Chapter VI: Act I: , SCENE 1.--Cabinet Council discovered; Naval and Military (2)

The contest here was, however, very severe, and the loss sustained considerable. General Morillo was wounded, but remained in the field; and I am concerned to have to report that Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. H. Cadogan has died of a wound which he received. In him His Majesty has lost an officer of great merit and tried gallantry, who had already acquired the respect and regard of the whole profession, and of whom it might have been expected that, if he had lived, he would have rendered the most important services to his country. Under cover of the possession of these heights, Sir R. Hill successively passed the Zadorra, at La Puebla, and the defile formed by the heights and the river Zadorra, and attacked and gained possession of the village of Subijana de Alava, in front of the enemy’s line, which the enemy made repeated attempts to regain.

The difficult nature of the country prevented the communication between our different columns moving to the attack from their stations on the river Bayas at as early an hour as I had expected; and it was late before I knew that the column, composed of the 3rd and 7th divisions, under the command of the Earl of Dalhousie, had arrived at the station appointed for them. The 4th and Light divisions, however, passed the Zadorra immediately after Sir R. Hill had possession of Subijana de Alava; the former at the bridge of Manclares, and the latter at the bridge of Tres-puentes; and almost as soon as these had crossed, the column under the Earl of Dalhousie arrived at Mendoza; and the 3rd division, under Lieut.-General Sir T. Picton, crossed at the bridge higher up, followed by the 7th division, under the Earl of Dalhousie. These 4 divisions, forming the centre of the army, were destined to attack the height on which the right of the enemy’s centre was placed, while Lieut.-General Sir R. Hill should move forward from Subijana de Alava to attack the left. The enemy, however, having weakened his line to strengthen his detachment on the hills, abandoned his position in the valley as soon as he saw our disposition to attack it, and commenced his retreat in good order towards Vitoria.

Our troops continued to advance in admirable order, notwithstanding the difficulty of the ground. In the mean time, Lieut.-General Sir T. Graham, who commanded the left of the army, consisting of the 1st and 5th divisions, and General Pack’s and Bradford’s brigades of infantry, and General Bock’s and Anson’s of cavalry, and who had been moved on the 20th to Murguia, moved forward from thence on Vitoria, by the high road from that town to Bilbao. He had, besides, with him the Spanish division under Colonel Longa;[16] and General Giron, who had been detached to the left, under a different view of the state of affairs, and had afterwards been recalled, and had arrived on the 20th at Orduña, marched that morning from thence, so as to be in the field in readiness to support Lieut.-General Sir T. Graham, if his support had been required.

The enemy had a division of infantry with some cavalry advanced on the great road from Vitoria to Bilbao, resting their right on some strong heights covering the village of Gamarra Mayor. Both Gamarra and Abechuco were strongly occupied as _têtes-de-pont_ and the bridges over the Zadorra at these places. Brig.-General Pack with his Portuguese brigade, and Colonel Longa with his Spanish division, were directed to turn and gain the heights, supported by Major-General Anson’s brigade of light dragoons, and the 5th division of infantry under the command of Major-General Oswald, who was desired to take the command of all these troops.

Lieut.-General Sir T. Graham reports, that in the execution of this service the Portuguese and Spanish troops behaved admirably. The 4th battalion of caçadores, and the 8th caçadores, particularly distinguished themselves. Colonel Longa being on the left, took possession of Gamarra Mayor.

As soon as the heights were in our possession, the village of Gamarra Mayor was most gallantly stormed and carried by Major-General Robinson’s brigade of the 5th division, which advanced in columns of battalions, under a very heavy fire of artillery and musketry, without firing a shot, assisted by 2 guns of Major Lawson’s brigade of artillery. The enemy suffered severely, and lost 3 pieces of cannon.

The Lieut.-General then proceeded to attack the village of Abechuco with the 1st division, by forming a strong battery against it, consisting of Captain Dubourdieu’s brigade, and Captain Ramsay’s troop of horse artillery; and under cover of this fire, Colonel Halkett’s brigade advanced to the attack of the village, which was carried; the light battalions having charged and taken 3 guns and a howitzer on the bridge. This attack was supported by General Bradford’s brigade of Portuguese infantry. During the operation at Abechuco, the enemy made the greatest efforts to repossess themselves of the village of Gamarra Mayor, which were gallantly repulsed by the 5th division, under the command of Major-General Oswald. The enemy had, however, on the heights on the left of the Zadorra, 2 divisions of infantry in reserve; and it was impossible to cross by the bridge till the troops which had moved upon the enemy’s centre and left had driven them through Vitoria. The whole then co-operated in the pursuit, which was continued by all till after it was dark.

The movement of the troops under Lieut.-General Sir T. Graham, and their possession of Gamarra and Abechuco, intercepted the enemy’s retreat by the high road to France. They were then obliged to turn to the road towards Pamplona; but they were unable to hold any position for a sufficient length of time to allow their baggage and artillery to be drawn off. The whole, therefore, of the latter, which had not already been taken by the troops in their attack of the successive positions taken up by the enemy in their retreat from their first position at Ariñez and on the Zadorra, and all their ammunition and baggage, and everything they had, were taken close to Vitoria. I have reason to believe that the enemy carried off with them one gun and one howitzer only.

The army under King Joseph consisted of the whole of the armies of the South, and of the Centre, and of 4 divisions and all the cavalry of the army of Portugal, and some troops of the army of the North. General Foy’s division of the army of Portugal was in the neighbourhood of Bilbao; and General Clausel, who commanded the army of the North, was near Logroño with one division of the army of Portugal commanded by General Taupin, and General Van-der-Maessen’s division of the army of the North. The 6th division of the allied army under Major-General the Hon. E. Pakenham was likewise absent, having been detained at Medina de Pomar for 3 days, to cover the march of our magazines and stores.

