"Royal Scots Greys, Waterloo, 18th June, 1815, letters, etc., connected with Lieutenant-Colonel Inglis Hamilton, who was killed in action, in command of the regiment at Waterloo."

"The letters in this book relating to the history of Lieutenant-Colonel Inglis Hamilton were presented to the officers of the Regiment, on the occasion of the celebration of the Bicentenary of the raising of the Regiment, on the 18th of June, 1881, by the family of the late Peter Mackenzie, Esq., author of the 'Reminiscences of Glasgow.' The papers were entrusted to the charge of Mr. Mackenzie by the sisters of Lieut.-Colonel Hamilton.

"John W. Hozier, Lieut.-Colonel.
"Commanding Scots Greys."

"Royal Barracks, Dublin,
"18th June, 1881."

"This book in which the papers are now preserved, was presented by Lieutenant-Colonel Hozier."

"Major-General Hamilton has to acquaint Mr. Anderson that he received on Sunday night a card from Lord Amherst, acquainting him that the King had been pleased to appoint Jamie a cornet in the Royal North British Dragoons, at the same time his Lordship called him James Hamilton. How this has happened he cannot say, as the General has received no explanation, but can assure Mr. Anderson that he gave in his name when in London to the Secretary at War Jas. Anderson; he likewise gave in his name on Watson's return from Glasgow, my godson James Anderson, since which he has heard little until last night, but has wrote this day.

"If the nomination is given in and past recall, the General hopes that Mr. Anderson will agree to it, as it must be of such advantage to the young man. Besides, he has to acquaint Mr. Anderson that he always intended to leave Jamie something handsome at his death, on condition that he bore his name, and will condescend to say, if agreed to, that the annual rent in money, bondes, or stock shall exceed the rents of Murdiestone when the General's father changed his name from Hamilton to Inglis, by virtue of the testator's will.

"The General wishes that Mr. Anderson will observe that this is every day done both in North and South Britain, and was the constant practice among the ancients. On these considerations, and seeing it will save a thousand pounds and enable him to assist Willie and John, which it is the General's purpose to do, he hopes that Mr. Anderson will cheerfully acquiss."

"Murdiestone, 20th May, 1793."

"MEMOR.
"J. A.—15th May, 1793.
"A cornet 2 Dragoons.

"July 11th, '93. Parted with son James half past five o'clock night, at Lark-hall. He was then aged 16 years and seven days. I walked to Hamilton that night with a heart full of grief."

"Mr. H. McLachlane, Writer, Glasgow.
"Ed^r., 53, York Place,
"10 July, 1815.

"Sir,—I recd. your letter of the 7th inst. and with reference to a letter I wrote Mr. Une not knowing the address of my lamented friend Col. Hamilton's sister, I beg leave to inform you that with deep regret I have ascertained the intelligence of the Col.'s death to be correct. His bravery was most gallant throughout the 18th, and he was killed giving a word of command. Several accounts agree that latterly in the action he was seen by his men still commanding with both arms shot off, holding the reins of his charger in his teeth. This must have been momentary desperation. I saw a letter from an officer in the Greys (Gen. Hamilton of Dalziel's son) stating that it was ascertained that on examining Col. Hamilton's body previous to his burial on the field of battle he had received a shot through his heart, and Sir James Stewart showed me a letter from Col. Clark of the Greys mentioning that the Colonel's body had been found and had been buried."

"Trotter, son of Mr. Trotter of Worton Hall, Edinburgh."

"1. James Anderson.

"About ninety years ago the 21st, or North British Fusiliers, were engaged in the American war, and fighting at Ticonderoga.... The Fusiliers were then commanded by Colonel Inglis Hamilton, formerly of the Scots Greys, who inherited from a long line of ancestors the property of Murdiestoun, in the vicinity of Glasgow.

"William Anderson, a Glasgow man of excellent character, was a private in the 21st, and rose to the rank of Sergeant-Major. He had born to him in America two sons, James and John, and two daughters. Having been wounded he was discharged with a pension, and with his family settled in the Gallowgate of Glasgow.... Colonel Hamilton, having attained the rank of Major-General, left the service, and with an old sister resided at his estate of Murdiestoun.

