, 1873-03-16
many were tho obstacles in BlucherB

.s,a 70 many were tho obstacles in B}uchers
- that il took three hours from Bulow's i7at
.,,sarance on St. Lambert, before half his corps
.an1d be brought into actio:'. 1t WAS haf-past
,rhen the Prussians bcgar. their attack. Here,
.asin, ve cannot but regard Napoleon as guilty
- an unpardonable neglect. Blucher saw at
,,ca tho Importance Of the steep valley OF the
T.sne and, lest his movement should be dis
covered and intercepted, seized tho Wood OF
p.,is an the OTHER side But Napoleon, fancy
;nc that only detachment or two Of PIussans
hi como to Wavre after the fight at biGny, had
taken no steps to prevent their march to Water
1oo Upou tho capture OF the hussar he at once |
despatcled to Marzhal Groucay intelligence |
NJ the intercepted letter, with orders to march !
unon st. Lambert, and take the enemy in rear.
close not an instant in drawing near
IN M" he added, 'in order to crnsh Bulow,
whom you will catch in the very act Zen fragrant
dehn." This letter reached Grouchy, but not
till in tho evening, when lie was engaged in
fcht with Thielman. OF course, he could lend
no help to the Emperor that day, and waa
obliged to content himself with the hope that
Napoleon might have triumphed without him.
Napoleon made during the battle ive distinct
attacks On the English limo, only one OF which
vas successful, end that but partially. Hls sec
ond attack, which was made by D'Erlon's in
fautry corps, IL, 900 strong, aided by KeNerman's
cavalry, was furious onslaught on the British
centre and left wing. Led By Ney, ''the braVest
Of the brave" and supported by an artillery
fire from IA guns, it drove before it the
Dutch brigade forming tho front line
Of the a1lies; hut received 30 deao1y
. yolley from Picton's English infantry
that it reeled back in confusion, and lost 2ooo
men 81 prisoners. Tho clief fault of this charge
was that the columns we're too deep for attack
and too close to be dcployed. Unfortunately,
owing to the softress Of the soil, tho artillery
was Obliged to remain stationary, End nteen
PIECES we're captured By the pursuing knghah
nauadrous, and rendered useless By being upset
in the mud. It was now hali-past o'clock, and,
though Wellingtoa's army had suffered severely,
the British line remained everywhere unbroken,
while each passing hour had carried away q frag-
ment Of Napoleon's Empire. The third attack
was that made by the French cavalry unsup-
ported, upon the British centre. These mag
nifcent troops passed through the first line OF
the enemy, shouting " Fire FEmpe7eur r but the
second opposed to them an impenetrable barrier.
Squadron after squadron, amounting to not less
than 1900 men, dashed against the BRITISH
suusres but in vain. They could not break through
the impenetrable hodges Of bayonets, while, a.
they retreated, the fire from the inner ranks
moved them down like grass Through whose
fatal blunder the first brigade requested by Ney
was followed by The trho!e Of the reseT res, nobody
cnn tell. Il was 8 fearful mistake. Napoleon
declares in his Memoirs, thnt he sent Gen
Bertrand to recall them, but that when he at
1u+a 4hnTY
raced. Afterwards, as be crossed the thresh
old of the Tui1eries, he is said to hare re-
marked: "Ney behaved like 3 fool. He sacrl
feed my caval1y." These stories may be true
but they look to us like f1ctions invented afte
the fact. Can any ono believe that Napoleon
sitting in the midst OF great battl
fought on narrow space, and surrounded D.
bv an ample staff, WAS unable to pre-
vent his ioutenants from sacrificing his cavalr.
Mt the wrong moments The murderous loss Il
+h,t ep1endid arm which resulted from tho use
less assaults on the British squares, may no
hare been caused by Napo1eon's orders OF b.
Nays but both permitted the vain charges II
he repeated until the horsemen vera almost to
tally DESTROYED. This disaster not only had
fatal influence on the fortunes OF tho day, bo
was the main cause that Nepo1eon's defeat be
came one OF the most overwhelming routs kno"
In history
. Eanoleop's fourth grand attack, made BY il
fantrr under Ney's direction, was the only SUI
nessful one Of the day. It lodged the French
=. Haye Sainte. and penetrated for brlet tim
The British line. The grape-shot from seTef'
6a1d-nieces. which the French had brought III
tore fearful gaps in the German br1sades, m
the side OF one square was literally bio"
away by 3 tremendous volley from the trenc
cnns- For the fret time the situation OF tt
allied ar1ny vas really critical Had the 1oun
Guard been present to support Donzelot st l
Haye Sainte, the result to Wellington mlgl
have been most disastrous. Why, then, We
thew not there7 Because they had been sent
planchenoit, on Nnpoleon's right to aid Loos
in heeping of Bulow. In like maaner, tho Ia
desperate attackp on the British line by the u
columns OF the Imperial Guard failed oecau
there Was no cavalry to support them; and III
WIS there no cayalry7 Because TINS 1orco
been needlesa1y sacrificed IN the thlfa a1'ae
and because some 1850 OF them had been
tached against the Pruseians early IN the a1te
poon, when, by seizing the def1le OF Lasnes vi
In infantry force, Bu1oT might nave oeen ke
hack without q horseman being sent to tt
> point. The Guard was attacked Dy oeat.ue.. .
i've hoth in front and flank, and whole ranks
ut once uke e1a1u poAo1o WV A0"e :. =.
these dis.dyantngeous circumstances, 1t m1t
b,ra maintained somewhat longer its impetut
nttack which hss been called the mhdness
5espai1 :" but Ut this moment zleten'a corps
bouched from tbs Ohain road upon the Engl
left, and, attacking the French right wing, or s
MI before it. Tho effect produced on the rest
the French army By the repulse Of the eu u
md the sudden onslaught Of zleten' xas C G
pleted by the general advance, for which "
lington, With the instinct Of genius, 1s3 snaae n
forsook his attitude Of defense; and as Biuch
victorious legions we're pouring across the
line of retreat, while the last reserves OF
French had been exhausted, the defeat
turned into panic and 8 rout unparalleled
history.
To sum all up,-the defeat Of Napoleon
Waterloo, which decided the fate OF the EMP
and sent the victor Of 80 many helds an e1A
l.-. +rr