I cannot extol too highly the good conduct of all the General Officers, officers, and soldiers of the army in this action. Lieut.-General Sir R. Hill speaks highly of the conduct of General Morillo and the Spanish troops under his command, and that of Lieut.-General the Hon. W. Stewart, and the Conde de Amarante, who commanded divisions of infantry under his directions. He likewise mentions the conduct of Colonel the Hon. R. W. O’Callaghan, who maintained the village of Subijana de Alava against all the efforts of the enemy to regain possession of it, and that of Lieut.-Colonel Rooke of the Adjutant-General’s department, and Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. A. Abercrombie of the Quartermaster-General’s department. It was impossible for the movements of any troops to be conducted with more spirit and regularity than those of their respective divisions, by Lieut.-Generals the Earl of Dalhousie, Sir T. Picton, Sir L. Cole, and Major-General Baron C. Alten. The troops advanced in échelons of regiments in two, and occasionally three lines; and the Portuguese troops in the 3rd and 4th divisions, under the command of Brig.-General Power and Colonel Stubbs, led the march with steadiness and gallantry never surpassed on any occasion.

Major-General the Hon. C. Colville’s brigade of the 3rd division was seriously attacked in its advance by a very superior force well formed, which it drove in, supported by General Inglis’ brigade of the 7th division, commanded by Colonel Grant of the 82nd. These officers and the troops under their command distinguished themselves.

Major-General Vandeleur’s brigade of the Light division was, during the advance upon Vitoria, detached to the support of the 7th division; and Lieut.-General the Earl of Dalhousie has reported most favourably of its conduct. Lieut.-General Sir T. Graham particularly reports his sense of the assistance he received from Colonel De Lancy, the Deputy Quartermaster-General, and from Lieut.-Colonel Gouverie, of the Adjutant-General’s department, and from the officers of his personal staff; and from Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. A. Upton, A.Q.M.G., and Major Hope, A.A.G., with the 1st division; and Major-General Oswald reports the same of Lieut.-Colonel Berkeley of the Adjutant-General’s department, and Lieut.-Colonel Gomm of the Quartermaster-General’s department.

I am particularly indebted to Lieut.-General Sir T. Graham, and to Lieut.-General Sir R. Hill, for the manner in which they have respectively conducted the service entrusted to them, since the commencement of the operations which have ended in the battle of the 21st; and for their conduct in that battle; as likewise to Marshal Sir W. Beresford, for the friendly advice and assistance which I have received from him upon all occasions during the late operations.

I must not omit to mention likewise the conduct of General Giron, who commands the Galician army, who made a forced march from Orduña, and was actually on the ground in readiness to support Lieut.-General Sir T. Graham.

I have frequently been indebted, and have had occasion to call the attention of your Lordship to the conduct of the Quartermaster-General, Sir G. Murray, who in the late operations, and in the battle of the 21st June, has again given the greatest assistance. I am likewise much indebted to Lord Aylmer, the Deputy Adjutant-General, and to the officers of the departments of the Adjutant and Quartermaster-General respectively; and also to Lord FitzRoy Somerset, and Lieut.-Colonel Campbell, and those of my personal staff; and to Lieut.-Colonel Sir R. Fletcher, and the officers of the Royal Engineers.

Colonel H.S.H. the Hereditary Prince of Orange was in the field as my aide-de-camp, and conducted himself with his usual gallantry and intelligence.

Mariscal de Campo, Don L. Wimpffen, and the Inspector-General, Don T. O’Donoju, and the officers of the staff of the Spanish army, have invariably rendered me every assistance in their power in the course of these operations; and I avail myself of this opportunity of expressing my satisfaction with their conduct; as likewise with that of Mariscal de Campo, Don M. de Alava; and of the Brig.-General Don J. O’Lawlor, who have been so long and usefully employed with me.

The artillery was most judiciously placed by Lieut.-Colonel Dickson, and was well served; and the army is particularly indebted to that corps. The nature of the ground did not allow of the cavalry being generally engaged; but the General Officers, commanding the several brigades, kept the troops under their command respectively close to the infantry to support them, and they were most active in the pursuit of the enemy after they had been driven through Vitoria.

I send this dispatch by my aide-de-camp, Captain Fremantle, whom I beg leave to recommend to your Lordship’s protection. He will have the honour of laying at the feet of His Royal Highness the colours of the 4th batt. 100th regt., and Marshal Jourdan’s bâton of a Marshal of France, taken by the 87th regt.

I enclose a return of the killed and wounded in the late operations, and a return of the ordnance, carriages, and ammunition taken from the enemy in the action of the 21st inst.

DEPOSITION OF NAPOLEON (1814).

I.--APRIL 8.

=Source.=--Byron’s _Works_, 1898. Letters and Journals. Vol. ii., p. 408.

_April 8_, [1814].

Out of town six days. On my return, found my poor little pagod, Napoleon, pushed off his pedestal;--the thieves are in Paris. It is his own fault. Like Milo, he would rend the oak; but it closed again, wedged his hands, and now the beasts--lion, bear, down to the dirtiest jackal--may all tear him. That Muscovite winter _wedged_ his arms;--ever since, he has fought with his feet and teeth. The last may still leave their marks; and “I guess now” (as the Yankees say) that he will yet play them a pass. He is in their rear--between them and their homes. Query--will they ever reach them?