"... One day the General driving in his carriage, saw to his surprise, Sergeant-Major Anderson playing with his children on the opposite side of the road, and no less to the surprise and delight of the old Sergeant, he saw his General, and felt the grasp of his affectionate hand. The children remembered the General, who delighted with the appearance of James, seized him in his arms and tossed him in the air, which so charmed the boy that he exclaimed,—Do it again, General; please give me another toss over your head. From that day the General's heart was knit to Jamie Anderson. He showed the greatest kindness to all the family, educating the boys in the grammar school, and afterwards at the University; while the girls received the best teaching which the boarding schools of Glasgow could then afford.

"James moreover was taught riding, a pony was provided for his daily use; and Murdiestoun became his home almost as much as the more humble, but not less happy and contented abode in the Gallowgate. This kindness had a purpose in it. In carrying out this purpose, the General obtained a commission for 'Jamie' as a Cornet in the Scots Greys. The Secretary at War assumed the boy's name to be Inglis Hamilton....

"Years passed. The Cornet behaved like an officer and a gentleman, and was the pride of the old General, who had the satisfaction of seeing him become Lieutenant-Colonel of his regiment, respected and beloved by officers and men. The General in the meantime made his will, leaving his property to James and his heirs male....

"The General died, and according to a request written by him and placed in his prayer book, Jamie acted as chief mourner, accompanied by the nobility and gentry of the county."

"Bristol, March 28th, 1815.

"My Dear Hall,

"I fear you have again an opportunity of calling me an idle correspondent. I have certainly delayed writing to you much longer than I intended. In truth my time is totally occupied in drills, &c. three times a day, an hour and a half each. I rise every morning at six and attend at the Riding School till nine.

"I have already made great progress in the equestrian art.

"I and a brother Cornet (junior to myself) perform together.

"The method of riding is altogether different to that of the country squires. At present we ride without stirrups, in order that we may obtain a firm seat. We must leap the bar, ditches and go through all the different evolutions of the field exercise, &c. without stirrups, indeed I find I can already ride better without their support than with it. So much for horsemanship.

"The reason I have so much drilling is I much wish to go on service and share the honours my comrades are likely to reap.

"We are in daily expectation of receiving orders to proceed to Flanders.

"The Regiment is without doubt the best disciplined and the most crack cavalry corps in the service. I don't think there is a private in it under 5 feet 11 inches, and the officers are a fine gentlemanly set of fellows. There are only three Scotchmen among the officers, but the privates are in general Scotch.

"The horses are all grey and in excellent condition.

"Mine is two inches too low but the colonel has passed him for a second charger. He has desired I will get one much stronger and higher immediately as a first charger, but where I am to find a horse of that description I am at a loss to know.

"It is the general opinion there will be more hard fighting and more bloodshed than in any preceding war, as that arch fellow Bony (who has been too deep for all our wise heads) will dispute every inch of ground with the sword.

"Pray have you been to Easton lately? What does the old gent say of the present appearance of things?

"If we go on service I shall be obliged to call on him for a further advance of cash, as I shall have to purchase many essential though expensive articles, such as tent and tent equipage, &c., and many other things necessary for service.

"Our dress altogether is extremely rich and consequently costs lots of money. The Court dress coat alone is 40 guineas. It is covered with lace from head to foot. The jackets are handsome, but they only cost £15 15s. each. Every other part of the equipment is equally as expensive.

"In fact we make a most dashing appearance. I should like much to meet the old Buck at Bath or Clifton. I do not think he would know his hopeful son....

"Believe me my dear John your sincerely attached friend

"F. C. Kinchant."

"In great haste. Pray write soon and don't follow my example. Burn this scrawl when read!"

"Bristol, April 6th, 1815.

"My Dear John,

"I have only time to tell you that we received orders yesterday to hold ourselves in perfect readiness for foreign service.

