ANECDOTES OF WATERLOO.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 12, 14 January 1905, Page 14

ANECDOTES OF WATERLOO.

I This famone battle -vas fought on 3 any ! IS, 1815, in Belgium, when the Dnke of I Wellington, with G7.G00 men and 1."3 I cannon, defeated Napoleon Bonaparte, who had 72.000 men and 2-10 cannon. Only I 24.000 of the troops under Wellington were j British, the others being Germans and j Belgians. i DIFFERENCE OF OPINION. i When tho battle was" beginning by a i French attack on llougomont on the right, ' tho Rifles watched Lhe soeno from thrir ! post iv the centre. While the officers • stood In front of theLr men, General Sir I James Kempt rode up and eaJd: "Now, ; gentlemen, hero you are. as usual, con- | abrogated together talking." An officer, i named StiUwell, replied: "Oh, yes, Sir J James. We were just observing that there I appeared to be a slight difference of opin- | ion down yonder." pointing to the fierce fighting at Ilonsoiaont! j GUARDSMAN'S RKPLT. I A slril:in<; incident occurred when the ■ British troops wore awaiting the French j onslaught. An aido-dt>-eami> from Wellington £al]or>od up with some orders for ; U:r> commanding officer nf I hp ttuards. and Jas lie was returning along the front of Lho I lino, he cautioned tho men to reserve I their lire til! the enemy were within a short distance. "'Nevnr mind ns." replied a veteran soldier: '"Never mind us. sir. Wo know oar duty I" Tho aido-rU--csjn;> then know that the men v.ere in the right trim, and ho smilod pleasantly as he htir,iied away. YOUNG HEROES. One extraordinary fart about the British soldiers opposing tur> French voterans waa .tho fstnme youthlcliiess of tho majority. fThri-f won- hundreds of raw lads, drafted i from tin. , Militia, wno had noror been tin- ■ der lire before. The Jidi Foot, for irii stance, now tho West Yorkshire Hcrl- ; tneut. had It officers and .'ii<n mou under twenty yours of ago: When a certain j GoruTTil Mackenzie inspofroii thorn at ' Brussels n few days before tho battle, ho gasped with astonUlimcut. "Well," h>; , sail!. "I never saw surh a .-ft of hoys, both (i[!iof-rs and uicu!" Y. ; ;ius" same boys : hurled b;iok Napoleon's veterans time after liuio, au'l at i"st drove them off the gory , ik'M. HIS THIRD SWORD. in tho couiso of tho lioriT.v cavalry i-hunro, wh.M two French eag-les wore oap-uu-.'l, s<'..»res of tho British distinguished ; iliompolves by foot* of personal strrnjrth and valour. "You aro uncommonly savage ; to-day," said an officer to a friend, a ynun:; man of r:ink. who was> nrinlnc hituwith a third sabre after two had boon broken in Ims prasp. 'What would you h:iTC mc do?" askoO tbe othor, by nature oiiv of tho most pernio f>ud humane f*t men; "we ;irc here to kill tho French, ami ho is tho best uiau to-day who enn kill j most of thorn!" Lie tbon again ilirew hiiu- | self Into Hie midst of the oombat.

; TRICK THAT FAILED. When the Fn-nrh cavalry found they ! fouid not lireak the firm British squares ' by charging tli'y tried trickery. Two • regiments were brigaded toge(ht?r under \ Sir Coiin IJalkci. and to no svjuare did ! the French pay nioro frequent visits, with- | out, howfver. slinking Ihcm for a moment. j At List, foiled iv his charges, the French ; , com ma od ing officer lowered his sword, and , several of tUe British soldiers called out. "Sir, tlioy surrender!" But Sir Colin saw i throinrh the simple design at onoe, and he ■ promptly :inswere<l, "Tte firm, nnd fire!" ; J The order v.a,s speedily obeyed, and the ! French were seat to thf- right about, a laugh of derision ringing in their ears. ' GAP FILLED. ' The various Briiisb squares suffered | j terribly from the French artillery, au<l j ! rtouio of the balls killed six or eight men ; I .it once. The 7"rd Foot, now- the 2nd I ■ Black "Wiit.cb, had only r.O unwounded men I I left out of over f>oo at the elo.<e of (he ; : battle. (nice. :ind only once, during tin. , ] dreadful enruns'.' :lid they hesitate to till \ •up a f-' ;I P which the relentless irou huil ! had turn iv their sti'inare. Their colonel, J William <•'. Harris Lord j Harris) nt once pushed his horse length- ' across the spare, sa.vi.ig, with a ! ! "Well, ray lads, if you won't. 1 | I lauot:" The soldieis Immediately led tin- j i horse back into the square, aud the ranks I ; elcscd up. ! j TWO-FOLD GALLANTRY. ; In cw" of the French :>ssatiHs a charac- i ' teristieally r.ritish incident took place. I ! Soice skirmishers nf the 14th Foot tired ! ion the enemy's Cuirassiers, and one of the ■■ I latter was thrown from !i':; horse. A C-jiu- j : rade nobly returned and oCTored him :hf , ; help of his stirrup, A lijrht Infantryman j iof the 14th Foot levelled his m\iskel. and j j was abont to fire, when Serjeant Samuel j ! Godclard, of the same regiment, stopped I Ihim, saying, "No, Whitney; don'r lire. Let ! htm 6ff; he is a noble fellow!" The two ; ; Frenchmen thus .cot away. The gallant i i sergeant afterwards became a captain and , ; a Military Knight at Wit-.d-K-r. i NOBLE Dr.KE. i Au instance ai Wellington's mjgtinni- ! niily at Waterloo may be mriitlonc!. The ; ■ French artillerymen oftea llrud ai the duke and his staff, with the result lh.it !at the end of the battle everyone of the ; •ntter had been either killed or wounded. | 'a British artillery officer, thinking it only j I i'air to take reprisal? on the. French, went | ,to Wellington and. saying h<; had a dis- | i tinet view of Napoleon aud hi? staff, asked j I permission to fire. His grace iustictly ; ! and emphatically exclaimed, "No, no: 111 j i not allow it. It is liot the business of [ j coinnianders to be firing npon eacil other." DIVINE TIIAXICS. After the victory the deke, on getting j ! back to his quarters, ate nastily and ! heartily, and, when he na>l finished his ! meal, he held up both hands in fin im- '< • ploring attitude and said, "The hand of Almighty God has been iipoa Lie this , day!'" He had, indeed, experienced some i J narrow escapes. Many at his side | were killed by the enemy's balls, yet the duke himself was untouched. One of these officers. Sir WQliaia De Laneev. ! when mortally wounded at Mio duke's side, ! gasped out to those who came to b»3 J assistance. "Leave rae to die; attend to the dnfcel"