by Victor Hugo
CHAPTER IV.
A.
Those who wish to form a distinct idea of the battle of Waterloo, needonly imagine a capital A laid on the ground. The left leg of the A isthe Nivelles road, the right one the Genappe road, while the string ofthe A is the broken way running from Ohain to Braine l'Alleud. The topof the A is Mont St. Jean, where Wellington is; the left lower point isHougomont, where Reille is with Jérôme Bonaparte; the right lower pointis La Belle Alliance, where Napoleon is. A little below the point wherethe string of the A meets and cuts the right leg, is La Haye Sainte;and in the centre of this string is the exact spot where the battle wasconcluded. It is here that the lion is placed, the involuntary symbolof the heroism of the old Guard.
The triangle comprised at the top of the A between the two legs and thestring, is the plateau of Mont St. Jean; the dispute for this plateauwas the whole battle. The wings of the two armies extend to the rightand left of the Genappe and Nivelles roads, d'Erlon facing Picton,Reille facing Hill. Behind the point of the A, behind the plateau ofSt. Jean, is the forest of Soignies. As for the plan itself, imagine avast undulating ground; each ascent commands the next ascent, and allthe undulations ascend to Mont St. Jean, ending there in the forest.
Two hostile armies on a battle-field are two wrestlers. It is abody-grip. One tries to throw the other; they cling to everything; athicket is a basis; an angle in the wall is a breastwork; for want ofa village to support it, a regiment gives way; a fall in the plain, atransverse hedge in a good position, a wood, a ravine, may arrest theheel of that column which is called an army, and prevent it slipping.The one who leaves the field is beaten; and hence the necessity forthe responsible chief to examine the smallest clump of trees, andinvestigate the slightest rise in the ground. The two generals hadattentively studied the plain of Mont St. Jean, which is called at thepresent day the field of Waterloo. In the previous year, Wellington,with prescient sagacity, had examined it as suitable for a greatbattle. On this ground and for this duel of June 18, Wellington had thegood side and Napoleon the bad; for the English army was above, theFrench army below.
It is almost superfluous to sketch here the appearance of Napoleon,mounted and with his telescope in his hand, as he appeared on theheights of Rossomme at the dawn of June 18. Before we show him, allthe world has seen him. The calm profile under the little hat of theBrienne school, the green uniform, the white facings concealing thedecorations, the great coat concealing the epaulettes, the red ribbonunder the waistcoat, the leather breeches, the white horse with itshousings of purple velvet, having in the corners crowned N's andeagles, the riding-boots drawn over silk stockings, the silver spurs,the sword of Marengo,--the whole appearance of the last of the Cæsarsrises before every mind, applauded by some, and regarded sternly byothers. This figure has for a long time stood out all light; this wasowing to a certain legendary obscuration which most heroes evolve, andwhich always conceals the truth for a longer or shorter period, butat the present day we have history and light. That brilliancy calledhistory is pitiless; it has this strange and divine thing about it,that, all light as it is, and because it is light, it often throwsshadows over spots before luminous, it makes of the same man twodifferent phantoms, and one attacks the other, and the darkness of thedespot struggles with the lustre of the captain. Hence comes a truerproportion in the definitive appreciation of nations; Babylon violated,diminishes Alexander; Rome enchained, diminishes Cæsar; Jerusalemkilled, diminishes Titus. Tyranny follows the tyrant, and it is amisfortune for a man to leave behind him a night which has his form.
