CHAPTER XVIII.
WATERLOO.
The Prussians indeed had been beaten at Ligny. Their three corps,numbering eighty thousand men, with two hundred and twenty-four guns,had been attacked by Napoleon with sixty thousand men, with twohundred and four guns. The battle was contested with extraordinaryobstinacy on both sides. The villages of Ligny and St. Armand weretaken and retaken over and over again, and for hours the desperatestrife in and around them continued without cessation. Both partiescontinued to send down reinforcements to these points, but neithercould succeed in obtaining entire possession of them.
The faults which Wellington had perceived in the Prussian positiontold against Blucher. The villages were too far in advance of theheights on which the army was posted, and his reinforcements weretherefore a long time in reaching the spot where they were required toact. They were, too, as they descended the hill, under the observationof Napoleon, who was able to anticipate their arrival by moving upsupports on his side, and who noted the time when Blucher's lastreserves behind Ligny had come into action. At this critical momentGeneral Lobau arrived from Charleroi with twelve thousand fresh menand thirty-eight guns, and at seven o'clock in the evening Napoleonlaunched this force with his division of guards, twenty thousandstrong, who had hitherto been kept in reserve, against the enemy.
Ligny was captured and the victory won. The Prussians throughout theday had fought with great bravery. They had a long score to wipe outagainst the French, and were inspired as much by national hatred as bymilitary ardor; and they owed their defeat rather to the disadvantagesof the position they held than to the superior fighting qualities ofthe French. Their cavalry had several times made desperate charges;sometimes against the French horse, at others upon columns ofinfantry. In one of these Blucher himself was with them; and as theywere in turn driven back by a charge of the French cuirassiers hishorse was shot, bringing him to the ground. His aid-de-camp leaped offand threw his cloak over him as the cuirassiers came thundering past,intent upon overtaking the Prussian cavalry. They paid no attention tothe solitary dismounted man, and a few minutes later again passed thespot, this time in retreat, a fresh party of Prussian cavalry havingmet them. Again they passed by the fallen general, little dreamingthat one of their most formidable and determined enemies lay there attheir mercy. As soon as the Prussians came up the dead horse wasmoved, and Blucher, who was insensible, carried to the rear, when hesoon recovered and resumed the command.
But though beaten the Prussians were by no means routed. They had lostthe _key_ of their position; but night came on before the combatterminated, and under cover of the darkness they fell back quietly andin good order. General Thielmann's corps on the extreme Prussian lefthad taken but little part in the fighting; and as the center and rightof the Prussian army retreated he advanced, fell upon the French inthe darkness, and for some time forced them back, thus giving time tothe rest of the army to reform its ranks and recover its discipline.After having rendered great service by thus occupying the enemyThielmann took up a position on the heights, and remained facing theFrench, while the other _corps d'arme_ took post in his rear.
The French were too weary to follow up the advantage they had gained;the night passed without any attack being made, and at daybreak thePrussians started on their march to Wavre, the cavalry remainingbehind to cover the movement, check pursuit, and conceal if possiblefrom the French the line by which the army was falling back. Had thepursuit been taken up at daybreak by the French, they would soon havedriven in the cavalry and ascertained the route taken by the infantry;but it was not until many hours had elapsed that the French got intomotion, and by that time the Prussian cavalry had disappeared fromtheir front, and nothing remained to inform them of the line by whichthe enemy had retreated.
There was a general feeling of disappointment among the gallantdefenders of Quatre Bras when on the following morning orders wereissued for them to abandon the ground they had so stoutly held. Theyhad been astir at daylight, firearms were cleaned, fresh ammunitionserved out from the reserve wagons, and the men fell into the ranks,expecting that in a short time they would again be engaged; but nomovement could be seen on the part of the enemy, and arms were againpiled. The commissariat wagons had come up in the night, and rationswere served out to the troops and breakfast prepared. As soon as thiswas over strong parties were again sent over the battlefield tocollect any wounded who had escaped the search of the night before. Assoon as these were collected the whole of the wounded were placed inambulance wagons and country carts, and despatched to Brussels.
