ii s. xii. JULY 10, 1915.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
The engagement was one of the most obstin-
ate and well contested that we read of in
history, whether we consider the valour of
the soldiers or the skill of the Generals.
The cannonade, which opened at the distance
of not many hundred yards, was thought by
persons who were present at both battles to
be inferior to Leipsic in nothing but extent.
Bonaparte had brought against the English
the flower of his army, those soldiers who
had fought under him in his most successful
campaigns, and, having been made prisoners
before the war with Russia, had not known
what it was to see Bonaparte beaten. The
number of the French infantry on the field
of battle was 76,000, not reckoning any who
were in garrison in the neighbouring places,
or in the rear from whatever cause, as
Vandammer's corps, &c. The cavalry were
2 1 ; 000. Against them the Duke of Welling-
ton had 51,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry,
and, though the proportion of British
amongst the former was very great, yet it
is to be remembered that the rest were of
different nations and had not yet acquired
that confidence in their leader which can only
be gained by repeated success, and is in
itself half the battle. The several attacks of
the French were most skilfully planned, and
carried into execution with steady intre-
pidity, and indeed were so tremendous that
we were repeatedly driven from our guns, and,
had it not been for the determined courage
of our men, and for that blind resolution
which prevents an Englishman from knowing
when he is beaten, we must certainly have
lost the battle more than once. Regiments
were broken by a charge, but not routed.
They formed again under the hottest fire,
as if on parade, and repeated this till they
succeeded in repulsing the enemy in spite of
himself, and recovered possession of their
guns. The Duke himself said that every
engagement he had ever been in sunk to
nothing in comparison with this. Once
when we had been driven back he observed,
" Well, we may still have a chance if that
division of Artillery can get up." In five
minutes it appeared in sight. Another time
he said, " The battle is not lost if Adams'
brigade arrives now." An officer came up
at the moment to say they were just march-
ing up. He found it necessary to expose
himself very much, and rode thro' the
thickest of the fire, encouraging the troops
just as the enemy were commencing their
attack. In one instance he had occasion to
act with great temerity. Some Dutch troops
had been endeavouring vainly for some time
to dislodge eight companies of a French
regiment from a wood. It appeared abso-
lutely necessary that we should carry it
instantly. The Duke put himself at the
head of two companies of a regiment of
Guards and cheered them to the attack ;
the effect upon the men cannot be described.
The wood was immediately carried at the
point of the bayonet. Lord Uxbridge, who
had never before served under the Duke
(being senior to him till he was made F.M.),
said that his coolness and decision in action
surpassed every thing he could have con-
ceived ; and I fancy it is not too much to
assert that there is no general in the world
except himself who could have won that
battle. Every one says that the French
behaved better than they ever did before.
The carnage on both sides was dreadful, and
it is supposed that the dead will be in far
greater proportion to the wounded than
usual, as has been made plain by the returns.
The Duke of Wellington felt much on this
subject. He could not speak of the battle
the next day without tears in his ej^es.
One striking circumstance occurred on "the
field. The Duke in galloping over the
ground stopped to give some orders to an
A.D.C. He called "Canning." "My lord,
he is killed." " Gordon." " He is just
taken to the rear, severely wounded."
"Then go and desire Col. - -" "He is
killed, my lord." "Then tell the officer
commanding the regiment," &c. (quite
overcome).
July 14. The above has been in my portfolio a considerable time, having been written within the first week or ten days after the battle ....
STEWART.
MRS. BARBER'S 'A TRUE TALE.'
JONATHAN SWIFT, in his letter to John Gay of 28 March, 1728, says :
" I hope Dr. Delany has shown you the tale, writ by Mrs. Barber, a citizen's wife here, in praise of your Fables. There is something in it hard upon Mr. Congreve, which I sent to her, for I never saw her, to change to Dryden, but she absolutely refused."
The latest mention of this ' Tale " occurs in the recently issued fourth volume of Swift's
- Correspondence.' Dr. Elrington Ball, in
his note (vol. iv. p. 22, note 4) to this para- graph, says, " The reference to Congreve has disappeared, no doubt in obedience to Swift's behest," &c. From this statement it is evident that he examined Mrs. Barber's own edition of her ' Poems oil Several Occa- sions,' which was published in 1734. By a