Chapter XXVI: Appendix: No. I (3)

“An hour before midnight, I saw a man in an English uniform, coming towards me; he was, I suspected, on the same errand. I spoke instantly, telling him who I was: he belonged to the 40th, and had missed his regiment. He released me from the dying soldier, took up a sword, and stood over me as sentinel. Day broke, and at six o’clock in the morning a messenger was sent to Hervé: a cart came for me, and I was conveyed to the village of Waterloo, and laid in the bed, as I afterwards understood, from which Gordon had but just before been carried out. I had received seven wounds; a surgeon slept in my room, and I was saved by excessive bleeding.”

_Related by an officer._

... “Early on the following morning, the survivors arose and hurried out to seek, amidst the dying and the dead, those comrades and friends of whose fate they were as yet ignorant[112]. But even earlier still had the wretches who hang on the skirts of every army, for the purpose of rifling the new-made corpse, been at work: the watches and purses of many were already gone; while many a brave heart, still throbbing, had received its _coup de grâce_ from the hands of these merciless plunderers.

“Waterloo was won; the sun set upon a scene of slaughter, and the stillness of death succeeded the roar of battle. The thunder of five hundred cannons, the roll of musketry, the shock of mail-clad horsemen, the Highland slogan, the Irish huzza, were heard no more; and the moon gleamed coldly on a field of death, whose silence was only broken by the groans of the wounded, as they lay in helpless wretchedness beside their dead companions.

“While many a sufferer listened to every sound in anxious expectation of relief, a dropping fire was occasionally heard in the direction of Genappe, announcing that the broken army of Napoleon was fiercely followed by its conquerors.

“Wearied by the unparalleled exertions of the tremendous day of Waterloo, the British pursuit gradually relaxed, and the light cavalry halted on the right of the road to Quatre-Bras; but the Prussians, less fatigued, continued to harass the flying enemy, and the mingled mass of fugitives were forced from every village where they had attempted to form bivacs. A barrier was hastily thrown across the entrance of Genappe, to arrest the progress of the _jägers_ and hussars that hung upon the rear of the guard; but it was blown down by a few discharges of a howitzer, and the French were driven from the town. Throughout the disastrous night not a moment of repose was granted to the terror-stricken. To attempt anything like serious resistance to their pursuers, where all were inextricably confused, was absurd. Officers and soldiers were mobbed together; discipline had ended: none attempted to direct, where none were found to obey; and with unrelenting fury the Prussian cavalry sabred the exhausted fugitives, till, after passing Gosselies and Charleroi, the wreck of Napoleon’s army found a temporary shelter beneath the walls of Philippeville.

“That night, the British bivac was on the same ridge which their beaten enemy had occupied on the preceding one; and as I lay upon the ground, I heard at times, and at no great distance from me, the voices of my more fortunate companions who had escaped from the slaughter, and some were roaming over the field in search of plunder. Momentarily, I expected that a friendly straggler would pass by. I must have been for a considerable period insensible; for the place where I fell, although the theatre of the final struggle between the relics of Ney’s columns and the British guards, was now totally deserted by the living, and cumbered only with the dying and the dead.

“I seemed as if awakening from a dream: a difficulty of respiration painfully annoyed me, and I endeavoured to rise; but a weight, too mighty to be removed, pressed me to the earth. My sight was imperfect, my eyelids felt closed. I disengaged my left hand, and raising it to my face, found that a mask of congealed blood covered it. I rubbed it away, and, prepared as I was for a sanguinary spectacle by the continuous moanings of wounded men and dying horses, I closed my eyes in horror, when the clear cold moonlight revealed the sickening scene.

“Directly over me, and in the very attitude in which he had groaned his last, an officer of the old guard was stretched: our faces were nearly touching, and his open eyes had fixed their glassy stare on mine. A sword-cut had divided his upper lip, and, exposing the teeth, gave to the dead man’s countenance a grin so horrible and ghastly, that I who had witnessed death in every form, was glad to avert my eyes. I made a desperate effort to shake him off; but a horse’s neck rested on my legs, and my feeble exertions were quite unequal to rid me of this double load.

“While suffering great inconvenience of position, I felt the cold intense, and thirst intolerable. No relief was attainable; the groans of the dying were unheard, and I sullenly submitted to my fate. But morning must soon break, and then probably I should be succoured. Could I but disengage myself from the dead man who pressed me almost to suffocation, I might endure pain, cold, and thirst. I made another effort, it failed; and, in despair, I laid my head upon the ground, moistened with my own blood and that of my departed enemy. Just then a voice immediately beside me, uttered a feeble supplication for some water. I turned my head, and saw a young ensign, whose leg had been shattered by the wheels of a gun, raise himself upon his elbow, and look across the field, in hope of discovering some one who would relieve him. Nor were his cries unheard: a man dressed in the dark uniform of a Prussian _jäger_, and armed with the short sword which rifle-troops carry, approached the sufferer; but, alas! he was not on the errand of mercy. Seizing the wounded man rudely, and deaf to his entreaties, he commenced his work of plunder. I heard the chinking of a purse, and a trinket, a watch, or locket, glittered in the moonlight, as he tore it from the bosom of the prostrate ensign.

