we were ordered on our knees to receive cavalry. The French artillery
- which consisted of three hundred guns, though we did not muster more
than half that number - committed terrible havoc during the early part
of the battle, whilst we were acting on the defensive.


THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON IN OUR SQUARE


About four P.M. the enemy's artillery in front of us ceased firing
all of a sudden, and we saw large masses of cavalry advance: not a man
present who survived could have forgotten in after life the awful grandeur
of that charge. You discovered at a distance what appeared to be an
overwhelming, long moving line, which, ever advancing, glittered like
a stormy wave of the sea when it catches the sunlight. On they came
until they got near enough, whilst the very earth seemed to vibrate
beneath the thundering tramp of the mounted host. One might suppose
that nothing could have resisted the shock of this terrible moving mass.
They were the famous cuirassiers, almost all old soldiers,
who had distinguished themselves on most of the battlefields of Europe.
In an almost incredibly short period they were within twenty yards of
us, shouting "Vive l'Empereur!" The word of command, "Prepare to receive
cavalry," had been given, every man in the front ranks knelt, and a
wall bristling with steel, held together by steady hands, presented
itself to the infuriated cuirassiers.

I should observe that just before this charge the duke entered by one
of the angles of the square, accompanied only by one aide-de-camp; all
the rest of his staff being either killed or wounded. Our commander-in-chief,
as far as I could judge, appeared perfectly composed; but looked very