... “I hope, and I have every reason to believe, that all will turn out well; but we must take every possible precaution, and avoid great losses. It is with this view, that I beg your Royal Highness to follow the directions here given, and his Majesty to make for Antwerp, not upon false reports, but upon certain information that the enemy has got into Brussels, in spite of me, in turning me by Hal.... “WELLINGTON.” (_Gurwood_, vol. XII, p. 476-7.) The following letters, written just after the battle, will show how deeply the duke felt the loss of his companions in arms: the renown his success would ensure was no consolation to him for the loss of friends and heroes: patriotism, and the confident expectation that an effectual stop was at length put to the horrors which had desolated Europe for more than twenty years, were the sources of such comfort as he could feel himself, or offer to others, for the expenditure of so many valuable lives. _To the Earl of Aberdeen, K. T._ “BRUSSELS, June 19th, 1815. “MY DEAR LORD, “You will readily give credit to the existence of the extreme grief with which I announce to you the death of your gallant brother, (colonel Gordon,) in consequence of a wound received in our great battle of yesterday. “He had served me most zealously and usefully for many years, and on many trying occasions; but he had never rendered himself more useful, and had never distinguished himself more, than in our late actions. “He received the wound which occasioned his death, when rallying one of the Brunswick battalions which was shaking a little; and he lived long enough to be informed by myself of the glorious result of our actions, to which he had so much contributed by his active and zealous assistance. “I cannot express to you the regret and sorrow with which I look round me, and contemplate the loss which I have sustained, particularly in your brother. The glory resulting from such actions, so dearly bought, is no consolation to me, and I cannot suggest it as any to you and his friends; but I hope that it may be expected that this last one has been so decisive, as that no doubt remains that our exertions and our individual losses will be rewarded by the early attainment of our just object. It is then that the glory of the actions in which our friends and relations have fallen, will be some consolation for their loss. “Believe me, etc. “WELLINGTON.” “Your brother had a black horse, given to him, I believe, by lord Ashburnham, which I will keep till I hear from you what you wish should be done with it.” (_Gurwood_, vol. XII, p. 488-9.) _To the Duke of Beaufort, K. G._