By the time that the whole of the forces were assembled Wellington had
ninety thousand men under his orders; Blucher, the Prussian general,
had one hundred and sixteen thousand; while Napoleon had one hundred
and twenty-five thousand with which to encounter this vastly superior
force. Upon the other hand, Napoleon's were all veteran troops, and
the French had for a long time been accustomed to victory over the
Prussians. Of Wellington's force fully a half were of mixed
nationalities: Belgians, Dutch, Brunswickers, and Hessians; while his
British division consisted chiefly of young troops, so hastily raised
that a great number of them absolutely fought at Waterloo in the
uniforms of the militia regiments from which they had been drafted.
It seemed, however, a well-nigh desperate enterprise for Napoleon to
attack so greatly superior a force. But he had, in fact, no choice but
to do so; for Russia and Austria were arming, and their forces would
soon be advancing upon France, and it was therefore necessary if
possible to defeat the British and Prussians before they could arrive.
Could he succeed in doing this the enthusiasm that would be excited in
France would enable him vastly to increase his army. In the meantime
his confidence in his own military genius was unbounded, and the
history of his past was contained many triumphs won under
circumstances far less favorable than the present.
Pages:
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367