Mr. Perceval’s Answer.
Downing Street,
Feb. 5th, 1811.
Mr. Perceval presents his humble duty to Your Royal Highness, and has the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Royal Highness’s letter of last night, which reached him this morning.
Mr. Perceval feels it his duty to express his humble thanks to Your Royal Highness for the frankness with which Your Royal Highness has condescended explicitly to communicate the motives which have induced Your Royal Highness to honour his colleagues and him with your commands for the continuance of their services in the stations entrusted to them by the King. And Mr. Perceval begs leave to assure Your Royal Highness that in the expression of Your Royal Highness’s sentiments of filial and loyal attachment to the King, and of anxiety for the restoration of His Majesty’s health, Mr. Perceval can see nothing but additional motives for their most anxious exertions to give satisfaction to Your Royal Highness, in the only manner in which it can be given, by endeavouring to promote Your Royal Highness’s views for the security and happiness of the country.
Mr. Perceval has never failed to regret the impression of Your Royal Highness with regard to the provisions of the Regency Bill which His Majesty’s servants felt it to be their duty to recommend to Parliament. But he ventures to submit to Your Royal Highness that, whatever difficulties the present awful crisis of the country and the world may create in the administration of the executive government, Your Royal Highness will not find them in any degree increased by the temporary suspension of the exercise of those branches of the Royal prerogative which has been introduced by Parliament, in conformity to what was intended on a former similar occasion. And that whatever Ministers Your Royal Highness might think proper to employ, would find in that full support and countenance which, as long as they were honoured with Your Royal Highness’s commands, they would feel confident that they would continue to enjoy, ample and sufficient means to enable Your Royal Highness effectually to maintain the great and important interests of the United Kingdom.
And Mr. Perceval humbly trusts that, whatever doubts Your Royal Highness may entertain with respect to the constitutional propriety of the measures which have been adopted, Your Royal Highness will feel assured that they could not have been recommended by His Majesty’s servants, nor sanctioned by Parliament, but upon the sincere, though possibly erroneous conviction, that they in no degree trenched upon the true principles and spirit of the Constitution.
Mr. Perceval feels it his duty to add that he holds himself in readiness at any moment to wait upon Your Royal Highness, and to receive any commands with which Your Royal Highness may be graciously pleased to honour him.
FÊTE AT CARLTON HOUSE (1811).
Source.—Diary of Lord Colchester, 1861. Vol. ii., p. 336.
[June] 19th.—Went to the fête at Carlton House. By previous inquiry I managed both going and coming without the smallest difficulty; I drove up Warwick Street to within a few paces of the small gate at which the chairs come out, and by walking that length I was in the house in a few moments. I went in at ten minutes past nine, and came away by the same road at about twenty minutes past four in the morning.
At the top of the hall steps I found Colonel Palmer and other aides-de-camp, waiting to receive the company. They took my ticket, and Lord Moira, who was close by, told me in which way I could best see the apartments before the company filled them; and he would have gone with me, but was in waiting at the head of the first steps to receive the royal family of France.
The great rooms lie all on the right side of the building; the smaller apartments on the left; and in them the Prince waited to receive the King of France, etc.
About ten they arrived; and the Prince, after seating the King of France in one of the small rooms, hung with fleur de lys furniture; and paying his compliments to him as King, released his French Majesty from all further ceremony, and conducted him as a private person with the rest of the French court, through the different apartments. Having done this once he left them to themselves, and for the rest of the evening walked about alone, in every direction, and into every room.
He passed me several times; and I think once made a slight acknowledgment of me by look. At other periods during the evening I had long and marked conversations with the Duke of York and Duke of Cumberland; also with the Duke of Clarence and Duke of Gloucester.
The Duchess of York and Princess Sophia of Gloucester also recognized and talked to me.
Lord Yarmouth, upon finding that I had no ticket for supping at the Regent’s table, gave me one, as a person who ought to be of that party (viz. one of that 200), from which, however, many of the highest rank were excluded.
At a quarter to two the card marked that we were to assemble in the gilt room; and so did 500 other persons who had nothing to do with the Regent’s party. This was the only thing ill managed, for with this enormous crowd, and waiting there one hour before the doors were opened to go down to supper, everybody was heartily tired; and the King of France, who (as Lord St. Helens says all kings do) must have been heartily tired of swinging from one foot to the other.
