THE

WATERLOO CAMPAIGN

1815

WILLIAM SIBORNE

Captain, Half Pay, Unattached,
Constructor of the
Waterloo Model

FIFTH EDITION

WESTMINSTER
ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND CO., LTD.
1900

PREFACE.

BY common consent, this Work is regarded as the best comprehensiveaccount in the English language of the Waterloo Campaign. Even thosewho differ from the Author upon particular points, most cordially admitthe general accuracy and fulness of his History. It is charminglywritten, is graphic yet precise, and abundantly witnesses to theAuthor's most strenuous endeavour to do justice to every one who tookpart in that great Conflict.

This Work will henceforth be a household book amongst the Teutonicrace; and all who read it will gain a very clear insight into themethods of Military Strategy as they were practised by the greatCaptains of that Age.

It is impossible to repress one's admiration of the heroic braverydisplayed in this brief Campaign: whether amongst the Allies at QuatreBras and Waterloo, or by the Imperial Guard at Planchenoit, or by thePrussians at Ligny, Wavre, and Le Chesnay.

The reader must be good enough to observe that a Prussian Brigade thenequalled in numbers a French or an English Division.

This Work has extended to such great length that one half of theAppendix (see pages 42 to 44) and nearly all the Notes have been,most unwillingly, omitted. Only those Foot Notes have been insertedwhich are absolutely essential to the Text. Room has however beenfound, at pages 798 to 826, for the Nominal Lists of Officers atWaterloo, &c.

One would most earnestly wish that Wars may cease until the end ofTime; but if that may not be, then may they be as bravely fought as wasthis War of Twenty Days: from the 15th June, when Napoleoncrossed the Sambre; to the 4th July 1815, the day on which the Alliestook possession of Paris.

EDWARD ARBER.

Edgbaston,
Birmingham.

THE TITLE PAGE OF THE THIRD EDITION.

TO THE

QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.

Madam,

IN graciously deigning to accept the Dedication of these pages, YourMajesty has afforded the greatest possible encouragement to my humbleendeavours to record, with simplicity, impartiality, and truth, theincidents of an eventful War, resulting in a long enduring Peace; a Warwhich shed a new and brighter lustre on the valour and discipline ofthe British Army, and once more called forth the consummate sagacityand far-extending prescience of that illustrious Chief, whom YourMajesty, with wise appreciation and a just pride, retains at its head.

Earnestly hoping that the result of those endeavours may prove notaltogether undeserving of Your Majesty's approbation,

I have the honour to be,
With profound respect,
Madam,
Your Majesty's most humble
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