Waterloo Days: The narrative of an Englishwoman resident at Brussels in June 1815Eaton, Charlotte A. (Charlotte Anne)
History
Waterloo Days: The narrative of an Englishwoman resident at Brussels in June 1815
Eaton, Charlotte A. (Charlotte Anne)
Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo, Belgium, 1815
I succeeded much better in inspiring myself with hope and confidence
than this poor young woman; but all that I myself endured during this
long night of misery is not to be imagined or described. The uncertain
fate of our army, their critical situation, and the dread that some
serious reverse had befallen them, filled my mind with the most
dreadful apprehensions. Worn out as I had been with two successive
nights of sleepless alarm, this news had effectually murdered sleep;
and even when fatigue for a few minutes overpowered my senses, I
started up again with a sense of horror to listen to the beating of
the heavy torrents of rain, and the dismal sounds of alarm which
filled the streets; the rattle of carriages continually driving to the
door, crowded with fugitives who vainly solicited to be taken in, and
drove away utterly at a loss where to find a place of shelter; and
the deafening noise of the rolling of heavy military waggons which,
during the whole night, never ceased a single moment. So deep was the
impression these sounds made upon my senses, so associated had they now
become with feelings of dismay and alarm, that long after every terror
was ended in the glorious certainty of victory, I never could hear
the rattling of these carriages, and the thundering of their wheels,
without a sensation of horror that went to my very heart.
The morning--the eventful morning of Sunday, the 18th of June--rose,
darkened by clouds and mists, and driving rain. Amongst the rest of the
fugitives, our friends, the Hon. Mr. and Mrs. H., arrived about seven
o'clock, and, after considerable difficulty and delay, succeeded in
obtaining a wretched little hole in a private house, with a miserable
pallet bed, and destitute of all other furniture; but they were too
glad to find shelter, and too thankful to get into a place of safety,
to complain of these inconveniences; and overcome with fatigue, they
went immediately to bed. It was not without considerable difficulty
and danger that their carriage had got out of the choked-up streets
of Brussels, and made its way to Malines, where they had been, for a
time, refused shelter. At length, the golden arguments Mr. H. used
obtained for them admittance into a room filled with people of all
sexes, ages, countries, and ranks--French Princes and foreign Counts,
and English Barons, and Right Honourable ladies and gentlemen, together
with a considerable mixture of less dignified beings, were all lying
together, outstretched upon the tables, the chairs, and the floor; some
groaning, and some complaining, and many snoring, and almost all of
them completely drenched with rain. The water streamed from Mr. H.'s
clothes, who had driven his own carriage. In this situation, they, too,
lay down and slept, while their horses rested; and then, at break of
day, pursued their flight. A hundred Napoleons had been vainly offered
for a pair of horses but a few hours after we left Brussels, and the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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