Presently a general movement of the great baggage trains was observedby the troops to be taking place, and the long column moved along theroad to the north. The duke had sent off a staff-officer at daybreakto ascertain the state of things at Ligny; he returned with the reportthat the Prussians had left the field. He then sent out a small partyof cavalry under Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Alexander Gordon. This officerpushed forward until he encountered General Zieten, who was still atSombreuf, but a mile distant from the battlefield. The generalinformed him of the whole events of the preceding day, and gave himthe important intelligence that Blucher had retreated to Wavre, andwould join hands with Wellington at Mount St. Jean, which the Englishgeneral had previously fixed upon as the scene of the battle for thedefense of Brussels.
The news relieved Wellington of all anxiety. It had been beforearranged that Blucher if defeated, should if possible fall back toWavre; but it was by no means certain that he would be able to dothis, and had he been compelled by the events of the conflict toretire upon his base at Namur he would have been unable to effect ajunction for some days with Wellington, and the latter would have beenobliged single-handed to bear the whole brunt of Napoleon's attack.The latter's plans had indeed been entirely based on the suppositionthat Blucher would retreat upon Namur; and in order to force him to doso he had abstained from all attack upon the Prussian left, andemployed his whole strength against the right and center, so as toswing him round, and force him to retire by way of Namur.
As soon as Wellington learned that Blucher had carried out thearrangement agreed upon his mind was at ease. Orders were sent off atonce to the troops advancing from various directions that they shouldmove upon Mount St. Jean. All the baggage was sent back to Brussels,while provisions for the troops were to be left at Mount St. Jean,where also the whole of the ammunition wagons were to be concentrated.Horsemen were sent along the road to keep the baggage train moving,and they had orders that if the troops at Quatre Bras fell back uponthem they were at once to clear the road of all vehicles.
Having issued all these orders, and seen that everything was in train,Wellington allowed the troops at Quatre Bras to rest themselves, andordered their dinners, to be cooked. No movement was yet to be seen onthe part of the French; there was, therefore, no occasion to hurry.Those, therefore, of the men who were not out on patrol stretchedthemselves on the ground and rested till noon. Dinner over theinfantry marched off in two columns, the cavalry remaining until fouro'clock in the afternoon, when upon the advance of Ney in front andNapoleon on the left they fell back, and after some sharp skirmisheswith the enemy's light cavalry joined the infantry before nightfall intheir position near Mount St. Jean and Waterloo. Rain had fallen for atime during the afternoon of the battle, and now at four o'clock itagain began to come down heavily, soaking the troops to the skin.
"This is miserable, Stapleton," Ralph said to his friend, after theregiment had piled arms on the ground pointed out to them by theofficers of the quartermaster's department.
"I am rather glad to hear you say it is miserable, Ralph. I wascertainly thinking so myself; but you always accuse me of being agrumbler, so I thought I would hold my tongue."
Ralph laughed. "I don't think any one could deny that it is miserable,Stapleton; but some people keep up their spirits under miserablecircumstances and others don't. This is one of the occasions on whichit is really very hard to feel cheerful. There is not a dry thing inthe regiment; the
rain is coming down steadily and looks as if itmeant to keep it up all night. The ground is fast turning into softmud, and we have got to sleep upon it, or rather in it; for by thetime we are ready to lie down it will be soft enough to let us sinkright in. I think the best plan will be to try to get hold of a smallbundle of rushes or straw, or something of that sort, to keep ourheads above it, otherwise we shall risk suffocation."
"It is beastly," Stapleton said emphatically. "Look at the men; what achange in them since we marched along this road yesterday. Then theywere full of fun and spirits, now they look washed out and miserable.Were the French to attack us now you wouldn't see our men fight as youdid yesterday."
"But you must remember, Stapleton, the French are just as wet as weare. This is not a little private rain of our own, you know, got upfor our special annoyance; but it extends right over the country."
"What nonsense you talk, Conway; as if I didn't know that."
