[86] A positive proof that Napoleon was of opinion that the Prussians were retiring upon Namur and the Meuse; or why did he direct the communication to be kept up by the paved road of Quatre-Bras? [87] It is notorious that Ney was one amongst the last who quitted the scene of carnage; it is also certain, we had our hands full to wrest victory from the French. Had all Napoleon’s generals acted with the same energy, gallantry and constant audacity as Ney did on his last field, our day’s work would have been more troublesome, and not so many of us left to tell the tale. As a soldier, I am sorry that both Ney and the Emperor did not die a soldier’s death at Waterloo. [88] _Military life of the Duke of Wellington_, by major BASIL JACKSON and captain ROCHFORT SCOTT; page 609, vol. II. [89] _See_ GURWOOD, vol. XII, p. 352. [90] _Quarterly Review_, No. LXX, page 478. [91] _See_ GURWOOD, vol. XII, page 441. [92] _Histoire de Napoléon_, par A. GABOURD, p. 345-346. [93] _Military life of the Duke of Wellington_, by major BASIL JACKSON and captain ROCHFORT SCOTT; vol. II, page 604. [94] See _General orders_, in GURWOOD’S _Selections from Dispatches_, page 865. [95] _See_ GURWOOD, _Dispatches_, vol. XII, page 438. [96] _See_ GURWOOD, _Dispatches_, vol. XII, p. 449, 453, 457. [97] _See_ Appendix, No. V. [98] 4th, 27th, 40th, (Lambert’s); 52d, 71st, 95th, (Adam’s); 14th, 23d, 51st, (Mitchell’s); 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th line of the German legion, (Duplat’s); with Vivian’s 10th and 18th British, and 1st German hussars, and Vandeleur’s 11th, 12th, and 16th light dragoons. [99] At the time the Prussians first became engaged, Duplat’s Germans, a part of Halkett’s Hanoverians, with Adam’s brigade, altogether above five thousand bayonets, stood in their advanced position, between the north-east angle of the orchard of Hougoumont and a little to the right of where the Lion now stands. [100] _See_ Appendix, No. V, page 252. [101] _Geschichte des Preussischen Staates_, 1763-1815; Frankfort, 1820; vol. III, page 371. [102] _See_ Ney’s letter, Appendix, No. V, page 253. APPENDIX. [Illustration: (decorative separator)] No. I. SECRET MEMORANDUM. _for H. R. H. the prince of Orange, the Earl of Uxbridge, Lord Hill, and the Quarter-Master-General._ “BRUSSELS, April 29th, 1815. “1. Having received reports that the Imperial guard had moved from Paris upon Beauvais, and a report having been for some days prevalent in the country that Bonaparte was about to visit the northern frontier, I deem it expedient to concentrate the cantonments of the troops, with a view to their early junction in case this country should be attacked, for which concentration the Quarter-Master-General now sends orders. “2. In this case, the enemy’s line of attack will be either between the Lys and the Scheldt, or between the Sambre and the Scheldt, or by both lines.