At length the doors opened, four aides-de-camp stood inside, and as soon as the Prince had handed down the Duchess d’Angoulême, and the King of France handed the Duchess of York, Monsieur with Princess Sophia of Gloucester, &c., all other persons were stopped at the door who did not present their tickets.
Luckily for me, during the hour of waiting, I found myself close to Lord Chichester; and upon communication we found ourselves ticketed, and without any lady attached to either, so we agreed to make common cause. Lady Chichester not being in a state of bustle, had by the Prince’s gracious permission, seen all the preparations in the morning.
Upon descending into the conservatory, Perceval, Lord Chichester, and myself, after some difficulty of finding places, separated, and it ended in my going with Lord Chichester to the vacant end of the Prince’s long table, which could not be less than 200 feet long. My children would have been amused with the river of water and the little gudgeons swimming about in the whole length of this table; and all the grown children were equally delighted.
Tierney said to me in the course of the evening that he had previously seen and admired the whole spectacle, except that Sadler’s Wells business of the rivulet and the swimming fishes.
Nevertheless it was oriental and fanciful, towards the Prince’s end particularly; for in that part the table widened, and the water also, and fell by a succession of cascades into a circular lake surrounded with architectural decorations, and small vases, burning perfumes, which stood under the arches of the colonnade round the lake.
Behind the Prince’s end of the table there was a magnificent sideboard of gilt plate three stories high.
A band in the garden, not seen by the company, played the whole time.
After the supper was well ended, and before the company rose to go upstairs, there was a grand crowd from the supper room beyond the brass railing, of fine ladies and gentlemen, who came to lean against and look over the railing at our superior lot, and to endeavour at descrying the gudgeons in our river. “There, I see them;” “Look, look;” “Don’t you?” &c., by all the Misses and company, old and young, not to mention Lady Mansfield, Lady Buckingham’s niece, old Mr. Hastings, and many other souls old and young, whose eager and ridiculous curiosity was very entertaining.
At length the royals all rose and went upstairs; Lord Chichester had undertaken to pilot me all round the rest of the supper apartments; Lady Chatham and a young lady of her family were tacked on to us, and so we proceeded.
A few minutes so completely filled the conservatory in which the Prince’s table was placed, that before we got fairly round, the crowd and pressing was beyond anything I ever saw or felt; until, not without an intolerable cram and jam, we made our way with one tide which bore down another tide, and thus we saw the other six rooms all in continuation of the same line as the conservatory. The furthest room was seven or eight steps higher than the rest, and commanded a long but indistinct view of tables and tables not less than 500 feet in distance.
Besides these rooms there was supper under tents in the gardens. Certainly, the supply, waiting, and arrangements seemed to be admirable. No delays in arrivals, no difficulties, no accidents.
WEAVING MACHINES (1812).
Source.—Byron’s Works, 1898. Letters and Journals. Vol. ii., p. 424.
Debate on the Framework Bill, in the House of Lords, February 27, 1812.
The order of the day for the second reading of this Bill being read,
Lord Byron rose, and (for the first time) addressed their Lordships as follows:—
My Lords,—The subject now submitted to your Lordships for the first time, though new to the House, is by no means new to the country. I believe it had occupied the serious thoughts of all descriptions of persons, long before its introduction to the notice of that legislature, whose interference alone could be of real service. As a person in some degree connected with the suffering county, though a stranger not only to this House in general, but to almost every individual whose attention I presume to solicit, I must claim some portion of your Lordships’ indulgence, whilst I offer a few observations on a question in which I confess myself deeply interested.
To enter into any detail of the riots would be superfluous: the House is already aware that every outrage short of actual bloodshed has been perpetrated, and that the proprietors of the frames obnoxious to the rioters, and all persons supposed to be connected with them, have been liable to insult and violence. During the short time I recently passed in Nottinghamshire, not twelve hours elapsed without some fresh act of violence; and on the day I left the county I was informed that forty frames had been broken the preceding evening, as usual, without resistance and without detection.
