PREFACE
TO THE SIXTH EDITION.
“A Voice from Waterloo” is the unassuming tale of an old soldier who was an eyewitness of and actor in many of the scenes he attempts to describe.
My having resided more than fourteen years on the field, as Guide, and Describer of the battle, may be considered as the parent of the present memoirs.
No one can be more convinced than I am, of my inability to do justice to the subject: but I have had great advantages in communicating personally on the spot with “Waterloo men” of every nation; all of whom, from the general to the private, have evidently considered it a duty and a pleasure to assist an old companion in arms. The inquiries and comments made by those gallant men, have afforded me opportunities of gleaning much information which no other person has obtained, and has enabled me to give a fuller and truer history of the battle, than a more talented man could have done, unless he had enjoyed the same privilege.
One of my objects in writing, is to correct opinions which have gone forth, and which are greatly at variance with facts: opinions so erroneous as to warrant the remark of general Jomini, that “Never was a battle so confusedly described as that of Waterloo.” It is certain that the hour of many occurrences on the field has been erroneously stated: such as of the arrival, or rather becoming engaged, of the different Prussian corps; the fall of La Haye-Sainte, defeat of the Imperial guard, etc.
After the publication of so many accounts of the battle of the 18th of June, it may be fairly asked on what grounds I expect to awaken fresh interest in a subject so long before the public. Can I reconcile the conflicting statements which have already appeared in print? Can I add to the information which most of my countrymen already possess concerning this memorable epoch? Or can I present that information in a compendious and lucid form, such as the general reader may still need? Something in all these ways, I hope I have accomplished.
Putting aside some of the French and English accounts as not only irreconcilable with facts, but as self-refuted by their inconsistencies and mutual contradictions,—using such of the French narratives as agree with those of their opponents, which, as Wellington observed of Napoleon’s bulletins, may be safely relied upon as far as they tell against themselves,—I have cleared up a great number of the points disputed by our own writers, who agree in the main, but differ in some circumstances involving not merely questions of time and locality of certain events, but even the claims of individuals, regiments and brigades to the honour attached to their deeds on that day. By my long residence at Mont-St.-Jean, constant study of thesurface of the battle field, knowledge of the composition and evendressof the different bodies of the French troops which stood before us, and by paying close attention to the remarks made by many a gallant comrade revisiting the spot, I have in a great measure succeeded in reconciling discrepancies which perhaps no other person could explain.
I am also emboldened to think that my “Voice from Waterloo” presents to the general reader all the leading facts of this eventful struggle, in so concise a manner, and at so moderate a cost, as to secure it a preference over every other narration of the battle.
Although not strictly belonging to “A Voice from Waterloo,” I have added, as a connecting link in the narrative, an outline map, and a sketch of the military operations of the campaign of 1815.
Most anxious to avoid the imputation of having employed the materials of others without acknowledgment, I beg to state that, besides various military periodicals, I have made use of captain Siborne’s History of the War in France and Belgium: The Military Life of the Duke of Wellington, by Major Basil Jackson and Captain Rochfort Scott; The Wellington Dispatches and General Orders, by Colonel Gurwood; Fall of Napoleon, by Colonel Mitchell; Political and Military Life of Napoleon, and The Art of War, by General Jomini; History of the King’s German Legion, by Major Beamish; Prussian History of the Campaign of 1815, by General Grollman, etc., etc.
As to the manner in which I have executed my task, I know I am open to criticism. No doubt many of my remarks will be considered too digressive. Some persons will think I am too hard upon Napoleon: my authorities in this are more frequently French than English. Otherswill judge me too partial to the immortal Wellington.
Waterloo was termed by Napoleon, “a concurrence of unexempled fatalities, a day not to be comprehended. Was there treason? or was there only misfortune?”
Wellington said, that “he had never before fought so hard a battle, nor won so great a victory.” If the reader derive the same impression from his attention to “A Voice from Waterloo,” I shall be satisfied, because I shall have succeeded.
Edward Cotton,Waterloo Guide, and Describer of the Battle.
Mont-St.-Jean, February, 1849.
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