Cassell's History of England, Vol. 5 (of 8): From the Peninsular War to the Death of Sir Robert PeelAnonymous
History
Cassell's History of England, Vol. 5 (of 8): From the Peninsular War to the Death of Sir Robert Peel
Anonymous
Great Britain -- History
exclaimed, "They are mingled together! All is lost for the present!"
and rode from the field. The battle was won. But at the same moment
Wellington ordered the advance of the whole line, and the French,
quitting every point of their position, began a hasty and confused
retreat from the field.
Buonaparte, in his bulletin of June 21st, found a reason for this utter
defeat in a panic fear that suddenly seized the army, through some
evil-disposed person raising the cry of "_Sauve qui peut!_" But Ney
denied, in his letter to the Duke of Otranto, that any such cry was
raised. Another statement made very confidently in Paris was, that the
Old Guard, being summoned to surrender, replied, "The Guard dies, but
never surrenders!"--a circumstance which never took place, though the
Guards fought with the utmost bravery.
As this rout was taking place, Bulow, who had beaten back the French
battalions from Frischermont and Planchenoit, was approaching La
Belle Alliance, and Blucher with the main army soon after appeared
following him. At a farmhouse called Maison Rouge, or Maison du Roi,
behind La Belle Alliance, the Duke of Wellington and Blucher met and
felicitated each other. Blucher, in the Continental manner, embraced
and kissed the victorious Duke; and it was agreed that, as the army
of Wellington had been fighting hard for eight hours, the Prussians
should make the pursuit. Blucher swore that he would follow the French
whilst a horse or a man could move, and, with three cheers from the
British, he set forward with his troops in chase. So far from "the
Guards dying, but not surrendering," these brave men flew now before
the stern old Prussian, and immediately in the narrow passage at
Genappe they abandoned to him sixty pieces of their cannon. Amongst
other spoil they captured the carriage of Napoleon, and found in it,
amongst other curious papers, a proclamation for publication the next
day at Brussels. As it was moonlight, the Prussians continued the
chase till late into the night, slaughtering the fugitives like sheep.
Numbers quitted the road and fled across the country, seeking shelter
in the woods, where many of them were afterwards found dead or severely
wounded. The highway, according to General Gneisenau, was covered with
cannon, caissons, carriages, baggage, arms, and property of every
kind. The wounded were humanely sent to Brussels, but those who could
continue their flight did so till they had reached France, where they
sold their horses and arms, and dispersed themselves to their homes.
The grand army was no more, with the exception of the division of
Grouchy, who made good his retreat to Paris, only to be upbraided by
Buonaparte as the cause of his defeat. In this battle and retreat the
French lost more men than at Leipsic, the killed and wounded exceeding
thirty thousand.
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