A voice from Waterloo: A history of the battle fought on the 18th June, 1815Cotton, Edward
History
A voice from Waterloo: A history of the battle fought on the 18th June, 1815
Cotton, Edward
Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo, Belgium, 1815
Putting aside some of the French and English accounts as not
only irreconcilable with facts, but as self-refuted by their
inconsistencies and mutual contradictions,—using such of the French
narratives as agree with those of their opponents, which, as
Wellington observed of Napoleon’s bulletins, may be safely relied
upon as far as they tell against themselves,—I have cleared up a
great number of the points disputed by our own writers, who agree
in the main, but differ in some circumstances involving not merely
questions of time and locality of certain events, but even the
claims of individuals, regiments and brigades to the honour attached
to their deeds on that day. By my long residence at Mont-St.-Jean,
constant study of the surface of the battle field, knowledge of the
composition and even _dress_ of the different bodies of the French
troops which stood before us, and by paying close attention to the
remarks made by many a gallant comrade revisiting the spot, I have in
a great measure succeeded in reconciling discrepancies which perhaps
no other person could explain.
I am also emboldened to think that my “VOICE FROM WATERLOO” presents
to the general reader all the leading facts of this eventful
struggle, in so concise a manner, and at so moderate a cost, as to
secure it a preference over every other narration of the battle.
Although not strictly belonging to “A VOICE FROM WATERLOO,” I have
added, as a connecting link in the narrative, an outline map, and a
sketch of the military operations of the campaign of 1815.
Most anxious to avoid the imputation of having employed the materials
of others without acknowledgment, I beg to state that, besides
various military periodicals, I have made use of captain Siborne’s
History of the War in France and Belgium: The Military Life of the
Duke of Wellington, by Major Basil Jackson and Captain Rochfort
Scott; The Wellington Dispatches and General Orders, by Colonel
Gurwood; Fall of Napoleon, by Colonel Mitchell; Political and
Military Life of Napoleon, and The Art of War, by General Jomini;
History of the King’s German Legion, by Major Beamish; Prussian
History of the Campaign of 1815, by General Grollman, etc., etc.
As to the manner in which I have executed my task, I know I am open
to criticism. No doubt many of my remarks will be considered too
digressive. Some persons will think I am too hard upon Napoleon: my
authorities in this are more frequently French than English. Others
will judge me too partial to the immortal Wellington.
Waterloo was termed by Napoleon, “a concurrence of unexempled
fatalities, a day not to be comprehended. Was there treason? or was
there only misfortune?”
Wellington said, that “he had never before fought so hard a battle,
nor won so great a victory.” If the reader derive the same impression
from his attention to “A VOICE FROM WATERLOO,” I shall be satisfied,
because I shall have succeeded.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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