"Well, you spoke as if you didn't, Stapleton; but you will see thefellows will fight when they are called upon. Just at present they arenot only wet but they are disgusted. And I own it is disgusting afterfighting as hard as we did yesterday to find it's all been of no use,and that instead of marching against the enemy we are marching awayfrom them. Of course it can't be helped; and if we had waited anotherhalf-hour we should have had all the French army on us, andyesterday's work would have been mere child's play to it. Still I canquite enter into the soldier's feelings. Of course they do notunderstand the position, and regard it as simply a retreat instead ofa mere shifting of ground to take up better position and fight againto-morrow.
"Still this is a nice position, isn't it? You see there's room enoughalong on the top of this slope for our whole army, and our guns willsweep the dip between us and the opposite rise, and if they attackthey will have to experience the same sensations we did yesterday, ofbeing pounded and pounded without the satisfaction of being able toreturn their fire.
"They must cross that dip to get at us--at least if they attack, whichI suppose they will, as they will be the strongest party--and ourartillery will be able to play upon them splendidly from this road.Then, too, there are two or three farmhouses nearer our side thantheirs, and I suppose they will be held in force.
"That looks rather a nice old place among the trees there on ourright. It has a wall and inclosure, and they will have hard work toturn us out of it. Yes, I call this a fine place for a battle; and weshall have the advantage here of being able to see all over the fieldand of knowing what is going on in other places, while yesterday onecouldn't see three yards before one. During the whole time one wasfighting, one felt that it might be of no use after all, for we mightbe getting smashed up in some other part of the field."
"I never thought anything about it," Stapleton said. "My only idea wasthat I must look as if I wasn't afraid, and must set a good example tothe men, and that it was all very unpleasant, and that probably myturn might come next, and that I would give a good deal for somethinglike a gallon of beer. As far as I can remember those were my leadingideas yesterday."
"Well, Denis, what is it?" Ralph asked his servant, who approachedwith a long face.
"Have you any dry tinder about you, your honor? I have been trying tostrike a light for the last half-hour till the tinder box is full ofwater, and I have knocked all the skin off my knuckles."
"That's bad, Denis; but I don't think you will get a fire anyhow. Thewood must be all too soaked to burn."
"I think it will go, sor, if I can once get it to light. I have pulledup some pea-sticks from an old woman's garden; and the ould witch cameout and began at me as if I was robbing her of her eldest daughter. Itwas lucky I had a shilling about me, or be jabbers she would havebrought down the provost's guard upon me, and then maybe I would havehad my back warmed the least taste in the world more than waspleasant. I hid the sticks under a wagon to keep them dry, and MikeDoolan is standing sentry over them. I promised him a stick or two forhis own kindling. The weather is too bad entirely, your honor, and theboys are well-nigh broken-hearted at turning their backs to theFrenchmen."
"Ah, well, they will turn their faces to-morrow, Denis; and as for theweather, I guess you have got wet before now digging praties in theold country."
"I have that, your honor, many and many a time; and it's little Icared for it. But then there was a place to go into, and dry clothesto put on, and a warm male to look forward to, with perhaps a drop ofthe crater afterward; and that makes all the difference in the world.What we are going to do to-night, sorra of me knows."
"You will have to lie down in the mud, Denis."
"Is it lie down, your honor? And when shall I get the mud off myuniform? and what will the duke say in the morning if he comes roundand sees me look like a hog that has been rowling in his sty?"
"You won't be worse than any one else, Denis; you see we shall all bein the same boat. Well, here's the tinder. I should recommend you tobreak up a cartridge, and sprinkle the powder in among the leaves thatyou light your fire with."
"That's the difficulty, your honor; I have got some wood, but divil adry leaf can I find."
"Look here, Denis. Open your knapsack under the wagon, and take out ashirt and tear it into strips. You will soon get a fire with that, andwe can easily replace the shirt afterward."
"That's a grand idea, your honor. That will do it, sure enough. Faith,and when the boys see how I do it, there will be many a shirt burnedthis evening."
"But how about wood, Denis?"
