Prussian troops, led on by that gallant veteran, regained the village of St. Amand, and recovered the summit of a height, where their artillery raked the French line. It was at this moment that Napoleon executed a beautiful and masterly manœuvre. Forming the imperial guard into a square column, they descended a ravine in front of the centre of the Prussian line, and disregarding a tremendous fire, ascended the opposite side in perfect order, when they charged the Prussians with the bayonet. The shock could not be withstood; the position was forced, and the communication between the centre and right wing of their army destroyed. The fate of the day was now decided. The Prussians retired slowly, and in good order. Darkness and fatigue prevented an active pursuit. It was in this battle that Blucher narrowly escaped death or captivity. Charging with a body of horse, which was repelled by the French cavalry, he was overthrown, and while lying on the ground, unable to extricate himself, they twice passed close to him. The Prussian loss was very severe, it amounted to between 20,000 and 25,000 men in killed, wounded, and prisoners, and 40 pieces of cannon: that of the French is estimated at about 12,000. After the battle, Blucher retired on Wavre; a movement which induced the Duke of Wellington, on the 17th, to fall back and take up the celebrated position of Waterloo. The retreat occasioned several skirmishes between the French and British cavalry, with alternate success, but no important action. Napoleon, having detached Marshal Grouchy with a force amounting to about 36,000 men to Wavre, to hold the army of Blucher in check, followed the British with the remainder of his forces. The day was dreadful, the rain fell in torrents, and the roads were nearly destroyed. The position taken up by the Duke of Wellington was admirably selected.

The British army occupied a rising ground, having in its front a gentle declivity. The extremity of the right wing was stationed at Merke Braine. The enclosed country and deep ravines round this village protected the right flank, and rendered it impossible for the enemy to turn it. In the centre

of the right was a country-house called Hougoumont, or Gomont (le Chateau de Gomont). The house was loop-holed, and strongly occupied; the garden and orchard were lined with light troops, and the wood before the house was maintained by some companies of the guards. The front of the right was thrown back, to avoid a ravine, which would have exposed it, and was nearly at right angles with the centre. It consisted of the second and fourth English divisions, the third and sixth Hanoverians, and the first of the Netherlands, and was commanded by Lord Hill. The centre was composed of the corps of the Prince of Orange, supported by the Brunswick and Nassau regiments, with the guards under General Cooke on the right, and the division of General Alten on the left. In front was the farm of La Haye Sainte, which was occupied in great force. The road from Genappe to Brussels ran through the middle of the centre. The left wing, consisting of the divisions of Generals Picton, Lambert, and Kempt, extended to the left of Ter la Haye, which it occupied, and the defiles of which protected the extremity of the left, and prevented it from being turned. The cavalry was principally posted in the rear of the left of the centre.

Separated by a valley varying from half to three-fourths of a mile in breadth, were other heights following the bending of those on which the British army was posted. The advanced guard of the French reached these heights in the evening of the 17th, and some skirmishes took place between the outposts..

The heights above-mentioned were crowned by the French army, with their artillery, on the night of the 17th, which inflicted dreadful sufferings on either host. The rain fell incessantly, and the soldiers were up to their knees in mud. At length dawned the morning of the glorious 18th of June.

Napoleon, having seized a farmer who lived at the house of La Belle Alliance, compelled him to mount on horseback, and guide him in an extensive reconnoissance of the country, and the British positions: an operation which lasted four or five hours. He then formed his army in divisions on the heights,

which slowly descended to the plain in the most beautiful order to the sound of martial music. The plan of the battle, arranged by each commander, was directly opposite, but admirably suited to their respective circumstances. It was strictly defensive on the part of the Duke of Wellington until he could be reinforced by Blucher.

