Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-29
A CLOUD AND A NOD.
Two Minor Incidents That Contrib
uted to Napoleon's Overthrow.
THE RAIN THATFELL ON WATERLOO
And the Peasant Who Beckoned 1900 Men
and 1000 Horses to Death.
4 FATAL NEGLECT OF THE INFANTRY
WRITTEN FOR THE DISPATCH


had conceived for the field of Waterloo
possible factor appeared that he had no
considered in his reckoning and changed
the destiny of Europe.
There was one other little incident and II
may be said that the inopportune passing o
cloud and a peasants nod laid low thu
greatest military genius of the word. HI
probably erred in that he did not plan fol
the possible, and-considering that it wa
glowing June-probable exigency thai
came, and it is now easy to criticise the over
sight, if such it was So.
Napoleon was the grand apostle of artil
lery. That is to say, he advocated an6
understood to the fullest the potency, the
effect of noise, thunder, echo, reverberation.
1t lends dignity to war to have the earth
shake, to send great spheres of iron shrek.
ing through the air, even if there be but
paucity of execution. The CLEAN of bay.
onets and the fash of sabers are imposing
spectacles, but these also count their slain
in small numbers.
Delay in Beating His Tom-Toms.
Therefore it was, when it rained on the
night of the 18th of June, 1915, that the
ground was soft on the morning of the fate
full 18th, and the heavy thunder wagons
otherwise artillery-could not maneuver.
| The Emperor was equally great in egotism
and war Thus it came that the great tom
| toms could not be beaten until the ground
had gained some resistance. Otherwise, the
| battle would have commenced before A. NJ.
and might have been VIGOROUSLY finished
for France in eight hours. 1t began 30
minutes before 10 o'clock. In that delayed
forenoon lay the overthrow of world
The plan was good, was a master stroke
of genius, had not nature interfered. What
right had nature, which was vanquished in
the passage of the Alps to form factor IN
the schemes of the hero of Austerlitz? The
great Napoleon could waste no time nor
modify plan to reckon rain.
1t was nature that had showed her frigid,
glitterlng teeth and had spat her snow on
him in Russia and hurled him backward on
his frozen columns, in his Moscow cam
paign-this time she smote him to the
death with an exuding summer cloud.
Yes, his battle plan was admirable-to
hurl into his antagonist q thunderbolt, to
rend him in twain and dash him to the
earth-but it was a contract made by only
one of the parties to a bargain.
1t Gave Bluechcr Time TO Como.
As feat, this is no longer considered
great. Little things are sometimes potent
Five and one-half hours, and this gave
'Bluecher time to come. At little before
o'clock in the long June afternoon the
Prussians turned the tide. Had it begun at
A. NJ it might have been ended three
hours before the arrival of the coming sup
port; as it was, Bluecher was the hinge on
which swung the fate Of the modern Alex
ander-the turn that affected the destiny of
hemisphere.
The points in the battle of Waterloo can
best be illustrated in the lines of the capi-
tai letter A. The space in the triangle
above the crossline of the letter and beyond
is the plateau of Mount St. Jean, the posi-
tion of the forces under Wellington. We
are looking at the field from the French po-
sition. The crest of the plateau is this side
of the crossline, and there is slope down
ward from the crest, beyond the base of the
A, which the French must ascend. The
left stroke is the road coming down from
Mount st. Jean, just above the apex Of our
diagram, three miles to Hougoumont, at its
low er end There, are Reille and Jerome
Bonaparte. Five miles further down is
Nivelles. The right hand line runs down
two miles to La Halle Sainte, then two miles
more to La Bell Alliance-there is Ma
poleon. This road, in another stretch of
three miles, reaches Genappe, in still
another three, strikes Quater-Bras. Water
loo village is five miles north of the point
of the A, Brussels nine miles further on.
An Old Road Of Tremendous Consequence
Just little lower than where the right
stroke is intersected by the connecting
crossline, is La Hale Sainte and the cross
linz teal 10 l..
tween Ohain and Braine-P Allend. This
depressed road becomes of tremendous con-
sequence in the ensuing conflict.
At a point equi-distant from the outer
lines, and half mile or SO below the cross
cut, the final orders were given to close the
battle. The area comprised in the upper
part of the A, Is the objective point in the
whole struggle. As regards position, the
allied forces under Wellington had the best
fit as they were up and on the defensive;
Napoleon was below and on the offensive.
This is what was to be done: Like huge
wedges the two French columns were to fol-
low up the outer lines of the A, converge
near the point, split the allied line asunder,
plateau like a whirlwind, seize Brussels,
toss The English half into the sea, the Ger
man contingent, like swine, into the Mense
and their poetic Rhine-this was Napoleon.
This was the Napoleonic plan-the plan of
Wellington was otherwise.
Beginning of the Great Battle.
Near midday the ground was more firm,
the gun carriages and caissons swung into
position, and now from the cannon that had
pealed forth victories on the Spanish Pc
nInsula the great battle was opened. A |
vigorous response came from the defenders |
of the plateau. As soon as the artillery |
duel was we'll under way, the infantry was |
advanced, under cover of the guns, and took |
a position from which their fire could be |
made effective on the allied cannoniers |
The exchange of iron was probably not far
from equal, but the French pieces were evil
IDENTIFY served with truer aim, and their
was terribly destructive.
1t was an ideal conflict in the opening
hours. All Europe was witness and su-
premely interested, and the roar was deaf
ening. go
Two hours passed and while the chan ge
was trifing as to positions, the English
manifested the greater exhaustion. With the
French, the contest waxed louder and more
Between the hours of 2 and 3,
heir lines had perceptibly advanced AT
$50, the English situation had decidedly
,omber hue. The French had taken La
Hale Sainte and Hougoumont was behind
hem-the center still held, it was COM
pact knot and Wellington had it reinforced.
It slowed the points of the wedges blunt, as
lad it been granite that they struck.
Wellington Rose to the Crisis
Heroism was there, such as comes only in
supreme crises, when men are transformed
@ gods. To Hills request for orders, should
heir commander fall. Wellington re-
ponded, "follow my example!'' To Clin-
on, brief but earnest. 'thold this spot to the
asst mani