After Quatre Bras Marshal Ney fell back upon Frasnes, and the wearied British, with their allies, piled arms, lighted their camp fires, and laid down to rest upon the field which they had so hardly held. The Prussians, after an intensely obstinate struggle, had been forced to retire to Ligny, when Blucher determined to unite with his 4th Corps and concentrate on Wavre. Wellington, recognising the importance of keeping in communication with the Prussian General, decided to fall back upon a position fronting the village of Waterloo, which, by the way, had already been selected by the British commanders as a suitable battleground. In retiring from Quatre Bras, the British cavalry were attacked by the French, and the 7th Hussars and squadrons of the 11th and 23rd Light Dragoons charged without success. The Life Guards, however, under Lord Uxbridge, compelled the enemy to retreat, and the British were allowed to quietly take up their position, which they did in decidedly inclement weather, rain falling heavily most of the day, and the night closing wild and stormy. Violent winds, heavy rain, thunder and lightning added to the discomfort of the cheerless bivouac of the allies. The Duke of Wellington and his staff occupied the village of Waterloo, while Napoleon with his brother Jerome and his generals passed the night of the 17th in a farm-house half a league from the ChÂteau de Hougomont, which, in advance of the right centre of the British, was held by detachments of the Brigade of Guards and about 300 Nassau Riflemen. This was considered by Wellington to be the key to the position, and how well the Guards maintained it is a matter of glorious history. It is estimated that the allied forces numbered 74,400, and the French 90,000, when just before noon Joseph Bonaparte directed the 2nd Corps to advance against Hougomont. "The British batteries opened on the French masses as they debouched—their own guns covered their advance—and under the crashing fire of 200 pieces of artillery—a fitting overture for such a field—Waterloo opened, as it closed, magnificently."

The Guards at Hougomont.—The Nassau light troops were soon forced from the wood surrounding the ChÂteau by overwhelming numbers, and the enemy pressed on to the ChÂteau, but the vigorous and disconcerting fire of the Foot Guards arrested them while daring charges compelled the French to give up possession of part of the wood. They were not, however, to be denied, and with great determination repeatedly assaulted the ChÂteau. During one of these attacks so closely did they press that the Guards not only lost their position in the garden, but falling back rapidly on the main building could not securely close the gate of the yard, and a number of daring French soldiers entered; the fire of the defenders, however, followed by a courageous sortie from the ChÂteau forced the French from the yard, but only after a most gallant struggle between the combatants. Then Lieutenant-Colonel (afterwards Sir James) Macdonnell, with the assistance of Captain Wyndham, Ensigns Gooch and Hervey and Sergeant Graham of the Coldstream Guards, closed the gate, but not until, as Captain Siborne relates, the French soldiers had fallen "a sacrifice to their undaunted and conspicuous gallantry." Failing to take the ChÂteau by assault, the French artillery was turned upon the old building; soon the tower was in a blaze, and, the fire reaching the chapel, a number of wounded—friend and foe—perished in the flames, which strangely enough are stated to have ceased at the feet of a wooden image of Christ. But when the shades of evening fell, the Coldstreams and Scots Guards still held Hougomont, despite the repeated attacks of 30,000 men, and when the day had been decided it was found that in the sanguinary conflict which had raged so long around this advanced position 6,000 men had been killed. 1,500 were killed within half an hour in the four-acre orchard; 600 French fell in the attack on the ChÂteau and farm; 1,100 British were killed in the orchard and meadow; 400 near the farm-garden; 25 in the garden; and 2,000 of both armies behind the great orchard. Opposite the gate of the ChÂteau 300 British soldiers lie buried.

