The American Sharpe Page 18
I went to the Allee Verte a promenade outside the gates much frequented on Sunday, there was a very good turnout of carriages, the best I ever saw out of England.
I never was so struck with the beauty of the Place Royale as this evening by moonlight, buildings certainly look better by that light. The place is not well lighted, the lamps are few but good. The water is better here than at Ghent, there are many fountains here but no handsome ones. What a much better idea all foreigners have of singing, than Englishmen. The English are caricatured here in one shop I think very illiberally.
15th There are several Prussian officers here, they are the best dressed and most gentlemanly looking of any foreign officers I see.
16th Blank
17th A sergeant’s guard of our regiment had a row last night with the mob of this town who attacked them in the execution of their duty & our guard shot one of the rioters.
I went to the museum today, there is a collection of pictures there on much the same plan as our Somerset House exhibition in England25. I admired some of the pictures very much, but some people found fault with them, there is also a collection of ancient pictures by Rubens & others which for the wit of me I cannot admire, there are some old carvings in wood, very curious.
3rd Lord Wellington reviewed our division today in the Allee Verte, our regiment is in General Kempt’s Brigade with the 28th, 32nd, & 79th. General Pack has the 42nd, 44th, 92nd & 1st, besides which is a Hanoverian brigade.
James was now so busy that he failed to write in his journal for ten days, but he did write one letter home during this period, although it took him the entire period to complete it. He wrote to Laura on the latest political news and to make strong demands for a more regular correspondence from his family at home.
Many British soldiers writing home at this period made clear their suspicions of the Belgians, believing that they would happily receive Napoleon again. James also wrote disparagingly about the Belgians, but he did not see them in the same respect, he simply didn’t like them.
However when he completed the letter over two weeks later he had decided that he liked Brussels.
Brussels 27 May 1815
Dear Laura,
I wrote a letter to my aunt from Ghent about a fortnight ago which I hope was received26. I write this to tell you that you must exert your energies a little oftener than is your usual custom, I expect to hear frequently from you now. We stayed at Ghent about a fortnight and then marched here where we have been about the same time and there is no talk of our moving; preparations for war are going on, on all sides. Everything is active here, there is a strange mixture of different uniforms and nations all moving like a stream towards devoted France, all the deserters of whom there are many, and all the accounts from France describe the discontent against Bonaparte’s government to be increasing daily. I think the reinstatement of the Bourbons or at any rate the destruction of Bonaparte will not be a matter of much difficulty. We have been lucky in marching through the best part of the country and in making so long a stay in the two principal cities of the Netherlands: the country is abundant beyond anything I ever saw. It is a fine country for campaigning in and may be a very good one for those to live in whose ideas of comfort extend no farther than good eating and drinking, but for my own part I would rather live amidst the wild uncultivated nature of Romantic Spain with all its inconveniences than in dull flat lethargic Belgium with all its abundance. Oh there is an inspiring something in a wild country and its boundless prospect which lifts me as it were above myself, and I cannot help feeling something of the contrary sensation in a country like this where I can seldom see a hundred yards before me. If climate and the appearances nature assumes have an influence in the formation of national character, and that they have I think it reasonable to suppose from the temporary effect they have on the mind of everyone, I wonder how this country can produce any people but such as are flat, dull and stupid as itself. The people of Belgium having been from the earliest times dependent on one foreign sovereign or other have no national character; they appear to me from what little I have seen, to unite many of the imperfections of the English and French without their perfections, they have all the unmeaning compliment and insincerity of the French without their gay easy familiarity of manner, and a great deal of the English distance and reserve without their sincerity. There are however among the better sort of people in every country exceptions to the general character. I have met with some who have been very civil, and as no traveller can expect to find friendships wherever he goes he ought to be satisfied if he generally meets with civility.
Brussels 13 June 1815
I must beg your pardon my dear Laura for having so long left this unfinished, but one thing or another has interrupted me day after day. In fact I have no good excuse so the less I say about it the better. This is a pleasant place, I did not at first like it as well as Ghent here, but upon better acquaintance it’s much gayer, there are a great many English families here. By the bye my old friend Miss Whyte is here, I called on her as soon as I knew she was here and am delighted with her, she is a very pleasant woman indeed; young Jacobs27 is quartered at a town about twenty miles off. This is a gay place, there is a park here, a very handsome promenade on which the beauty and fashion of the place display their attractions every evening, which attractions however are by no means formidable.
You accuse me of picking up a flame wherever I go. It is not the case here I assure, nor do I think it likely to be so, for with the exception of one or two English ladies (and they perhaps are only so in comparison with the very ordinary faces by which they are surrounded) I have not seen one handsome woman since I left England. The English women are certainly the handsomest, and when you know them intimately the most delightful women in the world, but it requires longer time to know them than foreigners. However they are still women, and as we grow wiser every day as we grow older I must not forget that ‘there are three things a wise man will not trust’28. I believe you know the rest.
