Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-11-05
DIR. LIEBER AT WATERLOO.

/
A Vivid PERSONAL Narrative of the
Great Battie-From DR.. Lieber's
Letters,
In 1927 arrived in New York on the
same day, and put my foot on land in
the same hour Jure 20) thatin 1915 o
ball prostrated me. Some time ago you
asked me to give you sketch of my
adventures in that Waterloo battle. de-
termined to comply with your wish,
and searched among my papers for a
copy, which ny mother gave me once,
of my own letter, the first that | was
able 10 write after that eventful day of
battle. did not succeed in finding it.,
bnt here is the sketch. l0 ,N
Boys, clear your rifles, said my old
and venerable father. entering my room,
where was studying LodeFs Anetomi-
cal Tables, " hs is loose again--Nspo-
leon-he has returned from Elba."
My heart beat high; it was glorious
news for boy OF sixteen years-really
in his sixteenth year--who had often
heard with silent envy the account Of
the campaigns Of 1924 from the lips
of his two brothers, who had marched in
1878, in common With most young men
of good family, as volunteer rihemen,
and returned as wounded officers. One
of these, cured of his wounds, rejoined
his regiment; another of my brothers
and myself followed the call Of govern
ment to enter the army as volunteers,
though our age would have exempted us
from all obligation. :,
Which regiment should we choose2 OF
course, cue which was garrisoned near
the enemys frontier, so that we should
be sure not to have pesceable cam
paign in distant reserve. There was
a regiment among the troops near the
frontier OF FRANCE which enjoyed a par
ticularly high aud jGst reputation; its
name was "Colberg," bestowed 10 honor
of its valiant defence of the fortress OF
Colberg in the year lS06-the only Prus-
sian fortified place in that wretched time
which did not surrender to the French.
1t was composed Of brave and steady
Pomeranians, short broad-shonldered,
healthy race; Ia more than twenty
ranged" engagements during the cam
paiga had they shown themselves worthy
Of their hsnarable name. My brother
and myself selected this regiment When
the day of the enlistment Of the Yolun.
teers arrived, we went TO my father and
said; "Well, then, we are going; is 1t
with your coBsent7' 60 to your
mother he replied We vent 10 ber;
our hearts were full, she had suffered so
much during The first campaign. With
a balfchoked voice said; Mother, we
are going to be eDrolled-shall weY
She fell into our arms, that noble woman
and sobbed aloud. "Gol was Gll her
bleeding heart allowed her to Ctterj and,
had she been the mother of twenty sons
she would have sent them oil, We had
10 wait from ten to one O'clock before we
could get chance TO have our names
taken down, the throng was 80 great.
In the beginning of May wa. were
marched from Berlin to our regiment,
Ny father accompanied US TO the place
of rendezvous. When
VI THE BuGLE CALLED
us TO the line we looked for him TO take
the last leave; he had stolen himself
away. A great many people acccmpa.
MED US out of the city; the beautiful
Brandenburg gate was soon behind us;
we began to sing. | looked but forward
happy that it was now my lot 10 bear
arms in defense of my country. On the
10th we crossed the Rhine; on the 25th
Of May we passed in review before Prince
Bluclrer in Namur. On the 26th we
marched to a village called Voistu and
incorporated with our regiment On the
Sd of June we had our first parade with
the regiment aud the colonel declared
that we had the bearing of old soldiers;
he was satisfied with us. We longed to
be put to the test. / saw on that day,
for the first time, the woman who was q
sergeant in our regiment, and distin-
guished herself SO much that she could
boast of three orders on her gown, when.
after the peace, she was married in Ber-
lin TO another sergeant In a second
regiment Of our brigade was another girl
serving as a soldier, but she was very
different from our sergeant Her sex
was discovered by mere accident; she
had marched instead of her brother, that
he might support their aged parents.
We marched 10 Longueville, seven
leagues from Brussels. On the 9th we
received lead to cast our balls; the rifles
being of different calibres, for each man
had equipped himself It is one Of the
most peculiar situations man Of reflect
ing mind can be in, when be casts his
bullets for battle near at hand. In the
evening l was lying with two comrades,
one Of whom was q jew, in hay-lott;
the crazy roof allowed us to see the bril-
liant stars. We spoke Of home. My
father" said one, t" told me he was sure
be would never see me again, though be
never tried TO keep mel feel as II ]
should fall. B" A ball entered his forehead
in the first battle and killed him on the
spot. The second, the jew, said, No
body has foretold my death, yet believe
/ shall remain on the field" He fell al
my aide, in the battle of Lingy, before
he had fired n shot-the ball cutting his
throat. "And l." said ], " shall be
brushed, but / think shall return home
though with scratched skin Thus
strangely every prophecy Of that night
was fulfilled
On the morning of the 18th the gene
rale was beaten.
HosTILITIEs BAD BEGUN
on the l4th. We marched the whole
day and the whole night; in the morn
ing we arrived not far from the battle
feld of Iignv and halted. Before d