"To-day another order arrived for the regiment to proceed to North Fleet (about 30 miles below London) and there embark for the Continent. It will be about seven days' march from hence to North Fleet. The order and march came so near together that most of us are unprovided with tents, camp equipage, canteens, &c., all which necessaries I must order from London to meet me by the time I arrive at North Fleet. We have been long expecting this move. Since I joined I have not had a spare half hour. Three drills a day on horseback and on foot I assure you did not a little fatigue my bones. However, I trust I am now a tolerable good match for a Frenchman.

"The Regiment is in the finest condition and in the highest spirits and most anxious for an opportunity to distinguish itself.

"Believe me, &c.,
"F. C. Kinchant.

"We shall have seven days' march—the first day from hence to Chippenham,

the next Marlbro',
" Newbury,
" Reading,
" Staines,
" Camberwell,
" Gravesend.

"In greatest haste."

"Ghent, April 23rd, 1815.

"My Dear John,

"I have taken the earliest opportunity to inform you of my arrival as far as this place. I should have written sooner, but my time has been most fully engaged since we landed. We are quartered for a day or two in a village contiguous to this town, are in hourly expectation of receiving orders to proceed to the frontiers to join the army under the Duke of Wellington. There are an immense number of troops daily arriving, and the united forces of the Allies, will it is stated, in a short time amount to 900,000 men.

"We are here quite ignorant of the politics of the country. Nothing is said of Buonaparte, but he has doubtless many adherents in Flanders. Deserters from his army are constantly coming into Ghent. They state that they receive neither their rations nor pay. Some of the inhabitants seem well inclined towards the English and are what may be termed hospitable, but adieu to English comforts.

"We embarked at Gravesend on the 15th, sailed on the 16th, and reached Ostend on the 19th. We had a rough passage the last day and night—the wind blowing hard right in our teeth, with snow storms. Many of the horses were a good deal bruised, but none sustained any material injury. We expect some hard fighting before the business will be settled. Never was a Regiment in better condition for service than this, both in men and appointments.

"Louis the Eighteenth is here. He keeps himself closely shut up, and is at present in an ill state of health.

"I am, my dear John, your ever attached friend,

"F. C. Kinchant."

"Denderhanten, near Gramont,
"May 21st, —15.

"My Dear John,

"Week after week has passed without my having the gratification of hailing your long expected, most welcome letter. I assure you I am most anxious to hear from you, having as yet received only one letter from old England....

"My father has not yet replied to the letters I sent him from Bristol, but my sister says he intends advancing the money I applied for. I shall therefore write to him very soon on the subject as my last bills are unpaid in London for camp equipage, &c., and the tradesmen are continually dunning for their accounts to be settled. Exchange between this country and England is extremely low, only 17? francs for a Bank of England £1. I shall therefore have as little money as possible sent here. We, however, do not expect to receive any pay for four months. The Regiment has been here about a fortnight. It is a miserable small village, not large enough to contain one troop. The remainder, officers and men, are quartered at cottages in the neighbourhood. A pig-sty in England is a palace to my quarters. Hosts of lice, bugs, fleas, and filth of every description, abound in a most extraordinary degree in all the habitations of these dirty vagabonds. To counteract, however, as much as possible, the unpleasant effects of sleeping in such a dirty hut, I have pitched my tent and sleep quite comfortably su Dio, in a green field totally independent of the above-mentioned black backed gentry.

"The men and women are very plain, with mouths that reach from ear to ear, and are extremely ignorant. It is with great difficulty I can make them understand my wants as few can speak French, nothing but the Flemish is spoken among the lower classes. The only answer I can ever obtain is "yaw," in English, "yes."

"To-morrow we are again reviewed, for the fourth time since we landed, by the Earl of Uxbridge, who commands the English cavalry, and on Wednesday this regiment will be inspected by the Prince of Orange and a Prussian General. I assure you we are considered the finest cavalry corps on the continent. Every one wishes to see us, and all the Generals that have reviewed us, speak in the highest possible terms of the excellent appearance and condition of the men and horses. A Prussian General expressed a wish to see an English Dragoon Regiment, the Greys were immediately brought forward as a specimen. In fact we have every compliment paid us.

