ARTHUR, DUKE OF WELLINGTON 277 had found their range ; every shot told upon the old walls of the mansion ; and crashing masonry, burning rafters falling, mingled with the yell of battle, added a frightful interest to the scene. At length the Nassau sharpshooters were driven back, and the French troops began to penetrate the orchard ; but, ere they could occupy it the squadrons of English cavalry, under Lord Saltoun, bore down upon them, and drove them back. Wheeling round, they then attempted the rear of the chateau, but being received unflinchingly, were obliged to retire. Despairing of success, the French artillery now discharged shells upon Hougou- mont ; the tower and chapel were soon in a blaze, and in these many wounded men met a dreadful fate. Still, though surrounded by flames and bursting shells, with the heavy shot ploughing through wall and window, the Guards held their post, nor could Hougoumont be taken. ' How beautifully these English fight ! But they must give way," exclaimed Napoleon to Marshal Soult. But evening came, and yet they held their ground. The men, maddened by seeing their comrades falling around them, longed ar- dently for the moment to advance ; but Wellington felt that the crisis was not yet come. It required all his authority to restrain the troops ; but he knew their powers of endurance. " Not yet, my brave fellows," said the duke ; " be firm a little longer, and you shall have at them by-and-by." This homely appeal kept each man in his place in the ranks. But now the superior officers remonstrated, and advised a retreat. " Will the troops stand ? " demanded Wellington. " Till they perish ! " was the reply. " Then," added the duke, " I will stand with them to the last man." Yet Wellington was not insensible of the critical nature of his position, and longed for night or Blucher. It was now seven, and the Prussians had been ex- pected at three. In less than an hour, the sound of artillery was heard in the ex- pected direction, and a staff officer brought word that the head of the Prussian column was at Planchenoit, nearly in the rear of the French reserve. Bonaparte, when told of their advance, maintained that it was Grouchy's long-expected force coming up ; but when he saw them issue from the wood, and perceived the Prus- sian colors, he turned pale, but uttered not a word. Napoleon's Imperial Guards his veteran troops were now advancing, cov- ered by a tempest of shot and shells, toward the ridge behind which lay the British infantry to gain a shelter from the fire. Wellington eagerly watched the dense cloud as it approached ; and when it arrived within a hundred yards, ad- vancing on horseback to the brow of the ridge, he exclaimed, " Up, Guards, and at them ! " In a moment the men were on their feet the French closed on them, when a tremendous volley drove the whole mass back ; but the old Imperial Guard recovered, yet only to receive a second volley as deadly as the first, followed by a bold charge with the bayonet, which forced them down the slope, and up the opposite bank. In vain the French attempted to support them by taking the
