Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821 -- Elba and the Hundred Days, 1814-1815; Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo, Belgium, 1815
At this moment, Colonel KLENCKE reached the Farm with the Lüneburg
Field Battalion; which WELLINGTON, on observing the French advance, had
detached from the Left of KIELMANSEGGE's Brigade as a reinforcement to
the troops of La Haye Sainte. BARING immediately endeavoured to recover
the Orchard; and had already made the Enemy give way, when he perceived
a strong Line of _Cuirassiers_ forming in right front of the inclosure.
At the same time, Lieutenant MEYER came to report to him that the Enemy
had surrounded the Garden in which his Company was posted, and that it
had become no longer tenable. BARING ordered him to fall back into the
Buildings, and to assist in their defence. The Skirmishers upon the
right, on the sudden appearance of the Cavalry, ran in upon the Orchard
to collect together: but coming in contact with the newly arrived
Hanoverians, the latter got into disorder; and the effect produced
by the sight of the advancing Line of _Cuirassiers_ in their front,
as also by the shouts of the French Infantry gaining possession of
the Garden in their rear, was such, that notwithstanding all BARING's
exertions to halt and collect his men, the whole of these troops betook
themselves to an indiscriminate flight towards the main position of
the Allied Army, a course which they seemed to imagine constituted
their only chance of safety.
They were speedily undeceived. The Cavalry overtook them in the midst
of their confused retreat, rode over, sabred, and still further
dispersed them; whilst, to add to the severity of their loss, they
became exposed, after the Cavalry had passed on, to a flank fire from
the Enemy's Infantry lining the hedge of the Garden. A portion of
them succeeded in gaining the main position; whilst the remainder,
securing themselves in the Buildings, augmented the little garrison
under Lieutenants CAREY and GRÆME, and Ensign FRANK, who bravely and
successfully maintained possession in defiance of the vigorous attacks
on the part of the French Light Troops. The Lüneburg Hanoverian
Battalion, however, suffered most severely: many were killed and
wounded; among the latter was the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant
Colonel KLENCKE, and among the prisoners taken was Major DACHENHAUSEN.
Some on the left saved themselves by a precipitate retreat into the
high road. The few that were collected together again during the
remainder of the day constituted but a very insignificant portion of
the original strength of the Battalion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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