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

4 nc?

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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

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TII ENATIO

post of Holigoumont at ten o'clock in the morning in a
f irious manner, but was repelled by Gen. Byng's brigade
of Guards, to whom the defence of this important poidt
.
was intrusted. These charges were repeated throughout
the day with increased forces, but without more success.
Frustrated in all his attempts against our right. the enemy
Oirected his attention to the left. There his charges were
so often renewed, and executed in so desperate a mariner,
and with such a mass of force, both cavalry and infantry,
that he succeeded in passing between the farm of fa Tlaye
Sainte and the wing which it covered. Cut off from all
communication with the army, ourbrave fellows contended
to the last, and it was not until every round of ammunition
was exhausted that they gave up their post to the enemy.
This ad vantage which led him to fancy the victory was
gained, was one of the causes of his ruin. Had he not
carried the farm, he would not have been able to make
a general attack upon our centre, which he effected from
his new position at seven o'clock in the evening, with
cavalry, infantry, anti an immense line of artillery. Pri-
vate reports state that he marched himself at the head of
his columns. The struggle was tremendous. On all
sides the leaders acted the part of common soldiers. BY
hi: presence in the midst of every threatened square, the
heroic Wellington imparted invincibility to his soldiers.
He was every where in the heat of the action, and in the
Presence of danger. At one moment, when every person
hut himself despaired of the success of the day, he took
E: stand on a ridge, declaring that he would not stir from
it but to conquer. Thousands fell around him, his per-
sonal staff was almost all destroyed, but he remain_
ed unshaken and unhurt, anti victory at last re-
warded his constancy. Though headed by Napoleon
himself. the desperate charge was repelled, and the enemy
fell hack in confusion. Cool and collected, even at that
critical period, he perceived by the distant flash of artil-
icy, that the French right wing was turned. lie knew
that General Bulow's corps must be arrived. Prince
Blucher joined him at that moment with another. As
prompt in attack as he had been firm in resistance, he sud-
denly rushed with his whole infantry, cavalry, and artil-
lery, upon those who had so long been his assailants, and
in Lord Castlereagh's true and energetic language, " the
shock was irresistible the French could riot support our
attacks, as ire had resisted theirs; their ranks were broken
—their first line thrown in disorder on the second,
they were compelled to fly in the greatest confusion,
and the English and their Allies became masters of at
least (as he should suppose) half the artillery of the
c tit my. Hc apprehended such splendid trophies o.

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