The Washington herald., 1913-09-06
tcovynrht. 1913. b. A. D. JuOObsOn.)

(Copynght lsB, % A. u. SAOoIsoh'
My recent letter on the Waterloo Ball.
apropos Of the approaching centenary OF
that famous battle, brought, as l fully ex-
pected II would. renewed inquiries as to
who really won this deciding fight b.
tween the allied forces and Napoleon the
First after his whirlwind return from
Elba, the last stand ere being thrust into
obscurity upon that lone rock in the At
lantic of the South African coast, there
1 to die an exile from the country that so
greatly worshiped him as master of all
Europe.
1 believe that 1. have answered that
question to the best OF my belief, and
according to historical facts Everybody
claims to have won Waterloo wrote
Blucher to his King, after the tight was
over, which showed how little conceit
was in the man who has been so hbeled
in the British press OF a century ago. For
| l have repeatedly quoted authorities, the
Duke OF Wellington among thew, that II
was Blucher and his Prussian Genadiers
who, arriving in the nick OF time, made
the deciding charge. What some falsi-
ficators Of history mean when they write
that Blucher, had the weather been more
clement. should have reached La Hale
in the forenoon instead OF in the after
noon. Is simply that il was raining eats
and dogs all the previous day and night
and all that morning, making the roads
admost impossible for artillery and heavy
cavalry, not to speak OF the Grenadiers
who actually had TO wade in thick black,
adhesive mud ankle deep in forced
marches. in order to get to the trysting
place. Any pioneer or soldier will know
what that meant 10 worn out regiments
and animals Hence Blucher's belated
arrival, which prompted the old British
warrior, the Iron Duke, to repeatedly pull
out his watch and TO exclaim nervously:
Where in all h. is that - Dutch
man. II he tarries much longer We
lose" but 10 also exclaim, when at last
he saw the begrimed men-some OF them
actually helping the horses to drag the
cannon up the hills-men who, despite
such hardship and suffering at once got
into line and gave battle. Thank God
here is Blucher. we are safe at last.'
There was enough glory on the field OF
Waterloo for all, so why begrudge the
praise due to the man to whose lot it
fell, unsought. TO decide the day.
Blucher il was who won the battle of
through the day as the brave Britishers
did.
To see the field of Waterloo is like
having a familiar rage in history become
your own. II fiatters one to think that
he is where Napoleon and Wellington
fought with all Europe breathlessly wait
ing on them.
Ones feeling when walking the soil Of
Waterloo Is one OF great solemnity.
touched with surprise. Your foot breaks
the grass where the dust OF a Scots
Gray perhaps mingIes with that OF q
Napoleonlc Guardsman. It's small field
10 have so much happen on it. II con-
sists OF farm land and pasturage, with
red brick houses dotting the plain; some
old and weary. others newer and larger.
There are two ridges, each like a bent
bow. and IN length each is, roughly, two
miles. On the ridge nearest Brussels,
dominated by the village Of Waterloo.
Wellington had his men in battle array.
On the opposite ridge, or half circle, was
Napoleon's army. with the farm of Belle
Alliance for its center and the woods of
Chantelet for background.
One gets an easy grip of the situa-
tion by ascending the memorial mound
which the allies. who fought at Water
loo. have erected. There are more than
two hundred steps TO take, but they
are labor we'll spent when the top is
reached, where a Belgian lion keeps
watch. He cuts a far greater figure
than Belgium did at Waterloo. How
very close to each other were the stafYs
Of Napoleon and Wellington. one at
Belle Alliance, the other UP below the
village OF Waterloo, less than three
hundred yards apart. While the armies
were taking ground in the early morn
ing, Napoleon rode up an emipence to
the rear right of Hougoumont. There
he could see the battle that was to be
with the vision that was half his Ee-
MUS. Still earlier he had been seen