The Washington herald., 1914-11-01

ground is more or less cluttered with
inns and shops The wooded background
Of Wellington's army has vanished, while
and now a trsmway runs along 4 Not:
wtthstanding these latter-day intrusions.
however the field of Waterloo is still the
same checker-board Of small, well-tended
farms, dotted with the same villages. as
when the battle burst upon 1t. One who
stands today on La Belle Alliance needs
to put forth only a slight effort Of the
the two warning armies, victor and van
quished, and see them again facing each
other in serTied lines. q.
Like Austeriitz, Waterloo was not
fought in Waterloo, but two and three
miles south Of that village. which itself In
only ten miles out Of Brussels. And, un-
like most battles. it was not for the pos
session Of q fortress, river. or a noun
country wagon road, which. like a main
aisle, runs through the very center OF
the battlefield. From La Belle Alliance,
where the French troops were drawn up.
this road dips down into the narrow. tum-
bling valley, which divided the two
armies on the battle morning and ascends
the opposite height of Mount St Jean. on
awaited the ADVANCE of, their foe. O''
The duke won the toss for the choice
of position, and he exercised his advan-
tage with good tactical judgment. He
knew where he was going when he re-
tired from ouatre Bras. for he had ex-
amined Mount St Jean while passing by
a year before. But the original discoverer
Of Waterloo was, Of all men, Hudson
Lowe. or at least he was among the
first to commend Its military advantages.
When wellington posted his troops
there. he cleveriy took advantage Of
markable battlefield. Down close to the
foot Of La Belle Alliance, and at the
western end Of this fitting ground OF the
nations. rise the shattered walls OF the
111 ~ko -
covered with wounds. and the very trees
are battle-scarred. Out In the center, be-
side the Brussels road, Is a group of
buildings within high stone wall These
Sainte. At the eastern end OF the fieli
is the little hamlet of Papelotte, with
two other hamlets near by.
Wellington seized upon all those build
ings. garrisoned them cut loopholes in
them, and turned them into forts. Thus
the stone walls Of HouKounaont and
Papel9tte became. in effect the brass
John Bull while La Haye Sainte served
him as breastplate in his finish fight
with Napoleon For II was behind those
his battle line, which stretched nearly
three miles from west to east from
Hougoumont to Papelotte. with La Have
Sainte in the very center. At their fam
ing gates thousands fell, and upon their
stony sides the full fury of the French
assault broke before 1t reached the Brit
ish front. =
Not only did Wellington shield his
troops behind that strange chain Of i'm
provised fortresses, but he posted them
back OF the road TO Wavre which was
most peculiarly contrived to protect them.
A high. thick hedge bordered the easter
~ reach Of the highway and formed a
good screen, while to the west the road
sank fully six feet below the field, a
perfect intrenchment, ready-made,
Back Of the road the duke stood his
soldiers on the slope of Mount St lean
where in every attack the enemy had an
uphill task. He also made the hill serve
him In still another way. its crest snIfgiy
sheitering and, indeed. quite concealing
his reserves and wounded.
Two Men, Two Armies.
The two armies were not very unequal
in numbers Although Wellington 1sed 70
say that Napoleon on the battlefield was
worth 1900 men. the Iron Duke hlmself
was no small reinforcement to any army
he commanded. In the outlines of their
lives the two chieftains were STRANGELY
matched. They were born on conquered |
Islands within few months Of each
other; they were educated In French mil. |
itary schools at the same time; they re- |
eeiyed their commissions and they mada
their hrst campaigns in the same years. !
Although their paths never had crossed |
until they met on the Brussels road, the |
Brtton had for six years fought the mar
ana there, In lSl4 the Irtshman was win |
ming his dukedom. while the CorsIcan was
losing his crown.
Napoleon had q few more and well |
lington a few less than 10 900 troope The |
most marked disparity between the forces 4