the gordons at quatre bras
(june 16, 1815)
there was a sound of revelry by night,
and belgium’s capital had gather’d then
her beauty and her chivalry, and bright
the lamps shone o’er fair women and brave men;
a thousand hearts beat happily: and when
music arose with its voluptuous swell,
soft eyes look’d love to eyes which spake again,
and all went merry as a marriage-bell;
but hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell!
byron.
towards the end of 1814 there was an interesting assemblage of emperors, kings, generals, and representatives of the people at vienna to settle once and for all the future peace of europe. there was not a great deal of sympathy between the allies, and now that napoleon had shot his bolt, and was apparently for ever humiliated, disputes soon took the place of friendly overtures, while the congress promised to disagree as ardently as any other peaceful gathering before or since. napoleon, fretting at elba, learnt how matters stood, and decided with his amazing promptitude that the day had dawned that might carry with it his re-accession to power.
in france louis xviii. was little better than a shadow upon a throne. the reaction that had set in against napoleon at the time of his abdication had been altogether submerged by the impatience with which the french people regarded the deliberations of the allies. the pride of france was touched, and the pride of france has ever soared very high. like many another exile napoleon by his absence attained a greater hold upon the imagination of his countrymen than he had ever possessed before. those old soldiers who had been victorious under his standards were never tired of foretelling the time when the ‘little corporal’ would again return and sweep all the armies of the allies before him like forest leaves. we may be perfectly sure that napoleon was now, as always, in touch with the spirit of france, and that when he struck it was with everything as much in his favour as could be.
on a dark march evening, when the british war-ships were riding at anchor, and no whisper of danger reached the watching sailors, he left elba and set foot upon the shores of france. the news of his arrival sped like wildfire through every village of the south, and was flung from lip to lip until it reached paris itself. the mere presence of napoleon, without arms, without money, without anything to win back an empire, sent louis xviii. scurrying into exile!
it was a triumph indeed. but napoleon was not foolish enough to ignore the apprehensions of the french people; whatever feelings were hidden within his own heart he stifled them for the moment under a pretence of peace. it was england who refused to discuss the situation on any terms. napoleon was declared an outlaw and the enemy of europe. as our countrymen pledged themselves a hundred years later to crush and overthrow prussianism, so they pledged themselves then to fight until the danger was averted. the arrival of napoleon had been so swift that it was quite impossible to assemble the allies. the austrian and russian forces had to travel great distances, and only the prussian army on the rhine under blücher, the english in belgium under wellington, with some hanoverians, belgians, and dutch, were ready to withstand the swift onrush of the french.
with his unerring judgment napoleon grasped the situation. he realised, like those german hosts in the summer of 1914, that he must win, if win at all, by forced marches and forced battles. his army was a small one, but was largely composed of veteran troops. it was perfectly within reason to achieve the separation of the forces of wellington and blücher, and defeat them in turn. the enthusiasm with which napoleon was greeted by the french soldiers is one of the most remarkable episodes in history. to them he was the son of new france, the invincible ‘little corporal.’ when he left paris to join the army he uttered these memorable words: “i go,” he said, “to measure myself with wellington,” and when he arrived at the imperial headquarters he sent this message to his troops:
“soldiers! we have forced marches to make, battles to fight, troubles to encounter; but, with firmness victory will be ours. rejoice, the honour and the happiness of the country will be recovered! to every frenchman who has a heart, the moment has now arrived to conquer or die!”
napoleon aimed at the occupation of brussels, then in the hands of the british, and there is no doubt that his intention was to surprise wellington’s army by the rapidity of his advance. there is also little question that if he had succeeded in taking brussels, a great part of belgium would have risen in his favour. an examination of the map will show how many roads there are converging upon brussels from the french frontier, and it was unknown to wellington upon which napoleon might march. accordingly the english commander-in-chief distributed his forces so that he could concentrate upon any single point.
it would be foolish to praise one highland regiment above another, for prowess is largely a matter of opportunity. in the action at quatre bras both the gordons and the black watch were beyond praise, while at waterloo the former took romance as it were by the stirrup iron, and added a new glamour to the old tale of scotland’s glory.
at ten o’clock on that eventful night, when the dance in brussels was at its height, colonel john cameron, commanding officer of the gordons, left the ballroom and went to his quarters. early on june 16, amidst torrents of rain, the 92nd marched out of the city for the impending conflict. the bagpipes screamed through the streets, bringing many a face to the windows to watch how the gordons went to face ney at quatre bras. they took up position near a farmhouse, where soon after their arrival the duke of wellington himself rode up to colonel cameron, and congratulated him upon the appearance of his men, checking for a while their impatience.
at quatre bras when the fight was high,
stout cameron stood with wakeful eye,
eager to leap, as a mettlesome hound,
into the fray with a plunge and a bound.
but wellington, lord of the cool command,
held the reins with a steady hand,
saying, “cameron, wait, you’ll soon have enough—
give the frenchmen a taste of your stuff,
when the cameron men are wanted.”
