278 SOLDIERS AND SAILORS Guards in flank. Lord Hill brought forward the extreme right of the army, in the form of a crescent, which overlapping the horsemen, they were crushed as in a serpent's folds, while the infantry fell back, re-formed, and occupied their former place on the ridge. Wellington's quick eye already detected the confusion caused by the Prussian attack under General Bulow on the French rear. Hastily closing his telescope, he exclaimed, "The hour is come ! Now every man must advance !" Forming into one long line, four men deep, the whole infantry advanced, with a loud cheer, the sun at the instant streaming out as if to shed his last glories on the conquerors of that dreadful day. Headed by the duke, with his hat in hand, the line advanced with spirit and rapidity, while the horse-artillery opened a fire of canister-shot on the confused masses. For a few minutes they stood their ground gallantly ; and, even when the allied cavalry charged full upon them, four battalions of the Old Guard formed squares, and checked its advance. As the grape-shot tore through the ranks of the veterans, they closed up again, and, to every summons to surrender, gave the stern reply, " The Guard never surrender they die ! " Napoleon had already fled. Finding all hope of victory gone, he at first threw himself into one of the squares of the Old Guard, determined to die with them, but when the Prussians gained on their rear, and he was in danger of be- ing made prisoner, he exclaimed, " For the present it is finished. Let us save ourselves ! " and, turning his horse's head, he fled with ten or twelve of his im- mediate attendants. It was now half-past nine at night, and the moon rose with more than ordinary splendor. The French, now a mass of fugitives, were closely pursued by both armies, and a fearful slaughter ensued between Waterloo and Genappe. At the latter place the British discontinued the pursuit ; but the Prussians, compara- tively fresh, pursued without intermission ; their light-horse putting no limit to their revenge. Many of the poor fugitives sought shelter in the villages on their route ; but at the sound of a Prussian trumpet they fled again, only to be over- taken and cut down. Wellington re-crossed the field of Waterloo to sup at Brussels. The moon- light revealed all the horrors of the scene his stern nature gave way and, burst- ing into tears, he exclaimed, " I have never fought such a battle, and I hope never to fight such another." He never did. Waterloo was his last battle, though he lived for nearly forty years afterward, a leader in English politics, and died in 1852, a national hero, a worthy twin figure to the immortal Nelson.
