The Arkansas banner., 1848-02-08
The Final Char,. of the Guards at Waterloo
BY ". H. MAXWELL, "ArTHoR or sssroREEs soFwATERLoc."


 "uP GrARDs AND AT THEN,'' fs one of those memorable sentences, standing for the symbols and representatives of great events, which like the re- port of C@sar, ''veni, viii, vici;'' Perry's, "We have met the enemy, sai they are ours;'' and Nell son's signal "Engiand expects every man to do hi. duty,"-haye imprinted themselves in cap tat let. ters, the page of history, and have been admitted among the mRemcB c of nations 4, tine sound fancy tine hilltop. on hfcA Death had sat Iik e 6 eFewn.d monarch through alt the dresdful day of Waterloo, swarming with the life as of sId3en resurrecton,-and hears the answering shoat when the hurricane of swept down Is slopes that tore into sisw1s tue tanners of FraEce, and laid an Empire in the GEst.
 The last charge of The Britt Guards. on the stl, of June, lsl5 besides 6eirg unnecessarily rich tn picturesque effects, is an incident of ihe most n- tense dramatic interest being the poiEt of c=i, is in of those great actions by which the destiny Of nations is eonspicaOusly moulded. But, more than such incidents Tn general, it deT.es peculiar iniesest of it's own, by the circums ances by which it had been Precsded.
 It has ofien been doubted, whether Wellington. with French troops. any other but Sri ish troops could have won the field of Waterloo. The battle sf WaaeTss@ was a eo1tnued succession of trvmen h. Ssua chArEes by the French columns on lhe Bri ish squares; and hour afser hoar dii these men sta nd io be m0wcd down on the spot where they tad been placed, watering unmurmaringly with thsir hood,
 
 rraPed, though well they knew that hey should not be al the gathering.
 The duty of each exposed square, was like the desperate one of foflorn hopc
 -Hhea Tii we get al them" was the passion ate cry of the Irish regiment, when death aew through their ranks, and their temper a, times all bat faied- "The loss of iBdiyidni regiments under circumstances so ma1dsning." says a historian of the scene, twas prodigions- One hai four hun.rei men moved down ia square, without pulling irfgger; Ii lest all is officers, and sabalern manded il for half the day Another, "when nearly annihilated. sent to require support, none could be given; ard the commanding officer was iesd- -taat he aSst stand or fail where he w1s.''
 Knowing the tremeS.Gops sacrifices of Iif- that wa going on, Napoleon eakcalaied on wearying th- British into defeat Ever and again, tse masses of the French came dashing against tie British squares and were r0lsed 6ack from ,ione waIis- but not without making fearful breaks in the living masonry, which were instantly and steadily tiIiea. up. Oh for bias, of the bog gle t.at should have sounded to the charge. And 1t came at leng.h.- awakening the myriad energies that he'd slurnbeFed through all thai lcsg aud desosating day, into one tremendous and irresistible burst of action. an | gathernsg the b0asded vengeance of its weary hours in'o one vast impulse, beneath whose discharge Ma poleon fell.
 ltwas after the Prusians had began so dcbouch from the woods oI SL Lambert tfrat Napoleon sec- ing the day was lest, unless De could make an in. Oh bt1tfe1 fFo9f, seQ on oli Imperial guard 10 tee Eeet of he hill beiud hose sresi the British guard lay eroaehed like lions. Here ke Paused, the rcnsOnst anees of his ssaH: and Marshall Ney led this last great venture up 10 abe hiii. Ina hsar was come when the sleeyy spell to be broken, and the fearfa night mare which had all that day sat amongst the British sQaares al length bFoksh oil Gatlanily. amid showers of grape and canister. the imperial gaard swept on, and gsllanily they crossed the ridge of the hiL
 Then was. that the celebrated words were ut- eeed-s't ?, GUAErS, AxB AT THeM. The tide sf which had followed sll day lsag towards the British lines, rolled back the cavalry came pourin n the track of the gailsnt guards and the Duke el Wellington closed hs trlsscope, and gave the final sfdeE for ihe whole B itssh army to advance. Wa. any order ever before 70 exnltinrly obeyed Wounds, and fatigue, and hanger, wsrr all forsot- en. They began to eross sts riAge: but nature had been strained to her utmost point of foFbear- sncs. and when they saw the French troors befo, C shesn, '-a cry arose.. says able hi t@Eah s'thai S~emed to rend the heavens"
 When saenee again deseended ca tilSt Gsld, to sit there with bis natural ally, Death the stars to which Nspsleoa trusted had fought against him in their coarses they dia against Sissra of oIdthe eagles wese low the plain. from whence they nrver scored again. ani the flag of Inc silver lDies wss waving to sse bFeezrs of France .Ssirt ef iks Ikaes-