II.--APRIL 9.

_Saturday, April 9, 1814._

I mark this day!

Napoleon Buonaparte has abdicated the throne of the world. “Excellent well.” Methinks Sylla did better; for he revenged and resigned in the height of his sway, red with the slaughter of his foes--the finest instance of glorious contempt of the rascals upon record. Dioclesian did well too--Amurath not amiss, had he become aught except a dervise--Charles the Fifth but so so--but Napoleon, worst of all. What! wait till they were in his capital, and then talk of his readiness to give up what is already gone!! “What whining monk art thou--what holy cheat?” ’Sdeath!--Dionysius at Corinth was yet a king to this. The “Isle of Elba” to retire to!--Well--if it had been Caprea, I should have marvelled less. “I see men’s minds are but a parcel of their fortunes.” I am utterly bewildered and confounded.

I don’t know--but I think _I_, even _I_ (an insect compared with this creature), have set my life on casts not a millionth part of this man’s. But, after all, a crown may be not worth dying for. Yet, to outlive _Lodi_ for this!!! Oh that Juvenal or Johnson could rise from the dead! _Expende--quot libras in duce summo invenies?_ I knew they were light in the balance of mortality; but I thought their living dust weighed more _carats_. Alas! this imperial diamond hath a flaw in it, and is now hardly fit to stick in a glazier’s pencil:--the pen of the historian won’t rate it worth a ducat.

Psha! “something too much of this.” But I won’t give him up even now; though all his admirers have, like the thanes, “fallen from him.”

TOULOUSE TAKEN BY WELLINGTON (1814).

=Source.=--_Selections from the Wellington Despatches._ Gurwood. P. 809.

_To Earl Bathurst._

TOULOUSE, _12th April, 1814_.

I have the pleasure to inform your Lordship that I entered this town this morning, which the enemy evacuated during the night, retiring by the road of Carcassone.

The continued fall of rain and the state of the river prevented me from laying the bridge till the morning of the 8th, when the Spanish corps and the Portuguese artillery, under the immediate orders of Lieut.-General Don M. Freyre, and the headquarters, crossed the Garonne.

We immediately moved forward to the neighbourhood of the town; and the 18th hussars, under the immediate command of Colonel Vivian, had an opportunity of making a most gallant attack upon a superior body of the enemy’s cavalry, which they drove through the village of Croix d’Orade, and took about 100 prisoners, and gave us possession of an important bridge over the river Ers, by which it was necessary to pass, in order to attack the enemy’s position. Colonel Vivian was unfortunately wounded upon this occasion; and I am afraid that I shall lose the benefit of his assistance for some time.

The town of Toulouse is surrounded on three sides by the canal of Languedoc and the Garonne. On the left of that river, the suburb, which the enemy had fortified with strong field works in front of the ancient wall, formed a good _tête de pont_. They had likewise formed a _tête de pont_ at each bridge of the canal, which was besides defended by the fire in some places of musketry, and in all of artillery from the ancient wall of the town. Beyond the canal to the eastward, and between that and the river Ers, is a height which extends as far as Montaudran, and over which pass all the approaches to the canal and town to the eastward, which it defends; and the enemy, in addition to the _têtes de pont_ on the bridges of the canal, had fortified this height with 5 redoubts, connected by lines of entrenchments, and had, with extraordinary diligence, made every preparation for defence. They had likewise broken all the bridges over the Ers within our reach, by which the right of their position could be approached. The roads, however, from the Arriège to Toulouse being impracticable for cavalry or artillery, and nearly so for infantry, as reported in my dispatch to your Lordship of the 1st instant, I had no alternative, excepting to attack the enemy in this formidable position.

It was necessary to move the pontoon bridge higher up the Garonne, in order to shorten the communication with Lieut.-General Sir R. Hill’s corps, as soon as the Spanish corps had passed; and this operation was not effected till so late an hour on the 9th as to induce me to defer the attack till the following morning.

The plan, according to which I determined to attack the enemy, was for Marshal Sir W. Beresford, who was on the right of the Ers with the 4th and 6th divisions, to cross that river at the bridge of Croix d’Orade, to gain possession of Montblanc, and to march up the left of the Ers to turn the enemy’s right, while Lieut.-General Don M. Freyre, with the Spanish corps under his command, supported by the British cavalry, should attack the front. Lieut.-General Sir S. Cotton was to follow the Marshal’s movement with Major-General Lord E. Somerset’s brigade of hussars; and Colonel Vivian’s brigade, under the command of Colonel Arentschildt, was to observe the movements of the enemy’s cavalry on both banks of the Ers beyond our left. The 3rd and Light divisions, under the command of Lieut.-General Sir T. Picton and Major-General C. Baron Alten, and the brigade of German cavalry, were to observe the enemy on the lower part of the canal, and to draw their attention to that quarter by threatening the _têtes de pont_, while Lieut.-General Sir R. Hill was to do the same on the suburb on the left of the Garonne.

Marshal Sir W. Beresford crossed the Ers, and formed his corps in 3 columns of lines in the village of Croix d’Orade, the 4th division leading, with which he immediately carried Montblanc. He then moved up the Ers in the same order, over most difficult ground, in a direction parallel to the enemy’s fortified position; and as soon as he reached the point at which he turned it, he formed his lines and moved to the attack. During these operations, Lieut.-General Don M. Freyre moved along the left of the Ers to the front of Croix d’Orade, where he formed his corps in 2 lines with a reserve on a height in front of the left of the enemy’s position, on which height the Portuguese artillery was placed; and Major-General Ponsonby’s brigade of cavalry in reserve in the rear.

