The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1915-06-24
A Century Since Waterloo
HANDFUL of sweating dirty
men, in the bearskin shakos
Of the French Imperial Guard

standard In the center, jabbed thei
bayonets at the ring of shouting
Prussian horsemen that rode at them
The clash of arms resounded; ther
died away as the horsemen fell bacl
from the guards steel hedge. In the
lull the square took up it's retreat
again with wary eye on the enemy
lowering behind
From a little eminence near, the
emperor watched the falling away OF
this last prop to his imperial splen-
dor and ambitions. He turned to the
officers of his staff nearby and an
nounced that he preferred death with
the gallant square to the humiliation
of the morrow; but Marshal Soult
grasped the reins of his bride as he
prepared to spur away.
"Ah, SIRE" he said, "the enemy are
fortunate enough already"
So, century ago Friday, June IS,
the last curtain on the drama of Wa
terloo went down and Emperor Napo-
leon |, "the eagle no longer in the
keeping of the GODS" rode into a
night where no sun of Austerlitz or
star of destiny could shed it's light.
One hundred years ago this month
June 10, 1915, Napoleon gave the
cue which began the last act of the
last drama of his eventful life. He
issued orders for "The Grand Army"
then concentrated at Lille, Maubege,
Beaumont and Phillippeville, to cross
the frontier into Belgium, then, as
now, the Cockpit of Europe" and
make a desperate effort to keep alive
the glories of imperial France.
June Is the Grand Army moved
22,401 horse, foot and guns at the
whole of Europe and in particular
at the 100000 of the Anglo-Allied
army under the Duke of Wellington
and the $4,000 Prussians under Blu
cher The fate of Europe hung on
armies almost too small for consid-
Grafton in the present gigantic strug-
gle.
All that day, and three more, the
tide of war rolled back and forth
from Brussels to. the French frontier
in Charleroi, Mons, Dinant, Namur,
Quatre Bras, Bry, Sombreffe, Wavre
and Waterloo, all towns baptized in
blood and fire again but yesterday.
Then the roar of the surf went back,
% become only memory at placid
St. Helena.
June 16 Napoleon crossed the Sam
IRE at Charleroi, as the Germans did
asst August. His advance came in
contact with the Prussian army of
Butcher and the four days fighting
vas on. The Prussian army was
then in the little towns
orth of the Sambre and in the neigh /
orhood of Namur. Wellington, with
is array of English, Dutch, Belgians, I
and Hanoverians, was
lowly forming for battle on Nivelles {
nd Quatre Bras, Is or 20 miles away,
nd an equal distance south of Brus- |
els. s
Napoleon's plan was simple; one 7
nat had brought him glory on many t
mother field. He wanted to keep g
7ellington and Butcher from uniting, c
hip one and then the other, and by t
lose two signal victories disrupt the
liance against him and win peace a
which France should recover from il
lie 20 years of strife he had brought
er.
The impetuous Marshal Ney was |:
ven command of the French left q
ing. 1t was planned that he should n
in Quatre Bras the night of June Il
!. But one of the series of blum a
,rs or mishaps that accompanied 81
apoleon on his last campaign de- g
we'd his troops so that it was well cl
to the following day before Ney's m
oops had debouched from France m
ward their objective and had ex- H
anged fire with the outposts of the til
lgish.
Napoleon himself elected to COM at
and the center and right and attack ca
e Prussians. But time, it seemed, SO
d dulled the genius that won him to
agram, Jena and Lodi. Instead of al
uring his numbers into the weaker di
ussians at daybreak, the emperor So
aved until o'clock, when the sun in
S well on its way and another
ussian corps or two had arrived fir,
taken position on the battle field. 70
entually both Napoleon and Ney tir
MT into action, the one at Ligny sp
/ the other at Quatre Bras. II tri
noleon succeeded in rolling back Br
Prussians to the bluffs at Sanbre
intended to turn and snap at We'll 70,
yton's TANKS as Ney bit at his 90,
mt. If Ney found an easy prey br,
drove the English back on Brus- ere
!. he was to take Butcher on the GO,
;. low
Tut for the delay in Ney's corps on grt
orI %bo foil.,ro