The field of Waterloo is an open undulating plain; and, on the day of the battle, was covered with splendid crops of rye, wheat, barley, oats, beans, peas, potatoes, tares and clover; some of these were of great height. There were a few patches of ploughed ground. The field is intersected by two high-roads which branch off at Mont-St.-Jean; these are very wide: the one on the right, leading to Nivelles and Binche, since planted with trees, is straight as an arrow for miles; that on the left, lying in the centre of both armies, leading south to Genappe, Charleroi and Namur, is not so straight as the former: about eleven hundred yards in advance of the junction, is a gently elevated ridge which formed a good natural military position. Nearly a year before these events, the Duke had written to lord Bathurst, enclosing “a Memorandum on the defence of the Netherlands,” in which he says: “About Nivelles, and between that and Binche, there are many advantageous positions; and the entrance of the _forêt de Soigne_, by the high-road which leads to Brussels from Binche, Charleroi and Namur, would, if worked upon, afford others[20].” The great advantage was that the troops could rest in rear of the crest of the ridge, screened in a great measure from the enemy’s artillery and observation, whilst our guns were placed at points, from whence they could sweep (they are wonderful brooms) the slope that descends to the valley in front. Upon the crest is a cross-road running east and west, intersecting the Genappe road at right angles, about two hundred and fifty yards on this side of the farm of La Haye-Sainte. The cross-road marks the front of the allied position. Near where the Lion now stands, the cross-road or line runs curving forward a little for about six hundred yards, when it first gently and then abruptly falls back into the Nivelles road, near the termination of the ridge, where it takes a sweep to the rear. This point was at first our right centre, but became our right when lord Hill’s troops were brought forward into the front line, between four and five o’clock P.M. About four hundred and fifty yards south of this point, is the important post of Hougoumont, destined to become so celebrated in the annals of history, and which even now stands a noble monument of the determined valour of both the assailed and assailants. It was then a gentleman’s seat, with farm, out-buildings, walled garden, orchard and wood. The latter has been since cleared, in consequence of the injury the trees sustained in the battle. The buildings are more than two hundred years old, and were erected for defence. Many of the stone loop-holes made in the garden walls when first built, are still quite perfect, as are also those made by our troops on the spur of the moment. The hedges were all banked up, and with the ditches on the inner side formed excellent breastworks.