CHAPTER IV--A

  Those persons who wish to gain a clear idea of the battle of Waterloohave only to place, mentally, on the ground, a capital A. The left limbof the A is the road to Nivelles, the right limb is the road to Genappe,the tie of the A is the hollow road to Ohain from Braine-l'Alleud. Thetop of the A is Mont-Saint-Jean, where Wellington is; the lower left tipis Hougomont, where Reille is stationed with Jérôme Bonaparte; the righttip is the Belle-Alliance, where Napoleon was. At the centre of thischord is the precise point where the final word of the battle waspronounced. It was there that the lion has been placed, the involuntarysymbol of the supreme heroism of the Imperial Guard.

  The triangle included in the top of the A, between the two limbs and thetie, is the plateau of Mont-Saint-Jean. The dispute over this plateauconstituted the whole battle. The wings of the two armies extended tothe right and left of the two roads to Genappe and Nivelles; d'Erlonfacing Picton, Reille facing Hill.

  Behind the tip of the A, behind the plateau of Mont-Saint-Jean, is theforest of Soignes.

  As for the plain itself, let the reader picture to himself a vastundulating sweep of ground; each rise commands the next rise, and allthe undulations mount towards Mont-Saint-Jean, and there end in theforest.

  Two hostile troops on a field of battle are two wrestlers. It is aquestion of seizing the opponent round the waist. The one seeks to tripup the other. They clutch at everything: a bush is a point of support;an angle of the wall offers them a rest to the shoulder; for the lackof a hovel under whose cover they can draw up, a regiment yields itsground; an unevenness in the ground, a chance turn in the landscape, across-path encountered at the right moment, a grove, a ravine, canstay the heel of that colossus which is called an army, and prevent itsretreat. He who quits the field is beaten; hence the necessity devolvingon the responsible leader, of examining the most insignificant clump oftrees, and of studying deeply the slightest relief in the ground.

  The two generals had attentively studied the plain of Mont-Saint-Jean,now called the plain of Waterloo. In the preceding year, Wellington,with the sagacity of foresight, had examined it as the possible seat ofa great battle. Upon this spot, and for this duel, on the 18th of June,Wellington had the good post, Napoleon the bad post. The English armywas stationed above, the French army below.

  It is almost superfluous here to sketch the appearance of Napoleon onhorseback, glass in hand, upon the heights of Rossomme, at daybreak, onJune 18, 1815. All the world has seen him before we can show him.That calm profile under the little three-cornered hat of the school ofBrienne, that green uniform, the white revers concealing the star of theLegion of Honor, his great coat hiding his epaulets, the corner of redribbon peeping from beneath his vest, his leather trousers, the whitehorse with the saddle-cloth of purple velvet bearing on the cornerscrowned N's and eagles, Hessian boots over silk stockings, silver spurs,the sword of Marengo,--that whole figure of the last of the Cæsars ispresent to all imaginations, saluted with acclamations by some, severelyregarded by others.

  That figure stood for a long time wholly in the light; this arose froma certain legendary dimness evolved by the majority of heroes, and whichalways veils the truth for a longer or shorter time; but to-day historyand daylight have arrived.

  That light called history is pitiless; it possesses this peculiar anddivine quality, that, pure light as it is, and precisely because itis wholly light, it often casts a shadow in places where people hadhitherto beheld rays; from the same man it constructs two differentphantoms, and the one attacks the other and executes justice on it, andthe shadows of the despot contend with the brilliancy of the leader.Hence arises a truer measure in the definitive judgments of nations.Babylon violated lessens Alexander, Rome enchained lessens Cæsar,Jerusalem murdered lessens Titus, tyranny follows the tyrant. It is amisfortune for a man to leave behind him the night which bears his form.