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NOTES AND QUERIES. [n s. xn. JULY 10,

sun. The inhabitants were very kind, placing themselves about the Porte de Namur with wine, linen, &c., &c. When the hospitals were full they took them into their houses. On Sunday morning the Duke of Richmond, who, I must say, has been a little too confident, considering his large family, finding that Wellington was so near, and the rest of the English residents here gone or going, gave orders that we should be ready to start at a quarter of an hour's notice, and rode himself to the Duke of Wellington to ask his opinion. In conse- quence the carriages were packed, and horses quite ready to be put to. About two the cannonading began ; you may conceive our situation. The engagement, by the issue of which we were to stand or fall, had com- menced, and, tho' we have infinite confidence in Wellington and the British, yet the Prussians, Dutch, Belgians, &c., could not be so certainly depended upon, and human events are uncertain at best. On the other side there was Bonaparte with 120,000 of his best soldiers, those of Austerlitz, Jena, &c. His greatest object in his desperate situation was to beat the British and to get possession of this country. If he received a check here he was sensible that it must end in his ruin. What efforts then would he not make to gain his point ? All this was approaching to a decision within ten miles of us. The doubt and anxiety visible on every countenance as we walked upon the ramparts, listening to each coup de canons, was extreme ; and at home the poor Duchess, harassed by the thought of the Duke being absent, of her ten children with her, and her three sons in the action, was a pitiable object. At 4 the Duke came home and reported that all looked favourable, but we must still be ready to start. About 7, just as we were sitting down to dinner, came a messenger to say that Wellington had gained his battle, and that the French were retiring. Wounded officers came in at intervals, but knowing nothing. About 10 arrived 8,000 prisoners, with two eagles and stands of colours, and soon afterwards a note from an A.D.C. of the Duke of Wellington to say that the victory had been complete. Here again I refer you to the despatches, wishing rather to give you such particulars as do not fall under the notice or within the limits of a despatch. The Duke got back to his quarters to dinner at 11^ and after taking some rest rode into Brussels at 8 o'clock this morning with the remnants of the staff. The Duchess had gone up to his house to make inquiry about her nephew, Sir A.

Gordon (since dead), who had been wounded, and was at the door when the Duke arrived, being the first to wish him joy. He told her they had had hard work, and appeared as cool as if nothing had happened. Lord G. Lennox came down here, and you may suppose with what interest we devoured all he had to say. The French fought with incredible fury, and the Duke considered the battle in suspense four times. Lord G. said lost, but I allow a little for the warm imagination of a young officer. A messenger, Col. Percy, goes to England to-day, but cannot take a list of the killed and wounded as it cannot yet be made out. Think how singularly fortunate the Duke himself was in escaping untouched. Col. Gordon had his thigh carried off by a cannon ball when standing close to him. Lord Uxbridge lost a leg, and Col. Canning, an A.D.C., was killed when near. Three others had their horses shot close by. The Prince of Orange has been wounded in the shoulder, but I believe not severely. Among the killed are Sir Thomas Picton, Cols. Wyndham, Ho- ward, Mills, Dashwood, Delauncey, Majors Hodge, .Griffith, Beane. Lord F. Somerset* has lost an arm. General Barnes severely wounded. The bells are ringing for joy, and the citizens shouting. What a contrast to six hours' plunder by the French which Xap had promised ! Bulow with 38,000 Prus- sians are after him. I should like to see the field of battle, but know not whether to ask to go or not.f ....

V.

[To his father.]

Brussels, July 14th.

. . . .My last letter was written the morning after the battle, when I knew simply that it had been fought and that the victory had declared in favour of the Allies. A number of particulars have come in since, which may be interesting to you to hear, especially as you may depend upon their authenticity.

of the fifth Duke of Beaufort, and acted as A.D.C. and Military Secretary to the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo. Later, lie was better known as Field- Marshal Lord Raglan, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in the Crimea, where he died on 28 June, 1855.
 * Lord Fitzroy J. H. Somerset was the fifth son

f Mr. Madan did visit the battle-field three or four days after the fight, though no description of it occurs in any letter of his that is still extant. However, on that occasion he picked up a plume of feathers which once adorned the head-dress of a Prussian Hussar, and this is still in the possession of the family.