in a
masterly manner, from one point of view by Napoleon, and from another
point of view by a whole pleiad of historians.[7]

As for us, we leave the historians at loggerheads; we are but a distant
witness, a passer-by on the plain, a seeker bending over that soil all
made of human flesh, taking appearances for realities, perchance; we
have no right to oppose, in the name of science, a collection of facts
which contain illusions, no doubt; we possess neither military practice
nor strategic ability which authorize a system; in our opinion, a chain
of accidents dominated the two leaders at Waterloo; and when it becomes
a question of destiny, that mysterious culprit, we judge like that
ingenious judge, the populace.

CHAPTER IV--A

Those persons who wish to gain a clear idea of the battle of Waterloo
have only to place, mentally, on the ground, a capital A. The left limb
of the A is the road to Nivelles, the right limb is the road to Genappe,
the tie of the A is the hollow road to Ohain from Braine-l'Alleud. The
top of the A is Mont-Saint-Jean, where Wellington is; the lower left tip
is Hougomont, where Reille is stationed with Jerome Bonaparte; the right
tip is the Belle-Alliance, where Napoleon was. At the centre of this
chord is the precise point where the final word of the battle was
pronounced. It was there that the lion has been placed, the involuntary
symbol of the supreme heroism of the Imperial Guard.

The triangle included in the top of the A, between the two limbs and the
tie, is the plateau of Mont-Saint-Jean. The dispute over this plateau
constituted the whole battle. The wings of the two armies extended to
the right and left of the two roads to Genappe and Nivelles; d'Erlon
facing Picton, Reille facing Hill.

Behind the tip of the A, behind the plateau of Mont-Saint-Jean, is the
forest of Soignes.

As for the plain itself, let the reader picture to himself a vast
undulating sweep of ground; each rise commands the next rise, and all
the undulations mount towards Mont-Saint-Jean, and there end in the
forest.

Two hostile troops on a field of battle are two wrestlers. It is a
question of seizing the opponent round the waist. The one seeks to trip
up the other. They clutch at everything: a bush is a point of support;
an angle of the wall offers them a rest to the shoulder; for the lack
of a hovel under whose cover they can draw up, a regiment yields its
ground; an unevenness in the ground, a chance