“Oh! no, no, I cannot, will not part with that!” a low weak voice muttered; “it was my mother’s dying gift: I will never part with it!” A struggle ensued, but it was a short one: the ruffian, irritated at resistance, raised himself, and with a home-thrust silenced the poor youth for ever. Great God! that such a scene of death should be increased by the hand of murder!

“I grew sick; I feared to breathe: my death was to be the next, for he had quickly plundered the body of his victim, and turned to the dead guardsman who lay across my breast. Suddenly he stopped, listened, and gazed suspiciously around; then sank down behind, and stretched himself upon the field.

“My heart beat again. Two men came forward, and they too were plundering. But surely, all could not be so ruthless as the crouching wretch beside me! Nearer and nearer they approached; and, sounds of joy! they conversed in my native tongue. I listened with exquisite delight, and never did human voices appear so sweet as theirs. They were grenadiers of the line, and one of them wore a sergeant’s stripes. Without a moment’s hesitation I addressed them; and an appeal in their native language was not disregarded, I was promptly answered in kindly tones; and while one caught the defunct Frenchman by the collar and flung him aside, his comrade extricated my legs from the dead charger, and assisted me to rise up.

“I found myself in the centre of a heap of corpses; to take a second step without treading on a body was impossible; yet I scarce regarded the scene of slaughter: my eyes were riveted upon one corpse, that of the poor lad whom the crouching _jäger_ had so brutally murdered.

“I stood up with difficulty; a faintness overpowered me: I staggered, and would have fallen, but the sergeant supported me, while his comrade held a canteen to my mouth. It contained brandy diluted with water, and, to one parched as I was, the draught was exquisitely grateful. My deliverers appeared anxious to move off, either to obtain fresh plunder, or secure that already acquired; and which, to judge from the size of their havresacs, must have been considerable. I begged them to assist me from the field; but they declined it, alleging that they must rejoin their regiment before day-break. At this moment my eyes encountered those of the _jäger_, who lay as motionless behind the dead horse as any of the corpses that surrounded him. If I remained, (and I could not walk without support,) the chances were immense that the villain would speedily remove one who had witnessed a deed of robbery and murder, and I made a fresh appeal to my worthy countrymen:

“Sergeant, I will reward you handsomely: do not desert me.”

“I cannot remain longer, sir: morning is breaking, and you will soon have relief enough,” was the reply.

“It will never reach me: there is one within three paces, who will not permit me to look upon another sun.”

“Both soldiers started.

“What do you mean?” exclaimed the sergeant eagerly.

“Mark you that Prussian sharp-shooter who skulks behind the horse?”

“What of him?” asked the grenadier.

“Yonder dead officer supplicated assistance from that scoundrel, and he answered him with curses, and commenced plundering him directly. I saw him take a purse, and tear away his epaulette. Some other article the poor fellow feebly attempted to retain; and the villain, before my eyes, stabbed him to the heart. Hearing your approach, he hid himself behind that charger: need I add, that there he lies until you leave this spot, and that I shall most probably be his next victim?”

“You shall not, by Heaven!” exclaimed the sergeant, as he drew his sword and stepped over the dead horse. The Prussian, who had no doubt watched the conference attentively, sprang upon his feet on the first movement of the grenadier; but his fate was sealed: before the sergeant’s comrade could unsheath his bayonet, the _jäger_ was cut down, and the murderer rolled in the agonies of death beside the unfortunate youth whom but a few minutes before he had so ruthlessly slaughtered.

“The corpse was speedily plundered by the grenadiers, and the spoil of the rifleman, when united to their booty, made, as I suspect, a valuable addition.

“The moonlight was now yielding to the grey tint of early day, and the chief cause of my apprehensions being removed by the _jäger’s_ death, I found leisure to scrutinize my deliverers.

“The first was a very powerful and athletic man, whose years might be set down at forty: his vigorous frame was perfectly unbroken, and his look bespoke a daring and unhesitating resolution. Indeed, his whole appearance was much above his rank; he seemed a war-worn, dissipated soldier: to him a field of battle was no novelty; and the perfect _nonchalance_ with which he dispatched the Prussian, betrayed a recklessness regarding human life, rather befitting a bandit than a soldier.

“His companion, a very young man, was a fine strapping flanker, and in everything appeared to be wholly governed by the will of his comrade. He touched the dead, I thought, with some repugnance, and seemed of gentler heart and milkier disposition than might be expected in a midnight plunderer upon a battle field.

“See, the dawn breaks rapidly,” said the non-commissioned officer to the young grenadier: “we must be off, Macmanus.... We leave you safe, sir; yonder black sharp-shooter will never draw another trigger. Pick up a musket for the gentleman; we must not leave him without the means of keeping stragglers at a distance, should any come prowling here, before the fatigue-parties arrive to carry off the wounded. Here, sir, take another pull at the brandy-flask; nothing keeps up a sinking heart so well.”

“Thanks, my kind fellow, I owe you my life. Had you left me to yon black scoundrel, he would have served me as he did our comrade there. What are your names, your regiment? I shall take care to report your timely services to....”