in front of the farmhouse there was a ditch, and this the gordons were ordered to defend, together with the outhouses and other buildings. they had hardly got into position before the attack commenced, and the highlanders found themselves confronted by the forces of marshal ney. their ranks were raked for a considerable time by the french artillery. this was only supplementary to a desperate charge by the french cavalry, at that time unrivalled in europe. the chasseurs managed to work their way behind the gordons, and wellington was compelled to leap a fence to avoid capture. but the frenchmen never broke out again. the 92nd accounted for them.
meanwhile the 42nd—which with three other regiments formed pack’s brigade—were brought up after a very long march and flung into the heat of the fighting, changing commanders no less than four times. confused, separated, seeing their officers fall on all sides, they endured sufficient hammering to break the confidence of many a disciplined regiment; but the ranks of the black watch had never been broken, and they remained perfectly staunch until, in its turn, the french cavalry was shattered upon their bayonets.
anton, who served in the black watch, relates how they marched out of the ancient gate of brussels and entered the forest of soignes. shortly afterwards the frightened peasantry ran chattering past them, saying that the enemy were advancing. then general pack came galloping up, and reproved the colonel for not having the bayonets fixed. a few minutes later the belgian skirmishers came dashing helter-skelter through the open ranks of the 42nd, and next instant the highlanders were confronted with their pursuers.
at the sight of the grim faces of the black watch the french fell back for the time being, while the highlanders advanced, at which marshal ney ordered a regiment of lancers to break upon their flank. they came with such rapidity that they almost took the highlanders off their guard. “we instantly formed ‘rally-square,’” says anton. “every man’s piece was loaded, and our enemies approached at full charge, the feet of their horses seemed to tear up the ground. our skirmishers having been impressed with the same opinion that these were brunswick cavalry, fell beneath their lances, and few escaped death or wounds. our brave colonel fell at this time pierced through the chin until the point of the lance reached the brain. captain menzies fell covered with wounds, and a momentary conflict took place over him. he was a powerful man, and, hand to hand, more than a match for six ordinary men.... of all descriptions of cavalry, certainly the lancers seem the most formidable to infantry, as the lance can be projected with considerable precision and with deadly effect without bringing the horse to the point of the bayonet, and it was only by rapid and well-directed fire of musketry that these formidable assailants were repulsed.”
the gordons having repulsed the cavalry at the point of the bayonet, awaited the advance of the veteran french infantry.
their vigil was soon rewarded. the duke of wellington, perceiving that some french had gained a footing in the farmhouse which was of such strategic importance, shouted to their commander, “now, cameron, is the time; take care of the road.” major-general baines riding up shouted, “ninety-second, follow me!” the order to charge was given, and the 92nd, leaping from the ditch, rushed forward impetuously upon the enemy, hurling them back at the point of the bayonet. the victory was won, but at great cost to the gordons, for colonel cameron was shot by a bullet fired from one of the upper windows of the farmhouse, and was soon beyond human aid. he was conveyed to the village of waterloo before he died, with the words: “i die happy, and i trust my dear country will remember that i have served her faithfully.” it is worth while recalling once again that powerful verse written by sir walter scott:
through shell and shot he leads no more,
low laid ‘mid friends’ and foemen’s gore;
but ‘long his native lake’s wild shore
and sunart rough and high ardgour
and morven long shall tell,
and proud ben nevis hear with awe
how upon bloody quatre bras
brave cameron heard the wild hurrah
of conquest, as he fell!
the losses suffered by the highland regiments had been very heavy, but they had won deathless prestige. out of all the forces engaged wellington selected four regiments for special mention. the black watch, the gordons, and the camerons were of that proud body. during this time the french and the prussians had been engaged at the battle of ligny, and although blücher had superior forces to napoleon he had lost the day, though had not actually suffered a defeat. after the action the prussians retreated towards maestricht in order to maintain their communications with wellington’s army. unfortunately for the british, the despatch-rider who was sent to inform wellington that the prussian army was in retreat did not reach him, and it was not until the 17th, at quatre bras, that the british general heard the result of the battle of ligny. this news—that napoleon had defeated blücher—was something of a shock to wellington, who had hoped, with prussian support, to make a definite attack upon the french.
battle scene
the gordons at quatre bras
after the indecisive action at quatre bras, wellington decided to march his army towards brussels, and attempt to restore communication with blücher. he despatched word to him that he intended to halt at mont st. jean, but only on condition that blücher would pledge himself to the extent of 25,000 men. the duke of uxbridge covered the retreat of the british forces—for there is no denying that it was in the nature of a retreat—and the army halted for the night close to a little village that has gone down to history under the name of waterloo.
battle honours of the gordon highlanders
mysore, seringapatam, egmont-op-zee, mandora, corunna, fuentes de o?oro, almaraz, vittoria, pyrenees, nive, orthez, peninsula, waterloo; south africa, 1835; delhi, lucknow, charasiah; kabul, 1879; kandahar, 1880; afghanistan, 1878-1880; egypt, 1882, 1884; tel-el-kebir; nile, 1884-1885; chitral, tirah; south africa, 1899-1902; ladysmith, paardeberg.
1st battalion, raised 1758, was disbanded. re-formed 1787 as the 75th (highland) regiment of foot. from 1862 to 1881 the 75th (stirlingshire) regiment.
2nd battalion, raised 1794, as the 100th (gordon highlanders) regiment of foot. from 1861 to 1881 the 92nd (gordon highlanders) regiment of foot.
