Here at Mont St. Jean, Wellington pitched his tent.  Hougoumont lay far off in front of his center, and had that morning a small garrison.  Napoleon, with his army, was a mile away, his line extending to the right and left beyond La Belle Alliance.  We must turn squarely around as we stand alongside the lion if we are to see in the distance the ground he occupied.  Our place is nearly in the center of the field.  Hougoumont we realize to have been worthy of the prodigious struggle the French made to capture it.  Half a fortress then, it provided an admirable stand for artillery.  A few men might hold it against superior numbers.

At Waterloo the Duke had about 67,000 men—­some accounts say 70,000—­but many, perhaps 15,000, fled in desertion at an early hour of the day.  With these figures correct, the fighting forces of the Allies later in the day, would remain little more than 55,000 men.  The Emperor’s army has usually been placed at 70,000.  His soldiers were probably better trained than the Duke’s and combined with long service an abundance of enthusiasm for their old general, now restored to his imperial throne and confident of victory.

The night before the battle had been wet and stormy, but the morning gave some promise of clearing; the sky, however, remained overcast and some rain continued to fall.  The French were weary after a long march, and the artillery moved with difficulty across this wet and muddy plain.  Altogether they were in poor condition for a battle, in which all their fortunes were at stake.  It was just such a morning as ours, except that it was then June and is now January.  If the battle began at 8 o’clock, as one account reads, we are here on the Lion’s Mound at that same hour.  Even if this be January, daisies are in blossom at our feet.

Jerome Bonaparte, leading the attack, moves on Hougoumont, where the Allies, who have come down from Mont St. Jean, repulse him.  He renews the attack “with redoubled fury,” and a gallant resistance is made, but he forces a way into the outer enclosure of the chateau that crowns the hill.  British howitzers are at once discharged upon the French and compel them to retreat.  New assaults are then made.  Overwhelming numbers seem to bear down upon the Allies.  The stronghold is more than once nearly lost, but it is defended with “prodigies of valor” and firmly held to the last.  Had Hougoumont been taken, the result of the battle “would probably have been very different.”

Meanwhile, the Emperor has ordered a second attack elsewhere—­this time against the left wing of Wellington.  Marshal Ney sends forward six divisions, who encounter the Netherlandish troops and easily scatter them.  Two brigades of British numbering 3,000 men then prepare to check the advancing French.  A struggle, brief but fierce, ensues, in which the French are repulsed.  They rally again, however, and Scotch Highlanders, their bagpipes sounding the cry, advance against them, along with an English brigade.  These make an impetuous assault, while cavalry charge Napoleon’s infantry, and force a part of them back on La Belle Alliance.  But here the pursuing British meet with a check in a scene of wild carnage that sweeps over the field.