News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1901-10-23

o1oaAS JoAbo " DAAN
ssh were killed and 1900 wounded.
The prize fought for was Madrid.
Soult, Ma$mont and Joseph Bonaparte
were In the field. Maneuvering to pre-
vent Marmont and Joseph from unit
Ing, Wellington met Marmont at Sala-
manca in midsummer, and in a short,
sharp action in which Marmont was
outgeneraled beat 10000 French In
forty minutes" Madrid fell, but the
French Joined forces, and Wellington
was compelled to retreat to Portugal.
But in 1913 Wellington returned to
| Spain by water, surprised the French
and won battle after battle. On the
collapse of Napoleon in the winter Of
1914 he returned to England a con-
queror and was created duke.
The genius Of Wellington in the pc
ninsular war was second only to that
Of Napoleon himself. He worked like
a galley slave" as he declared. In all
England the cause was considered lost.
The government said: I'VE are power
less. Be prudent and run no risks" He
declared hat he worked with a sword
hanging over him. He looked after the
troops, the supplies, the organization.
He insisted that the line officers look
after the food of the men, their march
es and their camps. The enlisted men
he characterized as the of the
earth, but under good officers could be
depended upon to get the army out of a
scrape. In later years he said: THE
militia is the constitutional force. The
battle of Waterloo, that battle of gi-
ants, was fought with militiamen, a
very different thing if had had my old
the army was drink, and he punished
with a high hand ali p~lunuerilg and
excess.
W%ellington's eye was everywhere,
upon all departments and all ranks at
all times. In winter he kept the in
fantry and cavalry marching for prAc-
tice. In the presence of the enemy
he ordered tkat one-third of each regi-
ment be kept a]ccoutered in the lines
and the whole army on the alert. IF
L IA dDSCI " al OpNL "AICIh, SOiAS
thing goes wrong" he said. Once in
Spain he travelled 200 miles in five days
on horseback, riding the last fifty be-
tween breakfast and dinner. Yet with
all his cares and occupations yelling
ton was gay in camp. He rode to the
hounds, danced and gave dinners. He
went about with only one Oh two at
tendants, and callers at his tent often
found him alone.
Wellington would not have been the
Wellington of history without Water
loo, but yet he was II great soldier be-
fore the downfall of the CorSican I'M
der his banners. when people ask
ME to describe Waterloo" said the duke
soon after the battle, Il tell them 1t
was hard pounding IN both sides, and
we pounded the hardest. There was
no maneuvering. Bonaparte kept up
his attacks, and | was glad to let it
be decided by the troops" In another
mood he once said to a lady of fashion
who asked the usual question, "We
pummeled them, and they pummeled
us, and | suppose we pummeled the
hardest, so we gained the day." At
another time he said, waterloo was
won in the playing fields Of Eton."
This was another compliment to the
prowess of his green troops.
There were mistakes on both sides at
Waterloo. But the mistake that might
have ruined the cause of the allies and
the fame Of Wellington was corrected
In time to saw the day. That was the
matter of La Haye Sainte, the tactical
key to the battlefield. La Haye Sainte
should have been strengthened by
breastworks and held by a strong force.
The failure to do this has been laid up
on Wellington's staff, but he took it up
on himself. For once he broke the rule
of looking after everything in person.
Suddenly the French dashed for La
Haye Sainte and captured it. yelling
ton was not there, but an aid took the
startling news to him. With his usual
readiness and with marvellous GOODNESS,
considering what hung upon the issue,
he said: Il shall order up the Bruins
wickers and other troops. Go, you, and
get all the German troops you can to
the spot and all the guns you can find"
Leading up the Brunswickers in per-
son, he spanned the gap in the line and
held it until it was covered with artil-
lery, and the day was saved.
At a later stage, when Napoleon sent
in Ney with the imperial guard, We'll
lington stood back on the interior slope
with his last reserves. Maitland's royal
guards. At the supreme moment. when
Ney's soldiers appeared on the crest in
front, the duke cried to Maitland's
men, up, guards, and make ready!'
When the French began to waver un-
der the terrible fire, Wellington order
ed a charge, and Napoleon was lost.
In battle Wellington bore a charmed
life. At Salamanca the French dashed
for two British guns just as Yelling
ton was passing. He was caught in
the melee and had to fight his way out,
sword in hand. While accommodating
at the front in Spain, Soult's rear
guard saw him and tried to cut him off,
but he gallOped away unscathed under
q heavy fire. In one action a round
shot cut the boughs of a tree over his
head, two bullets passed through his
clothes, and one, striking in the groin,
knocked him from his horse. In the
ootion ot n.otrn Poe hafnra Waterloo