P A R I S. 
544 
wickers, and compelled them to abandon the artillery. 
The Britifh, however, were unable to withdraw them, for 
want of horfes; nor did the French dare to advance to 
Recover them. At this time, the earl of Uxbridge (now 
marquis of Anglefea) made fome brilliant charges with 
the cavalry of houfehold-troops, and repelled the French. 
Two battalions of the old guard were cut to pieces. 
It was now near feven o’clock in the evening, and the 
battle ftill raged in every part of the line. Of the Pruflian 
army, only the fourth corps had as yet come up. Mar- 
fhal Blucher, with the firft corps, as he was approaching 
the fcene of aftion, received, about fix o’clock, intelli¬ 
gence from general Thielman (Zeithen) that he had been 
attacked, and was hard prefled at Wavre by a formidable 
force of the French, and “ who were already difputing 
with him the poflefiion of the town.” Blucher, however, 
notwithftanding that his rear was thus threatened with a 
fuperior force, laid, that he “did not fufter himfelf to be 
difturbed by this news; it was on the fpot where he was, 
and no where elfe, that the affair was to be decided.” He 
therefore direffed Thielman to do the beft he could, and 
not to look to him for any immediate afliftance. The mo¬ 
ment, indeed, was critical. Had Blucher hefitated for one 
half-hour, the moll fatal confequences muff have enfued ; 
but, inftead of endeavouring to fecure his rear, he conti¬ 
nued to advance with his columns to the afliftance of the 
Britifh army. 
General Thielman, thus left to himfelf, was obliged to 
maintain an unequal conteft with the French troops, un¬ 
der Grouchy, at Wavre. We mull here attend to the 
operations of thefe two generals, as they formed a part, and 
no mean part, of the battle of Waterloo. If Thielman, 
when attacked by Grouchy, had yielded or given way 
early on that important day, Bulow’s corps would have 
been taken in the rear, as Napoleon calculated that it 
would be, almoft as foon as it was engaged. Indeed, Na¬ 
poleon relied much upon the diverfion which he fuppofed 
Grouchy was making in the Pruflian rear; and he expected 
that he would have come up and decided the day, as 
Defaix did at Marengo. Marflial Soult had tranfmitted 
an order to Grouchy, on the evening of the 17th, to pro¬ 
ceed with the third and fourth corps of infantry under 
Girard and Vandamme, and the third corps of cavalry 
under Pajol, towards the Dyle, in order to throw himfelf 
in the rear of the Pruflian army, which, at that time, 
Napoleon conceived to be diforganized and incapable of 
much refiftance. Grouchy accordingly marched with 
this force, confifting of about 35,000 men, by St. Lambert, 
and on the right bank of the Dyle. On the 18th, he fell 
in with the third corps of the Pruflian army, under Thiel¬ 
man, which had fuffered leaft in the battle of the 16th, 
and a fevere engagement immediately commenced. The 
French carried that part of the town of Wavre fituated 
on the right bank of the Dyle, after much refiftance : but, 
having gained this point, they found confiderable diffi¬ 
culty in palling the river; and general Girard, in endea¬ 
vouring to carry the mill of Bielge, was wounded in the 
breaft by a ball. The mill, however, could not be carried ; 
and, without that, the river could not be crofled. Grouchy 
w'as aware of the march of Bulow’s corps to the afliftance 
of Wellington, and was therefore eager to proceed againft 
it. His orders were urgent, and his objeft moft impor¬ 
tant. “ Impatient,” faid he, “ to co-operate with the 
army of your majefty on that important day, I detached 
feveral corps to force the paffage of the Dyle, and to march 
againft Bulow.” General Vandamme continued the attack 
on the town of Wavre and the mill of Bielge ; and 
Grouchy, having arrived at Limale, paffed the river, and, 
after an obftinate ftruggle, carried the heights. In Wavre 
and Bielge, however, the Pruflians remained immoveable 
againft all the efforts of the French ; and, by the time the 
heights were carried, it was fo late, that nothing more 
could be done that day. Thus Thielman, though much 
inferior in numbers, was enabled, by the difficult nature 
of the country, interfperfed with defiles, woods, and ra¬ 
vines, to oppofe an obftinate refiftance ; and, what was of 
ftill greater importance, it kept all Grouchy’s force from 
the point where it was fo much wanted ; and though the 
diftance was only about twelve miles, it was, in the words 
of Ney, the fame to the reft of the French army as if he 
“ had been a hundred leagues from the field of battle.” 