Such was then the state of that county, and such I have reason to believe it to be at this moment. But whilst these outrages must be admitted to exist to an alarming extent, it cannot be denied that they have arisen from circumstances of the most unparalleled distress: the perseverance of these miserable men in their proceedings tends to prove that nothing but absolute want could have driven a large, and once honest and industrious, body of the people, into the commission of excesses, so hazardous to themselves, their families, and the community. At the time to which I allude, the town and county were burdened with large detachments of the military; the police were in motion, the magistrates assembled; yet all the movements, civil and military, had led to—nothing. Not a single instance had occurred of the apprehension of any real delinquent actually taken in the fact, against whom there existed legal evidence sufficient for conviction. But the police, however useless, were by no means idle: several notorious delinquents had been detected,—men, liable to conviction, on the clearest evidence, of the capital crime of poverty; men, who had been nefariously guilty of lawfully begetting several children, whom, thanks to the times! they are unable to maintain. Considerable injury has been done to the proprietors of the improved frames. These machines were to them an advantage, inasmuch as they superseded the necessity of employing a number of workmen, who were left in consequence to starve. By the adoption of one species of frame in particular, one man performed the work of many, and the superfluous labourers were thrown out of employment. Yet it is to be observed, that the work thus executed was inferior in quality; not marketable at home, and merely hurried over with a view of exportation. It was called, in the cant of the trade, by the name of “Spider-work.” The rejected workmen, in the blindness of their ignorance, instead of rejoicing at these improvements in arts so beneficial to mankind, conceived themselves to be sacrificed to improvements in mechanism. In the foolishness of their hearts they imagined that the maintenance and well-doing of the industrious poor were objects of greater consequence than the enrichment of a few individuals by any improvement, in the implements of trade, which threw the workmen out of employment, and rendered the labourer unworthy of his hire. And it must be confessed that although the adoption of the enlarged machinery in that state of our commerce which the country once boasted might have been beneficial to the master without being detrimental to the servant; yet, in the present situation of our manufactures, rotting in warehouses, without a prospect of exportation, with the demand for work and workmen equally diminished, frames of this description tend materially to aggravate the distress and discontent of the disappointed sufferers. But the real cause of these distresses and consequent disturbances lies deeper. When we are told that these men are leagued together not only for the destruction of their own comfort, but of their very means of subsistence, can we forget that it is the bitter policy, the destructive warfare of the last eighteen years, which has destroyed their comfort, your comfort, all men’s comfort? that policy, which, originating with “great statesmen now no more,” has survived the dead to become a curse on the living, unto the third and fourth generation! These men never destroyed their looms till they were become useless, worse than useless; till they were become actual impediments to their exertions in obtaining their daily bread. Can you, then, wonder that in times like these, when bankruptcy, convicted fraud, and imputed felony are found in a station not far beneath that of your Lordships, the lowest, though once most useful portion of the people, should forget their duty in their distresses, and become only less guilty than one of their representatives? But while the exalted offender can find means to baffle the law, new capital punishments must be devised, new snares of death must be spread for the wretched mechanic, who is famished into guilt. These men were willing to dig, but the spade was in other hands: they were not ashamed to beg, but there was none to relieve them: their own means of subsistence were cut off, all other employments preoccupied; and their excesses, however to be deplored and condemned, can hardly be subject of surprise.
BADAJOZ (1812).
Source.—Selections from the Wellington Despatches. Gurwood. P. 581.
To the Earl of Liverpool.
Badajoz,
7th April, 1812.
My dispatch of the 3rd instant will have apprised your Lordship of the state of the operations against Badajoz to that date; which were brought to a close on the night of the 6th, by the capture of the place by storm.
The fire continued during the 4th and 5th against the face of the bastion of La Trinidad, and the flank of the bastion of Sta Maria; and on the 4th, in the morning, we opened another battery of 6 guns in the second parallel against the shoulder of the ravelin of San Roque, and the wall in its gorge.
Practicable breaches were effected in the bastions above mentioned on the evening of the 5th; but as I had observed that the enemy had entrenched the bastion of La Trinidad, and the most formidable preparations were making for the defence, as well of the breach in that bastion as of that in the bastion of Sta Maria, I determined to delay the attack for another day, and to turn all the guns in the batteries in the second parallel on the curtain of La Trinidad; in hopes that by effecting a third breach, the troops would be enabled to turn the enemy’s works for the defence of the other two; the attack of which would besides be connected by the troops destined to attack the breach in the curtain. This breach was effected in the evening of the 6th, and the fire of the face of the bastion of Sta Maria and of the flank of the bastion of La Trinidad being overcome, I determined to attack the place that night.