As soon as formed, and that it was seen that Marshal Sir W. Beresford was ready, Lieut.-General Don M. Freyre moved forward to the attack. The troops marched in good order, under a very heavy fire of musketry and artillery, and showed great spirit, the General and all his Staff being at their head; and the 2 lines were soon lodged under some banks immediately under the enemy’s entrenchments; the reserve and Portuguese artillery, and British cavalry, continuing on the height on which the troops had first formed. The enemy, however, repulsed the movement of the right of General Freyre’s line round their left flank; and having followed up their success, and turned our right by both sides of the high road leading from Toulouse to Croix d’Orade, they soon compelled the whole corps to retire. It gave me great satisfaction to see that, although they suffered considerably in retiring, the troops rallied again as soon as the Light division, which was immediately on their right, moved up; and I cannot sufficiently applaud the exertions of Lieut.-General Don M. Freyre, the officers of the Staff of the 4th Spanish army, and of the officers of the General Staff, to rally and form them again.

Lieut.-General Mendizabal, who was in the field as a volunteer, General Ezpeleta, and several officers and chiefs of corps, were wounded upon this occasion; but General Mendizabal continued in the field. The regiment _de Tiradores de Cantabria_, under the command of Colonel Leon de Sicilia, kept its position, under the enemy’s entrenchments, until I ordered it to retire.

In the meantime, Marshal Sir W. Beresford, with the 4th division, under the command of Lieut.-General Sir L. Cole, and the 6th division, under the command of Lieut.-General Sir H. Clinton, attacked and carried the heights on the enemy’s right, and the redoubt which covered and protected that flank; and he lodged those troops on the same height with the enemy; who were, however, still in possession of 4 redoubts, and of the entrenchments and fortified houses.

The badness of the roads had induced the Marshal to leave his artillery in the village of Montblanc; and some time elapsed before it could be brought to him, and before Lieut.-General Don M. Freyre’s corps could be re-formed and brought back to the attack. As soon as this was effected, the Marshal continued his movement along the ridge, and carried, with General Pack’s brigade of the 6th division, the two principal redoubts and fortified houses in the enemy’s centre. The enemy made a desperate effort from the canal to regain these redoubts, but they were repulsed with considerable loss; and the 6th division continuing its movements along the ridge of the height, and the Spanish troops continuing a corresponding movement upon the front, the enemy were driven from the two redoubts and entrenchments on the left; and the whole range of heights were in our possession. We did not gain this advantage, however, without severe loss; particularly in the brave 6th division. Lieut.-Colonel Coghlan of the 61st, an officer of great merit and promise, was unfortunately killed in the attack of the heights. Major-General Pack was wounded, but was enabled to remain in the field; and Colonel Douglas, of the 8th Portuguese regt., lost his leg; and I am afraid that I shall be deprived for a considerable time of his assistance.

The 36th, 42nd, 79th, and 61st, lost considerable numbers, and were highly distinguished throughout the day.

I cannot sufficiently applaud the ability and conduct of Marshal Sir W. Beresford throughout the operations of the day; nor that of Lieut.-Generals Sir L. Cole, Sir H. Clinton, Major-Generals Pack and Lambert, and the troops under their command. Marshal Sir W. Beresford particularly reports the good conduct of Brig.-General d’Urban, the Quartermaster-General, and General Brito Mozinho, the Adjutant-General to the Portuguese army.

The 4th division, although exposed on their march along the enemy’s front to a galling fire, were not so much engaged as the 6th, and did not suffer so much; but they conducted themselves with their usual gallantry.

I had also every reason to be satisfied with the conduct of Lieut.-General Don M. Freyre, Lieut.-General Don G. Mendizabal, Marisco de Campo, Don P. Barcenas, Brig. Don J. de Ezpeleta, Mariscal de Campo Don A. Garcas de Marcilla, and the Chief of the Staff, Don E. S. Salvador, and the officers of the Staff of the 4th army. The officers and troops conducted themselves well in all the attacks which they made subsequent to their being re-formed.

The ground not having admitted of the operations of the cavalry, they had no opportunity of charging.

While the operations above detailed were going on, on the left of the army, Lieut.-General Sir R. Hill drove the enemy from their exterior works in the suburb, on the left of the Garonne, within the ancient wall. Lieut.-General Sir T. Picton likewise, with the 3rd division, drove the enemy within the _tête de pont_ on the bridge of the canal nearest to the Garonne; but the troops having made an effort to carry it they were repulsed, and some loss was sustained. Major-General Brisbane was wounded; but I hope not so as to deprive me for any length of time of his assistance; and Lieut.-Colonel Forbes, of the 45th, an officer of great merit, was killed.

The army being thus established on 3 sides of Toulouse, I immediately detached our light cavalry to cut off the communication by the only road practicable for carriages which remained to the enemy, till I should be enabled to make arrangements to establish the troops between the canal and the Garonne.

The enemy, however, retired last night, leaving in our hands General Harispe, General Baurot, General St. Hilaire and 1,600 prisoners. One piece of cannon was taken on the field of battle; and others, and large quantities of stores of all descriptions, in the town.

Since I sent my last report, I have received an account from Rear-Admiral Penrose of the successes in the Gironde of the boats of the squadron under his command.