The elder of the grenadiers laughed: “You are but a young soldier, sir, and this, as I suspect, your first field. I know you mean us kindly, but silence is the best service you can render us. We should have been with the advance near Genappe, instead of collecting lost property upon the plains of Waterloo. Well, we fought hard enough yesterday to allow us a right to share what no one claims, before the Flemish clowns come here by cock-crow. Adieu!” As he spoke, his companion handed me a musket, after trying the barrel with a ramrod, and ascertaining from flint and pan that it was both loaded and serviceable.

“Enough; I ask no questions. But here are a few guineas.”

“Which we do not require,” said the sergeant. “We have made a good night’s work, and your money, young sir, we neither want, nor take. If we have rendered you service, it was for the sake of the old country. It is hard to shut one’s ears, when the first language that we lisped in from the cradle asks pity in the field. Farewell, sir; morning a comes on apace.”

“And yet,” I replied, “I might perhaps at some time serve you. You know the fable: the Mouse once cut a net, and saved a Lion. I am indeed but a young soldier: but should I be able to be serviceable at any future period, ask for J—— B——, and he will remember the night of Waterloo.”

“Of all the fields that ever were seen, Waterloo presented perhaps the most bloody. The small space over which the action had been fought, rendered the scene indeed appalling: masses of dead appearing as it were piled on each other.”

The field of Waterloo is twelve miles and a quarter from Brussels; Quatre-Bras, twenty-one; and Ligny, twenty-eight miles: notwithstanding the great difference in the distances of those places, the firing at Ligny and Quatre-Bras was more distinctly heard at Brussels on the 16th, than that of Waterloo on the 18th.

Our detached force at Hall, which is about nine miles from Waterloo, heard nothing of the firing, nor did they know until the following morning, (the 19th,) how busily we had been engaged.

No. VII.

As a tribute of the Author’s respectful gratitude for the information he has obtained from many officers who have visited the field, and, with all the advantages of being on the spot, have discussed the leading questions which have been raised in the United Service Journal, and so many other publications, respecting the details of the battle, their names are subjoined:

GENERALS.

Lord John Hay.
Sir Hussey Vivian.
Sir A. Barnard.
Sir H. Ross.
Sir Colin Campbell.
Sir Guy Campbell.
Sir F. Adam.
Alexander Macdonald.
J. B. Parker.
D. Mercer.
W. Mayne.
T. Reynell.
H. Murray.
Thomas Hunter Blair.
T. W. Robbins.
J. S. Kennedy.

COLONELS.

Hon. Keppell.
Sir W. Verner, Bart.
Sir Henry Floyd, Bart.
Sir G. Hoste.
G. Gurwood.
T. Wildman.
Bussche.
Vigouroux.
Forbes.
N. Norcliffe.
Gilbourne.
Lord Douro.
Grey.
Calvert.
Tinling.
Parkinson.
Wallace.
Grove.
Bruce.
Kuhlman.
Lord Grosvenor.
Lord Wellesley.
Hon. G. Cathcart.
Brown.

MAJORS.

Turner.
Tindale.
Browne.
Dawson.
Jackson.
Edward Macready.
Belcher.
Fowler.
Cox.
Rice.
Lloyd.
Maddox.
Ainsley.
Hawley.

Two other officers of high rank, who served on the Duke’s staff, have given me information respecting some of the most important occurrences of the day, but not permission to publish their names, as they had previously refused this favour to several writers of distinction.

The following letters are submitted to the reader as offering satisfactory evidence of the Author’s competency to attempt a narration of the battle, and to act as guide to the visitors to the field, as well as of the authenticity of the spoils and relics, which any one may inspect at his residence, Mont-St.-Jean:

“EMS, July 23d, 1839.

“SERGEANT-MAJOR COTTON,

“I promised to write to you, but I have not had time to do so till now, since I saw you at Waterloo. You were desirous of having my testimony of the authenticity of the different articles collected from the field, that I saw in your house. I can have no hesitation in giving it generally. Many of the things I saw, I could speak to as having belonged to regiments of my own brigade.

“It is but just also to you to say, that the account you gave me of the various occurrences of the day, was, as far as I knew, extremely correct, and by no means exaggerated, and I give you full credit for the pains you have taken to collect the details. I sincerely hope, that from the occupation you have undertaken, you will derive the means of passing the remainder of your days in competence and comfort; and thus reap the reward of your intelligence, on a field where you had previously proved your courage.

“Your friend,
“HUSSEY VIVIAN, lieutenant-general.”

“I have seen at various times, Sergeant-Major Cotton’s collection of spoils of the campaign of 1815, and I am of opinion that they are genuine relics, and such as may be relied on.

“HENRY FLOYD, Bart., colonel unattached,
captain 10th hussars at Waterloo.

“BRUSSELS, 1848.”

“BRUSSELS, October 2d, 1845.

“SERGEANT-MAJOR COTTON,

“I received so much satisfaction from our walk over the field of Waterloo yesterday, that I am induced to leave with you the expression of it.

“Being anxious to satisfy myself regarding certain operations of the day, particularly the movements of the light brigade, (52d, 71st, 95th,) to which I belonged, I found your exact knowledge of the ground, and the numerous details you have collected, highly instructive and interesting.