"There's plenty of wood, your honor. The commissaries have had two orthree score of woodcutters at work on the edge of the forest all day,and there's timber felled and split enough for all of us and to spare.The pioneers of all the regiments have gone off with their axes tohelp, and I will warrant there will be a blaze all along the linepresently. Now I will be off, your honor; for the cooks are ready toboil the kettles as soon as we can get a fire."
Great masses of the enemy could now be seen arriving on the crest ofthe opposite rise. Presently, these broke up into regiments, and thenmoved along the crest, halted, and fell out. It was evident thatnothing would be done till next morning, for it was already beginningto get dusk.
In a few minutes smoke rose in the rear of the regiment, and ere longhalf a dozen great fires were blazing. Men came from the regimentsnear to borrow brands. The news soon spread along the line of themeans by which the Twenty-eighth had kindled their fires and, as Denishad foretold, the number of shirts sacrificed for this purpose waslarge. Strong parties from each regiment were told off to go to thewoodpiles and bring up logs, and in spite of the continued downfall ofrain the men's spirits rose, and merry laughs were heard among thegroups gathered round the fires. The officers had one to themselves;and a kettle was soon boiling, and tin cups of strong grog handedround. Of food, however, there was little beyond what scraps remainedin the haversacks; for the commissariat wagons had retired from QuatreBras to leave room for those carrying the ammunition, and were now sofar in the rear that it was impossible to get at their contents, anddistribute them among the troops. For an hour or two they chattedround the fire, and discussed the probabilities of the struggle thatwould begin in the morning.
Just as night fell there was a sharp artillery fight between twobatteries of Picton's division and the same number of the French. Thelatter commenced the fight by opening fire upon the infantry position,but were too far away to do much harm. Picton's guns got the range ofa column of infantry, and created great havoc among them. Darkness puta stop to the fight, but until late at night skirmishes took placebetween the outposts. A troop of the Seventh Hussars charged and droveback a body of light cavalry, who kept on disturbing the videttes; andthe Second Light Dragoons of the king's German legion, posted in frontof Hougoumont, charged and drove back a column of the enemy's cavalrythat approached too close.
Gradually the fires burned low--the incessant downpour of rain sodrenching the logs that it was impossible to keep them alight--and thetroops lay down, with their
knapsacks under their heads, turned thecapes of the greatcoats over their faces, and in spite of the deepsoft mud below them, and the pouring rain above, soon sank to sleep.All night long a deep sound filled the air, telling of the heavytrains of artillery and ammunition wagons arriving from the rear toboth armies. But nothing short of a heavy cannonade would have arousedthe weary soldiers from their deep sleep.
At twelve o'clock Ralph was called up, as his company had to relievethat which furnished the posts in front of the position of theregiment. The orders were not to fire unless fired upon. A third ofthe men were thrown out as sentries; the others lay upon the ground,fifty yards in rear, ready to move forward to their support ifnecessary. Captain O'Connor left Ralph with the reserve, and himselfpaced up and down along the line of sentries, who were relieved everyhour until morning broke, when the company rejoined the regiment.
The troops could now obtain a view of the ground upon which they wereto fight. Their line extended some two miles in length, along the browof a gradually sloping rise, the two extremities of which projectedsomewhat beyond the center. The ground was open, without woods orhedgerows. About halfway down the slope lay four farms. On the rightwas Hougoumont; a chateau with farm buildings attached to it and achapel. In front of this lay a thick wood with a close hedge, and thehouse and farm buildings were surrounded by a strong wall. In front ofthe center of the line lay the farm and inclosures of La Haye Sainte,abutting on the main Charleroi road, which, as it passed the farm, ranbetween two deep banks. In front of the left of the line were thehamlets of Papelotte and La Haye. At the top of the ridge the groundsloped backward, and the infantry were posted a little in rear of thecrest, which hid them from the sight of the enemy, and protected themfrom artillery fire. The whole of the slope, and the valley beyond itwas covered with waving corn or high grass, now ready for cutting.