Lieut.-General the Earl of Dalhousie crossed the Garonne nearly about the time that Admiral Penrose entered the river, and pushed the enemy’s parties under General Lhuillier beyond the Dordogne. He then crossed the Dordogne on the 4th, near St. André de Cubzac, with a detachment of the troops under his command, with a view to the attack of the fort of Blaye. His Lordship found General Lhuillier and General Desbareaux posted near Etauliers, and made his disposition to attack them, when they retired, leaving about 300 prisoners in his hands. I enclose the Earl of Dalhousie’s report of this affair.

In the operations which I have now reported, I have had every reason to be satisfied with the assistance I received from the Quartermaster and Adjutant-General, and the officers of those departments respectively; from Mariscal de Campo Don L. Wimpffen and the officers of the Spanish Staff, and from Mariscal de Campo Don M. de Alava; from Colonel Dickson, commanding the allied artillery; and from Lieut.-Colonel Lord FitzRoy Somerset and the officers of my personal Staff.

DUKE OF WELLINGTON’S THANKS (1814).

=Source.=--_Diary of Lord Colchester_, 1861. Vol. ii., p. 505.

_Friday, July 1st._--At three the House of Commons went up with the Address upon the Treaty, and returned by half-past four. Upon my return Lord Castlereagh acquainted the House that the Duke of Wellington was attending, according to his request of being permitted to thank the House in person. The House was crowded in all parts. The Duke was admitted, took his seat within the bar, in a chair placed for him, as usual, on the left hand of the entrance. After sitting down covered, he rose and thanked the House. When he had finished his speech, I rose, and taking off my hat, addressed him in reply. He then withdrew; the acclamation in the House and in the lobby and passages was loud, long, and reiterated till his departure. He was dressed in his Field-Marshal’s uniform, with the blue ribbon of the Garter, and another over his shoulder, and the Golden Fleece in magnificent diamonds hanging from his neck upon the blue ribbon. I kept on my full dress, and the Sergeant also his collar, after we returned from Carlton House and until the ceremony was over.

SPEECH OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

MR. SPEAKER,--I was anxious to be permitted to attend this House in order to return my thanks in person for the honour they have done me in deputing a Committee of Members of this House to congratulate me on my return to this country, and this after the House had animated my exertions by their applause upon every occasion which appeared to merit their approbation, and after they had filled up the measure of their favours, by conferring upon me, at the recommendation of the Prince Regent, the noblest gift that any subject had ever received.

I hope it will not be deemed presumptuous in me to take this opportunity of expressing my admiration of the great efforts made by this House and the Country, at a moment of unexampled pressure and difficulty, in order to support the great scale of operations by which the contest was brought to so fortunate a termination.

By the wise policy of Parliament the Government were enabled to give the necessary support to the operations which were carried on under my direction. And I was encouraged by the confidence reposed in me by His Majesty’s Ministers, and by the Commander-in-Chief, by the gracious favour of H.R.H. the Prince Regent, and by the reliance which I had on the support of my gallant friends, the General Officers of the army, and on the bravery of the officers and troops, to carry on the operations in such a manner as to acquire for me those marks of approbation of this House for which I have now the honour to make my humble acknowledgments.

Sir,--It is impossible for me to express the gratitude which I feel. I can only assure the House that I shall always be ready to serve His Majesty in any capacity in which my services can be deemed useful, with the same zeal for my Country which has already acquired for me the approbation of this House.

THE SPEAKER’S REPLY.

MY LORD,--Since last I had the honour of addressing you from this place, a series of eventful years has elapsed, but none without some mark and note of your rising glory. The military triumph which your valour has achieved upon the banks of the Douro and the Tagus, of the Ebro and the Garonne, have called forth the spontaneous shouts of admiring nations. Those triumphs it is needless on this day to recount; their names have been written by your conquering sword in the annals of Europe, and we shall hand them down with exultation to our children’s children.

It is not, however, the grandeur of military success which has alone fixed our admiration, or commanded our applause. It has been that generous and lofty spirit which inspired your troops with unbounded confidence, and taught them to know that the day of battle was always a day of victory; that moral courage and enduring fortitude which in perilous times, when gloom and doubt had beset ordinary minds, stood nevertheless unshaken, and that ascendancy of character, which, uniting the energies of jealous and rival nations, enabled you to wield at will the fate and fortunes of mighty empires.

For the repeated thanks and grants bestowed upon you by this House in gratitude for your many and eminent services, you have thought fit this day to offer us your acknowledgments. But this Nation well knows that it is still largely your debtor. It owes to you the proud satisfaction that amidst the constellation of great and illustrious warriors who have recently visited our country, we could present to them a Leader of our own, to whom all, by common acclamation, conceded the pre-eminence, and when the will of Heaven, and the common destinies of our nature, shall have swept away the present generation, You will have left your great name and example as an unperishable monument exciting others to like deeds of glory, and serving at once to adorn, defend, and perpetuate the existence of this country among the ruling nations of the earth.

It now remains only that we congratulate your Grace upon the high and important mission on which you are about to proceed; and We doubt not that the same splendid talents, so conspicuous in war, will maintain with equal authority, firmness, and temper our national honour and interests in peace.

ODE WRITTEN DURING THE NEGOTIATIONS WITH BUONAPARTE (1814).

=Source.=--Robert Southey: _Poems_.

1. Who counsels peace at this momentous hour,
When God hath given deliverance to the oppress’d,
And to the injured power?
Who counsels peace, when Vengeance like a flood
Rolls on, no longer now to be repressed;
When innocent blood
From the four corners of the world cries out
For justice upon one accurséd head;
When Freedom hath her holy banner spread
Over all nations, now in one just cause
United; when with one sublime accord
Europe throws off the yoke abhorr’d,
And Loyalty and Faith and Ancient Laws
Follow the avenging sword?

