DEEDS THAT SAVED THE EMPIRE,

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 23 June 1923, Page 9

DEEDS THAT SAVED THE EMPIRE,

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO.

DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S DESPATCHES.

Last Monday (June 18) was the 108 th -anniversary of the Battle of "Waterloo, when the Duke of Wellington's troops maintained a remarkable resistance to Napoleon's army, and later, with the assistance of Bluchers and Bulow's fortes, succeeded in routing the famous "Old Guard." Our leaders will no doubt be interested to read the following accounts taken from a copy of the London Times of Thursday, June 22, 1815 The paper Las been kindly lent by Mr. J. M. Townsend, of Hawera.

iondon, Tuesday, June 22, 1815

Official Bulletin.

■"DOWNING STREET, June 22,1815

<prhe Duke of Wellington's Despatch, dated, Waterloo,-^he lyth June, states that on tne preceding day Buonaparte attacked, with' his whole force, the ■British line sux>ported by a corps oi Prussians; which attack, after a king and sanguinary conflict, terminated in the complete overthrow of the Enemy's Army, with the loss of ONE HUNDRJitD AND FIFTY pieces of CANNON and TWO EAGLES.

sidious views of those who seek to cover their criminality with the respect just due to a brave and hcmouraule mombar of the house of Bourbon. Whether his Serene Higiiness nas authorised tuis avowal of his sentiments, we know not, but it is one which appears perf-ectiy congenial with, that lair and wanly conduct whish he has always observsu. The Duke of Orleans has never- at any time given the least countenance to

