It is, perhaps, a sufficient reply to this remark to recall the fact that the battle of Ligny was begun at half-past two and was completely finished at half-past nine, and that this period of seven hours includes the delay of nearly two hours caused by the unexpected appearance of d’Erlon’s Corps. It seems to us foolish to contend that Wellington did not run a great risk of being defeated before the arrival of the Prussians. Had the battle been begun five or six hours earlier, all the troops in Napoleon’s army could have been employed against the Anglo-Dutch forces, and the battle could have been fought as the Emperor intended to fight it. The risk of being beaten, we repeat, was a great risk; and we believe the Duke was quite aware that it was such when he assumed it. The question then is,—recurring to Napoleon’s censure on Blücher and Wellington for not having avoided this risk by continuing their retreat to the immediate neighborhood of Brussels,—whether the possibility of overthrowing Napoleon at the beginning of the campaign by effecting a union of the allied armies at Waterloo warranted the two allied commanders in taking the risk of the defeat of the Anglo-Dutch army before this union could be effected. As this question is evidently one capable of indefinite discussion, we content ourselves with stating it. FOOTNOTES: [546] Maurice, pp. 534 _et seq._: Sept., 1890. [547] Siborne, vol. 1, p. 251, following Damitz, p. 212. [548] Lieutenant Massow. [549] Siborne, vol. 1, pp. 278, 279, following Damitz, p. 213. [550] Ollech, p. 187; Gneisenau, vol. 4, pp. 393, 394. [551] Ib., p. 180. [552] Siborne, vol. 1, p. 278. [553] Maurice, pp. 533-538: Sept., 1890; and pp. 330 _et seq._, January, 1891. [554] Vol. 2, p. 313. The History of Napoleon Buonaparte. By J. G. Lockhart. 3d ed., 2 vols. John Murray: 1835. See also the same work, p. 594; London: William Tegg: 1867. [555] Ellesmere, p. 157; Quarterly Review, vol. 70, p. 464. [556] A Memoir of Charles Mayne Young, Tragedian: With extracts from his son’s journal. By Julian Charles Young, M. A., Rector of Ilmington. London and New York: Macmillan & Co.: 1871; pp. 158 _et seq._ [557] Maurice, p. 337: January, 1891. [558] Mere improbability, however, is not a sufficient reason for rejecting a story supported by credible evidence. It is always impossible to place one’s self precisely in the position of those of whom the story is told. And some, at any rate, of the improbable features may be mere accretions on the original story. [559] Corresp., vol. 31, p. 258. [560] Clausewitz, ch. 39, pp. 99, 100. CHAPTER XV. THE EIGHTEENTH OF JUNE: GROUCHY AND BLÜCHER.