2. Woe, woe to England! woe and endless shame,
If this heroic land,
False to her feelings and unspotted fame,
Hold out the olive to the Tyrant’s hand!
Woe to the world, if Buonaparte’s throne
Be suffer’d still to stand!
For by what names shall Right and Wrong be known?
What new and courtly phrases must we feign
For Falsehood, Murder, and all monstrous crimes,
If that perfidious Corsican maintain
Still his detested reign,
And France, who yearns even now to break her chain,
Beneath his iron rule be left to groan?
No! by the innumerable dead
Whose blood hath for his lust of power been shed,
Death only can for his foul deeds atone;
That peace which Death and Judgment can bestow,
That peace be Buonaparte’s, and that alone!

3. For sooner shall the Ethiop change his skin,
Or from the Leopard shall her spots depart,
Than this man change his old flagitious heart.
Have ye not seen him in the balance weighed,
And there found wanting?--On the stage of blood
Foremost the resolute adventurer stood;
And when, by many a battle won,
He placed upon his brow the crown,
Curbing delirious France beneath his sway,
Then, like Octavius in old time,
Fair name might he have handed down,
Effacing many a stain of former crime.
Fool! should he cast away that bright renown!
Fool! the redemption proffer’d should he lose!
When Heaven such grace vouchsafed him that the way
To Good and Evil lay
Before him, which to choose.

4. But Evil was his Good,
For all too long in blood had he been nursed,
And ne’er was earth with verier tyrant cursed.
Bold man and bad,
Remorseless, godless, full of fraud and lies,
And black with murders and with perjuries,
Himself in Hell’s whole panoply he clad;
No law but his own headstrong will he knew,
No counsellor but his own wicked heart.
From evil thus portentous strength he drew,
And trampled under foot all human ties,
All holy laws, all natural charities.

5. O France! beneath this fierce Barbarian’s sway
Disgraced thou art to all succeeding times;
Rapine, and blood, and fire have marked thy way,
All loathsome, all unutterable crimes.
A curse is on thee, France! From far and wide
It hath gone up to Heaven; all lands have cried
For vengeance upon thy detested head;
All nations curse thee, France! for wheresoe’er
In peace or war thy banner hath been spread,
All forms of human woe have followed there:
The Living and the Dead
Cry out alike against thee! They who bear,
Crouching beneath its weight, thine iron yoke,
Join in the bitterness of secret prayer
The voice of that innumerable throng
Whose slaughtered spirits day and night invoke
The everlasting Judge of right and wrong,
How long, O Lord! Holy and Just, how long!

6. A merciless oppressor hast thou been,
Thyself remorselessly oppressed meantime;
Greedy of war, when all that thou couldst gain
Was but to dye thy soul with deeper crime,
And rivet faster round thyself the chain.
O blind to honour, and to int’rest blind,
When thus in abject servitude resigned
To this barbarian upstart, thou couldst brave
God’s justice, and the heart of humankind!
Madly thou thoughtest to enslave the world,
Thyself the while a miserable slave;
Behold the flag of vengeance is unfurl’d!
The dreadful armies of the North advance;
While England, Portugal, and Spain combined
Give their triumphant banners to the wind,
And stand victorious in the fields of France.

7. One man hath been for ten long wretched years
The cause of all this blood and all these tears;
One man in this most awful point of time
Draws on thy danger, as he caused thy crime.
Wait not too long the event,
For now whole Europe comes against thee bent;
His wiles and their own strength the nations know;
Wise from past wrongs, on future peace intent,
The People and the Princes, with one mind,
From all parts move against the general foe:
One act of justice, one atoning blow,
One execrable head laid low,
Even yet, O France! averts thy punishment:
Open thine eyes! too long hast thou been blind;
Take vengeance for thyself, and for mankind!

8. France! if thou lov’st thine ancient fame,
Revenge thy sufferings and thy shame!
By the bones that bleach on Jaffa’s beach;
By the blood which on Domingo’s shore
Hath clogg’d the carrion-birds with gore;
By the flesh that gorged the wolves of Spain,
Or stiffened on the snowy plain
Of frozen Muscovy;
By the bodies that lie all open to the sky,
Tracking from Elbe to Rhine the Tyrant’s flight;
By the widow’s and the orphan’s cry,
By the childless parent’s misery,
By the lives which he hath shed,
By the ruin he hath spread,
By the prayers that rise for curses on his head,
Redeem, O France! thine ancient fame,
Revenge thy sufferings and thy shame;
Open thine eyes! Too long hast thou been blind;
Take vengeance for thyself, and for mankind!

9. By those horrors which the night
Witnessed, when the torches’ light
To the assembled murderers showed
Where the blood of Condé flowed;
By thy murdered Pichegru’s fame;
By murdered Wright (an English name);
By murdered Palm’s atrocious doom;
By murdered Hofer’s martyrdom;
Oh! by the virtuous blood thus vilely spilt,
The Villain’s own peculiar private guilt,
Open thine eyes! too long hast thou been blind!
Take vengeance for thyself and for mankind!

MAJOR VIVIAN’S INTERVIEW WITH NAPOLEON IN ELBA (JANUARY, 1815).

=Source.=--J. H. Rose: _Pitt and Napoleon_. G. Bell and Sons, 1912. Pp. 170-172, and 173, 174.