I had kept in reserve in the neighbourhood of this camp, the 5th division under Lieut.-General Leith, which had left Castille only in the middle of March, and had but lately arrived in this part of the country; and I brought them up on that evening. The plan for the attack was that Lieut.-General Picton should attack the castle of Badajoz by escalade with the 3rd division; and a detachment from the guard in the trenches furnished that evening by the 4th division, under Major Wilson of the 48th regt., should attack the ravelin of San Roque upon his left, while the 4th division under Major-General the Hon. C. Colville, and the Light division under Lieut.-Colonel Barnard, should attack the breaches in the bastions of La Trinidad and Sta Maria, and in the curtain by which they are connected. The 5th division were to occupy the ground which the 4th and Light divisions had occupied during the siege; and Lieut.-General Leith was to make a false attack upon the outwork called the Pardaleras; and another on the works of the fort towards the Guadiana, with the left brigade of the division under Major-General Walker, which he was to turn into a real attack, if circumstances should prove favourable; and Brig.-General Power, who invested the place with his Portuguese brigade on the right of the Guadiana, was directed to make false attacks on the tête-de-pont, the Fort San Christoval, and the new redoubt called Mon Cœur.
The attack was accordingly made at 10 at night; Lieut.-General Picton preceding by a few minutes the attack by the remainder of the troops. Major-General Kempt led this attack, which went out from the right of the first parallel. He was unfortunately wounded in crossing the river Rivillas below the inundation; but notwithstanding this circumstance, and the obstinate resistance of the enemy, the castle was carried by escalade, and the 3rd division established in it at about half-past 11. While this was going on, Major Wilson of the 48th carried the ravelin of San Roque by the gorge, with a detachment of 200 men of the guard in the trenches; and with the assistance of Major Squire, of the engineers, established himself within that work.
The 4th and Light divisions moved to the attack from the camp along the left of the river Rivillas, and of the inundation. They were not perceived by the enemy, till they reached the covered-way; and the advanced guards of the 2 divisions descended without difficulty into the ditch, protected by the fire of the parties stationed on the glacis for that purpose; and they advanced to the assault of the breaches led by their gallant officers, with the utmost intrepidity. But such was the nature of the obstacles prepared by the enemy at the top and behind the breaches, and so determined their resistance, that our troops could not establish themselves within the place. Many brave officers and soldiers were killed or wounded by explosions at the top of the breaches; others who succeeded to them were obliged to give way, having found it impossible to penetrate the obstacles which the enemy had prepared to impede their progress. These attempts were repeated till after 12 at night; when, finding that success was not to be attained, and that Lieut.-General Picton was established in the castle, I ordered that the 4th and Light divisions might retire to the ground on which they had been first assembled for the attack.
In the mean time, Lieut.-General Leith had pushed forward Major-General Walker’s brigade on the left, supported by the 38th regt. under Lieut.-Colonel Nugent, and the 15th Portuguese regt. under Colonel Do Rego, and he had made a false attack upon the Pardaleras with the 8th caçadores under Major Hill. Major-General Walker forced the barrier on the road of Olivença, and entered the covered way on the left of the bastion of San Vicente, close to the Guadiana. He there descended into the ditch, and escaladed the face of the bastion of San Vicente. Lieutenant-General Leith supported this attack by the 38th regt. and 15th Portuguese regt.; and our troops being thus established in the castle, which commands all the works of the town, and in the town; and the 4th and Light divisions being formed again for the attack of the breaches, all resistance ceased; and at daylight in the morning, the Governor, General Philippon, who had retired to Fort San Christoval, surrendered, together with General Vieland, and all the Staff, and the whole garrison. I have not got accurate returns of the strength of the garrison, or of the number of prisoners. But General Philippon has informed me that it consisted of 5,000 men at the commencement of the siege, of which 1,200 were killed or wounded during the operations; besides those lost in the assault of the place. There were 5 French battalions, besides 2 of the regiment of Hesse Darmstadt, and the artillery, engineers, &c.; and I understand there are 4,000 prisoners. It is impossible that any expressions of mine can convey to your Lordship the sense which I entertain of the gallantry of the officers and troops upon this occasion. The list of killed and wounded will show that the General officers, the Staff attached to them, the commanding and other officers of the regiments, put themselves at the heads of the attacks which they severally directed, and set the example of gallantry which was so well followed by their men.
Marshal Sir W. Beresford assisted me in conducting the details of this siege; and I am much indebted to him for the cordial assistance which I received from him, as well during the progress, as in the last operation which brought it to a termination. The duties in the trenches were conducted successively by Major-General the Hon. C. Colville, Major-General Bowes, and Major-General Kempt, under the superintendence of Lieut.-General Picton. I have had occasion to mention all these officers during the course of the operations; and they all distinguished themselves, and were all wounded in the assault. I am particularly obliged to Lieut.-General Picton for the manner in which he arranged the attack of the castle; for that in which he supported the attack, and established his troops in that important post.
