Upon the first advance of the French Cavalry, by the Allied left of Hougomont, a body of Infantry Skirmishers crept along the boundary hedge of the Great Orchard on that side, and by thus turning the Flank of the 3rd Guards, who were at the same time assailed with renewed vigour in front, compelled them to retire into the hollow way in rear of the inclosure; but, as the Cavalry withdrew, so did the Light Troops on the left of the Orchard, and Lieutenant Colonel Hepburn, advancing his men from their cover, drove back the French Skirmishers in the Orchard, and again occupied its front hedge.
The contest at this time, between the Allied Left, and the French Right, Wing was limited to a continued cannonade, with Light Troops skirmishing in the valley which separated the two positions. The Nassau troops, under Prince Bernhard of Saxe Weimar, maintained their ground with great spirit along the Villages and inclosures upon the extreme Left of the Anglo-Allied Army.
Grant, who, it will be recollected, had been detached with the 13th Light Dragoons and the 15th Hussars, to attack the 5th and 6th French Lancers, upon the extreme Left of the French Line, in consequence of certain menacing dispositions on their part, was first made aware that these had been merely a diversion to draw off a portion of the Allied Cavalry from the real point of attack, by the shouts which suddenly proceeded from their ranks; when, on turning round to ascertain the cause, he perceived the French in possession of the Batteries along the crest of the position, and charging the Squares posted on the interior slope. Observing a repetition of the attack, and the want of Cavalry on that part of the position which he had quitted; he most judiciously took upon himself to return to it with both Regiments: and, as will appear in the sequel, he arrived there at a most critical moment, when his absence might have produced the most fatal consequences. As a precautionary measure, the Right Squadron of the 15th Hussars, under Captain Wodehouse, was left in its original position, to observe the extreme Left of the French line; and the 2nd Light Dragoons of the King's German Legion continued to keep a look out between that point and Braine l'Alleud.
Napoleon, perceiving the necessity of affording an immediate Support to Ney's attack, sent an Order to Kellermann to advance for that purpose, with his Corps of Heavy Cavalry, consisting of the two Divisions commanded by L'Heritier and Roussel d'Urbal, and comprising (at the commencement of the Battle) seven Squadrons of Dragoons, eleven Squadrons of Cuirassiers, and six Squadrons of Carabiniers. In the mean time, Ney, with a similar object in view, had ordered forward Guyot's Heavy Cavalry Division of the Guard, comprising six Squadrons of Horse Grenadiers, and seven Squadrons of Dragoons. These thirty-seven Squadrons, combined with the force which had already attacked, and which had originally consisted of forty-three Squadrons, constituted a stupendous array of Cavalry, in comparison with that which was then posted in rear of the Right Wing of the Anglo-Allied Army; and which received no accession beyond the five Squadrons that Grant was in the act of withdrawing, as before explained, from the extreme Right.
Guyot's Division of the Guard having been placed by Napoleon at Ney's disposal, when he first desired him to form the grand Cavalry attack, the Marshal was entitled to employ it if he thought proper; but it is doubtful whether Napoleon, after having sent forward Kellermann's Corps, was desirous that the combined force should be thus prematurely engaged, since it would deprive him of his only Cavalry Reserve. Still, when we consider the limited extent of the Field of Battle, and the consequent facility with which he might have either suspended the employment of the Heavy Cavalry of the Guard, or countermanded Kellermann's advance, it is reasonable to infer that the French Emperor was not altogether displeased with the grand experiment which was about to be made, and which encouraged the most sanguine expectations of a glorious triumph.
The coming attack was, like the former one, preceded by a violent cannonade. As before, the French Batteries concentrated their fire upon the Allied Artillery and Squares. The entire space immediately in rear of the crest of the ridge that marked the Front Line of the Duke's Right Wing, was again assailed with a tempest of shot and shell. Again were whole Files torn away, and compact Sections rent asunder.
But the extraordinary skill and the untiring energies of the British and German Gunners, combined with the heroic forbearance and the admirable steadiness of the Squares, fully impressed upon the mind of Wellington the conviction that, however formidable and disproportionate the force that his powerful adversary could wield against him, it might yet be made to suffer an exhaustion, moral as well as physical, that would render it totally unavailable and helpless at the moment when its extremest tension and fullest application would be so urgently required to extricate the Emperor from that perilous crisis which, by his Grace's masterly arrangements, was gradually approaching its consummation. To act exclusively on the defensive, to maintain his ground in defiance of every assault and every stratagem; and yet to harass and weaken his Enemy to the extent of his power, constituted the grand point on which hinged the practical development of those arrangements. A defeat and dispersion of his Army before the arrival of the Prussian troops, would lead to new measures, to additional sacrifices—perhaps to irretrievable disasters. But his resolve was fixed and irrevocable; for he knew that he could fearlessly rely upon the devotion, the endurance, and the valour of his British and German soldiers. And this implicit confidence was nobly reciprocated; for as the troops remarked the serenity of his countenance and demeanour when rectifying any confusion or disorder, or felt as if spellbound by the magic influence of a few simple and homely words from his lips, they entertained no doubts as to the result of their glorious exertions.
When the tremendous Cavalry force, which Ney had thus assembled, moved forward to the attack, the whole space between La Haye Sainte and Hougomont appeared one moving glittering mass; and, as it approached the Anglo-Allied position, undulating with the conformation of the ground, it resembled a sea in agitation. Upon reaching the crest of the ridge and regaining temporary possession of the Batteries, its very shouts sounded on the distant ear like the ominous roar of breakers thundering on the shore. Like waves following in quick succession, the whole mass now appeared to roll over the ridge; and as the light curling smoke arose from the fire which was opened by the Squares, and by which the latter sought to stem the current of the advancing host, it resembled the foam and spray thrown up by the mighty waters as they dash on isolated rocks and beetling crags; and, as the mass separated and rushed in every direction, completely covering the interior slope, it bore the appearance of innumerable eddies and counter currents, threatening to overwhelm and engulf the obstructions by which its onward course had been opposed. The storm continued to rage with the greatest violence; and the devoted Squares seemed lost in the midst of the tumultuous onset. In vain did the maddening mass chafe and fret away its strength against these impregnable barriers; which, based upon the sacred principles of honour, discipline, and duty, and cemented by the ties of patriotism and the impulse of national glory, stood proudly unmoved and inaccessible. Disorder and confusion, produced by the commingling of Corps, and by the scattering fire from the faces of the chequered Squares, gradually led to the retreat of parties of horsemen across the ridge; these were followed by broken Squadrons, and, at length, the retrograde movement became general.
Then the Allied Dragoons, who had been judiciously kept in readiness to act at the favourable moment, darted forward to complete the disorganisation and overthrow of the now receding waves of the French Cavalry.