“I am glad to learn that you intend publishing a memoir of the battle, and will not fail to become a purchaser as soon as it appears.

“Your sincere well-wisher,
“THOMAS HUNTER BLAIR, colonel.”

“NAMUR, June 29th, 1846.

“SERGEANT-MAJOR COTTON,

“I have read your book ... with very great interest.... Thinking from our conversation on the field respecting the present condition of the ground on which Halkett’s brigade acted, that you would be pleased to know the opinion of even so undistinguished a member of that body as myself, respecting your explanation of the events of the battle thereabouts, ... I hesitate not to say that I was at once surprised and gratified to hear from you ... the best and most correct detail of the proceedings ... that I have either heard or read.... Further ... you made me far better acquainted with the details of what occurred at Hougoumont, and to its right, than I ever was before.

“Hoping you may long enjoy health to pursue the interesting occupation for which your soldierly qualities and intelligence so well fit you, I remain, etc.

“EDWARD MACREADY, major unattached;
of the 30th, at Waterloo.”

The following document is to the Author, and probably it will be to not a few of his readers, deeply interesting: it is from the late lamented colonel Gurwood, whose labour in collecting and publishing the Wellington Dispatches, whilst it rendered an invaluable, perhaps an unrequited service to his country and to civilization, broke his health, and bore down his gallant spirit:

“70, LOWNDES-SQUARE, LONDON, June 18th, 1843.

“SERGEANT-MAJOR COTTON,

“I have had a set of the _Dispatches of the Duke of Wellington_ packed up to be forwarded to you, which I shall endeavour to send you on the return of king Leopold to Brussels, to the care of sir G. H. Seymour, her Majesty’s minister, to whom I shall write to inform you when they arrive.

“The marquis of Anglesey has much enhanced the value of my present to you, in writing his name in the title page at my request, and he appeared much pleased at gratifying an old soldier of his regiment.

“Very faithfully yours,
“J. GURWOOD.”

A RELIC.

On the 15th of May 1846, colonel Macdonald, of the Royal artillery, visited the Author’s interesting collection at Mont-St.-Jean, of arms, etc., spoils of the Waterloo campaign. The gallant veteran recognized his own sword of a curious workmanship, that had been lost on the field, when he was wounded.

This precious relic the colonel left with the Author, giving him the following certificate:

“This sword I wore at the battle of Waterloo, and after I was
wounded my servant left it on the field.

“ALEXANDER MACDONALD, colonel,
“Royal horse artillery[113].

“WATERLOO, May 15th, 1846.”

Amongst the kind presents which the Author has received from his countrymen, for his Waterloo Museum and library, at Mont-St.-Jean, he gratefully mentions the following:

“_Selections from Dispatches, etc., of the Duke of Wellington, by colonel Gurwood_;

“Presented by Lieutenant-Colonel N. Norcliffe, K. H., of Langton-Hall, Yorkshire, to his fellow soldier, Sergeant-Major Cotton, late of the 7th hussars.

“July 25th, 1842.”

“BLACKHEATH, July 30th, 1846.

“SERGEANT-MAJOR COTTON,

“Alderman Moon rejoiced in being able to gratify the patriotic feelings of an old Waterloo hero, and at once offered to present you with a copy of his celebrated engraving of the Waterloo Banquet, which he trusts you will frame and place in your Museum.

“FRANCIS BENNOCK.”

“Mr. Billen has much pleasure ... in sending Sergeant-Major Cotton an engraved portrait of the brave general Sir James Kempt, and further promises, should he have the honour to engrave any other officers who took part in that eventful day, to send an impression to Sergeant-Major Cotton.

“23, HIGH-STREET, CAMDEN-TOWN, 6th September, 1842.”

Of the _first edition_ of this work, the following notice appeared in a London journal:

“The author of the unpretending little volume before us is principal guide to the field of battle. This duty he is well qualified to perform from his intimate knowledge of the ground, near which he has resided during eleven years, and from his zealous endeavours to render himself master of facts, by studious research, and by communicating on the spot with military men of all ranks and nations.

“The qualifications that recommend sergeant-major Cotton as guide, have facilitated his efforts to put in print those events which he is daily required to narrate verbally; and it is but justice to say that he has accomplished his task lucidly, impartially, and in plain, straight-forward language, becoming his position and antecedents.

“He states in sober and graphic terms, how the tempest first gathered and suddenly burst forth in advance of Charleroi, next upon our allies at Ligny, and our own advance corps at Quatre-Bras; he informs us of the principal incidents that led to the grand crisis, as well as of the measures adopted by the British commander to stem the torrent. The author likewise gives an intelligible sketch of the limited tactical movements executed during the battle.

