ment, favoured by a destructive fire from the howitzer batteries at the Tomb, which enveloped the Castle, the Farm de la Cour, and the right of the village, in flames, compelled the Prussians to retire; when this most important post fell into the hands of the enemy. This success enabled him to employ a considerable part of his forces against the Prussian centre; and the heights being charged by the guards, at the same time that an attack was made on the left by a heavy column of infantry, supported by the cuirassiers, and a formidable artillery, the position was carried, and the Prussian army obliged to fall back on the village of Bry.

Marshal Blucher finding it impossible to oppose, in such open ground, an enemy numerically superior to him, and likewise seeing no prospect of the arrival of the fourth corps, under Lieutenant-General Von Bulow, advancing by Gembloux, withdrew his troops from Bry, which the French occupied at ten o'clock at night, and reformed them on a plateau (4) running nearly parallel with his former position, between that village and Marbais. Having remained a short time, to allow his army some rest after the extreme fatigue of the day, he retreated through the villages of Tilly and Bruviere on Wavre, where he was joined by the fourth corps.

The troops which had supported, during the day; the batteries of Sombreffe and Tongrenelle, employed with considerable effect against the right of the French army, continued to occupy their positions until two o'clock the following morning, when they retrograded by Gembloux on Wavre, followed a short time afterwards by the corps of Marshal Grouchy and Vandamme.

At the same time that Napoleon was engaged with the Prussian army at Ligny, Marshal Ney attacked the Allies at Quatre-Bras, defended by the fifth British division, under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton, the second division of the kingdom of the Netherlands, under Lieutenant-General Baron de Perponcher, and the troops of Brunswick, under their illustrious Duke, supported by the first division of the British guards, commanded by Major-General Sir George Cooke, which succeeded in driving the enemy from the wood of Bossu, while the third British division, under Lieutenant-General Count Alten, charged his centre upon the plain. After an obstinate contest of seven hours, the French were forced to give way, and the Allies remained in possession of the field. During that period, the troops were not only exposed to a most galling and destructive fire of artillery, but to the repeated charges of a numerous cavalry, supported by heavy columns of infantry, whose various attacks were generally repulsed, notwithstanding the great superiority of their numbers.

After many fruitless efforts to carry this position, Marshal Ney ordered the first division to advance to his support from Frasne but, to his great surprise and mortification, discovered that it had been withdrawn by Napoleon.

Had not the Duke of Wellington succeeded in holding Quatre-Bras, Marshal Ney would most undoubtedly have profited by the occasion, and pushed on to Brussels. This movement would have interposed the French army between the Allies and the Prussians, and pre

4

vented all direct communication: besides, the road from Sombreffe to Quatre-Bras was perfectly open, nothing now existing to prevent Napoleon from availing himself of the advantages which he had obtained.

The very extended cantonments of the Allied Army on the fifteenth of June, have naturally led to many observations from persons unacquainted with the cause; but, by referring to the map of the Netherlands, it will be seen, that so vulnerable a frontier could not be defended at all points: on which account, the Duke of Wellington was obliged to await the commencement of hostilities, before he could attempt to concentrate his troops, it being utterly impossible for him to anticipate at what point the first attack might be made.

Such a step would have only favoured the designs of the enemy, and enabled him to penetrate still farther into the country: moreover, the difficulty of obtaining forage and provisions for so large an army, at any one point, must be apparent to all.

4