"A few years ago the Regiment behaved most gallantly in this country in several actions and I think it is probable they will distinguish themselves in this campaign, for I never saw men more anxious for an opportunity. You may perhaps think I speak with partiality, but I assure you what I have expressed is the real matter of fact. We are within about 35 miles of the French army—a day's march.

"The English army will not advance till the Russians, Cossacks, &c., come up. There are a great number of Prussian, Hanoverian and Belgic troops in this neighbourhood.

"I am sorry to hear old Blucher has been insulted by some Saxon troops. He is a gallant old cock.

"Whatever the newspapers say of the increasing popularity of the Bourbons, you have no idea how much Bonaparte is adored by the lower order. There is scarce a house here from which there is not one or two young men now serving in the French army, and the deserters are by no means so numerous as the papers would persuade us.

"The French are collecting a very large force on the frontiers. At Lisle they have near 40,000 men, at Valenciennes and other places they are also very strong. It is the unanimous opinion of the army that we shall have some very hard fighting before we reach Paris. Much will depend on the first battle. It is generally supposed we shall advance in the course of a week and that hostilities will commence immediately.

"I trust the next time I write to you we shall be on the road to the French Capital.

"I am sorry to say the horse I bought in London has turned out very bad. I shall be obliged to send to England for another. The grey I took from Easton is a very promising horse, but is rather too slight for my weight.

"I must now bid you adieu.

"Give my kindest regards to all the family at Cockshut.

"F. C. Kinchant."

"July 2nd, 1817.

"Dear Sir,

"In the course of a short excursion which I was obliged to make last week thro' the lower part of Lancashire, I met at the Rectory house, Middleton, with Dr. Hardie, a young Scotch physician of considerable eminence in his profession at Manchester, where he practises. The battle of Waterloo being accidentally mentioned, Dr. H. amused myself and the rest of the party after supper with various anecdotes of the gallantry and success of Sergeant Ewart of the Scots Greys, who performed prodigies of valour on that day and whose good fortune it was to be the captor of one of the three French Eagles that were taken during the battle.

"To a remark made by one of the party that he supposed Ewart must be very proud of the honour of having taken a French Eagle, Dr. H. observed that he always seemed to speak of it with much indifference, and that when once asked the name of the regiment to which the Eagle belonged, he answered, with much sangfroid, 'The Invincible or the like.' The only exploit, Dr. H. observed in continuance, of which Ewart appears to be proud, is the summary revenge which he had an opportunity of taking for the death of Mr. Kinchant, who was the cornet of his own troop.... On the morning of the 18th, a little before 12 o'clock, the Scots Greys were ordered to charge a body of French infantry at some distance, which order they instantly proceeded to execute in a column of two deep, Sergeant Ewart in this charge being the front man of Cornet Kinchant. Ewart, on reaching the enemy, immediately singled out a French officer, whom, from being a very expert swordsman, he soon disarmed and was on the point of cutting him down, when Mr. Kinchant, on hearing the officer crying out, 'Ah, mercy, mercy, Angleterre,' said, 'Sergeant, Sergeant, spare his life, and let us take him prisoner.' Ewart considering that moment as a period for slaughter and destruction, and not the proper time for taking prisoners, replied, 'As it is your wish, sir, it shall be done.' (I ought to have said that the French officer, prior to Mr. K.'s address to the Sergeant, had cried that he had surrendered and was their prisoner and had dropped his sabre.) Mr. K. to whom the French officer had delivered up his sword, addressed him in French and ordered him to move to the rear. Ewart was preparing to proceed in the charge when he heard the report of a pistol behind him, and turning round, from a suspicion of some treachery, the first object which met his eye was Mr. K. falling backwards over his horse, apparently in a lifeless state, and the French officer attempting to hide his pistol under his coat. Indignant at such a dastardly act, Ewart instantly wheeled round, and was again entreated by this villain for mercy in the same supplicating terms as before. The only answer which he returned was, 'Ask mercy of God, for the deil a bit will ye get at my hands,' and with one stroke of his sabre, severed his head from his body, leaving it a lifeless trunk on the field of battle."