“Sergeant-major Cotton shows us how the lion-hearted Glengary, with Hepburn, Saltoun, and their indomitable brother guardsmen, immortalized Hougoumont. He carries us with Hamilton and his Grey squadrons into the thick of the onslaught, where the Household cavalry and Union brigades, the pride of English chivalry, hurled themselves upon their brave antagonists. He does not forget the ‘Up, guards, and make ready!’ or the resistless charge that followed; nor does he pass over in silence the unflinching valour with which Baring’s Hanoverians so long maintained their dangerous post. The author points out where the ardent Irish, thigh by thigh with heroic Highlanders, or knee by knee with stalworth English, bore down compactly upon advancing infantry, or with admirable coolness threw themselves into those impenetrable squares, wherein our devoted gunners found momentary shelter, when the field was swept by cuirassed hosts, more impetuous and daring than successful. We could willingly quote several interesting and graphic passages from sergeant-major Cotton’s clear and well-written narrative, from which we have risen with a more distinct acquaintance with the subject and scene, than we had hitherto derived from works of higher pretensions. But, as the whole volume merits perusal, we will content ourselves with expressing hopes that this VOICE FROM WATERLOO may find an echo in public favour, and that our veteran hussar’s pen may gain for him laurels more substantial than those already earned by his well-tried sabre.” (_Morning Chronicle_, 22d January, 1846.)

_Extract from the Brussels Herald._

We have much pleasure in reprinting, from the _Literary Gazette_ of last Saturday, the following notice of sergeant-major Cotton’s new work, A VOICE FROM WATERLOO:

“The author was in the fight in the 7th hussars. He has since resided for years at Mont-St.-Jean, where this volume is published; and he acts as a guide to visitors when they desire to inspect this famous battle field.

“Sergeant-major Cotton says, (page 201,) ‘Facts are stubborn things;’ and with the qualifications we have noticed, he is the very man to tell us all about it. And he has told us in a very circumstantial manner, separating details from masses, and altogether afforded us a better idea of this dreadful encounter than we have gathered from any other quarter. We had, by a curious coincidence, just arrived at this conclusion on reading his book, when we had an opportunity, in common with a number of leading artists and connoisseurs, of seeing Mr. Sidney Cooper’s Battle of Waterloo, painted for the approaching exhibition in Westminster-Hall. We were at once wonderfully struck with the apparent realization of the accounts which had just made such an impression on our minds. It seemed as if the artist had been present with the writer, and transferred in the most graphic and spirited manner to the canvass what he had committed with such particular effect to the paper. The chivalrous encounters, the almost single combats, the groups of cavalry slaughterings, the flight, the rally, the rush of riderless horses, the dying and the dead scattered among the trampled corn: all told the terrible tale of the last charge and effort of the French to retrieve the discomfiture of the day. Of these Mr. Cooper has made a stirring and splendid use. It is indeed a battle-piece, and upon the largest scale, such as never has been produced before by English painter, if by the greatest foreign master, in this style of art. The artist is sublime in the mysteries of moving human columns under the canopy of smoke, through which the spectator may easily imagine he hears the cannon boom. The whole is real, yet imaginative; and inspires at the same moment feelings of intense individual interest, and general awe. With regard to the author we need not add any other comment. Though he mentions that the Duke and Blücher met at La Belle-Alliance after the battle, we think he shows that this could not have been the case; and we have reason to believe that no such meeting ever took place[114].”

FOOTNOTES:

[103] _See_, page 229, the proclamation of Louis XVIII to the French people, dated Cambray, the 28th June, 1815.

[104] _See_ lord Bathurst’s dispatch of the 7th July, and the Duke’s answer of the 13th, GURWOOD, vol. XII, page 557.

[105] _See_ the duke of Wellington’s dispatch to lord Bathurst of the 8th July. (GURWOOD, vol. XII, page 549,) detailing a conversation which took place with the duc d’Otrante at Neuilly, on the night of the 5th July; the whole of which turned upon a recommendation given by the duc d’Otrante, that the king should give a _general amnesty_.

[106] “As well as the duke of Wellington recollects, there is in the war department a letter from the prince d’Eckmühl to marshal St.-Cyr on this subject, in which he urges every argument against the proclamation of the 25th July, excepting the 12th article of the convention of Paris.”

[107] _Scott._

[108] La Haye-Sainte.

[109] _See_ the covering of this book.

[110] Gneisenau was the chief of the Prussian staff. He was at once the life and soul, main-spring and working head of their army.

[111] At Leipsick, Napoleon selected his own position, and there he chose a field with a defile over a morass, a mile and a half broad, which probably was the principal cause of his defeat.

[112] Several ladies were on the field on the morning of the 19th, going about like ministering angels tending the wounded. How truly in this instance do Scott’s lines picture the soft sex!

“O woman! In our hours of ease,
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please,
And variable as the shade
By the light quivering aspen made;
When pain and anguish wring the brow,
A ministering angel thou!”

[113] Brother to sir John Macdonald, the adjutant-general at the Horse-Guards.

[114] I wish I were as positive of every part of my narrative. E.C.

THE END

SERGEANT-MAJOR COTTON’S

WATERLOO CABINET.

THIS INTERESTING MUSEUM CONTAINS

1. The following highly finished engravings: Napoleon, Wellington, Blücher; Wellington and Napoleon at Waterloo; the Waterloo Banquet; Sir James Kempt; Battle of Waterloo; Capture of an Eagle; the Prince of Orange wounded.