His next subject was politics;--he asked me how Congress went on. I told him that there were plenty of fêtes, but that little progress was said to be made in business; and I mentioned to him the _bon mot_ of the Prince de Ligne, who said--“_Le Congrès danse, mais ne marche pas_,” at which he smiled. I added, that Poland was understood to be a stumbling-block; that it was said the Emperor of Russia wanted to form a kingdom of it, but that the other Powers, it was supposed, feared Russia’s becoming too formidable. He remarked that it was a power that went on increasing; a very rising power. He then said that the treaty of peace between himself and the Allies should have been signed at Frankfort; separating Germany entirely from France, and taking Holland, Italy, and Spain from him; but that he never could have consented to leave France less in territory, than it was when he ascended the throne. I asked him why he did not make peace at Dresden, when those terms were offered to him: He said that the Allies were not sincere, and that besides _les choses_ at that time were different; that had peace been then made, England would have been saved some thousands of men and much money; that he considered it very bad policy of England to appropriate Belgium to herself;[17] that it would probably draw her into a war; for that any other Continental Power would be sure of France as an ally, by offering Belgium as a bribe. “Supposing,” said he, “for instance, Russia were to say to France, ‘Do you take Belgium, and let me have Poland.’--In short,” added he, “England cannot maintain herself as a Power of the first rank on the Continent; Belgium must be lost on the first _coup de canon_. The English Government should have covered and fortified Belgium, but Antwerp is the object; for a battle fought and lost before Brussels, which is close to the gates of Paris, would open the road to Holland. England, with her immense colonies, instead of being obliged to keep up a large army to cover Belgium, should withdraw within her Island, and act when and where she chose.” He spoke of the Dutch troops, and appeared to have but a poor opinion of them;--their marine, he said, was much reduced. He expressed himself with much contempt of the Austrian soldiers, who “would not fight without a belly full.”--Referring to the campaign in France, he said that he should have beaten the Allies, had he not been betrayed; for that the peasants were taking arms in their rear. I asked him by whom he had been betrayed; whether by Talleyrand, whom I had heard accused.--He answered so as to give me to understand he had been a party; but he principally blamed Marmont and Augereau.[18] The latter, he told me, had a fine army, superior to the Austrians, and was to have joined him (Bonaparte) in his last movement; but that he had made his terms with the Allies a fortnight before, and that he had narrowly escaped being massacred by his soldiers for his conduct.--I observed to him, that when I had passed through Paris, I had heard there was an opinion amongst the lower orders that he and Paris had been sold--“_que l’Empereur et Paris étoient vendus_.” Blücher, he said, was a brave man, but not a great general; and added, that he had lost two armies.[19] The Prussians had fought well.--Of Schwartzenberg, as an officer, he expressed himself favourably.--Upon my asking him if he did not consider the Duke of Wellington a good general, he replied, “_Oui_.”--I was not satisfied with this, but repeated the question in stronger terms, asking if he was not a very good--an excellent general. He answered, “_Oui, oui!_” with emphasis, but not another word.--Touching on the Corunna campaign, he said Moore was a good general, and had saved that army. The Spaniards, as soldiers, he held very cheap. In the mountains they had done something, their character was obstinacy (_opiniâtreté_)--they wanted valour. I mentioned the gallant defence they had made at Saragossa. This, he said, was _opiniâtreté_;--they were 50,000 men within the walls, attacked by 15,000. I observed that, at least, the Portuguese had proved themselves very good troops. This he admitted. “But then,” added he, “they were officered by British, and of this the national pride [_fierté_] of the Spaniards would not admit;--besides, the Spaniards are bigots in religion, and you know that you are heretics” (_vous savez que vous êtes des hérétiques_), said he, laughing. The French soldiers, he asserted, were _peu constans_; that he (Bonaparte) knew it well, and had acted upon it in the campaign in France; that the soldiers could not bear such a check (_secousse_). He inquired if the English soldiers, when drunk, were not ungovernable, observing that the French, at such times, were loving (_doux et tendres_).

... Speaking of the Americans, he said, they wanted a ten years’ war to make them a nation; that at present they had no noblesse, which they would acquire by a war; that they were now a nation of merchants (_une nation de marchands_), as was shown in the case of the sale of Jefferson’s library to the highest bidder; that had we (the English) made peace with them before, we should have gone to Congress with more weight; that America had carried on the war with spirit after France had fallen (_après que la France eut succombée_) and that the war, after all, was about nothing--a few feet more or less of lake. He then said something of a great project he had with respect to Mexico, of which I could not catch the meaning; and observed, that we should one day or other lose Canada; adding--“of what great consequence is it to England, with her numerous colonies?” He said, that when America became more powerful, she would probably rival us in our marine; that he had made the attempt to do this, but had failed. With respect to the Right of Search, which I called a droit, he said it was no droit, but a mere _théorie_; that when we were very strong we should exercise it, but if, on the contrary, we had Russia, Sweden, and Denmark against us, we probably should not insist on it. He gave it as his opinion, that England and France should be allied. On my signifying, by a shake of the head, the improbability of such an event, he said, “Why not?--The world is large enough--France does not want to meddle too much with commerce. There was a man, Fox, who could have effected it, but unfortunately he is dead.” (_Mais pourquoi pas? le monde est assez grand--la France n’a pas besoin de se mêler trop du commerce. Il y avoit un homme, Fox, qui auroit pu le faire, mais malheureusement il est mort._) He then asked where we were going from Elba, and on my answering, “To Rome and Naples,” he replied, “Ah! then you will see there a magnificent Lazzarone,”[20] adding, “From Naples, I suppose, you return to England by sea?” Upon my saying that it was my intention to return by Italy and the Mont Cenis, as I had seen all the other Passes of the Alps, having come from Vienna by the Tyrol, he observed, “No, there is still that over the Julian Alps.” On saying this he made us a low bow, wished us a _très bon voyage_, and retired.