The first scheme of Napoleon was to force the farm-house of Hougoumont, which covered the centre of the allied position, ascend the height beyond it, and cleave asunder the British army; while, on the left, Grouchy, who had been ordered to march on Wavre, so as to arrive there at day-break on the 18th, was directed to keep the Prussians in check, and gradually inclining to St. Lambert, outflank the British army. By a providential misapprehension of, or disobedience to, his orders, Grouchy did not arrive at Wavre until midday, where he found a strong rear-guard under General Thielman, with whom he long maintained an obstinate conflict. The action commenced by a general cannonade along the line, and about half past 11 o'clock the French made a desperate attack on the farm-house of Hougoumont. The wood in its centre was occupied by some battalions: after a glorious resistance, they were compelled to cede to the superior numbers of the enemy, who penetrated their position. Aware of the vital importance of this place, the Duke strongly reinforced the division by which it was occupied, and a most sanguinary and furious action ensued. Vainly did successive and massive columns of infantry, cavalry, and artillery assail it. The house was set on fire, and the combatants pursued the work of death in the midst of the flames, in which numbers of the wounded, who could not be removed, were literally consumed to ashes; but the French did not gain an inch of ground. To cover the real point of attack, Napoleon directed a general assault on the British line. Immense bodies of infantry and cavalry ascended the heights on which the British army rested, and assailed the squares, into which the Duke of Wellington, with admirable foresight, had formed it; but hitherto they could make no impression.

The principal aim of the French now was to possess themselves of the ground occupied by the divisions under Generals Picton and Kempt. On the left of the British, a strong column of the enemy advanced without firing a shot, when they were unexpectedly opposed by Sir Thomas Picton's corps, formed into a solid square. They fired a volley, hesitated, and fled; but that volley destroyed the brave General Picton. The French infantry being rallied, again pressed on, and gained ground on the Scotch division, when the heavy cavalry and 12th regiment of dragoons coming up opportunely to their succour, the French were obliged to retire. It was on this occasion that the 92d regiment, reduced to a handful of heroes, gained immortal honour. Charging full upon a column of 2000 men, they pierced the centre, and the Scotch greys, penetrating by the opening, annihilated the column, of whom not a man escaped. A division of French cavalry, composed in part of cuirassiers, advanced to rescue their infantry. A dreadful encounter ensued between them and the heavy dragoons and Scotch Greys, which terminated in the repulse of the French, who lost an immense number of men: the swords of the British cavalry being aimed at the undefended necks and limbs of the cuirassiers. Two French regiments lost their eagles.

It was at this moment that the gallant Sir William Ponsonby fell, transpierced by the Polish lancers: his death was nobly avenged in the sequel by the almost total annihilation of the corps. Frustrated in all his previous attempts, Napoleon now directed a massive column to carry the farm of La Haye Sainte. This position was of the highest importance. If the French could have maintained themselves in it, they would have broken the British line, intercepted the road to Brussels, and cut off the direct communication between the British and Prussian armies. The first movements of the French were successful. After a desperate action, the troops that occupied the farm, were compelled to retire. Profiting by this advantage, Napoleon now directed a great force towards the British centre, against which he likewise precipitated his

cavalry. Some battalions were overthrown; but the remainder, formed into squares, resisted every effort to pierce them, although the French cavalry walked their horses around the squares, in the vain hope of finding an unguarded point. Other squadrons fruitlessly charged the position of the Duke of Wellington. At length the British cavalry, in their turn, charged the French; and Napoleon, perceiving that he had exposed his cavalry too much, brought forward the centre of his infantry, which now advanced to carry the village of Mont St. Jean, in the rear of the British lines.

This was an awful crisis of the battle; the fate of which appeared to vibrate on a hair: but the Duke of Wellington retrieved the fortune of the day. By a sort of ubiquity, he seemed to multiply himself in all the points which were most vulnerable; and, by his judicious disposition, the French were driven from the ground they had acquired, with the exception of a small eminence on the road from Brussels to Charleroi. It was now that the Duke with great difficulty restrained the ardor of his troops, who impatiently desired to be led to the charge. The attack on Hougoumont re-commenced; but although no impression on the mouldering ruins of the house could be made, strong bodies of infantry and cavalry made a detour round the chateau, and advanced to the eminence by which it was commanded. The cavalry again reconnoitered the squares with the calmness of the most deliberate courage, and again were they opposed by an adamantine barrier of bayonets.

The 30th and 69th regiments and the 1st foot guards here particularly distinguished themselves. The two latter suffered greatly; but, in the end, the perseverance of the troops, and the talents of their illustrious commander, prevailed, and the French were driven back to their original positions with great loss. Still undismayed, the most furious attacks on the British position in every part were made by the French army. The charges effected in the flank of the allies at this juncture was sensibly and mournfully perceived by the diminution of the extent of their squares. The patience of the soldiers was nearly exhausted; although their valour was