Grenadier Guards at Waterloo Excerpt from The Navy and Army Illustrated November
20th 1896 by John Leyland
In the
campaign of Waterloo the 2nd and 3rd battalions of the First Guards, under
Maitland, and the 2nd battalions of the Coldstream and Third (Scots) Guards,
under Byng, formed the First Division of the army. They rendered service never
to be forgotten. The Division reached Quatre Bras about half past six on the
evening of June 26th, having met many wounded who said the day was going badly
for us. Maitland was at once directed to clear the Bots de Bossu, on the right
of the position, and his men straight away rushed into the wood with a cheer,
and drove all before them, but the French turned their gun fire upon the wood,
and many were killed or injured by trees cut down by the balls. Maitland's
Guards were then formed outside the wood, where they were furiously charged by
cavalry. Taking shelter therefore at the edge of the thicket and supported by
some Black Brunswickers, they almost annihilated their assailants and, with
heavy loss, held the ground.
At Waterloo the
light companies of both brigades were posted in the wood and gardens of
Hougoumont, where they were reinforced at midday by four more companies of the
Coldstreamers, while the brigades themselves were on the ridge of the position
to the rear, on the extreme right of the line. At Hougoumont the First Guards
fought with heroic valour. It was a conflict worthy of Titans. In vain did
Prince Jerome throw his strength against the old château, to the possession of
which Bonaparte attached high importance. The walls were loopholed, and the
place was held in strength, but repeatedly the French came on to achieve a
temporary success, and then to be driven out again. A desperate struggle took
place in the wood, where on one side or the other, men retreated fighting from
tree to tree. Not less than 8,000 Frenchmen were put hors de combat in the
tremendous onslaught made upon Hougoumont. But Lord Saltoun maintained his
position, and renewed attacks were in vain. The loss, however, was terrible and
the light infantry were almost annihilated when the Coldstreamers came to their
aid. During this momentous struggle, the farm buildings were set on fire by the
guns, adding immensely to the difficulty of the defence, and consigning many
wounded to an agonizing death.
While the attack
on Hougoumont was thus being made, a tremendous fire was poured on the allied
line. When it ceased, the Imperial Cavalry, at headlong speed, charged the
steady squares of the Guards, and the decimated ranks recoiled, but to hurl
themselves anew on our bayonets.
The 3rd
battalion of the First Guards was one of the regiments most exposed to this
terrible onslaught. "It was upon these troops," says Siborne,
"that fell the first bursts of the grand early attacks, and it was upon
these troops also that the French gunners seldom neglected to pour their
destructive missiles." Through all that terrific day the vast masses of
gallant Frenchmen were broken against the iron sturdiness of the British
squares, which stood like stoney islands amid the lapping waves of a sea of
fire. General Cooke, commanding the division of Guards, and Colonels D'Oyly and
Stables, in command of battalions, retired wounded from the field, and Lord
Saltoun, who had returned from Hougoumont, succeeded to the 3rd battalion. At
length, as the day wore on, Bonaparte, seeing the oncoming of the Prussians,
concentrated his furious cannonade mainly on the position held by the Guards
preparatory to his grand attack, and but for the shelter of a hollow way, they
must have been annihilated. At this time, Maitland, by the Duke's orders, formed
his two battalions into line four deep, and scarcely was the change made, when
5,000 men of the Old Imperial Guard, led by Ney, were seen advancing at the pas
de charge to the attack. Shouting Vive l' Empereur! they came steadily on, but,
when they reached the crest, the Guards rose up like a wall and poured out a
pitiless volley, the rear ranks passing with loaded muskets to the front. What
matters it, says Lord Saltoun, whether Wellington cried "Up Guards and at 'em!"
or no? He never heard the words only "Now Maitland, now's your time!"
Thus was the iron shower set free. The Old Guard wavered and when at length the
column reeled, shattered and broken, Saltoun cried out, "Now's the time, my
boys!" and the Guards sprang forward, and drove the enemy over a hedge of
dead and dying down the hill. In that conflict of giants, and at Quatre BRas,
the First Guards lost 181 killed, including 7 officers, and had 853 wounded,
making a total of 1,034. They had rendered glorious service, and earned undying
fame. "Guards," exclaimed Wellington, "you shall be rewarded for
this." and so it happened that, as a distinguished honour, they became
"The First or Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards."