WATERLOO DESCRIBED BY WELLINGTON (1815).

=Source.=--_Selections from the Wellington Despatches._ Gurwood. P. 857.

_To Earl Bathurst._

WATERLOO, _19th June, 1815_.

Buonaparte, having collected the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th corps of the French army, and the Imperial Guards, 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 posts at Thuin and Lobbes, on the Sambre, at daylight in the morning.

I did not hear of these events till in the evening of the 15th; and I immediately ordered the troops to prepare to march, and afterwards to march to their left, as soon as I had intelligence from other quarters to prove that the enemy’s movement upon Charleroi was the real attack.

The enemy drove the Prussian posts from the Sambre on that day; and General Ziethen, who commanded the corps which had been at Charleroi, retired upon Fleurus; and Marshal Prince Blücher concentrated the Prussian army upon Sombref, holding the villages in front of his position of St. Armand and Ligny.

The enemy continued his march along the road from Charleroi towards Bruxelles; and on the same evening, the 15th, attacked a brigade of the army of the Netherlands, under the Prince de Weimar, posted at Frasne, and forced it back to the farm house, on the same road, called Les Quatre Bras. The Prince of Orange immediately reinforced this brigade with another of the same division, under General Perponcher, and, in the morning early, regained part of the ground which had been lost, so as to have the command of the communication leading from Nivelles and Bruxelles with Marshal Blücher’s position.

In the mean time, I had directed the whole army to march upon Les Quatre Bras; and the 5th division, under Lieut.-General Sir T. Picton, arrived at about half past 2 in the day, followed by the corps of troops under the Duke of Brunswick, and afterwards by the contingent of Nassau.

At this time the enemy commenced an attack upon Prince Blücher with his whole force, excepting the 1st and 2nd corps, and a corps of cavalry under General Kellermann, with which he attacked our post at Les Quatre Bras.

The Prussian army maintained their position with their usual gallantry and perseverance against a great disparity of numbers, as the 4th corps of their army, under General Bülow, 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 to march, had not arrived.

We maintained our position also, and completely defeated and repulsed all the enemy’s attempts to get possession of it. The enemy repeatedly attacked us with a large body of infantry and cavalry, supported by a numerous and powerful artillery. He made several charges with the cavalry upon our infantry, but all were repulsed in the steadiest manner.

In this affair, H.R.H. the Prince of Orange, the Duke of Brunswick, and Lieut.-General Sir T. Picton, and Major-Generals Sir J. Kempt and Sir Denis Pack, who were engaged from the commencement of the enemy’s attack, highly distinguished themselves, as well as Lieut.-General C. Baron Alten, Major-General Sir C. Halketh, Lieut.-General Cooke, and Major-Generals Maitland and Byng as they successively arrived. The troops of the 5th division, and those of the Brunswick corps, were long and severely engaged, and conducted themselves with the utmost gallantry. I must particularly mention the 28th, 42nd, 79th, and 92nd regts., and the battalion of Hanoverians.

Our loss was great, as your Lordship will perceive by the enclosed return; and I have particularly to regret H.S.H. the Duke of Brunswick, who fell fighting gallantly at the head of his troops.

Although Marshal Blücher had maintained his position at Sombref, he still found himself much weakened by the severity of the contest in which he had been engaged, and, as the 4th corps had not arrived, he determined to fall back and to concentrate his army upon Wavre; and he marched in the night, after the action was over.

This movement of the Marshal rendered necessary a corresponding one upon my part; and I retired from the farm of Quatre Bras upon Genappe, and thence upon Waterloo, the next morning, the 17th, at 10 o’clock.

The enemy made no effort to pursue Marshal Blücher. On the contrary a patrol which I sent to Sombref in the morning found all quiet;[21] and the enemy’s vedettes fell back as the patrol advanced. Neither did he attempt to molest our march 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 cavalry under the Earl of Uxbridge.

This gave Lord Uxbridge an opportunity of charging them with the 1st Life Guards, upon their _débouché_ from the village of Genappe, upon which occasion his Lordship has declared himself to be well satisfied with that regiment.

The position which I took up in front of Waterloo crossed the high roads from Charleroi and Nivelles, and had its right thrown back to a ravine near Merke Braine, which was occupied, and its left extended to a height above the hamlet Ter la Haye, which was likewise occupied. In front of the right centre, and near the Nivelles road, we occupied the house and gardens of Hougoumont, which covered the return of that flank; and in front of the left centre we occupied the farm of La Haye Sainte. By our left we communicated with Marshal Prince Blücher at Wavre, through Ohain; 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 3rd corps, which had been sent to observe Marshal Blücher, on a range of heights in our front, in the course of the night of the 17th and yesterday morning, and at about 10 o’clock he commenced a furious attack upon our post at Hougoumont. I had occupied that post with a detachment from General Byng’s brigade of Guards, which was in position in its rear; and it was for some time under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Macdonell, 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 repeated efforts of large bodies of the enemy to obtain possession of it. This 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 Sainte, as the detachment of the light battalion of the German Legion, which occupied it, had expended all its ammunition; and the enemy occupied the only communication there was with them.

The enemy repeatedly charged our infantry with his cavalry, but these 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, the Royal Horse Guards, and 1st dragoon guards, highly distinguished themselves, as did that of Major-General Sir W. Ponsonby, having taken many prisoners and an eagle.