THE CHURCH SUNDAY SCHOOL

MAGAZINE.

THE GREAT

DUKE OF WELLINGTON.

Ir was a chill bleak morning which ushered in that day, which henceforth was to be glorious in the history of England and of the world, June 18th, 1815, Waterloo Day. The night had been very stormy, and the rain had poured in torrents,-the soldiers lying in the wet grass, or among drooping corn-fields, longing for the morrow.

Ere long that morrow came-the last morrow, alas! to many a gallant soul and many a noble heart. The Duke of Wellington had taken up his position in front of the little village of Waterloo, with about 70,000 men, and 156 guns. I will endeavour shortly to give you a description of that ever-memorable field of battle which I saw not very long ago. The Duke of Wellington's fighting position, if I may so call it, was about two miles long, from behind the famous farm house of Hougoumont, which you have often heard of, on the right, to the end of the village of

Ter La Haye on the left. The bravely defended farm house of La Haye Sainte, was nearer the centre. The great high-road from Brussels to Charleroi runs nearly through the centre of the English position ; and at right angles to this high-road runs a narrow village road, which formed, as nearly as possible, the actual line of battle of the English army. This village road went over a succession of hillocks, on the crest of which the English artillery was placed, and thus the whole line formed an admirable position for that defensive fight the English soldiers had so long and so nobly to sustain. Lord Hill commanded on the right, Sir Thomas Picton on the left, General Clinton with his division and the Belgians was in the right centre, the Brunswickers, Hanoverians, and Nassau Troops, formed the left centre. The army was drawn up in two lines; all the Cavalry being in the rear, and the Artillery, as we said before, on the brow of the position.

Napoleon Buonaparte, with 80,000 men, and 250 guns, occupied a similar and parallel range of little hills to those of the English, about a mile distant, so that the two opposing armies stood each on high ground, the slopes and unenclosed fields of the lower ground coming between. There was a vast difference however between the two armies. You must remember that Napoleon's soldiers were veterans, that is to say, old soldiers from his long wars; and, with the exception of a few Polish Lancers, all Frenchmen: whereas, the duke's army was composed of many nations. The 70,000 men were made up of 30,000 English, including the King's German Legion, 6,000 strong.

Brunswickers and Hanoverians 18,000

18,000

..about 4,000

70,000 in round

And many of the English were young troops, drafted from the Militia regiments at home, especially the guards, many of whom had never fired a shot at an enemy. The Duke said afterwards in one of his letters, "If I had had my old Peninsular army here, the battle would not have lasted three hours."

A little before eleven, the battle began by a fierce attack, made by Jerome Buonaparte with a column of at least 6,000 strong, on the farm house of Hougoumont. This farm house, or rather old Flemish Manor House which stood in front of the British right, as you will remember, had been occupied the day before by Lieut.-Colonel Macdonnell, and some companies of the Coldstream and Scots Fusileer Guards; while the wood in front and in the flank was occupied by some Nassau Light Infantry, and some of the Grenadier Guards, under Lord Saltoun. Such, however, was the fierceness of the attack, that the Nassau troops in the wood yielded a little, though the defenders held the house nobly, a few hundreds against thousands. About twelve o'clock, the rest of the second battalion of the Coldstream Guards, under its Lieutenant Colonel Woodford, was sent to Hougoumont for its relief and support; and thus the farm house was held by that officer, who took the command, and the other officers under him, and his brave men, against (to use the Duke's own words of the same officer and his brave men in another battle, Salamanca,) "all the efforts of the enemy." Though the building got on fire by shells and rockets, and many of the wounded wer burnt, the French never set a foot therein.

The battle had now become general all along the line. The farm house of La Haye Sainte was another object of their attack, defended gallantly by some of the German Legion; but, owing to the want of ammunition, was taken later in the day, the brave defenders being bayonetted every

one.