Upon the opposite side of the valley there was a similar rise, and onthis was the French position. Nearly in the center of this stood thefarm called La Belle Alliance, close to which Napoleon took up hisstand during the battle. Behind the British position the ground fellaway and then rose again gently to a crest, on which stood thevillages of Waterloo and Mount St. Jean. The great forest of Soigniesextended to this point, so that if obliged to fall back Wellington hadin his rear a position as defensible as that which he now occupied.
The allies were arranged in the following order: On the extreme leftwere Vandeleur's and Vivian's light cavalry brigades. Then camePicton's division, the first line being composed of Hanoverians,Dutch, and Belgians, with Pack's British brigade, which had sufferedso severely in Quatre Bras, in its rear, and Kempt's brigade extendingto the Charleroi road. Alten's division was on the right of Picton's.Its second brigade, close to the road, consisted of the First andSecond light battalions of the German legion, and the Sixth and Eighthbattalions of the line. The Second German battalion was stationed inthe farm of La Haye Sainte. Next to these came a Hanoverian brigade,on the right of whom were Halket's British brigade. On the extremeright was Cooke's division, consisting of two brigades of the guards,having with them a Nassau regiment, and two companies of Hanoverianriflemen.
Behind the infantry line lay the cavalry. In reserve were a brigade ofthe fourth division, the whole of the second division, and theBrunswickers, Dutch, and Belgians. The artillery were placed atintervals between the infantry, and on various commanding points alongthe ridge.
The duke had expected to be attacked early, as it was of the utmostimportance to Napoleon to crush the British before the Prussians couldcome up; but the rain, which began to hold up as daylight appeared,had so soddened the deep soil that Napoleon thought that his cavalry,upon whom he greatly depended, would not be able to act, and hetherefore lost many precious hours before he set his troops in motion.
From the British position the heavy masses of French troops could beseen moving on the opposite heights to get into the position assignedto them; for it was scarcely a mile from the crest of one slope tothat of the other.
In point of numbers the armies were not ill-matched. Wellington hadforty-nine thousand six hundred and eight infantry twelve thousandfour hundred and two cavalry, five thousand six hundred and forty-fiveartillerymen, and one hundred and fifty-six guns. Napoleon, who haddetached Grouchy with his division in pursuit of the Prussians, hadwith him forty-eight thousand nine hundred and fifty infantry, fifteenthousand seven hundred and sixty-five cavalry, seven thousand twohundred and thirty-two artillerymen, and two hundred and forty-sixguns. He had, therefore, four thousand three hundred men and ninetyguns more than Wellington. But this does not represent the fulldisparity of strength, for Wellington had but eighteen thousand fivehundred British infantry including the German legion--who havingfought through the Peninsular were excellent troops--seven thousandeight hundred cavalry and three thousand five hundred artillery. Theremainder of his force consisted of troops of Hanover, Brunswick,Nassau, Holland, and Belgium, upon whom comparatively little reliancecould be placed. The British infantry consisted almost entirely ofyoung soldiers; while the whole of Napoleon's force were veterans.
As early as six o'clock in the morning both armies had taken up thepositions in which they were intended to fight. The British infantrywere lying down, the cavalry dismounted in their rear, and socompletely were they hidden from the sight of the French that Napoleonbelieved they had retreated, and was greatly enraged at their having,as he supposed, escaped him. While he was expressing his annoyance,General Foy, who had served against the duke in the Peninsula, rode upand said:
"Your majesty is distressing yourself without just reason, Wellingtonnever shows his troops until they are needed. A patrol of horse willsoon find out whether he is before us or not, and if he be I warn yourmajesty that the British infantry are the very devil to fight."
The emperor soon discovered that the British were still in front ofhim; for the English regiments were directed to clean their arms byfiring them off, and the heavy fusillade reached Napoleon's ears. Ateight o'clock Wellington, who was anxiously looking over in thedirection from which he expected the Prussians to appear, saw a bodyof mounted men in the distance, and soon afterward a Prussian orderlyrode in and informed him that they were on the march to hisassistance, and would soon be on the field.
