As Houssaye, one of the most painstaking of historians, says, “It is necessary to walk over the ground, to perceive its constantly undulating formation, similar to the billows of a swelling sea.” I have followed his advice for the purposes of the present volume. The configuration of the land near the ridge, which was at first the right centre of the Allies, has been altered somewhat by the excavation of earth for the celebrated but unsightly Lion Mound, otherwise the field is much the same as it was in 1815. Major Cotton, who fought at Waterloo, tells us that on the day of the battle there were “splendid crops of rye, wheat, barley, oats, beans, peas, potatoes, tares, and clover; some of these were of great height. There were a few patches of ploughed ground.” Exactly the same is true now. The soil which covers the mouldering bones of many a hero yields a mighty harvest. Practically every inch of it is either pasture or under cultivation.
By far the most interesting point is the château and farm-house of Hougoumont. The buildings were then over two centuries old, and were erected with a view to defence, the garden being strongly walled on the south and east sides. In 1815 it was replete with orchard, outbuildings, banked-up hedges, and a chapel. Additional loop-holes were made by Wellington’s orders, a scaffold was erected so that the troops could discharge their muskets over the wall, and the flooring over the south gateway hastily taken up “to enable our men to fire down upon the enemy should they force the gate which had been blocked up.” This strong strategic position before the right flank of the allied line was admirably defended by the light companies of the second battalions of Coldstream and Foot Guards.
The battle began with a protracted but successful attack by Napoleon’s brother, Jerome, on the Nassauer and Hanoverian troops, which held the wood in front of the château. Proud of his triumph, and contrary to the Emperor’s orders, three attempts to assault the grim building were made and failed. At length Napoleon made up his mind to bombard Hougoumont, which he did to some effect, the chapel and barn blazing fiercely, but its brave defenders never surrendered. Four days after the battle, Major W. E. Frye visited the spot. “At Hougoumont,” he says, “where there is an orchard, every tree is pierced with bullets. The barns are all burned down, and in the courtyard it is said they have been obliged to burn upwards of a thousand carcases, an awful holocaust to the War-Demon.”
On one of the outside walls of the little chapel, within which many gallant soldiers breathed their last, is a bronze tablet erected in 1907, “to the memory of the brave dead by His Britannic Majesty’s Brigade of Guards and by Comte Charles van der Burch.”[94] The sacred building has been thoroughly repaired, and the interior white-washed. The latter is to be regretted, but was incumbent owing to the vandalism of visitors whose one aim in life apparently is to carve or scrawl their names upon monuments and buildings.
Within easy distance is the farm of La Haye Sainte, still used for the purpose for which it was originally built. If the thick wall which abuts the road to the Belgian capital is not so strong as it was—and there are signs of recent repair—the most cursory examination is sufficient to prove that it offered a strong resistance. La Haye Sainte was the key of the allied position. It was Napoleon’s ambition to secure it, together with the farm of Mont St Jean, so that the enemy’s communications with Brussels and Blücher might be cut off. Wellington had unwisely left the defence of La Haye Sainte to a mere handful of men, 376 in all, of the King’s German Legion. The buildings were attacked on all sides during the eventful day, and it was not until 6.30 p.m., or thereabouts, when ammunition was exhausted, that the place fell. Professor Oman points out that the Emperor should have sent the Guard “to the front en masse” the moment that happened. This he did not do, and a golden opportunity was irretrievably lost.
1. Farm of Mont St. Jean
2. Château of Hougoumont
3. La Belle Alliance Inn
4. Farm of La Haye Sainte
Photographs by C. Hamilton, Hornsey
A little farther up the road, and on the opposite side, is a long, white-washed building known as the farm of Mont St Jean, the hamlet of that name being the centre of the position. This was the chief hospital of the Allies, and once a monastery of the Knights Templar. Near here the Iron Duke drew up the second line of his reserve, with three reserve batteries. Napoleon’s headquarters were on the Belle Alliance height, where he spent the greater part of the day, and where he kept the Imperial Guard, nick-named “The Immortals,” in reserve until after 7 p.m. It was not until evening had given place to night that the French troops were routed.
When you enter La Belle Alliance Inn you are shown “the historical chamber of Napoleon.” But let me warn visitors who admire the grotesque painting of “Wellington Meeting Blücher,” which is nailed to the outside wall, against believing that this is the scene of the memorable incident. Mutual congratulations took place before La Belle Alliance was reached, the Duke turning off the high road leading to the village of Waterloo to meet the rugged old soldier when he descried him surrounded by his staff.