Ihirmg the night, the Prussians un- ■ cler Marshal Blucher, who joined in the pursuit of the enemy, captured SIXTY tJUNS, and a iarge part of Buonaparte's BAGGAGE. The allied armies 4BPntinued to pursue the enemy. Two JTrench. Generals were taken. Such is the great and glorious resuit of those masterly movements by "which the Hero of Britain met and frustrated, the audacious attempt of the Bebel Chief. Glory to Wellington, to our gallant soluiers, and to our brave Allies! Buonaparte's reputation has been wrecked and his last grand stake lias been lost in this tremendous conflict. TWO HUNDRED Al\D TEN PIECES. OF CANNON captured in a battle, put to the blush the toasting column of the Place de Yen*dome. Long and sanguinary indeed, ■we fear, the conflict must have been; Irat the boldness of the Rebel Frenchmen was the boldness of despair and conscience sate heavy on those arms; which were raised against their Sove-i reign, against their oaths- and against' the peace and happiness of their country. We confidently anticipate a great and immediate defection from the Kebel cause. We are aware that a great part of the French nation looked to the opening of this campaign with a suspicious expectation of success to a man, whom, though many of them hated, r.nd many of them feared, ail had been taught to look on as> the first captain of the age. He himself •went forth boasting in his strength, and still more in his talents. He had for many years ridiculed Carnot's plan of a Northern campaign, and had openly avowed at Paris his intention to break through the Allied Armies, instead of "moving round both their flanks. "With as littie reserve had he declared that he : would open the campaign on the Meuse-. and Sambre. In short, by a refinement in finesse, he had exposed his true plan imagining that nobody would believe that such was his real intention. We eto not deny that this plan might have ieen one of considerable ability; but lie did not take into account that he was to.be opposed by abilities superior to, his own. That unpalatable truth his would not allow him to believe, jfftfe would it easly find credit with his »6nirers; but the 18th of June, we trust, will satisfy the most incredulous. TWO HUNDRED AND TEN PIECES OF CANNON! When, where and how is this loss to be repaired V ■ Besides, what has become of his invincible Guard, of his admired and -dreaded cuirassiers? Again we do not deny that these were good troops; but they were encountered by better. We shall be curious w learn with, what degree of coolness, of personal courage, and self-possession, Buonaparte played his stake» on which he must have been aware that his pretentious to Empire iiung. It is clear that lie retreated; nor are we prepared to hear that he fled with cowardice; but we greatly suspect that he did not court an honourable death. We think his valour is of the calculating kind, and we do not attribute his surviving the abdication at Fontainebleau entireiv to magnauim- \ *ty- . ! To the official bulletin we have as yet little to add. The~ dispatches, \ve understand, were brought by Major iPerey, Aide de Camp to the Duke of "Wellington; and we have heard, but we tope the statement is premature, that among the British slain was that gallant and estimable officer, Sir Thomas Picton. But whoever fell on this glori-; ©us day could not have fallen in vain. Th© fabric of rebellion is shaken to its base. Already we hear numerous desertions have taken place from the Bebel standard; and soon, it is to be i hoped, the perjwred wretches Nay and .Desnoueties." and Excelmans, and Lalle- \ anand and Labedoyere and their accom- ■ plices in baseness and treason, will be left alone" as marks for the indignation of Europe and rust sacrifices to insulted French honour. j Those who attended minutely to the; operations of the Stock Exchange yes-i terday were persuaded that the news! of the day before would be followed j tip by something still more brilliant and decisive. Omnium rose in the, «mrse of the day to 6 premium, and Borne houses generally supposed to pos•qss the best information were among ~4j/&a puchasers. For our own parts, Irajmigh looking forward with that confidence which we yesterday expected, we own this full tide of success was more than we anticipated. We were : very well satisfied that Mr .Button's account, so far as it went, was correct —that Buonapart's grand plan had been frustrated, and that he'had not only been penetrating between the English and Prassian armies, but forced -to fall back again behind the Samber. How far the Dnke of Wellington and Prince Blue-her might have thought it prudent to pursue'him was a point on which we did not conceive ourselves warranted to form any decisive opinion from the evidence before us. We had MO doubt that he would be harassed in Ids retreat, and perhaps ultimately driven into his entrenched camp, or -under the i^uns of his fortresses; but without sow 9 distinct official information, we repeat, that we could not have ventured to anticipate, such a triumphant result as that on which Aye have now to congratulate our country and the world. Among the rumours that gained pome credit yesterday was one of an insvrreetion"'ui Paris. We are not much inclined to give credit to this, conceiving that the Parisians will not move until the tyrant's force in the itekl is "broken. We know, however, tliot .a spirit of hostility to his usurpation is very genev.'llv and very boldly oxpvtss- • ed in the French capital. We h»ve leceived from thence a paper winch has obtained extensive circulation there, and which will be found in another column. It contains an address to the inhabitants of the Fauxbourgs St. Autoine and St. Marceau; and a declaration in the name of the Duke ov Orleans. Both these documents are plainly and ably drawn up. The one successfully opposes the ferocious doctrines i'^'the Jacobins, the other the more in

