Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1842-03-26
THE FIELD OF WATERLOO.
RY WASHINGTON IRVING.

have spoken heretofore with Some le-
witty of the contrast that exists between the
English and French character. but it de-
serves more serious consideration. They
are the two great nations of modern times
most dramatically opposed, and most wor5
thy of each others rivalry; essentially dis
t,nct in their characters, exceIllng in oppo-
site qualities, and rejecting Iustre On each
other by their very opposition. In nothing
is this contrast more strikingly cvinccd
than in their military conduct. For ages
have they been contending, and for ages
have they crowded each others History
with acts Of splendid herolsm..
Take the battle Of Waterloo, for instance,
the last and most memorable trial of
their rival proves. Nothing could sur
pass the brilliant daring on one side, and
the steadfast endurance OH the other. The
French cavalry broke like wares on the
compact squares of the English infantry.
They were galloping round those serried
walls of men, seeking in vain for an en-
trance, tossing the ir arms in the air in the
heat of their enthusiasm, and Drawing tho
the whole front of the battle. The British
troops, on the other baud, forbidden to
move or fire, stood firm and enduring!
Their columns ripped up by cannonry;
while rows were swept down at a shot,
the survivors closed their ranks, and stood
through the pelting of the iron tempest
without firing a shot, without any action to
stir their blood or excite their spirits.
Death thinned their ranks, but could not
shake their souls.
A beautiful instance Of the quick and
generous impulse to which the French are
prone, is given in the case ofn French ca
Waller, in the hottest of the action, charg-
ing ~furiously upon n British officer, but
perceiving in the moment Of the assault
that his adversary had lost his sword arm,
dropping the point of his sabre and court
eously rode on. Peace be With that gene
rois warrior, whatever were his fate. If
be went down in the storm Of battle; with
the laundering fortunes of his chieftain.
may the turf Of Waterloo grow green above
his grave !; and happier far would be the
fate of such a spirit 10 sink amidst the tenn
pest. and unconscious Of defeat, than to
survive and mourn over the blightcd %laureis
Of his country.
In this way the tvs armies fought
through a long and bloody day--the French
with enthusiastic vaIor, the English with
cold in1exible courage until fate, as ifto
leave the question of superiority still uBde-
cided between two such adversaries, brought
UP the Prussians to decide the fortunes Of
the field.
1t was several years afterwara that | WIS.,
tied the field of Waterloo. The plough
share had been busy With It's obIiyious la.
bors, and the FREQUENT harvest had nearly
obtlterated the sestiges. Of war. Still the
blackened ruins of the Huglmont stood, d
monumental pile, to mark the violence of
This vehement struggle. Its broken walls,
pierced by bullets, and shattered by expIo-
sions, showed the deadly strifa that had ta-
ken place within, when Gail and Hfitori
f1etnined in between narrow walls, hand to
hand, and foot to foot, fought from garden
to courtyard, from courtyard to chamber,
with intense and Concentrated rivalship:
Columns of smoke ftirned from this vortex
Of battlb as frbn 4 volcano. ut was"
said my guide, sd Ecli on earth.." Not
far off, two or three broad spots Of rank I'M.
wholsohie green still marked the places
where these rival warriors, after their fierce
and ftful struggle, slept quietly in the lap
of their mother earth. Over all the field,
peace had resumed its sway. The thought
less whistle of the peasant 1oated in the
air, instead of the trumpets clangor; the
team slowly laboted UP the side once shak.
en- by the hoofs Of flushing. squadrons and
wide fields of corn waved peacefully osef
the soldiers graves, as summer seas ditnple
over the place whete nitn} a tall ship lies
hurled.