In the mean time, the battle continued to rage on the 
heights of Mount St. John with as much fury as ever. 
The allied army remained firm at their poft, without wa¬ 
vering for a moment, againft every effort of overwhelming 
and furious numbers, led on by a fkill which was of the 
firft order, and by a fpirit which neither relented nor 
melted at the fight of human fuffering or blood. The 
carnage in both armies was dreadful; and the Britifh fol- 
diers, like their general, had made up their minds to die 
where they flood. At this time the fifth divifion was re¬ 
duced from 6000 to 1800 men ; and thefe, ftationed in that 
part of the line againft which the principal attacks were 
d i redied: the gzd regiment was reduced to lefs than 200 
men. But Hougoumont, with its gallant defenders, de¬ 
fied all the {hells, balls, bayonets, and fwords, of the 
French. Napoleon, however, and his army, were in a cri¬ 
tical fituation. As yet, indeed, he thought things went 
on well. He had Succeeded in repulfing the Pruflian 
troops under Bulow ; and, thinking Grouchy was now 
near at hand to attack them in the rear, he determined to 
make one defperate effort againft the left centre of the 
Britifh army, near the farm of La Haye Sainte, and decide 
the day in his favour. For this purpofe, he brought for¬ 
ward the referve of his guards, amounting to about 
15,000 men. Thefe troops, the 6 lite of his army, had 
always been confidered invincible, and only brought for¬ 
ward to decide the fortune of fuch tremendous days and 
the fate of kingdoms. 
4. Napoleon having formed his refolution, the guards 
prepared to advance to the attack. At the fame moment, 
lie difpatched inftrudtions to every part of the line, that 
the movement, which was to decide the vidtory in his fa¬ 
vour, was taking place, and commanding a fimultaneous 
movement againft the whole line of the Britifh army. 
Every thing being now ready for the final attack, 
Napoleon addrefled his guards, and told them, that by his 
previous attacks he had deftroyed the greater part of the 
Britifh cavalry and infantry, and that the artillery alone 
remained, which they were to attack with the bayonet. 
He then led them to the rife of the hill, and pointing to 
the caufeway, exclaimed, “ There, gentlemen, is the road 
to Bruffels.” The guards immediately raifed a fhout of 
Vive I'Empereur, which was diftindtly heard by the Bri¬ 
tifh, and induced them to believe that the emperor him¬ 
felf was coming againft them. Napoleon, however, order¬ 
ed marfhal Ney to head them. Thefe veteran warriors, 
fo long efteemed the firft troops in Europe, advanced 
acrofs the plain which divided the two armies, with a 
firmnefs which nothing could exceed ; and, though the 
grape and cannifter fliot from the Britifh artillery made 
dreadful havoc in their ranks, they were never difcon- 
certed for a fingle moment. In their advance to the 
charge, the imperial guard rallied the broken and difpiris- 
ted troops. The French army refumed its vigour, and 
the combat was renewed along the whole line. The 
artillery on both fides made a terrible carnage. Although 
the foreign troops in the Britifh army adted with great re¬ 
folution and much ardour, yet it was not to be expected 
that many of them, who as yet had never witnefied a 
conteft of this kind, could ftand againft the flower of the 
French troops, led againft them by confummate fkill, and 
in formidable maffes. Of this the duke of Wellington 
was well aware ; and, therefore, he took the precaution to 
fupport each body of them by Englifh infantry, all dif- 
pofed in fuch a manner as to fuccour the point threa¬ 
tened. 
The imperial guard continued to advance againft the 
Britifh line, under cover of the fire of their artillery. 
They charged a body of Brunfwickers who attempted to 
arreft 