Lieut.-General Leith’s arrangements for the false attack upon the Pardaleras, and that under Major-General Walker, were likewise most judicious; and he availed himself of the circumstances of the moment, to push forward and support the attack under Major-General Walker, in a manner highly creditable to him. The gallantry and conduct of Major-General Walker, who was also wounded, and that of the officers and troops under his command, were conspicuous.
The arrangements made by Major-General the Hon. C. Colville for the attack by the 4th division were very judicious; and he led them to the attack in the most gallant manner. In consequence of the absence, on account of sickness, of Major-General Vandeleur, and of Colonel Beckwith, Lieut.-Colonel Barnard commanded the Light division in the assault, and distinguished himself not less by the manner in which he made the arrangements for that operation, than by his personal gallantry in its execution.
I have also to mention Brig.-General Harvey of the Portuguese service, commanding a brigade in the 4th division, and Brig.-General Champelmond, commanding the Portuguese brigade in the 3rd division, as highly distinguished. Brig.-General Harvey was wounded in the storm.
MURDER OF PERCEVAL (1812).
Source.—Diary of Lord Colchester, 1861. Vol. ii., p. 379.
[May] 11th.—The House of Commons being in Committee hearing evidence on the Orders in Council, at a few minutes after five, I was called down from my room into the House by a message that
Mr. Perceval was shot in the lobby.
As soon as I had taken the chair, the assassin, a bankrupt Liverpool merchant, John Bellingham, was forcibly brought to the bar. I detained him till a Magistrate was brought, who came almost instantly; and then the assassin was conducted to the prison room belonging to the Serjeant-at-Arms, where he was examined before Mr. White, a Westminster Justice; and Mr. Alderman Combe and Mr. Taylor, two Members who were also Justices, and thereupon committed to Newgate for murder.
Mr. Perceval’s body (for he fell lifeless after he had staggered a few paces into the lobby) was brought into my house, and remained in the first picture room till the family removed it (for privacy) at one o’clock in the morning to Downing Street.
12th.—I wrote to invite Ponsonby, Whitbread, Lord Castlereagh, Ryder, Canning, Master of the Rolls, Wilberforce, &c. &c., to meet here at three o’clock, and consult upon the proper course of recommending Perceval’s family to the protection of the Crown. There came also Elliott, Adair, Wellesley Pole, &c. &c.: and Lord Castlereagh stated the Regent’s intention to send a message on the subject; in answer to which Ponsonby, Whitbread, Canning, and Bankes fully and at length declared their unqualified assent. Finding Tierney not present, I wrote to him before I went into the House to excuse the omission, on the score of believing that through Ponsonby or Whitbread I should have seen him; and that the scenes and thoughts which for the preceding eighteen hours had surrounded me and occupied me must be my apology for this and, I feared, many other omissions.
I found afterwards that he had taken the omission heinously ill; but on Wednesday when he came into the House he appeared to be quite appeased by my letter.
In the House of Commons, by common consent, no other business was done. Lord Castlereagh presented the Message, and moved the Address. In most faces there was an agony of tears; and neither Lord Castlereagh, Ponsonby, Whitbread, nor Canning could give a dry utterance to their sentiments.
The House resolved by common acclamation to present the Address “as a House,” and not by Privy Councillors.
All other business was put off for distant or nominal days.
13th.—House of Commons. Unanimous votes in Committee upon the Regent’s Message, to grant 50,000l. among the children, and 2,000l. a year to Mrs. Perceval for her life. A debate and division by which a further resolution was carried for 2,000l. a year to Mr. Perceval’s eldest son; but great ill-will towards this third proposition, which was moved by Mr. Sumner, and at first resisted by Ministers.
SHERIDAN’S LAST UTTERANCES IN THE HOUSE (1812).
Source.—Moore’s Life of Sheridan, 1825. P. 677.
My objection to the present Ministry is, that they are avowedly arrayed and embodied against a principle,—that of concession to the Catholics of Ireland,—which I think, and must always think, essential to the safety of this empire. I will never give my vote to any administration that opposes the question of Catholic Emancipation. I will not consent to receive a furlough upon that particular question, even though a Ministry were carrying every other that I wished. In fine, I think the situation of Ireland a paramount consideration. If they were to be the last words I should ever utter in this House, I should say, “Be just to Ireland, as you value your own honour;—be just to Ireland, as you value your own peace.”