"Extracts from a journal kept during the Waterloo campaign, by Lieutenant Archibald James Hamilton, of the 2nd or Royal North British Dragoons, presented to the Officers of the Royal Scots Greys by Major John G. C. Hamilton, M.P., of Dalzell, Lanarkshire, on the anniversary of the battle of Waterloo, 1881."

"This is a portion of the Journal of my father, Archibald James Hamilton, who was a Lieutenant in the Scots Greys during the Waterloo campaign."

"We were quartered in small villages between Brussels and Ghent, and chiefly in farm houses.

"I went to bed in my farm house about twelve o'clock on the night of the 15th of June 1815, and was scarcely asleep when the trumpets sounded the turn out: in an instant we were out of bed, the clothes out of the washtub, and in a short time we were ready to march: long indeed before orders came to tell us to what point our march was to be directed. At length an order came which directed us to proceed to Ninove, where we should receive further orders. We were soon there: but the day was gone, and it was dark, and the firing had entirely ceased before we reached the army, having been repeatedly halted on the road during the day, from an apparent want of knowing where to go, and at a time too when the French Cavalry were charging our Infantry with considerable and unusual success.

"We encamped in a clover field for the night. A few of us went to a village not far off, which had been completely plundered: we there met with some soldiers of the Highland Brigade, who gave us a most dismal account of the manner in which the French Cavalry had attacked them on the previous day. Never having before seen our army other than victorious, we felt rather dispirited at these accounts, and had not Buonaparte, with his characteristic selfishness, sent for the division which ought to have supported Ney, and which division never fired a shot during the day, there can be little doubt that the battle, instead of being a drawn one, must have turned out positive, and with the aid of his cavalry, of which we had none, Napoleon would have completely defeated the allied troops.

"On this day Buonaparte kept his own opposed to our army, notwithstanding he neutralized one of his whole divisions, and he totally defeated the Russian army with a loss, according to their own accounts, of twenty-five thousand men, as their total loss as returned by themselves was upwards of thirty-three thousand: and they could not at Wavre and Waterloo have lost five thousand men.

"Upon getting quite clear of the French, the first person I saw was Captain —— our General's extra aide-de-camp, who had lost sight of the General some minutes before I had, and a little way before us was Captain ---- of my regiment who had been with me in the —— Dragoons in Spain. He returned to his regiment to collect his troops: and the aide-de-camp and I sought for assistance with the view of recovering the General, and such other of our officers and men who were in the hands of the French. I went to Lord E. R. S. who commanded the Life Guard Brigade, and found him alone with the exception of Lieutenant M. and Colonel Harvey of the 14th.

"Lord E. R. S. said to me, 'You see Mr. —— I can do nothing for you.' Upon this I went to a regiment that afterward ran off the field altogether, and asked the Colonel in French, to advance, and that I would show him where our General was prisoner; but he declined moving, saying he had no orders; and he was right, as it would have been in vain to make the attempt.

"A little further to the left, I found Sir J. Vandeleur's brigade in column of divisions and an old brother officer of mine in the —— Dragoons, was riding in front of the General giving him advice. 'No orders' was again the reply to my request. I then joined my regiment.

"After being once more in the form of a regiment, we retired to a situation behind a wood where the enemy's shot and shells passed over us: here the regiment, about three hundred strong, was re-formed under the command of Colonel ——; we were then marched up to the slaughter afresh, and placed nearly in the centre of the enemy. On our right was the first brigade of cavalry, about the same in number as ourselves. On each side of us were some regiments of infantry formed in squares—some Hanoverian, some British.

"Repeatedly during the evening we retired, either by orders given, or voluntarily after the charges were made. But whenever we were out of the fire of the enemy we faced about and resumed our former position.