The Death of Picton.—The second attack was made by D'Erlon, with the whole of his corps, against the left and centre; fortune favoured them temporarily when they obtained possession of Papelotte and La Haye Sainte. In repelling this attack the gallant Picton fell. The 5th division, waiting until the heads of the enemy's columns were within 40 yards, delivered a terrible volley, which annihilated the leading sections and put the main body into confusion. Picton, seizing the opportunity, called upon the men to "Charge!" but the word had hardly thundered from his lips ere a bullet pierced his forehead, and he fell from his saddle mortally wounded. The loss of a commander frequently means defeat, but "as he fell he heard the Highland lament answered by the deep execrations of Erin, and while the Scotch slogan was returned by the Irish hurrah his fading sight saw his favourite division rush on with irresistible fury. The French column was annihilated, and 2,000 dead enemies told how desperately he had been avenged. This was probably the bloodiest struggle of the day; when the attack commenced—and it lasted not an hour—the 5th division exceeded 5,000 men; when it ended they reckoned scarcely 1,000!"

Charge of the Union Brigade.—Following this affair, the famous charge of the Union Brigade took place. Lord Anglesea, observing that the French lancers and cuirassiers were preparing to make a flank attack upon the British infantry, wheeled the Royals, Royal North British Dragoons (Scots Greys), and Enniskilleners into line, charged and overwhelmed the French cavalry, and falling upon the disorganised infantry completed the brilliant work of the 5th division. It was in this charge that Sergeant Ewart of the Scots Greys captured the Eagle of the 45th Regiment. The Eagle of the 105th Regiment was captured by Captain Clarke of the Royal Dragoons—securing the right for these regiments to wear the Eagle badge—and 2,000 men were taken prisoners. The impetuosity of the British Dragoons carried them into the rear of the French position, and they were driven back by the French horsemen, their brave leader, Sir William Ponsonby, being killed in the retirement. Meanwhile the incessant attacks which Napoleon commanded had played havoc with several of the British regiments, necessitating the bringing into action of Wellington's reserves—indeed, the position had become so serious that the left wing of the army, though only partially engaged, had suffered so severely that it could not afford to send assistance to the right or centre.

Great Regimental Losses.—The loss in individual regiments was awful. Four hundred men of the 27th were mowed down in square without drawing a trigger (their medals in fine condition have fetched as many pounds as the number of the regiment represents). The 92nd, reduced to 200 men, made a daring attack upon a French column 2,000 strong, and with the aid of their countrymen, the Scots Greys, routed it. The 33rd, reduced to a skeleton, asked for support, and the commanding officer was told to "stand or fall where he was," and of the 28th and 73rd it is related that Wellington asked, pointing to a mass of killed and wounded men of these regiments, "What square is that so far in advance!" But the impoverishment of the regiments by incessant attacks and murderous artillery could not break the indomitable tenacity of the British; in vain had Milhaud's Cuirassiers, forty squadrons strong, thrice attacked the British squares. In vain did the remnants of these valorous squadrons, assisted by Kellerman and Guyot—making a total of seventy-seven squadrons, make a desperate effort to pierce those stubborn and thinning squares of British infantry. In vain did Ney repeat his attack upon the centre, even though he annihilated what remained of the German Legion, which had with such admirable courage held the farm of La Haye Sainte, and broke the formation of the British troops, causing Wellington to ask the question relating to the 28th and 73rd. In vain did the ten battalions of the Imperial Guard, led by Marshal Ney, push their way up the slopes between Hougomont and La Haye Sainte, for the Foot Guards—with the 52nd, 71st, and 92nd Regiments—offered such a murderous reception that "the Guard turned and fled." No wonder Napoleon ejaculated, "A present c'est fini—sauvons nous!" for, Wellington ordering the whole line to advance, the weary, hungry, and even wounded soldiers rushed forward with a joyous cheer and forced the retreat, which, as the British leader, with the 42nd and 95th, threw himself on Ney's flank, and the allied cavalry charged the enemy's columns, became an utter rout.

