A man of ours was left near the French. When it fell dark I went with three men to fetch him away. Both the poor fellow's legs were broken. I deposited him in a house and joined my regiment. Our Division formed in column of companies at wheeling distance, the officers on the left of their respective companies. In this way we lay down. I pulled a greatcoat off a Cuirassier who was dead, and covered myself, which made me sleep well till one hour before daylight.
17th
The piquets began to fire. We directly stood to our arms. As soon as the day cleared we commenced firing at each other merely for amusement. I got a fire kindled, and purchased from a farmer, ham, etc. I made a good breakfast. This man's house contained upwards of fifty wounded French. Our men gave them water. About 11 A.M. the 5th and 3rd Divisions who had fought the day before, being the only part of the army engaged, retired. We soon were joined by the cavalry. The enemy followed close after us. The rain began to fall in torrents. The country being in a high state of cultivation, covered with corn, and the ground remarkably soft, the cavalry could scarcely raise a canter, the animals sank so deep. The 7th Hussars charged, but were sadly mauled. The Life Guards and Oxford Blues made some very fine charges, and literally preserved the 7th from being cut to pieces. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon the whole army moved into position in front of Waterloo. The enemy in parties reconnoitred, and was amused with the music of our cannon till dark. The night was very bad. The field where we were was all mud. I got a bundle of straw to lie upon, and I smeared an old blanket with thick clayey mud, and covered myself with the blanket, which prevented the rain from passing through, and kept me tolerably warm.
18th
At daylight the weather cleared. The men commenced cleaning their arms and preparing for the tremendous contest. We were soon convinced the French were forming to give us battle, and had no doubt but Napoleon himself was there. Many old warriors who had fought for years in the Peninsula were proud of being pitted with our gallant chief against Buonaparte and the flower of France. About 11 o'clock in the morning the enemy commenced a heavy cannonade upon our line, which was spiritedly returned from us. The 2nd Brigade of our Division occupied the extreme left of the line, the 1st 95th were upon the chaussée to Charleroi from Bruxelles; 32nd, 79th, and 28th on the left, under the command of Sir J. Kempt; Sir D. Pack commanded the 2nd Brigade; Sir Thos. Picton commanded this Division. Our Brigade formed column and, from being much exposed to the enemy's guns, suffered severely. About 1 o'clock the enemy's guns were moved nearer. We knew the attack must soon commence, and under cover of their guns, four columns now made their appearance, amounting to 20,000 men. They moved steadily towards us. We formed a sort of line and commenced a terrible fire upon them, which was returned very spiritedly, they advancing at the same time within a few yards. I had an impression I should not be touched, and was laughing and joking with a young officer about half-past four in the afternoon. At this time I was a little in front of our line, and hearing the word charge, I looked back at our line, and received a ball, which broke two of my ribs near the backbone, went through my liver, and lodged in my breast. I fell senseless in the mud, and some minutes after found our fellows and the enemy hotly engaged near me. Their skirmishers were beaten back and the column stopped. Two men dragged me away to the farm of Mont St. Jean, a little to the rear, where Mr. Robson extracted a musket-ball from my breast.
[Waterloo Journal ends. The preceding was apparently written in Brussels between 1st and 3rd July 1815.]
Letter No. XXV
[Undated but bearing post-mark of 1st July.]
Bruxelles, 1815
My dear Parents—Through the blessings of Almighty God I am at last able to give you some account of myself, which I never expected to be able to do in this world. On the 16th of June, after passing a long tranquillity at this place, our Division marched at 4 o'clock in the morning. We moved forward 20 miles and gave the French battle. A more bloody or obstinately contested thing had seldom or never been seen. This convinced me that the French would fight for Buonaparte. The darkness of the night only separated us.