War Medals and Their HistorySteward, William Augustus
History
War Medals and Their History
Steward, William Augustus
Great Britain. Army -- Medals, badges, decorations, etc.; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- Medals, badges, decorations, etc.
=Quatre Bras.=--By 8 o'clock the British had left Brussels, the 42nd
and 92nd Highland Regiments having assembled to the sound of the
pibroch, "Come to me and I will give you flesh"--an invitation to
the wolf and raven, for which, as Forbes relates, the coming day did
in fact spread an ample banquet. At 2 o'clock, after a march of 20
miles in sultry weather, they arrived at the hamlet of Quatre Bras, to
find the Prince of Orange pluckily but feebly endeavouring to check
the enemy, who had already gained Le Bois de Bossu. There, at the
intersection of the Charleroi-Brussels and Namur-Nivelle roads, 7,000
Dutch-Belgians with 16 guns and no cavalry stood against Marshal Ney
with 16,000 infantry, 1,700 cavalry, and 36 guns. It was, indeed, an
unequal contest until the arrival of Pack's and Kempt's brigades.
Wellington at once decided the wood must be taken, and then ensued
an exceedingly sanguinary conflict ere, with the ultimate arrival
of the Guards, the French were forced to retire. The Guards (mostly
young soldiers) had arrived from Enghein after a march of 27 miles,
having started at 3 o'clock in the morning to join the main body.
They had halted at Nivelles to rest and feed, but the arrival of a
Staff officer, urging them to hurry on, induced them to abandon their
meal, and resume their march. They arrived on the field of battle at
an opportune moment, and then, despite their fifteen hours' march
without food or drink, the first brigade of Guards, having loaded their
muskets and fixed bayonets, pushed their way into Le Bois de Bossu, and
within half an hour regained possession of it, but they could do no
more than hold it. Meanwhile a series of splendid struggles had been
taking place. When the 95th had been ordered to clear Le Bois de Bossu,
the Royals and the 28th (Gloucesters) were severely engaged on the
left, while the 44th, the 42nd and 92nd Highland Regiments were hotly
assailed on the right.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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