The Price of Victory.—But the Old Guard, true to their traditions, made a last desperate stand in square against the British cavalry; it was desperate and grand, but ineffectual, and again they turned and fled, and "the finest army, for its numbers, that France had ever embattled in a field was utterly defeated, and the dynasty of that proud spirit for whom Europe was too little was ended." Over the terrible carnage which followed I must draw a veil, for the unrelenting animosity of the Prussians to the French led them to retaliate in a most vindictive manner, and thousands who had bravely fought and survived the day lived only to fall ignominiously under the revengeful sabre or thrust of Prussian lance. When Wellington recrossed the battlefield, where the destiny of Europe had been changed by the defeat of the greatest of the world's generals, he could have had little stomach for supper, for he had to pass over that 2 square miles of Belgian territory where 50,000 dead or wounded men and horses lay—the terrible price of victory.

The following British regiments were represented at Waterloo: 2 squadrons 1st and 2nd Life Guards; 2 squadrons Royal Horse Guards (Blue); 1st Dragoon Guards; 1st Royals,* 2nd Royal North British Dragoons* (Scots Greys); 6th Inniskilling Dragoons*; 12th, 13th, 16th Queen's and 23rd Light Dragoons; 7th, 10th Royal; 15th King's; 18th Hussars; 2nd and 3rd Batts. 1st Foot Guards (Grenadiers); 2nd Batt. 2nd Foot Guards (Coldstreams); 3rd Batt. 3rd Foot Guards (Scots Guards); 3rd Batt. 1st Royal Scots; 1st Batt. 4th; 3rd Batt. 14th; 1st Batt. 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers; 1st Batt. 27th Inniskilling;* 1st Batt. 28th (Gloucesters); 2nd Batt. 30th; 1st 32nd; 33rd; 1st Batt. 40th; 1st Batt. 42nd Black Watch*; 2nd Batt. 44th; 51st; 1st Batt. 52nd; 2nd Batt. 69th; 1st Batt. 71st Highland Light Infantry; 2nd Batt. 73rd Perthshires (2nd Batt. Black Watch); 1st Batt. 79th Cameron Highlanders; 1st Batt. 92nd Gordon Highlanders; 1st, 2nd, and Prov. Batts. 95th; 8 Troops Royal Horse Artillery; 6 Brigades Royal Artillery; Corps of Royal Artillery Drivers; Royal Foot Artillery; Royal Engineers; Royal Sappers and Miners; Royal Waggon Train; Field Train Department of the Ordnance; Royal Staff Corps; Commissariat Department; Ordnance Medical Department, and the following units of the King's German Legion: 1st and 2nd Light Dragoons; 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Hussars; 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 8th Line Battalions, and 1st and 2nd Light Battalions: the total present being about 2,308 officers and 42,120 non-commissioned officers and men.

The medals of those regiments marked * are particularly sought after by collectors. The Dragoons lost heavily in their brilliant charge, the Scots Greys having 106 officers and men killed and 97 wounded, and the "Enniskilleners" 86 officers and men killed, their Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel, 4 subordinate officers and 101 sergeants and rank and file wounded. The 27th went into battle with 698 men, and of these 480 were placed hors de combat, while the 28th was reduced to four companies. The 42nd lost at Quatre Bras and Waterloo 51 killed and 247 wounded, the former including their Colonel and a Major who was mortally wounded, and the latter a Lieutenant-Colonel and a Major. The 92nd was reduced to less than 300 before 4 o'clock. The following regiments composing Sir Charles Colville's division, which was located at Halle owing to Wellington's belief that he might be attacked on his right flank, also received the medal, although not actually engaged in the conflict; 2nd Batt. 35th; 1st Batt. 54th; 2nd 59th and 1st Batt. 91st (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders); likewise two Brigades of Artillery and the 6th Hanoverian Brigade.

The British Waterloo Medal.—When, on March 10th, 1816, it was decided to bestow upon every soldier, from Commander-in-Chief to drummer boy, the same type and quality of medal as a reward for services at Waterloo, the custom was established to grant a medal to all, irrespective of rank or occupation, who had given war service to his or her country. It was ten months after that auspicious day that there appeared in the London Gazette the notification that "a medal shall be conferred upon every officer, non-commissioned officer, and soldier present on that memorable occasion," but be it noted "the ribbon issued with the medal shall never be worn but with the medal suspended to it."

