Show the last charge of Napole napoleons olf s old an I 1 v napoleons old guard gained by their many desperate instances of bravery an immortality in history but their grand crowning act was their desperate charge at waterloo which has f few evv parallels in ancient or modern warfare they fought for ihei then adored emperor and to ri trieve retrieve the evil fortunes of the day they fell felt as though to do so would debure secure them immortal glory and eternal bliss in the world of spirits the most graphic and stirring account of that last fearful tearful and fatal struggle gih glo that thai we have seen is from a recently published french w oric it reads like war it neif this thia is it during the day the artillery of the guard under dr drouet bouet maintained its old renown and add the guard itself had bad frequently been restore the battle in various parts of the field and alway suc guc success cess the en english glish berei fast becoming exhausted and in an hour more would doubtless have been forced into a disastrous defeat but for the timely arrival of blucher but when they saw him wih wih 30 prussians approaching their courage re was filled with amazement A beaten behen enemy cherny was about to form a td junction c with the allies while grouchy who had bad been sent bent to keep them in check was na nowhere to be seen seep alas aias what great plans a single inefficient commander cah can overthrow it in a napoleon saw that be fie could not sustain the attack of so many fresh troops if once allowed to form a junction diction with the allied force and he determined determine d to stake his tate fate on one bold evist and endeavor top to pierce berce the allied centre centro with a grand cliar cilar charge e of the old guard Guar guardant dand and thus throw himself between the two armies for this purpose the imperial was called calle up and divided in into t 0 immense columns which were to meet in the t he british celi ceil centre ceri tre ire that under no sooner entered the fire than thith it disappeared like mist the other was place placed dunder under ney uhe the bravest of the brave and the order to advance given na a 1 a accompanied them part of the way down the slope and haling for a fewin tew moments laments in the hollow addressed them a few Mv words lippold he lip told them that the battle rested with them and th 41 relied on their yalon valor tried in ia so po many y f fields vive 11 empereur I 1 answered him ilire with a shout that was heard above the thunder of the artillery the whole cont continental mental struggle exhibited no spec acle that the la last st eff effort of napoleon to save his sinking empire the great reat est military skill tin and d energy the joriu vor r possessed had been acen taxed to the utmost during the day thrones were tottering on the tur aur bulent thryl nield field fili fill and nd the shadows of or fugitive f tigi tive kings wings kin win 9 9 littia flitted u hithe the smoke smove of the thi battle bona partes star trembled in the zenith now blazing bazing n out ut in its ancient splendor now paling before before hi his a anxious ey eye e the intense anxiety with which be he watched the advance of that the terrible suspense ius kus penio jle he endured when the smoke of the battle wrapped rapped it from sight of his bis great heart when the curtain lifted over a fu fugitive etive army and th the e d despairing shriek rung out the G guari guard recoils e ol 01 ef tue guard rear make mae us uis for a moment forget all the carnage in sym his distress the old guard felt the presence of the lm immense responsibility and resolved not to prove unworthy of the greatest trust committed to it could be more imposing than its movement 1 I to the assault it had never recoiled before a human foe and the allied forces beheld with awe its firm steady advance lo 10 the finai final charge fora yora tor a moment the batteries staged stopped playing and the he firing ceased along the british british lines as without the tae beatin beating of a drum or a it bugle note to cheet cheer their steady courage they moved in sile slie silence dice fice over the field their tread was like munn muff muffled nid lid than thunder deri derl while the dazzling helmets of the cuirassiers flashed long iong lines of light upon the dark arld and terrible mass that swept in olie ona one strong wave along 0 the stern drouet drollet was then amid his guns and on every brow wak was written the unalterable resolution to conquer or die the next moment the artillery opened and the head bead of that gallant col coi coldiron column dirin seemed to sink into the earth rank hank af after er rank went down yet they neither stopped nor faltered dissolving s and whole asole battalions battaU battah ons disappearing disa one after alter another in the destructive fire affected not their courage the ranks clo cio closed sed up as before and each treading over his failen talling comrade passed unflinchingly on the arse that ney rode sank under him and aca scarcely i rely had he mounted another before it also sable to the earth and so another and another fill five in succession had been shot under himL him then with his drawn sabre be he marched sternly atthe at the head bead of his column in vain did th artillery hurl its storm of iron living mass up to the very muzzle they pressed and driving the artillerymen artilleryman artillery men from their places pushed on through the english r lines iines but butt just as the victory seemed won i a fite of soldiers who lay flat on th the ground behind a ridge of earth suddenly rose and poured a volley in their very face another and another followed till one broad sheet of flame rolled on their bosoms and in such a fierce and ani unexpected flow that they sta staggered ered before it before the guard had timeto 7 rally again and advance a heavy com CON column M ekof of infantry f fell feli ell eli on its left lef t flank in close and deadly volleys causs causi causing nig hig I 1 it in in its un settled unsettled state to swerve to the right at that instant a whole bifi brigade gade zade of cavalry thundered on the rig right h t blanka flank rand Tand nd penetrated where caa dry tiry had never gone before ize ile intrepid guard could base have borne up against the unexpected fire fir efrom from soldiers they did not see and would have rolled bac back the infantry that had boldly charred their left dank flank but the cavalry finish finished pd the them disorder into which they had bad been momentarily thrown and broke the shaken ranks before they IIA lia had time to reform and the eagles of that hither hitherto td invincible guard were pushed backward over the slope it was then the army seized with dispain di 1 air shrieked out the guard recoil sill sl a and n at turned and fled in wild dismay to see the guard in confusion was was wag a sight t they had never before beheld and it fro froze 7 e every heart with terror for a long time they stood and let the cannon balls pass haas through their ranks disdaining to turn tb their ir backs on their foe Al ichael michael at the head of those battalions fought like a lion to every command of the enemy to surrender be replied the guard dies but never surrenders 11 and as with his last breath bequeathing this glorious motto to the guard he fell a witness the truth death traversed those ei eight erht battalions with such rapt rapid id footsteps that they soon dwindled away to two wo which turned its hopeless daring on the overwhelming 0 number that pressed their retiring footsteps i last of all but a single batta battalion lion Jion the debris of the colt column imn of granite at dt marengo mareno maren o was left into this thes napoleon flung him himself selfo seito cam brenne itaf brave brase commander saw with terror the emperor in its frail keepings helot he wot was not struggling for victor victory he was intent on showing abw the Gua guard rydle rydie die eie approaching the emperor he cried out Re retire tirel do you not see that death has haa no need of you and closing mournfully yet sternly round the expiring eagles those mose brave hearts bade napoleon an bernal eternal adieu and flin flinging in themselves anthe on the enemy were soon piled with the dead at their feet i many of the officers officer s were seen to destroy ieh themselves em selves rather than suffer defeat thus greater even in its own defeat than any other corps of men in gaining a victory the old guard passed from the stage and the curtain dropped dropped upon its strange career career it had fought 0 its lask last ask ast battle |