hem a volley in front;
and some Hanoverians at the rear of Hougoumont also galled their rear.
Seizing the favourable moment when the column writhed in anguish,
Colborne cheered his men to the charge, and, aided by the second 95th
Rifles, utterly overthrew the last hope of France. Continuing his
advance, and now supported by the 71st Regiment, he swept our front
clear as far as the orchard of La Haye Sainte.[523]

The Emperor had at first watched the charge with feelings of buoyant
hope; for Friant, who came back wounded, reported that success was
certain. As the truth forced itself on him, he turned pale as a
corpse. "Why! they are in confusion," he exclaimed; "all is lost for
the present." A thrill of agony also shot through the French lines.
Donzelot's onset had at one time staggered Halkett's brigade; but the
hopes aroused by the charge of the Guard and the rumour of Grouchy's
approach gave place to dismay when the veterans fell back and
Ziethen's Prussians debouched from Papelotte. To the cry of "The Guard
gives way," there succeeded shouts of "treason." The Duke, noting the
confusion, waved on his whole line to the longed-for advance. Menaced
in front by the thin red line, and in rear by Colborne's glorious
charge, D'Erlon's divisions broke up in general rout. For a time,
three rocks stood boldly forth above this disastrous ebb. They were
the battalions of the Guard previously repulsed, and that had rallied
around the Emperor on the rise south of La Haye Sainte. In front of
them the three regiments of Adam's brigade stopped to re-form; but at
the Duke's command--"Go on, go on: they will not stand"--Colborne
charged them, and they gave way.

And now, as the sun shot its last gleams over the field, the swords of
the British horsemen were seen to flash and fall with relentless
vigour. The brigades of Vandeleur and Vivian, well husbanded during
the day, had been slipped upon the foe. The effect was electrical. The
retreat became a rout that surged wildly around the last squares of
the Guard. In one of them Napoleon took refuge for a space, still
hoping to effect a rally, while outside Ney rushed from band to band,
brandishing a broken sword, foaming with fury, and launching at the
runaways the taunt, "Cowards! have you forgotten how to die?"[524]

But panic now reigned supreme. Adam's brigade was at hand to support
our horsemen; and shortly after nine there knelled from Planchenoit
the last stroke of doom, the shout