His very last words in Parliament, on his own motion relative to the Overtures of Peace from France, were as follows:
“Yet, after the general subjugation and ruin of Europe, should there ever exist an independent historian to record the awful events that produced this universal calamity, let that historian have to say,—‘Great Britain fell, and with her fell all the best securities for the charities of human life, for the power and honour, the fame, the glory, and the liberties, not only of herself, but of the whole civilized world.’ ”
SIR STAPLETON COTTON’S MILITARY SERVICES (1813).
Source.—Diary of Lord Colchester, 1861. Vol. ii., p. 440.
[March] 9th.—Sir Stapleton Cotton,[13] having on the 5th announced to me his arrival in London, I delivered to him the thanks of the House, in the following speech:
Lieutenant-General Sir Stapleton Cotton, in this interval between the active seasons of war, your proper sphere of duty is within these walls; and we hail with pride and pleasure your return among us, bringing with you fresh marks of royal[14] favour, the just reward of fresh services and triumphs.
Descended from a long line of ancestors, whose names are recorded in the earliest ages of our history, and characterized with those qualities of prudence, generosity, and valour, which have laid the foundations of English greatness, your race has exhibited many a model of that splendid worth which dignifies the gentlemen of England; always prompt to discharge the laborious duties of civil life, and never slow to take up arms at the call of their country. Such, in an eminent degree, was that venerated person from whom you have immediately derived your own hereditary honours, endeared by his active virtues to the public men of his own time, not unknown to some who still sit among us, and ever remembered by myself with the sincerest sentiments of respect and affection.
But, Sir, when the path of early life lay open to your choice, the then warlike state of the world called forth a congenial spirit, and your military ardour led you to encounter the toils and dangers of war in distant climes. Trained in the same camps, and animated by the same love of glory as the great captain who now commands our armies, and fills the world with his renown, you have bravely followed his brilliant career, and shared in his unexampled triumphs. Renouncing the charms of ease, and the seat of your ancestors, you have gallantly gone forth to the tented fields of Portugal and Spain, and, having reaped the harvest of our thanks for your achievements in the battle of Talavera, you now stand before us crowned with the never-fading laurels of Salamanca; your squadrons upon that memorable day, overthrowing the enemy’s embattled ranks, laid open the road to victory; and the work which your gallantry had commenced, your triumphant perseverance completed.
These heroic exploits have again entitled you to the public gratitude; and I do now, in the name and by the command of the Commons of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled, deliver to you their unanimous thanks for your distinguished exertions in the battle of Salamanca, on the 22nd of July last, which terminated in a glorious and decisive victory over the enemy’s army.[15]
VITTORIA (1813).
Source.—Selections from the Wellington Despatches. Gurwood. P. 700.
To Earl Bathurst.
Salvatierra,
22nd June, 1813.
The enemy, commanded by King Joseph, having Marshal Jourdan as the Major-General of the army, took up a position, on the night of the 19th inst., in front of Vitoria; the left of which rested upon the heights which end at La Puebla de Arganzon, and extended from thence across the valley of the Zadorra, in front of the village of Ariñez. They occupied with the right of the centre a height which commanded the valley to the Zadorra. The right of their army was stationed near Vitoria, and was destined to defend the passages of the river Zadorra, in the neighbourhood of that city. They had a reserve in rear of their left, at the village of Gomecha. The nature of the country through which the army had passed since it had reached the Ebro had necessarily extended our columns, and we halted on the 20th, in order to close them up, and moved the left to Murguia, where it was most likely it would be required. I reconnoitred the enemy’s position on that day, with a view to the attack to be made on the following morning, if they should still remain in it. We accordingly attacked the enemy yesterday, and I am happy to inform your Lordship, that the Allied army under my command gained a complete victory, having driven them from all their positions; having taken from them 151 pieces of cannon, waggons of ammunition, all their baggage, provisions, cattle, treasure, &c., and a considerable number of prisoners.
The operations of the day commenced by Lieut.-General Sir R. Hill obtaining possession of the heights of La Puebla, on which the enemy’s left rested, which heights they had not occupied in great strength. He detached for this service one brigade of the Spanish division under General Morillo; the other brigade being employed in keeping the communication between his main body on the high road from Miranda to Vitoria, and the troops detached to the heights. The enemy, however, soon discovered the importance of these heights, and reinforced their troops there to such an extent, that Lieut.-General Sir R. Hill was obliged to detach, first, the 71st regt. and the light infantry battalion of General Walker’s brigade, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. H. Cadogan, and successively other troops to the same point; and the Allies not only gained, but maintained possession of these important heights throughout their operations, notwithstanding all the efforts of the enemy to retake them.
