The Washington herald., 1914-11-01
THE LAST STAND.
June "a. lsIs-rss 8. sstsls Of w..sAOo.


ArE
June Is 1aETne Battle Of Waterloo.
Nature played a dreary and fttlne
overture the night before the battle OF
Waterloo The skies opened wide, and
ington without tent TO shelter them
from the almost incessant downpour,
slept on the sodden earth or stood In
groups and drowsed on one anothers
The Duke OF. wellington made hts head
quarters in house still seen and room
stin shown opposite the church n tne
stayed in a large farmhouse, lie Caiiou.
which continues to present Its stone ga
bles to the charleroi-Brussels road
There lying on his iron camp bed. be-
meath a gold fringed silk counterpane
and a canopy with green satin curtains,
Napoleon dreamed his last dream OF VIC
Al midnight a courier from Marshal
Grouchy came dripping into lie Caillou
with a dispatch reporting that Blucner'
seemed to be marching toward wavre,
and that II this should prove 20 be the
case he, too. would march 70 Wavre. IN
order to keep the Prussians from joining
the British. Although the courier said
that an answer was expected, he was Sent
away without any, when one inspiring
, suggestion to the uninspired marshal
might have made Waterloo spell success.
Why, then. was no order sent? Was
the Emperor asleep? II he was, prob
ably no one would have dared break
in upon the imperial slumber. The old
days of republican freedom were long
since gone. when the Little Corporal said
to Bourrienne: IF you bring bad news
- arouse me instantly. for then there Is not
a moment to be lost"
The Fatal Delay.
At that same midnight hour the Prus-
SLAMS, already arrived at Wavre. were
deciding in council of war to Join the
British at onoe. In two hours more
cheerinS rhI p promise Of help, and he finally
determined to make stand at Water
loo.
up and visiting the lines of his rain
drenched army. Peering through the
shadows of the starless night, he traced
black outline Of the Forest Of Soignes
beyond.
He never ceased to express his amaze
ment that Wellington should have risksd
a battle with his back to that forest. But
the duke always insisted that the tail
and well-separated trees OF the forest
its lack of underbrush, and its many
woods roads. offered suf1cient facilities
for the retreat Of a beaten army.
The sun of Waterloo rose at twelve
minutes t Of on ,s IS, Sunday day pSFni9E Ss in in
weeping clouds. The rain soon stopped.
however, and ''at O'Clock" so he die
tated at St Helena, ''the Emperor per
! ceiyed a few feeble rays Of that sun
I which should before setting light up the
destruction Of the British army"
II was Napoleon's habit to strike early;
At Montenott, Austeriitz, Jena, and
Megram. he began at sunrise. But at
Waterloo he made q fatal delay on the
advice Of Gen. Druout, who asked him
to walt for the ground to dry, so that
= the gun carriages could be more readily
moved. Ever after Druout had TO lament
that but for him the Emperor might have
attacked at z, won at 10. and been ready
for Blucher in the afternoon.
The British were promptly in line.
While they were forming in battle array,
with trumpets blaring, drums beating,
and bagpipes wailing, a spirited caval-
cade dashed upon the scene from the d.
rection Of Waterloo village. 1t was the
Duke Of wellington seated on his war
his stan, including the Prince of Orange,
the Duke Of Richmond, and other great
aristocrats of Britain. They came upon
" with the gayety that they would ride
to meet the hounds in a quiet English
county. And among them was that un-
Borgo who had chased the quarry for
twenty years and all over the fields of
the noble duke was appareled like a
bridegroom as he rode his lines. His
cooked hat sported four cockades in the
colors OF England. Spain, Portugal. and
showed under his dark-blue coat From
his shoulders short blue cloak hoated
in the air. and his buckskin breeches
disappeared into a pair of high-tasseied
boots.
The Last Pageant.
At s O'Clock Napoleon was still leisure
ly breakfasting at lie Gallon on silver
plate brought from the I dilleries. The
sun was shining and wind was blowing
supremely confident that he would break
fast the next morning in Brussels. I'VE
have ninety chances in our favor and not
ten against u.s." he declared.
He would hurl Wellington back upon
his base at Ostend or at Antwerp, drive
him into the sea, as he expressed II. ''I
shall bring my numerous artillery into
I shall march with my Old Guard He
had no thought that the Prussians he
had beaten at Lgny, two DAYS before.
day. yn' f@ii' anu CONFRONT MN again 'hA'
Marshal souIt had pressed the Emperor
the night before to call in u least some
Of the 5000 men with Grouchy, and he
urged the point anew at the breakfast
table. But the Emperor scorned his
prudence. Because Wellington has
general" he chided his chief OF stan.
But let me tell you now that Welling
ton is poor general, and that the Eng
lish are poor soldiers, and that for me
this AFFAIR here is no more than eating
this breakfast
Thus the Emperor sat at table, routing
the foe with knife and fork, while his
troops were forming or the heights Of |
La Belle Alliance. II was about when |
he appeared before them and for the last |
time held review Of his army. Dressed |
in his long gray dust coat he rode down |
the frenLied ranks in fun view Of the |
red line Of England. less than q mile |
away, where wellington, through his |
field glass. followed the imperial prog
ress and where the cheers of the French |
broke IN ringing waves upon the British |
front. Not a shot was fred 70 interrupt |
the imposing spectacle. more Ike grand |
entry into the bull ring than the inaugu- !
ration Of battle for the mastery OF |
Europe.
on helmets and cuirasses and 1t up the l
and deep green uniforms The eagle |
crowned standards fiuttered in the breeze l
while plumes OF all the rainbow hues |
nodded above the huge bearskin CABS the /
tiger helmets and the shal1os. The grena- |
diers and chasseurs Of the Old Guard, |
with powdered queues and enormous gold i
earrings, and the most ferocious muR-
their lips carried in their knapsacks I
their full-dress uniforms in readiness for 1
a triumphant entry into Brussels the next /
day.
The Field of waterloo.
The stage on which Napoleon enacted
that closing scene in the pageantry Of \
passing OF a century. True, the Bel
gians have defaced the field by heaping |
up an enormous mound OF earth 200 feet 1
high and placing a huge lion on top Of /
II, while half a dozen other more modest !
memorials rise here and there. The !