2. Medallion portraits of Napoleon, Wellington, Blücher, King of the Netherlands, Lords Hill and Anglesey, Sir Thomas Picton, Count Alten, Marshals Ney and Soult; General Cambronne, or “_La garde meurt et ne se rend pas_.”

3. General view of the Field, (oil;) View of Hougoumont.

4. Plans showing different periods of the Battles of Ligny, Quatre-Bras, Waterloo and Wavre; Map on which is indicated the distribution of the respective armies at the commencement of hostilities.

5. Autographs of the following Waterloo Commanders and Officers: Napoleon, Wellington, Field-Marshal the Marquis of Anglesey, Lord Somerset, Lord Love, Sir Edward Somerset, Major General Sir William Gomme, Marshal Grouchy; Generals Vivian, Harris, Sir E. Kerrison, Hunter Blair, and Macdonald; Colonels Sir Henry Floyd, Bart., Gurwood, Hon. G. Cathcart, and Muttlebury; Majors Kennedy, Macready, and Lindam, Captain J. Braman, etc.

6. The London Gazette of Thursday 22d June 1815, and the Times of the same date.

7. An interesting collection of RELICS, warranted spoils of the Waterloo campaign, a part of which are labelled for sale at moderate prices, although not so cheap as the spurious articles with which the neighbourhood abounds.

The collection of relics is composed of arms, cuirasses, casques, caps, clothing, accoutrements, various military ornaments, trappings, gold and silver Crosses of the Legion of honour, Prussian Crosses and Medals, etc., etc.

_The most interesting relic is the Sword, of General Alexander Macdonald, which he left on the field of battle when wounded, and recognized amongst the relics of the Waterloo Cabinet on revisiting the field in May 1846. The General’s certificate is attached to the Sword._

A pair of Napoleon’s silver spurs.

Several pieces of Napoleon’s kitchen utensils, marked with the Imperial crown, letter _N_, and “_Tuileries_,” or “_Voyage_.”

A Dragoon’s saddle-bags, with the stains of blood still visible, etc., etc., etc.

SERGEANT-MAJOR COTTON.

_The celebrated Waterloo Guide and author of the sketch of the battle entitled: “A voice from Waterloo.”_

Pause, stranger as you pass this hallowed spot,
Where guardian angels hover round unseen!
Reposing here brave Cotton sleeps, whose lot
On earth has one of dauntless valour been.

At Hugoument his bleaching ashes lie,
And mingle with the dust beneath his grave;
Whilst seraphs waft his loosened soul on high,
To life eternal which awaits the brave.

Bold, as a soldier, faithful, as a friend,
To enemies forgiving and humane,
He strove through life his country to defend,
With character unsullied by a stain.

When War’s rude thunders rent the loaded air,
And clashing arms bespoke the dread dispute,
When Heroes pressed the cannon’s front to dare,
Each heart for Glory in the wild pursuit.

Amongst them Cotton fought; and lived to tell
To countless eager ears the mighty fray,
In which his comrades and opponents fell,
When victory to Britons gave the day.

His mortal course he thus pursued by choice,
And thus performed the labour from him due;
’Till lo! as recompense, from Heaven a voice
Has called to bliss, the “Voice from Waterloo.”

TOWARDS SUNSET, ON JUNE 13TH, 1815.]

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

Footnote [72] is referenced from Footnote [71], not from the
main text.

The seven wide tables on pages 238 to 251 of the original book
have each been split into two parts. The first four columns
have been duplicated in each part for readability.

Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.

Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added,
when a predominant preference was found in the original book.

Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.

