[342] This was what Marmont had done at the Aripiles, at the battle of Salamanca, and for which he suffered so severely.
[343] Muffling, p. 27, says, after this attack, which he states to be at four o'clock, "La bataille avoit été très sanglante, mais il n'y avoit point de danger pour l'armée Anglaise." He says it was then five o'clock.
[344] See Muffling, p. 32, who makes the number amount to 10,000, and there is little doubt but that he is correct. A regiment of allied cavalry, whose uniform resembled the French, having fled to Brussels, an alarm spread that the enemy were at the gates. Numbers of those who had quitted the field of battle, and, let the truth be spoken, Englishmen too, fled from the town, and never halted until they reached Antwerp. This fact is too well attested to be doubted.
[345] Muffling, p. 29. At four o'clock, he says, "Il n'avoit pas encore paru un homme de cette armée."
[346] See Soult's letter to Grouchy, dated from the field of battle, at one o'clock.
[347] Liv. ix., p. 175. Buonaparte says it was seven o'clock when Lobau repulsed them.
[348] Of these, about 12,700 were cavalry.
[349] Liv. ix., p. 193. This force is stated "4 à 5000 hommes."
[350] Muffling, p. 58, mentions, that Buonaparte stated to some general officer on the morning of the 18th, that he had 75,000 men, and the English only 50,000. Liv. ix., p. 193, by taking Buonaparte's own account in this part of the book, upon calculation it will be seen that he there allows that he had upwards of 74,000.
[351] See Muffling, pp. 22, 31, 62. Gourgaud, pp. 98 and 99, says it was half-past four when General Dumont informed Buonaparte of their arrival.