Transcriber’s Note: Italics are enclosed in _underscores_. Additional notes will be found near the end of this ebook. WATERLOO [Illustration] WATERLOO BY THOMAS E. WATSON Author of “The Story of France,” “Napoleon,” and “The Life of Thomas Jefferson.” [Illustration] New York and Washington THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1908 Copyright, 1908, by THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY WATERLOO INTRODUCTORY The warder of the Tower has his bout with the citizen on the green; Sir Walter Raleigh looks on from above, and the lieutenant’s wife from below and neither of the three--warder, lieutenant’s wife, nor the prisoner, Sir Walter--can agree with either of the other two as to what took place. Inside the Tower three different tales are told. It is reasonably certain that still another version was given when the citizen got back to town and began to talk. How, then, can any one expect to learn exactly what occurred on Sunday, June 18th, 1815, in front of the village of Mont-Saint-Jean? Many witnesses testify, and the conflict of testimony is utterly irreconcilable. Much of the battle was not seen by Napoleon, and much of it was hidden from Wellington. Every officer who took part in it and who afterward wrote about it contributed something to the story, but what officer could tell it all? From the day after the battle down to the present time, men and women have studied the field itself, have pored over dispatches, have devoured Memoirs, have eagerly listened to the slightest word which anybody who was in possession of a fact had to say about Waterloo: yet a mystery hangs over the entire campaign. Did Wellington really believe that he fought D’Erlon’s corps at Quatre Bras? He says so, positively, in his official report of the action. Yet we _know_ that D’Erlon’s corps did not come even within striking distance, at any time during the day. Full of inaccuracies as his account of the battle is, the Duke would never correct the statement; nor could he ever be persuaded to give any other. In fact, whenever the subject was mentioned he grew testy; and curtly referred the questioner to his official report.