"The infantry squares did the same, but were also brought back to their positions; and I observed the officers in some of the Hanoverian regiments exerting themselves to the utmost to keep their men in order. We were twice led on by the Earl of Uxbridge, and charged the squares of the French infantry opposed to us, but were as often repulsed, losing about half our number every time.

"The first time we charged, the first brigade of cavalry on our right charged at the same moment, and having received the fire of their square of infantry before we did ours, they wheeled about and charged as we advanced: so great was the confusion that the General commanding them rode up against me, I being on the left of our brigade, and he in the centre of his.

"I said 'Bad work this.' He shook his head, which I construed into 'It's all over with us.' Just as this occurred, the French square opposite to us fired, and a great many of both brigades fell. This reminded me of an old Scotch poacher who always waited till two partridges 'clipt' before he fired, by clipt he meant, came so near that their wings touched each other.

"At the conclusion of the last of these charges the Earl of Uxbridge was shot in the leg; we saw him lifted off his horse and carried off the field by six men, Captain H. Seymour walking at their head. At this time the action was evidently all against us, the enemy's infantry were steady in their squares; but their heavy cavalry was as much reduced in number as our own: they however sent out their skirmishers, who rode close up to us and fired their pistols in our men's faces, who at last got in some degree unmanageable, and fired their carbines in return over their horses' heads at the French, and it was with some difficulty that we prevailed upon them to put up their carbines. At this moment one of our men was shot dead. We retired about twenty yards, the dead man at the same time being left sitting on his tired horse, quite upright, yet completely dead. Fearing that such a spectacle might have a bad effect upon the men, he was taken off his horse and carried to the rear; but I shall never forget his singular and horrible appearance while he remained in the position in which he was killed.

"During the evening we repeatedly retired to the bottom of the hill, and as we supposed out of the reach of the fire of the enemy: but even here, towards the close of the battle, we had men killed and wounded: a pretty strong proof that the enemy had gained the summit of the hill, and therefore crowned our position! Why they did not advance further I cannot say; but it may be presumed that they were without any further order, and that probably their superior officers were killed or wounded, and the other officers that they had fulfilled their orders having gained the top of our position.

"As it got dusk we could plainly perceive the flashes of the Prussian guns in the rear of the French army as we looked over it towards the left. This may give a tolerably good idea of the time at which the French retired: it was eight o'clock, and the victory to all appearance was then quite undecided.

"During nine hours we had been exposed to a fire, which had, by this time, reduced our brigade from about fifteen hundred strong in the morning to a mere skeleton of thirty-three officers and men, the number we mustered when we encamped for the night!

"It was after nine o'clock at night when the French gave way, and our whole line advanced: we, as well as the first brigade of cavalry, were now such mere handfuls, that, of course, we could do nothing, but followed slowly in the rear of others. We heard firing, but it was too dark to see anything clearly: we heard also huzzas as the different charges were made by our light cavalry upon the retreating enemy. We continued to advance along the right of the road by which the French retired, and passed by many cannon and waggons which they had abandoned, when I heard some English voices calling out 'Are these the Dragoons?' Upon which I answered 'Yes.' 'Then' continued the voice 'here is Captain —— of the Dragoons badly wounded,' upon which I immediately sent one of the men of his regiment, and one of the men of my own, with him to Brussels. I heard nothing more of him for four years, further than that he had got quite well, till going to visit some of my relations at * * * in the east of Scotland, I found him quietly settled there, and in the belief that his life had been saved by a French officer.

"When we halted for the night I was sent with a Cornet of the regiment to the village of Waterloo to collect the stragglers, and bring them up the next day. On my way to Brussels I overtook on the road Captain P—— of the horse artillery, and rode with him into the town. He was so kind as to inform a cousin of mine in the same corps that I was safe; and thus my friends heard through him, that I was neither killed nor wounded.

