he tree was cut down
in 1818, and all the soil of the elevated ground on the south side of
the _chemin creux_ was carted away to make the Belgian Lion Mound
about 1825. A steam tramway now runs by the place.

For a sketch of the celebrated tree, with Napoleon's guide, De Coster,
in the foreground, see Captain Arthur Gore's _Explanatory Notes on the
Battle of Waterloo_, 1817; and for another view of the ragged old tree
as it appeared the day before it was cut down, see _Illustrated London
News_, 27th November 1852.

The map which faces page 110 is adapted from the plan of the
battlefield of Waterloo, drawn in 1816, by W.B. Craan, Surveying
Engineer of Brabant.

The troops are shown in the positions occupied by them at 11 o'clock,
A.M., just before the opening of the battle.

On the map will be seen the position of the Wellington Tree, also the
farm and village of Mont St Jean, to which village it is supposed Sir
William De Lancey was carried, after he had received the fatal blow.

The village of Waterloo is outside the map, some two miles to the
north.

[Illustration: Map of Part of the Battlefield of Waterloo]

"The Duke had no fixed station throughout the day, and did not remain
at this tree for more than three or four minutes at any one time. He
frequently rode to it to observe the advance of the columns of attack.
A deep dip in the main road prevented his going beyond it without a
detour to the rear. It was here also that, the Duke having galloped up
with the staff and using his glass to observe the enemy's movements,
poor Colonel De Lancey by his side was struck by a heavy shot which
slanted off without breaking either his skin or even his coat, but all
the ribs of the left side were separated from the back."--Siborne's
_Waterloo Correspondence_, vol. i., p. 51.

Sir Walter Scott has the following interesting passage in the Seventh
of his _Paul's Letters to his Kinsfolk_. After a reference to the
British army taking up its position on the field of Waterloo the night
before the battle, he thus continues: "The Duke had caused a plan of
this and other military positions in the neighbourhood of Brussels, to
be made some time before by Colonel Carmichael Smyth, the chief
engineer. He now called for that sketch, and with the assistance of
the regretted Sir William De Lancey and Colonel Smyth, made his
dispositions for the momentous events of next day. The plan itself, a
_relique_ so precious, was rendered yet mo