Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1848-05-18
The Battle of Waterloo
THE LAST DAYS OF MARSHAL NEY.

] Al lengtn darK oDJect was seen tc
emerge from the distant wood, and
land soon an army of 10000 men de-
ployed on the field Of Waterloo, and
began to march straight for the scene
OF conflict. Butcher and his Prussians
had come, but no Grouchy, who had
been left to check them, followed after.
Il a moment, Napoleon saw that he
could not sustain the attack efso many
fresh troops, if once allowed to form a
function with The allied forces, and so
)he determined to stake his fate on one
bold cast, and endeavored to pierce the
allied centre with a grand charge OF
the Old Guard-and thus throwing
himself between the two armies, fgh:
them separately. For this purpose
the Imperial Guard was called up,
which had remained inactive during
the whole day, and divided into two
immense columns, which were to meet
at the British centre. That under
Reille no sooner entered the fire than it
disappeare like mist. The other was
placed under Ney, the "bravest of the
brave" and the order to advance CIV
en-. Napoleon accompanied them part
way down the slope, and hating for a
moment in hollow, addressed them
in his fiery, impetuous manner. He
told them the battle rested with them,
and that he relied on their valor, "viue
J. Empere,y!" answered him with a
shout that was heard all over the field
of battle.
He then left them to Ney, who or
dered the charge. Bonaparte has been
blamed for not heading this charge
himself but he knew he could not car
ny the guard SO far, or hold them so
long before the artillery, as Ney. The
moral power the latter carried with him ,
from the reputation he had gained Of
being the "bravest of the brave" was
| worth whole division. Whenever a
column saw him at their head, they
knew it Was victory or annihilation.-
With the exception Of Macdonald, |
do not know a general in the two ar
mics who could hold his soldiers in the
face Of obstruction as he.
The whole continental struggle ex-
hibited no sublimer spectacle than his
last effort to save his sinking Empire.
Europe had been put upon the plains
of Waterloo to be battled for. The
greatest military energy and skill the
| world possessed had been tasked 10
the utmost during the day. Thrones
were tottering on the ensanguined
field, and the shadows offugitive kings
fitted through the smoke of battle
Bonapar,e's star trembled in the re-
nith--now blazing out in its ancient
spIendour-now suddenly paleing be-
fore his anxious eye. At length, when
the Prussians appeared on the field, he
resolved to stake Europe on one bold
throw. He committed himself and
France to Ney, and saw his empire rest
on single charge. The immense
anxiety with which he watched the adj
vance of that column, and the terrible
suspense he suffered when the smoke
Of battle wrapped it from sight, and
the utter despair of his great heart
when the curtain lifted over fugitive
army, and the despairing shrek rung
on. every side, "la garde recule! Ia
gayde recule? makes us for moment
forget all the carnage in sympathy With
his distress.
Ney felt the pressure Of the immense
responsibility on his brave heart, and
resolved not to prove unworthy of the
trust committed to his care. Nothing
could be more imposing than the
movement of that column to the assault.
That guard had never yet recoiled be-
fore human foe, and the allied forces
beheld with awe its firm and terrible
advance to the final charge. For a
moment the batteries stopped playing,
and the firing ceased along the British
lines, as without the beating Of a drum
or the blast of bugle, to cheer their
steady courage, they moved in dead
silence over the plain. The next mo-
ment the artillery opened, and the head
of that gallant column seemed to sink
into the earth. Rank after rank went
down, yet they neither stopped nor
faltered. Dissolving squadrons, and
whole ba:talions disappearing one after
another in the destructive fire, affected
not their steady courage. The ranks
closed up as before, and each treading
over his fallen comrade, pressed firmly
on. The horse which Ney rode fell
uuder him, and he had scarcely noun
ted another before it had also sunk to
the earth. Again and again did that
unAinching man feel his steed sink
down, till fpe had been shot from un-