those criminal prouects, winch, under i the specious precence- ol attachment to! himself, would as completely breu-ic! down tiae legal succession, as it a Jiuon-j aparte or a Robespierre were the ctyectl ef election. That principal once vio-j ' la-ted the faction assuming to-day, tne i right of choosing any given Sovereign, j might to-morrow, with equal authority,; assume the right of cashiering him.! Nothing would be permanent or secure.', Neither King nor Dynasty nor form ot Governments, would be certain of last-: ing a twelvemonth: the intolerable per-! petuity of change would necessitate the ultimate submission of despotism; j»nd none would be more miserably the, survivors than those unfortunate per-! sonages who might be mocked with the j capricious grant of a delusive sovereignty by paramount authority of i faction. j Then followed another dispatch, giv-! ing the names of officers killed ori wounded. j Thursday morning, 11 o'clock, j "We again stop the press to insert a copy of the London Gazette extraordinary. THURSDAY, June 22, 1815. I DOWNING STREET, June 22. Major the Honourable H. Percy arrived late last night with a dispatch from Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington, K.G., to Earl Bathurst, his Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the War Department, of*which the following is a copy:— > Waterloo, June 19th, 1815. j My Lord, —Buonaoarte having collected the Ist, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th corps of the French army and. the Imperial Guard, and nearly all the cavalry on the Sambre, and between that river and the Meuse, between the 10th and 14th of the month, advanced on the 15th and attacked the Prussian port at Thuin and Lubez, on the Sambre, at daylight in the morning. < I did not hear of these events till the evening of the 15th, and immediately ordered the troops to prepare to march, and afterwards to march to their left, as soon as J. had intelligence from other quarters to prove that the enemy's movements upon Charleroy was the real attack. ■ The enemy drove the Prussian posts from the Sambre on that day, and General Zieten, who commanded the corps at Charleroy, retired upon Fleurus; and Marshal Prince Blucher concentrated the Prussian army upon Sambref, holding the villages in front of his position of St. Amand and Ligny. ; . The enemy continued his march along the road from Charleroi towards Bruxelles, and on the same evening, the loth, attacked a brigade of the army of the Netherlands, under the •Prince of Weimar, posted at Frasne, and forced it back to the farm house on the same round, called Les Quatre Bras. The Prince of Orange immediately reinforced this brigade with another of the same division, under General Pevponcher, and in the morning early regained part of the ground which had been lost, so as to have the command of the communications leading from Nivelles and Bruxelles, with Marshal Bluchers position. " i jln the mean time I had directed the 1 whole army to 'march upon Les Quatre Bras, and the sth division, under Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Picton, arrived at about half past two in the day, followed by the corps of troops I under the Duke of Brunswick and afterwards by the contingent of Nasaau. jAt this time the enemy commenced ■an attack upon Prince Blucher with his ■ whole force, excepting the Ist and 2nd corps, and a corps of cavalry under General Kellerman, with which he attacked our posts at Quatre Bras. j The Prussian army maintained their .' position with their usual gallantry and j perseverance against a great disparity jof number, as the 4th corps of their ; army, under General Bulow, had not joined, and I was not able to assist . them as I wished, as I was attacked myself: and the troops, the cavalry in' < particular, which had a long distance , j to march, had not arrived. I IWe maintained our position also, and j completely defeated and repulsed all '• the enemy's attempts to get possession jof it. TJhe enemy repeatedly attacked. :us with a large body of cavalry and ■ infantry, supported by a numerous and • powerful artillery; he made several i charges with the cavalry upon our infantry, but all were repulsed in the steadiest mariner. jln this affair His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange, the Duke of Brunswick, and Lieutenant Sir Thomas Picton,. and Major General Sir James >. Kempt, and Sir Denis Pack, who were ' engaged from the commencement of the enemy's attack, highly _ distinguished themselves, as well as Lieutenant Gen--1 eral Charles Baron Alten, Major Gen- ! eral Sir C. Halket, Lieutenant General Cooke, and Maior Generals Maitland I and Byng, as they successively arrived, i The corps of the sth division and ! those of tKe Brunswick corns were long and severely engaged, and conducted ! themselves with the utmost gallantry. S I must particularly mention the 28th, i the 42nd* 79th, and 92nd regiments and i the battalion of Hanoverians. S Oar loss was great, as your Lordship j will perceive by the enclosed return, ! and 1 have particularly to regret his Serene Highness the Duke of Brunsj wick, who fell, fighting gallantly at the head of his troops. ! Although Marshal Blucher had manitained his nosition at Sambref, he still ' found himself much weakened by the ' severity of the contest in which lie had ; been engaged, and as the 4th corns had ■ not arrived, he determined to fall back ! and concentrate his army upon Wavre ; i and he marched in the night after the ! action was over. This movement of the Marshal rendered necessary a corresponding one on !my nart : find*l retired from the farm '■ of Quatre Bras upon Genappe, and ■'; thence from Waterloo the next moraine, the 17th, at ten o'clock. The enemy made no effort to pursue Marshal Blucher. On the contrary, a ' paift-ole which I sent to Sambref in the ' morning found all quiet, as the enemy's ' videttes fell back as the pntrole advanced. Neither did he attempt to

