The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-06-16
Belgian Troops Won Waterloo One Hundred
 Years Ago Today

Did the British or the Germans Wellington or Blucher-win the bat tie Of Waterloo. which was fought in Belgium a century ago this week?
 Now that Great Britain and Ger many are at war, this question, long a subject of heated discussion, has become more acrimonious than ever before.
 There are several answers One of them is: Neither The Belgians won Waterloo two days before it was fought
 There is a considerable element of truth in such a statement, for in the battle of Quatre Bras, fought just a hundred years ago today, the Belgians manifested such. devoted bravery that they made possible Wel1ington's great victory two days later.
 The historic warfare of a, century ago-Which was thought to stand for the very pinnacle of the achfeveme ents Of Mars until the outbreak of the present var of a hundred Waterloos began on the fifteenth of June, 1915, when Napoleon led his army across the border and moved upon Char1eroi- The Prussians who held that place fled before the veterans of France, and Napoleon had accom- phshed his first object of taking the enemy by surprise.
 Napo1eon's plan was to separate We1hngton's army and Butchers S Prussians, and to do this he dispatch- ed Ney with 46 900 troops to O1atre. Bras, at the intersection of important roads, while he himself with 72,oOO
 men marched toward FIeurus to at tack Butcher, who was falling back upon Iigny- The battle of Ligny, fought a century ago today, was a complete victory for Napoleon By a series of nasterful maneuvres, the Corsican put the Prussians to rout, and they lost 1900 men and twenty one guns. Butcher tried in vain to 4 rally his men to oppose the on l slaughts of the French cavalry. His horse shot under him, Butcher was thrown to the ground and two sue cesstve cavalry charges passed over the unconscious Prussian leader Gen. Gneisenau conducted the retreat of the Prussians, and at night Butcher was rescued from the battlefield by l his aide-de-camp, and was revived to find his army routed.
 In the meantime Wellington had 1 ordered a. brigade of Belgian troops
 to proceed to NiveIIes. A Belgian of l ficer assumed the responsib bility for | changing the order so that the Bel
 gians were dispatched to Quatre-Bras. | There the Prince of Orange on June l 18th, assumed. command of 5000
 Belgians, and faced the 48,0O0
 Frenchmen under Ney. The latter, 1 believing that he faced the whole of | Wellington's army, lost valuable time
 waiting for news from the other army 1 before attacking and did not advance l against the Belgian until the after noon. The Prince of Orange sought | to delay a general action until he ] could secure endorsements by send | ing against the French a thousand
 cavalrymen. Their charge, while it
 accomplished nothing in itself, de- 1ayed the engagem ment until the 1 British infantry arrived in force By holding their position the Bel
 gian soldiers, although outnumbered 1 nearly six to one, saved the day for l the allies Except for their gallant
 resistance, Ney would have found the CharIeroi road open, and Napoleon would have succeeded in carrying out
 his plan to thrust an army between \ Wellington and Butcher and prevent