er
cooking kettles, while the men lay about smoking!"[515]

Far different was the scene at the front. There the third act of the
drama was beginning. After half an hour of the heaviest cannonade ever
known, Wellington's faithful troops were threatened by an avalanche of
cavalry, and promptly fell into the "chequer" disposition previously
arranged for the most exposed division, that of Alten. Napoleon
certainly hoped either to crush Wellington outright by a mighty onset
of horse, or to strip him bare for the _coup de grace_. At the Caillou
farm in the morning he said: "I will use my powerful artillery; my
cavalry shall charge; and I will advance with my Old Guard." The use
of cavalry on a grand scale was no new thing in his wars. By it he had
won notable advantages, above all at Dresden; and he believed that
footmen, when badly shaken by artillery, could not stand before his
squadrons. The French cavalry, 15,000 strong at the outset, had as yet
suffered little, and the way had been partly cleared by the last
assaults on Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte, where the defenders were
wholly occupied in self-defence.

But Ney certainly pressed the first charge too soon. Doubtless he was
misled by the retirement of our first line a little way behind the
crest to gain some slight shelter from the iron storm. Looking on this
prudent move as a sign of retreat he led forward the cuirassiers of
Milhaud; and as these splendid brigades trotted forward, the
_chasseurs a cheval_ of the Guard and "red" lancers joined them. More
than 5,000 strong, these horsemen rode into the valley, formed at the
foot of the slope, and then, under cover of their artillery, began to
breast the slope. At its crest the guns of the allies opened on them
point-blank; but, despite their horrible losses, they swept on,
charged through the guns and down the reverse slope towards the
squares. Volley after volley now tore through with fearful effect, and
the survivors swerved to the intervals. Their second and third lines
fared little better; astonished at so stout a stand, where they looked
to find only a few last despairing efforts, they fell into faltering
groups.

"As to the so-called charges," says Basil Jackson, "I do not think
that on a single occasion actual collision occurred. I many times
saw the cuirassiers come on with boldness to within some twenty or
thirty yards of a square, when, seeing the steady firmness of our
men, they invar