Produced by Steven Gibbs, Linda Cantoni, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net [Transcriber's Note: A table of contents has been added for the reader's convenience. Minor, obvious printer errors have been corrected without note. Numbers in brackets are footnotes, which are set forth below the paragraphs in which they appear. Numbers in parentheses appearing in the narrative are endnotes, which can be found in the Notes to Lady De Lancey's Narrative.] A WEEK AT WATERLOO IN 1815 LADY DE LANCEY'S NARRATIVE BEING AN ACCOUNT OF HOW SHE NURSED HER HUSBAND, COLONEL SIR WILLIAM HOWE DE LANCEY, QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL OF THE ARMY, MORTALLY WOUNDED IN THE GREAT BATTLE EDITED BY MAJOR B.R. WARD ROYAL ENGINEERS LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1906 [Illustration: Major William Howe De Lancey 45th Regiment c. 1800.] "Dim is the rumour of a common fight, When host meets host, and many names are sunk; But of a single combat Fame speaks clear." --_Sohrab and Rustum._ CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS INTRODUCTION A WEEK AT WATERLOO IN 1815 NOTES TO LADY DE LANCEY'S NARRATIVE APPENDIX A--Letters to Captain Basil Hall, R.N., from Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens APPENDIX B--Bibliography of Lady De Lancey's Narrative INDEX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS MAJOR WILLIAM HOWE DE LANCEY, 45th Regt. of Foot, c. 1800. _From a miniature in the possession of Wm. Heathcote De Lancey of New York_ _Frontispiece_ THE GOLD CROSS OF SIR WM. DE LANCEY, received after serving in the Peninsular War, with clasps for Talavera, Nive, Salamanca, San Sebastian, and Vittoria. _In the possession of Major J.A. Hay_ _Face p._ 10 LADY DE LANCEY. _From a miniature after J.D. Engleheart_ " 24 PART OF AN AUTOGRAPH LETTER OF SIR WALTER SCOTT " 34 PART OF AN AUTOGRAPH LETTER OF CHARLES DICKENS " 36 COLONEL SIR WILLIAM HOWE DE LANCEY, _c._ 1813 " 38 MAP OF PART OF THE BATTLEFIELD OF WATERLOO " 110 THE VILLAGE OF MONT ST JEAN, 1815 " 113 THE WATERLOO MEMORIAL IN EVERE CEMETERY " 118 A WEEK AT WATERLOO IN 1815 INTRODUCTION The following narrative, written over eighty years ago, and now at last given to the world in 1906, is remarkable in many respects. It is remarkable for its subject, for its style, and for its literary history.