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.
These attacks were repeated till about 7 in the evening, when the enemy made a desperate effort with cavalry and infantry, supported by the fire of artillery, to force our left centre, near the farm of La Haye Sainte, which, after a severe contest, was defeated; and, having observed that the troops retired from this attack in great confusion, and that the march of General Bülow’s corps, by Frischermont, upon Planchenois and La Belle Alliance had begun to take effect, and as I could perceive the fire of his cannon, and as Marshal Prince Blücher had joined in person with a corps of his army to the left of our line by Ohain, I determined to attack the enemy, and immediately advanced the whole line of infantry, supported by the cavalry and artillery. The attack succeeded in every point: the enemy was forced from his position on the heights, and fled in the utmost confusion, leaving behind him, as far as I could judge, 150 pieces of cannon, with their ammunition, which fell into our hands.
I continued the pursuit till long after dark, and then discontinued it only on account of the fatigue of our troops, who had been engaged during 12 hours, and because I found myself on the same road with Marshal Blücher, who assured me of his intention to follow the enemy throughout the night. He has sent me word this morning that he has taken 60 pieces of cannon, belonging to the Imperial Guard, and several carriages, baggage, etc., belonging to Buonaparte, in Genappe.
I propose to move this morning upon Nivelles, and not to discontinue my operations.
Your Lordship will observe that such a desperate action could not be fought, and such advantages could not be gained, without great loss; and I am sorry to add that ours has been immense. In Lieut.-General Sir T. Picton, His Majesty has sustained the loss of an officer who has frequently distinguished himself in his service; and he fell gloriously leading his division to a charge with bayonets, by which one of the most serious attacks made by the enemy on our position was repulsed. The Earl of Uxbridge, after having successfully got through this arduous day, received a wound by almost the last shot fired, which will, I am afraid, deprive His Majesty for some time of his services.
H.R.H. the Prince of Orange distinguished himself by his gallantry and conduct, till he received a wound from a musket ball through the shoulder, which obliged him to quit the field.
It gives me the greatest satisfaction to assure your Lordship that the army never, upon any occasion, conducted itself better. The division of Guards, under Lieut.-General Cooke, who is severely wounded, Major-General Maitland, and Major General Byng, set an example which was followed by all; and there is no officer nor description of troops that did not behave well. I must, however, particularly mention, for His Royal Highness’s approbation, Lieut.-General Sir H. Clinton, Major-General Adam, Lieut.-General C. Baron Alten (severely wounded), Major-General Sir C. Halkett (severely wounded), Colonel Ompteda, Colonel Mitchell (commanding a brigade of the 4th division), Major-Generals Sir J. Kempt and Sir D. Pack, Major-General Lambert, Major-General Lord E. Somerset, Major-General Sir W. Ponsonby, Major-General Sir C. Grant, and Major-General Sir H. Vivian, Major-General Sir J. O. Vandeleur, and Major-General Count Dornberg. I am also particularly indebted to General Lord Hill for his assistance and conduct upon this, as upon all former occasions. The artillery and engineer departments were conducted much to my satisfaction by Colonel Sir G. Wood and Colonel Smyth; and I had every reason to be satisfied with the conduct of the Adjutant-General, Major-General Barnes, who was wounded, and of the Quartermaster-General, Colonel De Lancey, who was killed by a cannon shot in the middle of the action. This officer is a serious loss to His Majesty’s service, and to me at this moment.
I was likewise much indebted to the assistance of Lieut.-Colonel Lord FitzRoy Somerset, who was severely wounded, and of the officers composing my personal Staff, who have suffered severely in this action. Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. Sir A. Gordon, who has died of his wounds, was a most promising officer, and is a serious loss to His Majesty’s service.
General Krüse, of the Nassau service, likewise conducted himself much to my satisfaction; as did General Trip, commanding the heavy brigade of cavalry, and General Vanhope, commanding a brigade of infantry in the service of the King of the Netherlands.
General Pozzo di Borgo, General Baron Vincent, General Muffling, and General Alava, were in the field during the action, and rendered me every assistance in their power. Baron Vincent is wounded, but I hope not severely; and General Pozzo di Borgo received a contusion.