molest our marcli to the rear, although made in the middle of the day, excepting by following, with a large body of cavalry brought from his right, the Earl of Uxbridge. This gave Lord Uxbridg© an opportunity of charging them with the Ist Life Guards upon their debouche from the village of Genappe, upon which occasion his Lordship has declared himself to be well satisfied with, that r«gimeat. The position which I took up 1H front of Waterloo crossed the high roads from (Jharleroy and Nivelle, and had its right thrown back to a ravine n«ar Merke Braine, which was occupied and its leit extended to a height above the hamlet Ter La Haye, which was likewi&e occupied. In front of the right centre and near the Nivelle road we occupied the house and garden. of Hougounoot, which covered the return of that flank, and in the front of the left centre we occupied the farm of La Haye Sainte. By our left we communicated with Marshal Prince Blucher at Wavre, through Ohaim; and the Marshal had promised me, that in case we should be attacked, he would support me with one or more corps, as might be necessary. The enemy collected his army, with the exception of the third corps, which had boon sent to observe Marshal ;

cade of infantry of the King of th© Netherlands. General Pozzi di Borgo, General' Baron Vincent, General Muffling, and General Alvoa, were in the field during the action, and rendered me every assistance in their power. Baron Vincent is wounded, but I hope not severely; and General Pozzi di Borgo contusion. I should not do justice to my feelings «c A* Marshal Blucher and the Prussian army, if I did not attribute the sucseasful result of this arduous day, to tk« cordial and timely assistance I ie••rred from them. Tk« operation of General Bulow, upon the enemy's flank, was a most decisive •»«} and even if I had not found my(w»ll in a situation, to make the attack, whiek produced the final result, it would have forced the enemy to retire if his attacks should have failed, and would have prevented him from taking advantage of them if they should unfortunately have succeeded. I send, with this despatch, two eagles, taken by the troops in this action, which Major Percy will have the honour of laying at the feet of his Royal Highness. I. luag leave to recommend him to yoiir Lordship's protection. I have the k«M«ur, etc. (Signed) ; WELLINGTON.

