The Following, However, You May Consider As A Tolerably Fair
Precis Of What Took Place.
The attack began on the 18th about ten
o'clock[16] and raged furiously along the whole line, but principally at
Hougoumont, a large Metairie on the right of our position, which was
occupied by our troops, and from which all the efforts of the enemy could
not dislodge them.
The slaughter was terrible in this quarter. From twelve
o'clock till evening several desperate charges of cavalry and infantry were
made on the rest of our line. Both sides fought with the utmost courage and
obstinacy, and were prodigal of life in the extreme. But it is generally
supposed that our army must have succumbed towards the evening had it not
been for the arrival of Bulow's division of Prussians, followed closely by
Blucher and the rest of the army, which had rallied with uncommon celerity.
These moved on the right flank of the French, and decided the fortune of
the day by a charge which was seconded by a general charge from the whole
of the English line on the centre and left of the French. Seeing themselves
thus turned, a panic, it is said, spread among the young Guard of the
French army, and a cry of "Sauve qui peut! nous sommes trahis!" spread
like wildfire. The flight became universal; the old Guard alone remained,
refused quarter and perished like Leonidas and his Spartans. The Prussian
cavalry being fresh pursued the enemy all night, l'epee dans les reins,
and it may be conceived from their previous disposition that they would not
be very merciful to the vanquished. Indeed, on the 15th, it is said that
the French were not very merciful to them. It was like the combat of
Achilles and Hector.
No thought but rage and never ceasing strife
Till death extinguish rage and thought and life.
France will now call out to Napoleon as Augustus did to Varus, "Give me
back my legions!" The loss on both sides was very great, but it must have
been prodigious on the side of the French. The whole Allied Army is in full
pursuit. Several friends and acquaintances of mine perished in this battle,
viz., Lieut.-General Sir T. Picton, Colonel Sir H. Ellis and Colonel
Morice.
June 22.
This morning I went to visit the field of battle, which is a little beyond
the village of Waterloo, on the plateau of Mont St Jean; but on arrival
there the sight was too horrible to behold. I felt sick in the stomach and
was obliged to return. The multitude of carcases, the heaps of wounded men
with mangled limbs unable to move, and perishing from not having their
wounds dressed or from hunger, as the Allies were, of course, obliged to
take their surgeons and waggons with them, formed a spectacle I shall never
forget. The wounded, both of the Allies and the French, remain in an
equally deplorable state.
At Hougoumont, where there is an orchard, every tree is pierced with
bullets.
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