Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1895-08-09

III, SS5s is..S 8 l35 w EEhIl
the other from the Rhine. Il was the policy
81 Napoleon to prevent the union Of his ene-
mics. The 18th 81 June found hin, on the Bel
gian frontier with $4,000 men. On the next
day he defeated Blucher at Ligny. The attack
OF Ney on the English at Quatre Bras was I'M
successful. The ilnpetuous marshal. who was
now the Emperor's right arm, fell back on the
village Of Waterloo. The place was about nine
miles from Brussels 1t was slsirted by the
forest Of Soignes.l There the allied command.
ers had agreed to form q junction. Napoleon
ordered Marshal Grouchy with his division OF
$4,000 to follow up Butcher on his retreat from
Ligny to Waterloo The plain purpose was
that If Butcher should join Wellington, then
Grouchy should unite his division with that
Of Ney. The failure Of Grouchy to do this-to
hang upon Blrcher's rear--was Q fatal cir
cumstance Of the final catastrophe N
Il On the night Of June 18th the British and
French armies encanped only . short distance
apart. "A modern field-piece could easily throw
q shell from La Belle Alliance over La Hale
Sainte to Mont st. Jean and far beyond into
the forest. During the afternoon OF the 18th
and the greater part of the night, there was a
heavy neutrality-suspicious. fact in the catastro'
phe. On the following morning the Emperor,
viewing the situation from his headquarters
ut the farm Of La Belle Alliance, was unwill-
ing to precipitate the battle until his artillery
might deploy over a dry field. r.. - r.. r.
Hugo has made the place and the scene i'm
mortal in the greatest battle-piece since Ho-
,ncr. The field Of Waterloo Is an undulating
plain. Strategically, it has the shape Of an i'm
lnense harrow. The clevis Is on the height
called Mont st. Jean. Behind that is the vii
lage Of Waterloo. The right leg Of the harrow
terminates at the hamlet Of La Belle Alliance.
The left leg is the road from Brussels to Nj
velles The cross-bar intersects the right leg
at La Hale Sainte. The right leg is the high
way from Brussels to Charleroi. The intersec-
ton of the bar with the left leg is near the
old stone chateau Of Hougomont The battle
was fought on the line Of the cross-bar and in
the triangle between it and the clevis.
The conflict began just before noon. The
armies engaged were Of equal strength, num-
bering about SO, 600 men on each side. Napoleon
was superior in artillery; but wellington sol
diers had seen longer service in the field. They
were his veterans from the Penlnsular War,
perhaps the stubbornest fighters in Europe.
Napolcon's first plan was to double back the
efs On rs an
corollary the taking Of Hougomont. The Lat;
ter place was first attacked. The field and
wood were carried; but the chateau was held
in the midst Of horrid carnage by the British.
Early in the afternoon q Prussian division,
under Bulow, about Il, coo strong, came on the
field, and Napoleon had to withdraw divl-
sion from his center to repel the oncoming Ger
mans. For two or three hours in the area
between La Haie sainte and Hougonont, the
battle ragged, ne lines swaying with uncertain
taken and held by, Ney... On the whole, the
British lines receded. wellington 8 attempt to
retake La Hale Sainte ended in repulse. Ney
reinforcements, and the latter at that moment,
changing his plan of battle, determined to
make the principal charge on the British cen.
not as heavy as it, should have been, but the
Marshal concluded that the crisis was ut
hand. and Napoleon sought to support him
the Middle Guard. Under this counter-charge
the British lines reeled and staggered, but
still chung desperately to their position. They
gave httle and then hung fast ana eouId Pc pc
field Durutte carried the allied position Of Pa
pelotte, and Lobau routed BuloW from Plan,
chenois At half past four everything seemed
to portend disaster to the allies and victory
to the French re, =, g.
just at this iuncture, however, On uproar
was witnessed far to. tho right. The woods
shot up in the horizon. Grouchy was NOT on
his rear or aankl Napoleon saw at a glance
that it was then Or never His sun Of Austsr
must DO broken, or the Empire which he had
bnilded with his genius must pass away like
phantom. He cslled out -four battalions OF the
Hundred times On the enemies Of France and
never yet repulsed. 1t deemed itself invinci.
At seven o'clock, just as the June sun was
sinking to the horizon. the bugles sounded,
and the finest body Of horsemen in Europe
started to its doom on the squares Of Yelling:
like heroes. Tho charge rolled on like an ava
lnnche. It plunged into the sunken road OF
G'Hain. It seemed to roll over. It rose from
squares. They reeed under the shock; then
reformed and stood fast. Around and around
those immovable lines the soldiers Of the EN-,
pire beut and beat In vain. 1t was the war of
races ut its climax. It was the final death grip
of the Gaul and the Teuton. The Old Guard
recoiled. The wild cry Of La Garde reculle
Of the Modern Era broke in blood and smoke,
and the past was suddenly victorious. The
Guard was broken into flying squadrons: Ruin
Ney, glorious in his despair, sought to stay
the tide. For an hour longer he was specta-
Gle to gods and men: Five horses had been
hatless. He clutched the hilt Of broken sword.
He was covered with dust and blood. But his
grim face was set against the victorious enc
my in tho hopeless and heroic struggle to raj
ly his shattered columns.
Meanwhile the Prussians rushed in from the
right. Welllngton's guards rose and charged.
o wd anard
Napoleon into q last square around which to
rally the fugitives. The Emperor stood in the
mlCtSU ana declared MS purpose TO 0le WIN
them. Marshal Soult forced him out Of the
melee, and the famous square, commanded by
Cambronne-..f linging his profane objurgation
into the teeth of the English-perished with
the wild cry Of Vive 'Empereur! ~.
On TRAIT spot French patriotism has planted
a b. >Tlze lion to commemorate forever the ex-
tinction not Of the Old Guard only, but Of the
Empire and of Napoleon the Great. There the
traveller from strange lands pauses, at the
cataclysm, and reflects with wonder how
within the memory Of living men human ma.
ture could have been raised by the passion OF
battle to such sublime heroism rs that dis
played in these wheatfelds and orchards where
the Old Guard Of France sank into oblivion
but rose to immortal fame. r..
The rest may be briefly summarized. Ma
poleon once more in Paris is obliged to abdt-
tive. On the 8rd Of July we see him at Roche
fort, on the western coast. He would fain
reach the United States: but the English fleets
patrol the Atlantic. His mind is confused
amid the wrecks Of his destiny. He changes
his purpose, and throws himself on the gener-
osity Of England. He claims to be prisoner
Of war, and expects the treatment accorded
in battle. Vain expectationl He is conveyed
to Torbay on the 18th Of July. There are fu-
rious debates In the British Commons. For
what shall we do with Him?
That indeed, o Great Britain, Is q question!
The worst the most ungenerous thing Is DONE,
He shall be banished to st. Helena. The thing
Is accomplished. On the 10Th Of October, 1915,
spects the most remarkable man who has ap-
peared in the world since the era OF Christ,
was debarked on his desOlate island, that
s'Petite Isle' with which he had concluded