"Upon entering into a large house at Waterloo we found every room in it filled with either the dead or the dying. I was glad to get a chair, and sat down at a table in a large room, in every corner of which were poor creatures groaning. The master of the house having brought us a piece of bread and a bottle of wine, we began to talk over the events of the day: and as he had been for years a soldier of Buonaparte's himself, we found no lack of subjects for conversation. After we had finished our bread and wine, which we enjoyed very much notwithstanding the room was full of poor wounded human beings, we retired to a hay loft for the night, which we passed in profound repose. In the morning we saw the Belgians completing the plunder of a number of baggage waggons, which stood in the yard of the house. Here some of our men joined us, and my private servant came up from the rear to look for my body, he having been informed by two different officers of the brigade whom he met on their way to Brussels the evening before, that I was killed, assuring him that they had seen me lying on the field of battle before they left it.

"I saw on my left, during one of the many times that we were in some confusion, a soldier of the —— Dragoons whose cheek, just as I looked at it, opened, while I felt a ball pass close to my lips,—the man immediately fell off his horse and I saw no more of him.

"Several years afterwards I inquired of the Surgeon of his regiment, and found that he had recovered with the loss of his teeth on both sides, but that no injury was done either to the upper or lower jaw, the ball having passed between them. The man's name was Pye, the son of an English clergyman, who had left his home and enlisted as a dragoon—he was probably a relation of Southey's predecessor, the poet laureate of that name. After I had got as many of our men ready to march as were in the village of Waterloo, we were just setting off when we were joined by a party from Brussels under the command of a senior officer to me, who had gone there to dinner the day before we proceeded to join the regiment, taking the field of battle on our way, where we found the dead officers of the regiment and buried them, and then proceeded on. But we did not come up with the regiment till the day after when we found it encamped for the night, and my troop without an officer."

"Camp, near Mons,
"June 24th, 1815.

"Dear Captain,

"Till this day, I have had no time to write to you. You must have received e'er this the accounts of what happened on the 18th, the slaughter of both armies has been terrible; we have lost three-fourths of our officers in killed and wounded, 200 men, and nearly 800 horses, which was a pretty day's work. The Grays took an Eagle, and the Royals another. I was Orderly Officer to General Ponsonby, and was with him till he fell, the aide-de-camp and I then cut our way through the enemy who had got into our rear.

"The first thing we did in the morning was to charge a column of French infantry who had forced the left centre of our position, supported by the Cuirassiers and some of the Imperial Guard; they had just driven the Belgians from the heights and got possession of six guns, when Ponsonby led on the Brigade in line; they immediately halted, fired a volley which dropped a few of us, not a man or horse went about, and in a minute we were in the middle of them; those to the rear of the column still continued to fire at us. After killing I can't tell what number, we made all the rest prisoners, about 3,000, which were immediately sent to the rear. Nothing could stop the men; they went on, took a great many of the enemy's guns, and then, instead of halting, charged the Lancers and Cuirassiers. At this moment I lost sight of the General, who was killed, and cut my way to the rear, we being completely overpowered by a fresh column of Infantry firing upon us and by the Cuirassiers and Lancers having by this time rallied. We then retired and three squadrons were formed, nine in the Brigade. We were then led to the centre of the Army, where the battle became dreadful. We then charged a square of Infantry on our left, and the Life Guards on our right; between the two were formed the French Cuirassiers, and each flank of our two Brigades rested on a square of Hanoverian Infantry. At this moment everyone thought the battle lost, when we charged and the Life Guards and one half of our men were destroyed. We threw the French into some confusion. The two Brigades, the Life Guards and ourselves, were then formed into one squadron of about 50 file, and we again charged the Cuirassiers in front of us; after which we stood, and the French did the same, and fired at each other with our carbines, not being more than forty yards from each other, both afraid to advance for fear of the Infantry giving way. The French then brought up their guns close to us, and our guns came up also and fired grape shot, the French throwing something like broken glass amongst us, at least it seemed so, which made some dreadful wounds. The Prussians fired the right of the French and they gave way; all our light cavalry then charged, and we pursued them as long as we could see them.