Grouchy had, in fact, altogether failed to intercept them. Napoleonhad made up his mind that after Ligny the Prussians would retreattoward Namur, and sent Grouchy in pursuit of them along that road.That officer had gone many miles before he discovered the route theyhad really taken, and only came up with the rear of their column atWavre on the morning of Waterloo. Blucher left one division to opposehim, and marched with the other three to join Wellington.
It was not until nearly ten o'clock that the French attack began; thena column moved down from the heights of La Belle Alliance against thewood of Hougoumont, and as it approached the leading companies brokeup into skirmishing order. As these arrived within musketry range ascattering fire broke out from the hedges in front of the wood, andthe battle of Waterloo had begun.
Soon from the high ground behind Hougoumont the batteries of artilleryopened fire on the French column. Its skirmishers advanced bravely,and constantly reinforced, drove back the Hanoverian and Nassauriflemen in front of the wood. Then Bull's battery of howitzers openedwith shell upon them; and so well were these served that the Frenchskirmishers fell back, hotly pressed by the First and Second brigadeof guards issuing from the chateau. The roar of cannon speedilyextended along both crests; the British aiming at the French columns,the French, who could see no foes with the exception of the lines ofskirmishers, firing upon the British batteries. The French thereforesuffered severely, while the allies, sheltered behind the crest, wereonly exposed to the fire of the shot which grazed the ground in front,and then came plunging in among them.
Prince Jerome, who commanded on Napoleon's left, sent strong columnsof support to his skirmishers acting against the right of the wood ofHougoumont, while Foy's division moved to attack it in front. In sp
iteof a terrific fire of artillery poured upon them these brave troopsmoved on, supported by the concentrated fire of their powerfulartillery against the British position. The light companies of theguards, after an obstinate resistance, were forced back through thewood. The French pushed on through the trees until they reached thehedge, which seemed to them to be the only defense of the buildings.But thirty yards in the rear was the orchard wall, flanked on theright by the low brick terraces of the garden. The whole of these hadbeen carefully loopholed, and so terrible a storm of fire opened uponthe French that they recoiled and sought shelter among the trees andditches in the rear.
Jerome, seeing that his skirmishers had won the wood, and knowingnothing of the formidable defenses that arrested their advance, pouredfresh masses of men down to their assistance. Although they sufferedterribly from the British artillery fire, they gathered in the wood insuch numbers that they gradually drove back the defenders into thebuildings and yard, and completely surrounded the chateau. Thedefenders had not even time properly to barricade the gate. This wasburst open and dense masses rushed in. The guards met them with thebayonet, and after fierce fighting drove thorn out and closed the gateagain, and with their musketry fire compelled them to fall back fromthe buildings. Some of the French, however, advanced higher up theslope, and opened fire upon one of the batteries with such effect thatit had to withdraw. Four fresh companies of the guards advancedagainst them, cleared them away, and reinforced the defenders of thechateau.
A desperate fight raged round the buildings, and one of the enemy'sshells falling upon the chateau set it on fire. But the defense stillcontinued, until Lord Saltoun, repulsing a desperate attack, andreinforced by two companies which came down the hill to hisassistance, drove the enemy back and recaptured the orchard. Thisdesperate conflict had lasted for three hours.
While it was going on Ney led twenty thousand men against the centerand left of the British position, advancing as usual in heavy column.Just as they were setting out at one o'clock Napoleon discovered thePrussians advancing.
He sent off a despatch to Grouchy ordering him to move straight uponthe field of battle; but that general did not receive it until sevenin the evening, when the fight was nearly over. It was just two whenthe columns poured down the hill, their attack heralded by a terrificfire upon the British line opposed to them. The slaughter amongPicton's division was great; but although the Dutch and Hanoverianswere shaken by the iron hail, they stood their ground. When thecolumns reached the dip of the valley and began to ascend the slopestoward the British division they threw out clouds of skirmishers andbetween these and the light troops of the allies firing at once began,and increased in volume as the French neared the advanced posts of LaHaye Sainte, Papelotte, and La Haye.