Pg viii: ‘many occurences’ replaced by ‘many occurrences’.
Pg viii: ‘only irreconcileable’ replaced by ‘only irreconcilable’.
Pg ix: ‘discrepances which’ replaced by ‘discrepancies which’.
Pg xi: ‘Prussian ontposts’ replaced by ‘Prussian outposts’.
Pg xi: ‘CHATER II’ replaced by ‘CHAPTER II’.
Pg xv: ‘its retread’ replaced by ‘its retreat’.
Pg xvii: ‘Waterloo at it is’ replaced by ‘Waterloo as it is’.
Pg 2: ‘allied sovereings’ replaced by ‘allied sovereigns’.
Pg 2 FN [1]: ‘a good jonrney’ replaced by ‘a good journey’.
Pg 2 FN [1]: ‘from Napoleau’ replaced by ‘from Napoleon’.
Pg 4: ‘Napoleons’s name’ replaced by ‘Napoleon’s name’.
Pg 5: ‘strengh of the enemy’ replaced by ‘strength of the enemy’.
Pg 6: ‘were to be groud’ replaced by ‘were to be ground’.
Pg 6: ‘in the propable’ replaced by ‘in the probable’.
Pg 8 FN [7]: ‘of tha 1st German’ replaced by ‘of the 1st German’.
Pg 10: ‘of the Prussiam’ replaced by ‘of the Prussian’.
Pg 10: ‘as ta be concealed’ replaced by ‘as to be concealed’.
Pg 11: ‘at the independance’ replaced by ‘at the independence’.
Pg 11: ‘of agressions’ replaced by ‘of aggressions’.
Pg 12: ‘The centre colum’ replaced by ‘The centre column’.
Pg 18: ‘Nothwithstanding the’ replaced by ‘Notwithstanding the’.
Pg 19: ‘Description o the’ replaced by ‘Description of the’.
Pg 20: ‘aids-de-camp. Shortly’ replaced by ‘aides-de-camp. Shortly’.
Pg 20: ‘marche from Nivelles’ replaced by ‘march from Nivelles’.
Pg 21: ‘in somme measure’ replaced by ‘in some measure’.
Pg 32: ‘but was forgotton’ replaced by ‘but was forgotten’.
Pg 38: ‘lieutenand-general’ replaced by ‘lieutenant-general’.
Pg 39: ‘dragoons and lanccrs’ replaced by ‘dragoons and lancers’.
Pg 40: ‘immediate and efficent’ replaced by ‘immediate and efficient’.
Pg 41: ‘them, when praticable’ replaced by ‘them, when practicable’.
Pg 42: ‘und forming a circle’ replaced by ‘and forming a circle’.
Pg 42: ‘up the alignements’ replaced by ‘up the alignments’.
Pg 44: ‘the enemy, dit not’ replaced by ‘the enemy, did not’.
Pg 44: ‘chequered colums’ replaced by ‘chequered columns’.
Pg 49: ‘at a goad pace’ replaced by ‘at a good pace’.
Pg 54: ‘which he commited’ replaced by ‘which he committed’.
Pg 55: ‘galop from the French’ replaced by ‘gallop from the French’.
Pg 55: ‘of la La Haye-Sainte’ replaced by ‘of La Haye-Sainte’.
Pg 57: ‘nowithstanding the major’ replaced by ‘notwithstanding
the major’.
Pg 59: ‘the position ot this’ replaced by ‘the position of this’.
Pg 59: ‘staggered the Freneh’ replaced by ‘staggered the French’.
Pg 60: ‘be gallantly’ replaced by ‘he gallantly’.
Pg 61: ‘to be wondered as’ replaced by ‘to be wondered at’.
Pg 62: ‘he hid so’ replaced by ‘he did so’.
Pg 62: ‘lay and on’ replaced by ‘lay hand on’.
Pg 64: ‘disloged the German’ replaced by ‘dislodged the German’.
Pg 65: ‘his coat ant killed’ replaced by ‘his coat and killed’.
Pg 67: ‘time so catch’ replaced by ‘time to catch’.
Pg 75: ‘au unknown spot’ replaced by ‘an unknown spot’.
Pg 76: ‘Hamilton, aid-de-camp’ replaced by ‘Hamilton, aide-de-camp’.
Pg 76 FN [42]: ‘maintened fop a few’ replaced by ‘maintained for a few’.
Pg 79: ‘the sergeant sadler’ replaced by ‘the sergeant saddler’.
Pg 86: ‘home: stil the’ replaced by ‘home: still the’.
Pg 86: ‘Prince, notwihstanding’ replaced by ‘Prince, notwithstanding’.
Pg 87: ‘Freemantle, aid-de-camp’ replaced by ‘Freemantle, aide-de-camp’.
Pg 89: ‘ther huge camp’ replaced by ‘their huge camp’.
Pg 91: ‘Alten’s divison’ replaced by ‘Alten’s division’.
Pg 91: ‘sent an aid-de-camp’ replaced by ‘sent an aide-de-camp’.
Pg 91: ‘ther dislike to’ replaced by ‘their dislike to’.
Pg 92: ‘his men howerer’ replaced by ‘his men however’.
Pg 100: ‘were the fate’ replaced by ‘where the fate’.
Pg 100: ‘as well as be could’ replaced by ‘as well as he could’.
Pg 107: ‘smyptom of falling’ replaced by ‘symptom of falling’.
Pg 109: ‘having sarcely fired’ replaced by ‘having scarcely fired’.
Pg 112: ‘aid-de-camp and many’ replaced by ‘aide-de-camp and many’.
Pg 113: ‘who prolonghed this’ replaced by ‘who prolonged this’.
Pg 115: ‘the dreadful carnarge’ replaced by ‘the dreadful carnage’.
Pg 117: ‘to be inflictied’ replaced by ‘to be inflicted’.
Pg 117: ‘his own officiers’ replaced by ‘his own officers’.
Pg 117 FN [64]: ‘by Vandersmiesen’s’ replaced by ‘by Vandersmissen’s’.
Pg 118: ‘lientenant Banner’ replaced by ‘lieutenant Banner’.
Pg 119: ‘in a angle’ replaced by ‘in an angle’.