However the wisest are apt sometimes to forget their doctrine especially when attacked by the rhetoric of a pair of bright eyes. All that I can hope is (if such should be my case) to be an exception from the general rule and escape being punished for my credulity. Poor Mallet is a sad victim to his, I wonder how Jane can have the assurance to quote that passage when she is a living instance of the truth of it. By the bye there is a little girl here I should think about James’ age the daughter of a Colonel Edwards who has a very large family and has come here to educate them29, she is as like Jane as is possible and I intend to take the first opportunity of telling her so. There is no more talk of our marching than the first day we arrived, but I should think this state of inaction cannot last long. We have been told that we were only waiting for the arrival of the Russians, they have begun to arrive on the Rhine and will all be up by the end of this month, then I suppose it will begin. I will write regularly and shall expect to hear from you all. Remember me to my aunt, to Emily,30 Mallet, Gordon and little Mary and believe me my dear Laura, your affectionate brother, James P Gairdner.
Suddenly, things changed dramatically, with rumours that the fighting had begun.
June
15th There is something going on in front today, we have this evening received an order to be ready to march; The Prussians have it is said been attacked, it is also said that Bonaparte has joined the army.
Chapter 14
The Waterloo Campaign
Late on 15th June the alarm was sounded and the troops formed up in the Place Royale before marching at dawn. Initially the troops marched for the village of Waterloo where they would rest before marching on for Nivelles, the original rendezvous for the army. But at Waterloo, they received orders from the Duke of Wellington to march on to the crossroads at Quatre Bras, where the Netherlands troops were in action with the French advance guard.
When they arrived at the crossroads, the 95th was pushed out to the far left of the position and ordered to take
and hold the tiny hamlet of Thyle. They were beaten in a race to the village by a French column, but they then took possession of a nearby copse and being reinforced by a battalion of Brunswickers, traded shots with the French for much of the day. A heavy French column forced the rifles to vacate the wood and to take a position on a small rise near the Namur road, which they held throughout, eventually gaining Thyle village as Wellington’s troops advanced at the end of the battle.
This tactical withdrawal from the wood is confirmed by Private Costello, who states that whilst in the woods:
‘I soon perceived the enemy’s light troops in extended order, and in great force, coming down to oppose us. This caused a corresponding movement on our part, and we were ordered to take ground to our left. We passed close to a pond of water, with the main road separating us from the enemy. While executing this, the French commenced a very brisk fire on us, until we gained possession of a few houses on a rising ground on the main road, which two companies of our rifles instantly occupied.’1
James, however, was not to be involved in the final advance. He was wounded in the foot during the fighting retreat to the small hill and had to retire to the rear.
16th Received an order last night at about half past 11 to assemble immediately in the Place Royale in consequence of the difficulty of assembling the division, it did not march until near four o’clock this morning, an officer of each regiment being left to bring up the stragglers. I was left to bring up those of our regiment. We got off at about 8 o’clock. The Corps of the Duke of Brunswick marched through at about 7 o’clock. We marched on the road to Charleroi through the forest of Soignes, through the village of Waterloo (where the forest ends) and through Genappe. When we arrived at the latter place we heard skirmishing, hurried on and joined the regiment. The division was at this time engaged in front of the village of Genappe2 on both sides of the chaussee, the country there is an open low country intersected with woods and previous to the arrival of our division there was only a small Belgian force to watch this point. It is on the extreme right of the Prussians, the French were in great force and were advancing with great confidence, commanded by Bonaparte in person.3 Our regiment when I joined were occupying some hedges and remaining quiet, they had already gained some ground of [sic] the French. Shortly after I joined, the Brunswickers came up and we all advanced, the Brunswickers behaved I thought very well. We took a wood from the enemy which they might have defended better; when we arrived at the extremity of which we saw them in massy columns and as we were without support we of course lay down to watch them, indeed I wonder much at their giving up this wood so easily and as we were only about 400 skirmishers without support I felt very uneasy. While thus situated the Adjutant came with an order for us to retire and occupy some houses on a ridge in our rear. There was no order for the Brunswickers to retire, however they came away with us, the consequence was that the French crowded into the wood when they saw us leave it and followed up. We were obliged to halt on a base ridge above it and there make a stand. I there received a wound in the foot and went to the rear & I afterwards heard that three attempts were made to retake the wood that night, but the French kept it after all. Our regiment suffered much this day as did the whole division, particularly the highland regiments which were several times charged by French cavalry. The wounded remained all this night in houses just behind the position. A very serious attack was made this day on the Prussians.
Being wounded, James needed to find some means of transport to Brussels and incredibly, he and his fellow wounded officers were able to hire a cart to move them there. This was fortunate, as soon after, Wellington heard of the defeat of the Prussians and ordered the army to retire on a position just south of Waterloo. Any wounded unable to be evacuated would be left to the mercy of the French.
17th This morning we hired a cart and went into Brussels being unable to walk; there are a great number of wounded, the whole army is moving to the left. Went to my old billet, the people are very civil. Lord Wellington has retired to a position in front of Waterloo, it is a better cavalry country than in front of Genappe, there being no wood there.
