“4. The Field-Marshal requests the general officers commanding divisions in the British army, and the general officers commanding the corps of each nation of which the army is composed, to report to him in writing what officers and men,—the former by name,—are now, or have been, absent without leave since the 16th[94].” It may not be out of place to offer a few general remarks on some points in which the public have felt much interest, and upon which opinions have greatly differed. It is certain that the duke of Wellington would not have accepted battle at Waterloo, had he not been sure of the cooperation of the Prussians; and the loss which they sustained during the short time they were engaged, proves the value of that cooperation. The diversion of the Prussians diminished the French force against us, by count de Lobau’s corps, eleven battalions of the Imperial guard, and eighteen squadrons of cavalry, amounting to above fifteen thousand men and sixty-six guns. It is evident that the blow, which decided the fate of the day, was given by the Duke when he defeated the Imperial guard, attacked the French reserves, and forced their centre: by this, D’Erlon’s columns were turned on their left, and Reille’s on their right: then followed the general advance of Wellington’s whole line. With the splendid light cavalry force Napoleon had at his command, and Grouchy, detached with thirty-two thousand men of all arms to watch the Prussians, it is most extraordinary that the first intimation the Emperor had of their advance upon his right, was about one o’clock on the 18th, when, from his position above La Belle-Alliance, he himself saw them at St.-Lambert. Notwithstanding the numerous charges made by the French cavalry, not one was made upon our left wing; nor was their cavalry of the right wing put in motion, till the ardour of our heavy cavalry carried them upon the French position, when their lancers, cuirassiers and dragoons were let loose upon our broken and disordered cavalry, who suffered severely. D’Erlon’s infantry columns, and the last two attacking columns of the Imperial guard were entirely unsupported by cavalry, or they never could have been so closely pursued, and so roughly handled. The French army under Napoleon was composed almost exclusively of veterans; many of whom, the year before, had been liberated from the English, Russian and Austrian prisons: men whose trade was war, and who were well inured to it; whose battles equalled their years in number; all of one nation, devoted to their leader and his cause, most enthusiastic, and well equipped: in fact the finest army Napoleon ever brought into the field. One more gallant, or more complete in every respect, never stood before us. We, on the contrary, were of different nations. Our foreign auxiliaries, who constituted more than half our numerical strength, with some exceptions, were little better that raw militia-men.