Our readers will give us credit for having observed a strict impartiality throughout our narrative of the battle; and in the same spirit would we desire to discuss those questions relating to it, which have given rise to so many false and exaggerated statements. The first subject of controversy we shall notice, is the strange, but oft repeated charge, against Wellington’s military judgment, in choosing his position in front of Mont-St.-Jean, with a forest in his rear, _in case of defeat_. I must be excused if I show some little indignation at the repetition of this charge; a British soldier must be allowed to be as jealous of the fame of his illustrious commander, as our gallant opponents were of that of their idolized Napoleon. Well, what is the charge? That the Waterloo position was not well chosen for a retreat, having defiles and a wood in its rear. We begin our examination of this point by remarking that Wellington chose the position, not in a hurry, nor because he was forced to do so, but most deliberately, and after having thoroughly reconnoitred it. He chose it with the conviction that he could well maintain it until the Prussians could form a junction with him; this accomplished, he knew that the French would not have a single chance left. He had but one apprehension; namely, that the enemy would push on by Hal, and turn the allied right. But Napoleon’s holding us too cheap, his impetuosity, or his desperation, brought him headlong upon our chosen position: the very best for our purposes between Charleroi and Brussels. Let the event assist the impartial reader in deciding which commander showed the better judgment in selecting his ground for action. But as far as the Duke is concerned, it is quite unnecessary to say anything in his defence. Nor should we have attempted to give a description of the Waterloo position, but for the judgment of Napoleon, at least as coming to us through the generals de Montholon, Gourgaud, de Las-Cases, Mr. O’Meara, etc., being so directly at variance with that practicality shown by the duke of Wellington, who, we supposed, had previously both taken up and successfully defended too many positions, not to know the local requisites of a good one, and particularly as opposed to a French army. Waterloo was not fixed upon at the spur of the moment, as I have elsewhere shown; in addition to which, the Duke, his staff, and most of our generals were so often over the ground before the battle, that the farmers complained of the damage done thereby to their crops. It may be well to observe, for the information of those who are unacquainted with the position and localities, that the main-road from the field of Waterloo to Brussels is a very wide and well paved one. The road to the capital by Braine-l’Alleud and Alsemberg is also paved[82]. Several cross-roads, in rear of our position, likewise traverse the forest of Soigne, and communicate with the high-road between this and Brussels.