The division of Durette drove out the Nassau troops from Papelotte;but reinforcements arrived from the British line, and the French inturn were expelled. The other three French columns advanced steadily,with thirty light guns in the intervals between them. Donzelat'sbrigade attacked La Haye Sainte, and, in spite of a gallant resistanceby the Germans, made its way into the orchard and surrounded theinclosures. Another brigade, pushing along on the other side of theCharleroi road, were met by the fire of two companies of the riflebrigade who occupied a sandpit there, and by their heavy and accuratefire checked the French advance. The other two divisions movedstraight against that part of the crest held by Picton's division.
The men of the Dutch-Belgian brigade, as soon as fire was opened uponthem, lost all order and took to their heels, amid the yells andexecrations of the brigades of Kempt and Pack behind them, and it waswith difficulty that the British soldiers were kept from firing intothe fugitives. The Dutch artillery behind them tried to arrest themob; but nothing could stop them--they fairly ran over guns, men, andhorses, rushed down the valley and through the village of Mount St.Jean, and were not seen again in the field during the rest of the day.Picton's division was now left alone to bear the brunt of the Frenchattack. The battle at Quatre Bras had terribly thinned its ranks, andthe two brigades together did not muster more than three thousand men.Picton formed the whole in line, and prepared to resist the charge ofthirteen thousand infantry, beside heavy masses of cavalry, who werepressing forward, having in spite of a stout resistance driven in theriflemen from the sandpit and the road above it. As the columns nearedthe British line the fire from the French batteries suddenly ceased,their own troops now serving as a screen to the British. The heads ofthe columns halted and began to deploy into line; Picton seized themoment, and shouted "A volley, and then charge!"
The French were but thirty yards away. A tremendous volley was pouredinto them, and then the British with a shout rushed forward, scrambledthrough a double hedgerow that separated them from the French, andfell upon them with the bayonet. The charge was irresistible. Taken inthe act of deploying, the very numbers of the French told againstthem, and they were borne down the slope in confusion. Picton, struckby a musket ball in the head, fell dead, and Kempt assumed thecommand, and his brigade followed up the attack and continued to drivethe enemy down the hill. In the meantime the French cavalry wereapproaching. The cuirassiers had passed La Haye Sainte, and almost cutto pieces a Hanoverian battalion which was advancing to reinforce thedefenders.
At this moment Lord Edward Somerset led the house-hold brigade ofcavalry against the cuirassiers, and the _elite_ of the cavalry of thetwo nations met with a tremendous shock; but the weight and impetus ofthe heavy British horsemen, aided by the fact that they weredescending the hill, while their opponents had hardly recovered theirformation after cutting up the Hanoverians, proved irresistible, andthe cuirassiers were driven down the hill. A desperate hand-to-handconflict took place; and it was here that Shaw, who had been aprize-fighter before he enlisted in the Second Life Guards, killed noless than seven Frenchmen with his own hand, receiving, however, somany wounds, that on the return of the regiment from its charge hecould no longer sit his horse, and crawling behind a house died therefrom loss of blood.
While the Second Life Guards and First Dragoon Guards pursued thecuirassiers down the slope, the Royals, Scots Greys, and Inniskillensrode to the assistance of Pack's brigade, which had been assailed byfour strong brigades of the enemy. Pack rode along at the front of hisline calling upon his men to stand steady. The enemy crossed a hedgewithin forty yards of the Ninety-second, and delivered their fire. TheHighlanders waited till they approached within half the distance, andthen pouring in a volley, charged with leveled bayonets. The Frenchstood firm, and the Ninety-second, numbering less than two hundred andfifty men, burst in among them; a mere handful among their foes. Butjust at this moment Ponsonby's heavy cavalry came up, and passingthrough the intervals of the companies and battalions, fell upon theFrench infantry. In vain the enemy endeavored to keep their formation;their front was burst in, their center penetrated, and their reardispersed, and in five minutes the great column was a mass offugitives. Great numbers were killed, and two thousand prisonerstaken.