I should not do justice to my own feelings, or to Marshal Blücher and the Prussian army, if I did not attribute the successful result of this arduous day to the cordial and timely assistance I received from them. The operation of General Bülow upon the enemy’s flank was a most decisive one; and even if I had not found myself in a situation to make the attack which produced the final result, it would have forced the enemy to retire if his attacks should have failed, and would have prevented him from taking advantage of them if they should unfortunately have succeeded.
Since writing the above, I have received a report that Major-General Sir W. Ponsonby is killed; and, in announcing this intelligence to your Lordship, I have to add the expression of my grief for the fate of an officer who had already rendered very brilliant and important services, and was an ornament to his profession.
I send with this despatch 3 eagles, taken by the troops in this action, which Major Percy will have the honor of laying at the feet of His Royal Highness. I beg leave to recommend him to your Lordship’s protection.
Return of the Killed, Wounded, and Missing of the British and Hanoverian Army under the Command of Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington, K.G., in the Battle fought at Quatre Bras on the 16th June, 1815.
| Officers. | Sergeants. | Rank and File. | Total Loss of Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, and Rank and File. | British. | Hanoverians. | Horses. | |
| Killed | 29 | 19 | 302 | 350 | 316 | 34 | 19 |
| Wounded | 126 | 111 | 2,143 | 2,380 | 2,156 | 224 | 14 |
| Missing | 4 | 6 | 171 | 181 | 32 | 149 | 1 |
On the Retreat from Quatre Bras to Waterloo on 17th June, 1815.
| Officers. | Sergeants. | Rank and File. | Total Loss of Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, and Rank and File. | British. | Hanoverians. | Horses. | |
| Killed | 1 | 1 | 33 | 35 | 26 | 9 | 45 |
| Wounded | 7 | 13 | 112 | 132 | 52 | 80 | 20 |
| Missing | 4 | 3 | 64 | 71 | 30 | 32 | 33 |
In the Battle fought at Waterloo on the 18th June, 1815.
| Officers. | Sergeants. | Rank and File. | Total Loss of Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, and Rank and File. | British. | Hanoverians. | Horses. | |
| Killed | 116 | 109 | 1,822 | 2,047 | 1,759 | 288 | 1,495 |
| Wounded | 504 | 364 | 6,148 | 7,016 | 5,892 | 1,124 | 891 |
| Missing | 20 | 29 | 1,574 | 1,623 | 807 | 816 | 773 |
| Killed. | Wounded. | Missing. | |
| Total | 2,432 | 9,528 | 1,875 |
The greater number of the men returned missing had gone to the rear with wounded officers and soldiers, and joined afterwards. The officers are supposed killed.
BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Blank in MS.
[2] Lord Grenville.
[3] Mr. Canning seems to allude especially to the course of Mr. Sheridan at the time of the Mutiny of the Nore.
[4] There is no imputation meant against the character of this gentleman on the supposition of his being a dissenter of the Church of England; illiberal, indeed, would be remark of this kind to infer any kind of reproach; but when a panegyrick is derived from party, some partiality may very naturally be suspected.
[5] Respecting the battle at Ulm.
[6] Nelson’s funeral, on January 7, 1806, at St. Paul’s.
[7] It is now generally near the quarter-deck hatchway.
[8] The entire memorandum is in James, iv., 23-25 (ed. 1837).
[9] This Administration went by the name of “All the Talents.”
[10] Afterwards Bishop of Winchester.
[11] This letter is so carelessly composed and worded, that it is probably from the rough copy that it is taken.
[12] This letter was drawn up by Sheridan. See Moore’s Life, vol. ii., p. 20.
[13] Now Lord Combermere. He had commanded the British cavalry in Spain during the years 1809, 1810, 1811, and 1812.
[14] Sir Stapleton had been made K.B.
[15] From MS. speeches (collected).
[16] The advance of the column under Sir T. Graham was so effectually covered by Colonel Longa that the enemy was not aware of any British troops being in that direction.
[17] By the Treaty of Vienna, Belgium went to the Kingdom of Holland.—J. H. R.
[18] Augereau commanded the army operating near Lyons, but it was inferior to that of the Austrians.—J. H. R.
[19] A gross exaggeration. Napoleon probably referred to Blücher’s surrender near Lübeck in November, 1806, and his defeat at Vauchamps in February, 1814.—J. H. R.
[20] Alluding to Murat.
[21] Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. A. Gordon was sent, escorted by a squadron of the 10th Hussars, to communicate with the Prussian headquarters, as to co-operation with the British army ordered to retire to the position in front of Waterloo.