Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1882-08-10

11tt0Nt ADoat 6WetNe miles directly
south Of this place Is tue famous bat
tlefeld Of Waterloo. took the ears
Sunday morning 10 visit the groand
where the greatest warrior the world
ever knew met his defeat, his over
throw. and utter ruin: where in the
space Of . few hours Napoleon was
hurled from the pinnacle Of fame, be-
came refngee. prisoner in tie
hands Of his enemies, aud started on
the lonesome journey TO the desolate,
barren, and rocky island. ofSt. Helena,
where in the solitude Napoleon end
ed his days. That battle decided the
destinies of Europe. Tarrived on the
field at 9 o'cloek. It was bright
sannv znnrnine, and 1 thought low.
Oh Sunday morning Of June 18th,
15l5. Napoleon at the head of his
army, marched on to the fatal ground,
and less than eight hours he was a
fleeing fugitive. and 4a,009 men lay
weltering in their gore. Had ! the
pen of Victor Hugo / coull paint the
scene. but as have not, | must be
content with simply relating how the
grounds now appear.
The field is rolling piece of land,
crossed by three roads with shade
trees along the roads. On the west
side of the road where Napoleon and
Wellington met, and about thirty
rods south of the cross roads a mon
ument is erected to the memory of
Alexander Gordon, who fell in this
battle. Directly opposite on the east
side of the road stands one erected
by the officers Of the Kinks German
Legion, to the memory Of their COM
panions at arms who fell here. These
monuments stand where the fight was
the thickest. The mound OF earth
14l feet high stands in the centre Of
the field; on top of this is q base
built of blocks of stone twenty-five
feet high; on top Of all is a cast iron
lion weighing $500 pounds, aud
measures twenty-one feet long and
ten feet high. This mound of earth
is built in the shape of cone, being
1850 feet in circumference at its
base, and forty feet at its apex, and
cost 5000. 900 francs. The monu.
ment was built by the Prince of Or
ange, in 1928. There are 225
stone steps leading from its base to
the top. The King Of Belgium ought
to receive, as / have no doubt he
does, the public condemnation of the
world for desecrating and destroying
the general appearance of this memo
rable battlefield in order to erect
monument for himself.
The long low ridge Of land behind
which Wellington's men poured the
terrible tempest of lead into the
breast of Napoleon's Imperial Guards,
is one of the most interesting portions
of the field. The guide showed me
where Napoleon's renowned battalions
marched unainchingly up to Yelling
tons batteries, which were loaded to
the muzzle with grape and canister.
He showed me where Ney had four
horses shot from under him, and his
clothes were pierced with bullets. /
was shown the old farm residence sur
rounded by the brick wall behind
which four companies Of English kill
ed 1000 Frenchmen in less than an
hour. In this brick wall, and in the
building the Gears made by the can
noa and musket balls are plain to be
seen. / walked over the ground
where Wellington and Napoleon strug-
gled for the mastery. / took a long
stroll up the road where Napoleon
marched his forces from Quatre Bras.
This road was paved by Napoleon,
and is in a good state Of preservation.
I walked the whole length Of the
rayine, about one and a half miles
long. where the battle was the hottest,
and down to the old farm house and
over the ridge Of land where Well
lington kept his men under cover. /
examined the ground where Eapo-
Icons artillery stuck fast in soft soil
of the newly plowed field. | went up
on top Of the mound where the Bel
gium lion stands, and saw the distant
woods where Blucher with his fresh
troops came like an avalanche upon
Napoleon. saw the road Napoleon
took when he retreated back to
Quatre Bras. This rapid retreat did
not end until he reached st. Helena.
Nearly the whole of the battlefield
10 now covered with fields Of growing
grain, and one and half miles from
the railroad, crossed and recrossed
the newly sown fields. looking for
relics; found four, that shall bring
home with me. / cut some little
limbs from black thorn large enough
for pen-holders, growing on top Of
the earth mound. spent six hours
on this battlefield.
The battle-ground is owned by per-
sons residing in Brussels and is oc-
cupied by tenants who pay 200 francs
annual rent per acre; il is too high.
The tenement buildings are built Of
brick and -thatched with straw. One
looked so neat | thought / would 90
in and get lunch TO see how they
lived. By signs made my wants
known. They set out bread, cheese,
and homemade beer. Ii was good.
They were as neat as wax. The
flocrs were corered with white sand
the children looked SIean and neat.
could not tell how 50 many could
occupy such q small house. / took
out handful Of small change, mo-
toned for the lady to pick out her
pay. she took FIVE centimss, Zone
cent? This was simplicity that !