James was not at the Battle of Waterloo but was forced to remain in the rear at Brussels, where he was constantly alarmed by false rumours of defeat, until late that night, when they finally heard of the great victory. His note for this day smacks of being written later when quite accurate casualty returns were available.
His comrades of the 1st Battalion had fought the battle in an exposed advance position in the very centre of Wellington’s line, with three companies in a sandpit opposite La Haye Sainte on the other side of the Brussels chaussee and the rest of the battalion lining the ridge line above. They were under constant fire and at the end of the day they had lost twenty-one officers and men killed and 135 wounded.4
18th The bloodiest, hardest contested and most decisive victory was gained this day on the position of Waterloo. I was at Brussels all day in which there were many reports and alarms spread. I felt very uneasy as I was unable to walk well & had no horse to ride. It was universally believed at one time that the French would be in Brussels in the evening and I believe that the people generally speaking were glad of it, however though they looked on the British army as conquered (and certainly the disorder and confusion into which the baggage and stragglers relayed through the place warranted such conclusions) yet I saw no disposition to insult.
It appears from this laid before the committee of the Waterloo fund that the British troops in line this day average 40,000. Belgique, Brunswick &c under Lord W[ellington] 50,000.
British, killed & wounded 9,999, Belgique 4,500,
Prussians killed & wounded in four days fighting 22,000.
Despite his wound, James bought a horse the following morning and rode out to rejoin the battalion, which involved him crossing the recent battlefield, which he found very shocking.
19th Bought a horse this morning and set off & joined the regiment. They were cooking just in front of the position & I never saw anything to equal the carnage on this field of battle, I have seen many sights of the kind but this out-beggars everything. The division marched at about 10 o’clock to Nivelles, to Monstreux5 near which we encamped.
By all accounts the French army are completely disorganised, the Prussians got into their rear (an oversight on the part of Bonaparte which is to me incomprehensible) indeed it seems that he imagined that in the action of the 15th [16th] he had disabled the Prussians from acting any further, but what right he had to suppose I know not; even if he had given them a signal overthrow, still as he had not annihilated them, there was a possibility of those that remained annoying him if not pursued or watched. They however got in his rear, obliged his army to disband itself in order to get away, leaving its artillery equipages, in fact everything on the road, his troops never had so much at stake, and never fought so well before and so confident was Bonaparte of sleeping that night at Brussels that he said it publicly and proclamations were found in his baggage dated from the Chateau de Laeken6, in which he alluded to his brother Jerome7 as Governor General of the Low Countries.
So determined were his various attacks that nothing but determined bravery of British troops could have refused them, the Belgian troops in general behaved ill, some left the field in good order, marching coolly to the rear as regiments.
I am convinced that Bonaparte had very extensive correspondence and good understanding on this country and that had he been successful the army would have joined him in a mass and the new governor Jerome8 would have had little difficulty in establishing French authority over a country, the lower order of which are mostly attached by habits and interest to France. Indeed it is impossible fully to appreciate the entire consequences of the gaining that battle by Bonaparte. The circumstance is worth mentioning because it shows the versatility of French character. Many of Bonaparte’s officers who were killed, on being searched by the soldiers for plunder were found with white cockades on their breasts.
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A French lady, the wife of an officer who is with him, speaking of Bonaparte believed his being a dead man, which has also been my opinion, she said of him ‘Qu’il avait l’esprit vraiment comme un diable mais pas le courage du Coeur, il a peur de mourir, il n’est jamais abattu quelle grand que soient ses revers mais il n’ose pas affronter la mort.’ [He really has the spirit of a devil, but not the courage of the heart, he is afraid of dying, he is never downcast no matter how heavy should his setbacks be, but he does not dare to face death.] It has been said by some that when the Prussians first appeared he embarked upon one more desperate attempt & that he assembled such of his Guard as were near & charged at their head.
The army marched rapidly on Paris but despite his wound his new horse allowed James to keep up with the regiment.
20th Through Feluy, a beautiful village and country, Marche [-lez-Ecaussinnes], Mignault to [Le] Roeulx, got into crowded quarters, the country through which we marched is very finely cultivated indeed.
21st Through Mons, across the frontier into France and encamped at Malplaquet, the scene of Marlborough’s glorious victory9. Mons is very badly fortified and the ground is bad but I believe it can be inundated in all the weak points. All accounts agree in representing the French soldiers as deserting to their homes in great numbers without arms.
22nd To Bavay, cantoned there, Bavay is a small town and has formerly been fortified, but now almost entirely deserted by the inhabitants, the only ones that have remained there are those that are very poor, they are much frightened.
I have often been much astonished at the information of the lower orders of Frenchmen on subjects of history. I was today talking with a poor man of this place on the state of affairs and asked how the nation allowed the army to dictate to them and set who they pleased on the throne, he seemed to understand perfectly how and why the French army were the strongest body in the nation and when I said that it was not so in England, he knew that well and cited the history of England in a way that astonished me.