First Official War Medal.—The first general official medal issued at the suggestion of the Duke of Wellington—who, however, strenuously opposed the grant of one for the Peninsular—was of silver, 1? in. in diameter, bearing on the obverse the laureated head of the Prince Regent facing to the left, with the inscription GEORGE P. REGENT on either side of the head, and on the reverse a seated figure of Victory with wings outspread, holding in her right hand a palm branch, and in the left a sprig of olive; on a plain tablet is WATERLOO, and in the exergue JUNE 18. 1815, while above is the name of Wellington in Roman letters. As originally issued it had a large steel ring 1 in. wide, run through a steel clip, for suspension by a dark-crimson blue-edged ribbon 1½ in. wide (sometimes found 2 in. wide), as illustrated facing page 56. The clip, however, was not always secure, and as a result the possessors of the medal frequently had silver suspenders made according to their own taste, or that of the local jobbing jeweller, who did not always do justice to Wyon's classic medal, slight differences in which may be observed upon comparison, as the medals were not all struck from one die, and the die-sinker's art was not then mechanical. The names and regiments of the recipients were indented in large capital letters on the edge of the medal, the tops and bottoms of the letters almost touching the rims of the medal.

Second General Award.—This was the first general award of medals for 166 years, when Simon's medal was given to those engaged at Dunbar in 1650. However, the official war medal for all ranks is now an established institution, and, it is said, sometimes given with too free a hand. But the soldier has a substantial record of his services on the field of battle—not even now, to my mind, satisfactorily complete—and but a small recognition of his country's appreciation; while those interested in the traditions of our race, those who recognise that in the grim and terrible business of war the better part of man is frequently called forth, will find the means of collecting an interesting record of great deeds, and incidentally materialising the history of the epoch-making nineteenth century, and these dawning days of the twentieth, when we had hoped that the dark spectre of war might have been replaced by the radiating figure of peace. But the war drums still throb, the battle flags are still unfurled; and it is good, when duty has called, in the nerve-wracking suspense and in the loud clamour of war, that fortitude, loyalty, honour, and the love of fatherland have shone above the horrors, and made us proud of the men who wear on their breasts the badges of the brave.

Continental Waterloo Medals.—Several other medals were issued for Waterloo, notably the Hanover, Nassau, Saxe-Gotha, Altenburg, and Brunswick medals, also the Belgian silver star.

Nassau Medal.—Fredrich Duke of Nassau was the first to issue a medal for Waterloo—that was on December 23rd, 1815. It is a small silver medal 1? in. in diameter, with a lug stamped with the medal, through which ribbon could be run for suspension. On the obverse is the bust of the Duke, and the inscription FRIEDRICH AUGUST HERZOG ZU NASSAU. Underneath the truncation are the letters I.L. On the reverse, to the left, is a standing figure of Victory, holding in her right hand a palm branch, while with the left she is represented placing a laurel wreath upon the brow of a Roman soldier; in the exergue is DEN 18 JUNI 1815, and round the figures DEN NASSAUISCHEN STREITERN BEY WATERLOO. The medal, issued unnamed, was suspended from a dark-blue ribbon with orange edges.

Hanover Medal.—The Hanover medal was struck by command of the Prince Regent of Great Britain. The order was given in December 1817, and was to the effect that surviving soldiers of his German dominions and the relatives of those who had fallen at Waterloo were eligible for the award. The medal is 1? in. in diameter, and bears on the obverse the laureated head of the Prince Regent facing to the right, the truncation draped, and surrounded by the inscription GEORG. PRINZ. REGENT 1815. The reverse bears in the centre WATERLOO JUN. XVIII, flanked by laurel wreaths, with a small trophy consisting of a cuirass and flags above, and the whole encircled by the inscription HANOVERISCHER TAPFERKEIT. The medal was suspended from a steel clip and ring by means of a crimson and blue-edged ribbon, like that used for the British Waterloo.