Blucher on a range of heights in our front, in the course of the- night of the 17ih and yesterday morning; and at about ten o'clock he commenced a furious attack upon our posts at Hogoumont. I had occupied that post with a detachment from General Byng's brigade of Guards, which was in position in its rear; and. it wa.s for some time under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Macdonel; and afterwards of Colonel Home; and I am happy to add that it was maintained throughout the day with the utmost gallantry by these brave troops, notwithstanding the lepeated efforts of large bodies of th« enemy to obtain possession of it. The attack upon the right of our centre was accompanied by a very heavy cannonade upon our "whole line, which was destined to support the repeated attacks of cavalry and infantry occasionally mixed, but sometimes separate, which were made upon it. In one of these the enemy carried the farm house of La Haye Saint-e, as the detachment of the light battalions of the legion which occupied it had expended all its ammunition, and th« enemy occupied the only communication there was with them. The enemy repeatedly charged our infantry with his cavalry, but theee attacks were uniformly unsuccessful, and they afforded opportunities to our ; cavalry to charge, in one of which : Lord E. Somerset's brigade, consisting : of the life guards, royal horse guards, ' and first dragoon guards, highly distinguished themselves, as did that of Major General Sir W. Ponsonby, having taken many prisoners and m eagle, i These attacks were repeated till about ; seven in the evening, when the enemy ' made a desperate effort with the '■ cavalry ami infantry, supported by the ■ fire of artillery, to force our left centre ! near the farm of La Have Sainte, ' which after a severe contest was de- t feated, and having observed that the j troops retired from this attack in great j confusion, and that the march of Gen- ' eral Bulow's corps by Eus^r.ermorit upon Planchenorte and Le Belle alii- j ance, had begun to take effect and as ; I could perceive the fire of his cannon '• and as Marshal Prince Blucher had ' joined in person, with a corps of his . army to the left of our line by Ohaim, j I determined to attack the enemy, and ! immediately advanced the whole line of \ infantry, supported by the cavalry and j artillery. The attack succeeded in every point; the enemy, was forced from his position on the heights, and fled in utmost confusion, leaving behind him, a? far as I could judge, one hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, > 1 with their ammunition, which fell into ; our hands. I continued the pursuit till ' long after dark, and then discontinued it only on account of the fatigue of i our troops, who had "been engaged dur- | ing twelve hours, and because I found [ myself on the same road with Marshal | Blucher, who assured me of bis inten- '• tion to follow the enemy throughout the night; he has sent me word that ( he has taken sixty pieces of cannon be- ■ longing to the Imperial Guard, and ; several carriages, baggage, etc., belonging to Buonaparte, in Genappe. I propose to move, this morning, upon Nivelles, and not to discontinue j my operations. j i Your Lordship will observe that such a desperate action could not be fought, and such advantages could not be gained, without great loss; and I am sorry to add, that ours has been im- j mense. In Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Picton, his Majesty has sustained the loss of an officer whom has frequently distinguished himself in his .service, and he fell, gloriously leading his division to a charge of bayonets, ( by which one of the most serious at- i tacks made by the enemy on our posi- ' tion, was defeated. The Earl of TjX- •' bridge, after having successfully got through this arduous day, received a wound by almost the last shot fired, which will, I am afraid, deprive his Maiesty for some time of .his services. His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange distinguished himself by his gallantry and conduct till he" received a wound from a musket ball through tlie shoulder which obliged him to quit the ; field. { ' It gives me the greatest satisfaction to assure your Lordship that the army never, upon any occasion, conducted itself better. The division of Guards, ; under Lieutenant General^ Cooke, who is severely wounded; Major General .• Maitland and Major General Byng, set ' an example which was followed by all; and there is no Officer nor description .of troops that did not behave well. \ I I must however particularly mention to his Royal Highnesses approbation Lieutenant General Sir H. Clinton, i Major General Adam, Lieutenant General Charle« Baron-. Alten, severely wounded, Major General Sir Colin Halbet. severely wounded; Colonel Ompteda, commanding: a-brigade of the 4th division ; Major General Sir James Kemp, and °ir Deni? Pack, Major General Lambert, Major General Lord E. Somerset: Major General Sir W. Ponsonby ; Major General Sir C. Grant, and Major General Sir H. Vivian, Major General Sir 0. Vandeleur; Major General Count Dornberg. I am particularly indebted to General Lord Hill for assistance and conduct upon this as upon all former occasions. ' The Artillery and Engineer departments were conducted much to my satisfaction by Colonel Sir G. Wood and Col. Smvth; and I had every reason to be satisfied with the conduct of the Adjt. General Major Gen. Barnes, ' who -was wounded, and of the Quarter Master General Col. Beiancy \vho_was killed by a cannon, shot in the middle of the action. This officer is a serious loss to his Majesty's Service and to me at this moment. I was likewise much indebted to the assistance of Lieutenant Colonel Lord Fitzroy Somerset, who was severely wounded, and of the officers comnosiug my personal staff, who have suffered "severely in this action. Lieutenant Colonel the Honourable Sir Alexander Gordon who was killed of his wounds was a most promision officer and is a serious loss to his Majesty's Service. General Kruse, of the Nassau sei-vice, likewise conducted himself to my satisfactino, as did General Trip, commandin a; the henvv brigade of cavalry, and General Vanhope, commanding a bri-

P.S. Since writing the above, I hav# received a report that Major General Sir William Ponsonby is killed, and, in announcing this intelligence to your Lordship, I have to add the expr«Bei©n of my e;rief for the fate of an offie«r who had already rendered very brilliant and important services, and was an ornament to his profession. 2nd P.S. I have not yet got the returns of killed and wounded, but I enclose a list of officers killed and wounded on the two days, as far as the same can be made out without the returns; a*d I am very happy to add, that Colonel de Lnncey is not dead, and that strong hopes of his recovery are entertained. i