Pg 125: ‘alongh is front’ replaced by ‘along his front’.
Pg 126: ‘lieutement Gunning’ replaced by ‘lieutenant Gunning’.
Pg 129: ‘the Erench position’ replaced by ‘the French position’.
Pg 129: ‘aid-de-camp to general’ replaced by ‘aide-de-camp to general’.
Pg 130: ‘The Prussian dragroons’ replaced by ‘The Prussian dragoons’.
Pg 131: ‘most dreaful struggle’ replaced by ‘most dreadful struggle’.
Pg 135: ‘connduct of the French’ replaced by ‘conduct of the French’.
Pg 135: ‘so long a perriod’ replaced by ‘so long a period’.
Pg 136: ‘full of enthusiam’ replaced by ‘full of enthusiasm’.
Pg 137: ‘is life and strength’ replaced by ‘his life and strength’.
Pg 137: ‘he abbors insult and’ replaced by ‘he abhors insult and’.
Pg 138: ‘ministering angles’ replaced by ‘ministering angels’.
Pg 140: ‘commencing hostilites’ replaced by ‘commencing hostilities’.
Pg 141: ‘Ny interest in’ replaced by ‘My interest in’.
Pg 141: ‘the follewing day’ replaced by ‘the following day’.
Pg 143: ‘downfal of Napoleon’ replaced by ‘downfall of Napoleon’.
Pg 147: ‘and majors-generals’ replaced by ‘and major-generals’.
Pg 147: ‘the battalton of’ replaced by ‘the battalion of’.
Pg 148: ‘Neitheir did he attempt’ replaced by ‘Neither did he attempt’.
Pg 150: ‘Higness’s approbation’ replaced by ‘Highness’s approbation’.
Pg 151: ‘the adjudant-general’ replaced by ‘the adjutant-general’.
Pg 154: ‘excesive difficulties’ replaced by ‘excessive difficulties’.
Pg 158: ‘three in the afternon’ replaced by ‘three in the afternoon’.
Pg 160: ‘the wole army’ replaced by ‘the whole army’.
Pg 162: ‘attaked in their turn’ replaced by ‘attacked in their turn’.
Pg 162: ‘embarrassement arising’ replaced by ‘embarrassment arising’.
Pg 167: ‘throughout our narritive’ replaced by ‘throughout
our narrative’.
Pg 168: ‘that pratically shown’ replaced by ‘that practicality shown’.
Pg 175: ‘your Highnees will’ replaced by ‘your Highness will’.
Pg 177: ‘by my aid-de-camp’ replaced by ‘by my aide-de-camp’.
Pg 179: ‘fitfty thousand men’ replaced by ‘fifty thousand men’.
Pg 180: ‘nessary to overcome’ replaced by ‘necessary to overcome’.
Pg 184: ‘Yon wrote from Gembloux’ replaced by ‘You wrote from Gembloux’.
Pg 186: ‘attaking the French’ replaced by ‘attacking the French’.
Pg 191: ‘wits great military’ replaced by ‘with great military’.
Pg 192: ‘everthrow the throne’ replaced by ‘overthrow the throne’.
Pg 192: ‘cause have the fallen’ replaced by ‘cause have they fallen’.
Pg 193: ‘hehold! these are’ replaced by ‘behold! these are’.
Pg 196: ‘gaeat in desolation’ replaced by ‘great in desolation’.
Pg 196: ‘dishonourable fligt’ replaced by ‘dishonourable flight’.
Pg 199: ‘it they believe’ replaced by ‘if they believe’.
Pg 200: ‘render them unavailling’ replaced by ‘render them unavailing’.
Pg 201: ‘Prussians head-quaters’ replaced by ‘Prussians’ head-quarters’.
Pg 214: ‘and the roards are’ replaced by ‘and the roads are’.
Pg 216: ‘and honour to’ replaced by ‘an honour to’.
Pg 219: ‘The Field-Marshall cannot’ replaced by ‘The Field-Marshal
cannot’.
Pg 222: ‘At this measure’ replaced by ‘As this measure’.
Pg 223: ‘the greatitude of’ replaced by ‘the gratitude of’.
Pg 224: ‘I send yon a letter’ replaced by ‘I send you a letter’.
Pg 225: ‘have throught proper’ replaced by ‘have thought proper’.
Pg 225: ‘adressed to me’ replaced by ‘addressed to me’.
Pg 227: ‘as the proprety of’ replaced by ‘as the property of’.
Pg 227: ‘By whom weere these’ replaced by ‘By whom were these’.
Pg 227: ‘who had ad interest’ replaced by ‘who had an interest’.
Pg 227: ‘anglais el prussiens’ replaced by ‘anglais et prussiens’.
Pg 230: ‘at which, they occured’ replaced by ‘at which they occurred’.
Pg 232: ‘throught the farm’ replaced by ‘thought the farm’.
Pg 234: ‘Douro of Wellesly’ replaced by ‘Douro of Wellesley’.
Pg 253: ‘presenc I had’ replaced by ‘presence. I had’.
Pg 253: ‘my first aid-de-camp’ replaced by ‘my first aide-de-camp’.
Pg 261: ‘frem loss of blood’ replaced by ‘from loss of blood’.
Pg 262: ‘his aid-de-camp, and’ replaced by ‘his aide-de-camp, and’.
Pg 264: ‘best of my judment’ replaced by ‘best of my judgment’.
Pg 268: ‘almost to snffocation’ replaced by ‘almost to suffocation’.
Pg 271: ‘your timely serviees’ replaced by ‘your timely services’.
Pg 275: ‘highly instruetive’ replaced by ‘highly instructive’.
Pg 276: ‘invaluable, perharps’ replaced by ‘invaluable, perhaps’.