. lington. Th 2 Noble Earl did not consider it necessary to extol t'.!e actions of the Great Duke, as no words could add to the tribute by his Noble Friend: He thou called the attention of the House to .r former gratii, and the mani fist intention Of Parliament and the try, to build Lord Wc.lington a mansion suitable to his rank. Tile grant in the hands of Trustees had been foetid insufficient to cr-,t such a mansion without sinking a sum that %%ould il l jure the Noble Duke and his family. Under 311 the circuinstances, Parliament could have no reluctance to increase the reward to his Grace, who, on thii occasion, bad athievedi victory unequalled in the atnials of the cowl- I