588 
PARIS. 
with the defperation of fear; and a complete fcuffle en- 
fued, which might really be called a battle burlefqued, in 
which numbers of horfes were killed, and fome lives loft, 
not to mention the innumerable broken heads and bruifes 
iuftained on the occafion. 
At Antwerp, though more diftant from the fcene of 
aflion, the confternation was nearly as great. Long rows 
of carriages lined the ftreets, filled with fugitives, wdio 
could find no place of (belter; and people of rank and for¬ 
tune were glad toeatand fleepin oneandthefamemiferable 
hole, which, at any other time, they would have difdained 
to enter. So great was the univerfai anxiety, that during 
the whole of the 18th, though the rain was almoft in- 
cefiant, the great Place de iVIaire was crowded with people, 
who (food from morning until night, under umbrellas, 
impatiently watching the arrival of news from the army, 
and addling every body who entered the town with fruit- 
Jefs inquiries. 
But to return to the movements of the contending 
armies. Napoleon found, upon bringing up his troops 
on the evening of the 17th, that it was too late, for that 
day, to make any attempt againft the pofition chofen by 
his (kilful adverfary. “It would have required three 
hours more of day-light,” faid he, “ to have attacked 
them;” in confequence of which, he deferred the attack 
till the 1 3 1h. 
We (hall here endeavour to (fate the amount of the 
French army on the morning of that day as nearly as pofi- 
iible. We have already faid that it confided of 130,000 
men, before the invafion of the Netherlands took place; 
but, when Napoleon joined it with his guards and other 
troops on the 12th, it was increafed to between 140 and 
150,000 men. It was divided into five corps of infantry, 
and four of cavalry, and was accompanied by 300 pieces 
of artillery. The cavalry confifted of 25,000 men : and a 
finer body never entered a field. It was fuppofed that 
Napoleon was peculiarly weak in this arm; but the re- 
verfe proved to be the cafe. Among the cavalry were the 
lancers, who were diftinguidied by their addrefs, activity, 
and ferocity; and the cuiraffiers, of whom there are faid 
to have been nine regiments, were remarkable for the ex¬ 
cellence of their equipments, and the fuperior power 
of their horfes. Of the quality of this lad corps we diall 
liave occafion to notice hereafter. It is impodible to fpeak 
too highly of the French infantry in point of bravery and 
difcipline in the field. The clitn of the army confided of 
the imperial guards, who were, at lead, 20,000 drong. 
All thefe troops W'ere completely armed and equipped, 
and fupplied even to profufion w ith every kind of ammu¬ 
nition. Their lofs, in the battles of Quatre Bras and 
Ligny, amounted to about 15,000 men, leaving a force 
of about 130,000 on the morning of the 18th of June. 
Of thefe, however, 35,000 were with marftial Grouchy, 
obferving the Prufiiaus ; but there dill remained 95,000 
effeftive men to attack the Britilh army, though Napoleon 
liimfeif affirms he had but 71,000. 
We have already noticed the amount and compofition of 
the allied army under the duke of Wellington. Deduct¬ 
ing the lofs which it fuftained on the 16th, and a corps 
which had been detached under prince Frederic of 
Orange, it was now reduced to about 70, or 75,000 men. 
The glorious “ field of Waterloo” has been fo often 
defcribed, that little novelty is to be expedled from any 
account given to the public at this comparatively late 
period. It is quite impodible for us, however, to refrain 
from entering into the details of that memorable day ; 
and we hope that the account we (hall give may conduce to 
illuftrate fome tadlical obfervations which appear to have 
efcaped the attention of former writers. Much has been faid 
in praile of the talents of the rival commanders, and the gal¬ 
lantry of theirtroops; butfcarcely any one has madea point 
of fpecifying, in a clear and conneCfed detail, the depen¬ 
dence of one event on another ; or has tried to analyze, 
with the deliberate eye of an hiftorian, the caufes to 
which our triumph is to be attributed. The time is now 
come to exchange the enthufiafm of admiration for calm 
inquiry ; and, without pretending to many other fources 
of information than fuch as are furnifhed by the various 
official reports and the printed letters of individual officers, 
we (hall contribute our humble endeavours towards pre¬ 
paring a more precife colouring than has yet been given 
to this dazzling picture. We may thus hope to enable 
our readers to form their decifion with regard to feveral 
interefting queftions, which are lull introduced as doubt¬ 
ful in print or in converfation ; and, if we do not feem 
to rival fome cotemporary writers in high-founding pane¬ 
gyrics on the Britilh army, we (hall not be backward in 
tracing and pointing out the diftinguidied features of its 
fuperiority ; adured that, the more dole is our examina¬ 
tion, the more fubllantial will be found that balis on 
which reft both the pride of our troops and the fecurity of 
our country. 
The army under thecommand of theduke of Wellington 
was, as we have already no’ticed, polled about a mile in 
front of Waterloo, at the point where the pofition eroded 
the high roads leading from Brudels to Charleroy and 
Nivelles. Its right was thrown back to a ravine near 
Merke Braine, which village was occupied. Its left ex¬ 
tended to a height above the hamlet of Ter la Haye, which 
was likewife occupied. In front of the right centre, and 
near the Nivelle road, his grace occupied the houfe and 
garden of Hougoumont, or Chateau Goumont, which 
covered the return of that flank; and, in front of the 
left centre, he occupied the farm of la Haye Saitite (the 
Holy Hedge). The centre occupied the village of Mount 
St. John. A road runs from Ter la Haye to Ohain, and 
the woody pades of St. Lambert, through which the duke 
of Wellington kept up a communication by his left with 
the Prudian army at Wavre. The whole pofition was 
fituated upon an eminence, and extended about a mile 
and a half. The army was difpofed in two lines. The 
firft line, which was compofed of the choiceft troops in 
the duke’s army occupied the top of the hill, and were 
defended on the left partly by a large ditch and hedge, 
which ran in a ftraight line from Mount St. John. The 
fecond line lay behind the.brow of the hill; and was, in 
fome degree, (heltered from the enemy’s fire. The referve, 
under the command of lord Hill, was placed in referve 
on the right of the pofition, in front of the village of 
Merke-le-Braine, with its right refting on Braine-la-Leud. 
The Prudian army, which began to move at break of 
day, was placed as follows, viz. the fourth and fecond 
corps marched from Wavre by St. Lambert, where they 
were to take a pofition covered by the foreft of Soignies, 
near Frifchermont, in order to take the French in the 
rear when the moment (hould appear favourable. The 
firft corps was to operate by Ohain, on the right flank of 
the enemy. Their line, in the evening, extended about 
a mile and a quarter. 
The French army was polled on a range of heights, in 
front of the army under the Britifh general. The firll 
corps was placed with its left on the road to Brudels, in 
front of the village of Mount St. John, and oppofite the 
centre of the allied army. This corps had not been en¬ 
gaged on the 16th, and was confequently entire. The 
fecond corps had its right on the road to Brudels, and its 
left upon a final 1 wood within cannon-ffiot of the Engli(h 
army. The cuiraffiers were in referve behind, and the 
imperial guards in referve on the heights. The fixth 
corps, with the cavalry of general Detourmont, under 
the chief command of count Lobau, was deftined to op- 
pofe the Pruffians on the rear of their right. The reft of 
the cavalry were with the guards, and the other two 
corps of the army. Over the whole pofition of the French 
army there were fixty batteries of cannon. The front, 
when extended to meet the Pruffians, was about two miles 
and a half. 
The country thus occupied by the armies was the mod 
elevated ground in thofe parts, and rifes from every quar¬ 
ter as you approach it. The whole forms numerous 
ridges. 