Brunswick Medal.—The Prince Regent (as guardian of the minor Princes of Brunswick) was also responsible for the issue of a medal to the soldiers of Brunswick who were present in the engagements of June 16th, 17th and 18th, 1815. The order for the striking was given on June 11th, 1818, and the medals were struck from captured French cannon. On the obverse is the head of Duke Fredrich Wilhelm of Brunswick, who fell at Quatre Bras, and the inscription in German lettering FRIEDRICH WILHELM HERZOG; on the truncation of the bust is C. HÄseler in script. On the reverse is a wreath of oak and laurel, encircling 1815, and the inscription in German lettering arranged round and divided by rosettes, Braunschweig Seinen Kriegern. Quatrebras und Waterloo (Brunswick to her Warriors. Quatre Bras and Waterloo). The medal, 1⁷/₂₀ in. in diameter, was suspended from a steel clip and ring by a 1½ in. yellow ribbon, with broad blue stripes equal to one quarter the width near the edge. The officers' medals were gilt, with the names indented on the edge.

Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Medal.—In 1816 Duke Emilius Leopold Augustus decided to have a medal struck for presentation to the members of the Foreign Legion of the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg who had taken part in the campaigns of 1814-15. The medals were of bronze; those awarded to the officers were 1? in. in diameter, gilt all over, and those given to the private soldiers 1¹³/₂₀ in. in diameter, parti-gilt, the Altenburg rose and ornamental border on the obverse being gilt, likewise the ducal crown and lettering on the reverse, which bears, in old German characters, IM KAMPFE FUER DAS RECHT (In the struggle for right), and round the edge, where the name of the recipient is usually placed, HERZOGTH GOTHA-VND-ALTENBVRG MDCCCXIV : MDCCCXV. The medal has a ball-shaped loop and ring for suspension from a dark-green ribbon 1 in. wide, with a border of black, through which gold is braided at intervals (see facing page 72).

Belgian Star.—A five-pointed star, with ring for suspension, was granted to the Belgian troops who were present at the battle of Waterloo. Like many continental medals of the period, it is very simple, having on the obverse 1813, and on the reverse 1815. It is not very coveted, owing to the uncertain conduct of the Belgian troops.

Hanoverian Jubilee Medal.—On the fiftieth anniversary of the battle of Waterloo the inhabitants of Hanover presented a bronze medal to the survivors of the Hanoverian troops. On the obverse is the arms of Hanover, encircled with the inscription STADT HANOVER DEN SIEGERN VON WATERLOO 18 JUNI 1815, and on the reverse, within a laurel wreath, ZUR 50 JÄHRIGEN JUBELFEIER AM 18 JUNI 1865.

French or St. Helena Medal.—It was not until August 12th, 1857, that the survivors of that magnificent army of Frenchmen who followed le petit Caporal in his campaigns from 1792 to 1815 received a medal commemorative of their devotion and gallantry. It was due to the Emperor Napoleon III that the old military and naval warriors received, what their great General and Emperor would wish for them, "marks of merit." The St. Helena medal is oval and of bronze, 1? in. across. On the obverse is a beaded circle within laurel leaves, which frame the whole medal (see facing page 64), the laureated head of Napoleon facing to the right with the legend NAPOLEON I EMPEREUR. On the reverse, within a beaded circle, is the inscription A SES COMPAGNONS DE GLOIRE SA DERNIERE PENSEE STE. HELENE 5 MAI 1821 (To his companions in glory his last thought St. Helena 5 May 1821), and around CAMPAGNES DE 1792 A 1815, with a small five-pointed star beneath. As part of the medal, but standing above the oval, is the French Imperial Crown, through the terminal of which a ring runs for suspension from a green ribbon, 1½ in. wide, with narrow stripes of red.