There has been much controversy as to whether the Duke of Wellington rode over to Blücher’s camp on the night of the 17th. There is now conclusive evidence that no such visit was made. In Archibald Forbes’s “Camps, Quarters and Casual Places,” published in 1896, we find: “Quite recently there have been found and are now in the possession of the Rev. Frederick Gurney, the grandson of the late Sir John Gurney, the notes of a ‘conversation with the Duke of Wellington and Baron Gurney and Mr. Justice Williams, Judges on Circuit, at Strathfieldsaye House, on 24th February, 1837.’ The annotator was Baron Gurney, to the following effect: ‘The conversation had been commenced by my inquiring of him (the Duke) whether a story which I had heard was true of his having ridden over to Blücher on the night before the battle of Waterloo, and returned on the same horse. He said, “No, that was not so. I did not see Blücher on the day before Waterloo. I saw him the day before, on the day of Quatre Bras. I saw him after Waterloo, and he kissed me. He embraced me on horseback. I had communicated with him the day before Waterloo.” The rest of the conversation made no further reference to the topic of the ride to Wavre.’” In Houssaye’s “1815” the statement is made that the French troops did not receive their rations on the night of the 17th until after midnight, or even later. The truth seems to be that some of the troops got nothing at all to eat. They went into the fight on empty stomachs--stimulated by a drink of brandy. The enemy, of course, suffered no such disadvantage, for ample supplies came from Brussels. Again, the English had camp-fires to keep themselves warm and to dry their clothing; the French had no fires, and went into action chilled, and in wet clothing. To understand the physical disadvantage against which the French had to struggle, we should remember that they had to charge _up hill over miry ground_. The English were stationary on the crest, excepting when they charged, and _then_ they charged _down hill_. Those who have walked over a ploughed field, or who have galloped a horse up a miry slope, will know how to appreciate the immense difficulties under which the French labored. WATERLOO CHAPTER I