The Cadiz sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 184?-1851, 1845-08-06
BIOGRA PHICAL.
MARSHAL NEY,

uieE, are extracted rom an aTllcle IN The AmeTl
can Review, written by J. T. IIeadley.
His last charge at Waterloo showed that the
ffmness and bravery of the man was undmn-
ished. 1t is true the Old Guard was not what
it had been. 1t required the experience and
training of the veterans that fell in the snow
drifts Of Russia. But still it was the cold
Guard" which had ever regarded itself the propl
aud pride of Bonapare. 1t was the same that
had gained him so many bdttles-the same that
at Krasnoi, in the retreat from Russia when re-
duced to a little band, closed round their empe-
ror and marched past The Russian batteries; play
ing in the hottest of the fire the popular air sou
pedt-on etre mienr qu'dU Seia dc Sd famelle" lt|
was the "unconquerable guard"
From eleven in the morning till four in the af-
ternoon, the battle had ragged while victory
perched on neither standard. The heavy French
cavalry had charged on the English squares in
vain. Jerome Bonaparte had lett l400 men
around Hougoumont The corner of the Eng
lish lines had not yielded an inch, yet exhausted
and worn they stood less firmly in their places
The Old Guard had remained passive spectators
of the scene during the whole day, being reserv
ed for the last moment to complete the victory
AT this juncture, the head of the Prussian col
umns appeared on the field. Fifty thousand
fresh troops added TO the English army would
make the odds too great. Instead of retiring
Inll Grouchy could come up and restore the ba-
lance, Bonaparte took the rash and desperate re-
solution of bringing his entire reserve into the
| field, and with one awful charge break the cen
tire, and prevent the threatenng junction of the
two armies. For this purpose he called up the
Old Guard, and placing himself at their head,
marched down the slope, and halting in hol-
low, addressed them in his fiery and vehement
manner. He told them everything rested on
their valor. They answered with shout, TiUe
! J. En- Jereur," that was heard all along the Bri-
tish line. He then placed them under Ney who
ordered the charge. Bonuparte has been blamed
lornot heading this charge himself; but he knew
he could not carry The guard so far, nor hold
them so long before the artillery, as Ney. The
moral power Ney carried with him, from the rep
utaton he had gained Of being the 'bravcst Of the
brave was worth whole battalion. Wherever
a column saw him at their head they knew it was
to he victory or annhilation. With the eXcep.
lion of McDolald, we do not know General in
The two armies who could hold his soldiers 81
long in the very face of destruction as he. The
whole continental struggle exhibited no sublmol
spectacle than this last effort Of Napoleon to save
his sinking Empire. Europe had been put up,
on the plains Of Waterloo to battle for. The
greatest, military energy and skill the world pos
Isessed had been put 10 their utmost during the
Idly. Thrones we're totering on the ensanguinec
field, and the shadows Of fugitive kings fitted
through the smoke Of the battle. Bonaparle'=
star trembed in the zenith, now blazing out in
its ancient splendor, now suddenly paIIing be.
fore his anxious eye. AT length when the Prus
slams appeared on the field he resolved to pu,
Europe on one bold throw. He committed him
self and France to Ney, and saw his Empire resi-
on single charge We almost forget Napoeon's
ambition and guilt in our sympathy with him in
this critical moment of his life. The intense
anxiety with which he watched the advance o
that column, and the terrible suspense he suffer.
led when the smoke Of battle wrapped it from
,lsigEt, and the utter despair of his great heart
when the curtain lfted over a fugitive army ,and
the despairng shrek rung on every side, " 10
grade recule!M la grade rccUtem makes us fol
Ia moment almost wish he had gained the day.
Ney felt the immense responsibility restngupor
him. He felt the pressure of an empire on his
brave heart, and resolved not to prove unworthy
of the great trust committed to his care. Moth
ling could be more imposing than the moving o
that grand column TO the assault. That guarC
had never vet recoled before human foe, ant
the allied forces beheld with awe its firm and ter
rible advance TO the final charge.
d For moment the batteries stopped playing
and the firing ceased along the British nes.-
Without the beating of a drum or the blast of q
hugIe, to, cheer their stately carriage, they moved
lin dead silence over the PLAN. The next mo
ment the artillery opened and the head Of tina
gallant column seemed to sink into the earth
Rank after rank went down, yet they nethe
stopped nor faltered. Dissolving squadrons anC
whole columns disappearing one after anothe
in the destructive fire, affected not then steady
courage.-The column closed up as before, ant
each reading over his fallen comrades, pressed
firmly on The horse which Ney rode fell un
der him, and he scarcely mounted another before
it also sunk in the earth. Again and again die
that unfinching man feel his sced sink dow
till five had been shot under him. Then witt
his uniform rddled with bullets, and his face
rlsinged and blackened with powder, he marched
ION foot with drawn sabre at the head of his co
umn. In vain did the artillery hull IFS storm
fire and lead into that living mass. Up to the
very muzzles they pressed, and driving the artil
lery men from their own pieces, pushed on thro
the English lines. But the sudden firing of tha
hitherto unseen rank into their faces, pouring
sheet Of flame into their bosoms was too mucl
for human courage. They roeled, shook--turn
ed and fled.
Ney was borne back in the ronnent tide ant
hurried back over the field, But for the Grove
of fugitiyes that forced him back he would have
stood alone and fallen in his footsteps. As il
was, disdaining to fly, though the whole army
was flying, he formed his men into two immense
squares, and endeavored to stem the terrific lide
and would have done SO had il not been for the
fifty thousand fresh Prussians that pressed on bis
exhausted ranks. For a long time they stood
and let the artillery plough them. But the fate