The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1898-06-25
WATERLOO IN
A NEW LIGHT

The battle of Waterloo Is one of perennial
| interest. The United States were little
| involved, directly or indirectly, both the
| French and English being regarded by
them as rather foes than friends at the
| time. But the effect of the battle upon the
| world was somthing more than far-reach-
| ing. 1t has changed the face of the world.
civilized and otherwise, and In the changes
| this country is vitality interested. It will
| be remembered that Napoleon fought on
| one side; the Germans under Butcher and
| the British under Wellington on the other.
| Until the admirable book of E. L. s.
| Horseburgh, Waterloo: A Narrative and
| Criticism" the two nationalities chiefly
| involved against the French had been en-
| gagged in spirited controversies, each seek
| ing to claim for itslf the entire glory of
| the occasion. The book in hand substitutes
| a milder process, holding rightly that there
| was glory enough for two, that both
| could abundantly afford to tell the entire
| truth. In any event, it marks the end of
| Latin domination in Europe. The two
| great winning nations have suffered no
| pulse of consequences since, and it may
readily be believd today that all who speak
| English and all who speak German con-
| stitute an absolutely invincible force
| against the world.
Napoleon set out with $4,000 men. The
| allies had very nearly 100000 to oppose to
| him, but these were distributed along a
| frontier so long that their numerical SUI
| periority was of little consequence. TAX
| Ing his departure from Paris June u, 1885,
| two days later saw a most skillful concen-
trat.on of his troops in the neighborhood
| of Charleroi; the Prussians under the COM
mand of Ziethen falling back in order.
| 1t was not until the next day that yelling
| ton began to bring the allied armies into
| close communication. 1t is admitted with
practical unanimity that this was serious
mistake which nothing but good fortune
kept from becoming a colossal blunder. 1t
| is offset in part by Ney's failure to occupy
Quatre Bras June IS, which has never been
explained, since it was a most desirable
point and was at that time hardy defended
| by the allies at all. AS 1t was, it was not
| until the evening of the 10Th that yelling
| ton ordered the march to Quatre Bras.
| The next morning Napoleon commanded
| Ney to destroy this force, and at the same
| time he attacked the Germans at Ligny
| himself. Ney fought bloody but indecis-
| i've battle, beginning at o'clock in the
afternoon. OF the SO, 900 soldiers involved
| 1900 were slain. Half an hour later the
| force under Butcher was in the thick of the
| fighting at Ligny. Had Ney been able to
| send re-enforcements, it would have been
annihilated. AS IT was, 1t retreated under
cover of the darkness and was able to
| decide the fate of nations two days later
June II was do-nothing day, "day of
delays" Napoleon was absolutely conf
dent He had some 10000 English over
against him on the following day, and
he knew that the Dutch and Belgians in
the allied army were at least lukewarm.
The Prussians, who were earnest. were at
some distance. Fate seemed to have
played into his hand. as it had SO often
done before. He did not realize, what is
so plain now, that his failure to defeat and
utterly rout the divided forces on the 10th
marked his decline. And it is certain. as
well, that if Butcher had been as slow in
helping Wellington at Waterloo as the lat
ter had been in coming to his assistance
at Ligny, there would have been differ
ent ending. The honors are therefore
pretty evenly divided. The British squares
held together as they always do, and made
it possible for the Prussians to come upon
the field after most laborious march in
which difficulties were overcome almost as
great as those of actual battle. But the
Dutch-Belgians are also to be mentioned.
Though their politics was rather on the
French than the British-German side, they
fought with the utmose enthusiasm, and
were certainly one of the three determining
factors in the amazing defeat inflicted upon
the French and their great commander.
This has been lost sight of by many writers
on the subject. One of the most surprising
things in Horseburg's account is the dis
closure he makes of the ignorance on all
sides of the movements of the enemy
well-disposed system of obtaining intelli-
gence would have made success inevitable
! for the side which possessed 1t.