"The next morning we received orders to retire, and to cover the retreat of the army into the lines at Mont St. Jean. The infantry retired by the high road: the cavalry were formed in line: and the different brigades fronted alternately to prevent the advance of the enemy's cavalry and cannon. "Notwithstanding the torrents of rain which fell, the French continued to press us closely: their light cavalry charged ours on the road and drove them back: when Lord Uxbridge, seeing them do so, charged at the head of a regiment of the Life Guards and completely upset them, they being unable to stand against the superior weight of the men and horse of the household troops. At this moment it rained in such a way as I never saw either before or since: it rained as if the water were tumbled out of tubs: there was also a good deal of thunder with it. Some of the hussars that were driven in upon us were so covered with mud that it was impossible to distinguish their features. The ground was so soft that at every step our horses sank half way to the knees: and in several places, in our passing over fallow land, it had the appearance of a lake, the rain falling upon it faster than it could either be absorbed or run off. It continued to rain and we to retire till we halted for the night in the position of Mont St. Jean: we were placed in bivouac at the distance of three hundred yards from the front of a farm house which lay between us and the village of Waterloo. The firing of cannon continued till it was dark: but as it was on the other side of the hill we saw nothing of what passed, hearing merely the cannonade. It continued to rain and thunder during the whole of the night: being hungry and cold, and wet through to the skin, we passed a most wretched night: the ground upon which we lay was a fallow upon which it was impossible to lie: we therefore obtained some straw at the farm house: we found there also some wood with which we made a fire, although from the rain it was difficult to keep it burning.... "In spite of the rain we slept pretty soundly, lying at our horses' heads, they being formed in line, and linked together, but we were repeatedly awoke during the night, by their taking fright at the lightning and thunder, at the same time advancing over us! but no one was hurt! and as the nights in the middle of summer are short, we arose with the day break: a miserable looking set of creatures we all were--covered with mud from head to foot--our white belts dyed with the red from our jackets, as if we had already completed the sanguinary work, which we were soon about to begin.