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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=539654" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>The Battle of Waterloo</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Twas in the year 1815, and on the 18th day of June,<br>That British cannon, against the French army, loudly did boom,<br>Upon the ever memorable bloody field of Waterloo;<br>Which Napoleon remembered while in St. Helena, and bitterly did rue. <br>The morning of the 18th was gloomy and cheerless to behold,<br>But the British soon recovered from the severe cold<br>That they had endured the previous rainy night;<br>And each man prepared to burnish his arms for the coming fight. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Then the morning passed in mutual arrangements for battle,<br>And the French guns, at half-past eleven, loudly did rattle;<br>And immediately the order for attack was given,<br>Then the bullets flew like lightning till the Heaven's seemed riven. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The place from which Bonaparte viewed the bloody field<br>Was the farmhouse of La Belle Alliance, which some protection did yield;<br>And there he remained for the most part of the day,<br>Pacing to and fro with his hands behind him in doubtful dismay. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The Duke of Wellington stood upon a bridge behind La Haye,<br>And viewed the British army in all their grand array,<br>And where danger threatened most the noble Duke was found<br>In the midst of shot and shell on every side around. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Hougemont was the key of the Duke of Wellington's position,<br>A spot that was naturally very strong, and a great acqusition<br>To the Duke and his staff during the day,<br>Which the Coldstream Guards held to the last, without dismay. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The French 2nd Corps were principally directed during the day<br>To carry Hougemont farmhouse without delay;<br>So the farmhouse in quick succession they did attack,<br>But the British guns on the heights above soon drove them back. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">But still the heavy shot and shells ploughed through the walls;<br>Yet the brave Guards resolved to hold the place no matter what befalls;<br>And they fought manfully to the last, with courage unshaken,<br>Until the tower of Hougemont was in a blaze but still it remained untaken. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">By these desperate attacks Napoleon lost ten thousand men,<br>And left them weltering in their gore like sheep in a pen;<br>And the British lost one thousand men-- which wasn't very great,<br>Because the great Napoleon met with a crushing defeat. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The advance of Napoleon on the right was really very fine,<br>Which was followed by a general onset upon the British line,<br>In which three hundred pieces of artillery opened their cannonade;<br>But the British artillery played upon them, and great courage displayed. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">For ten long hours it was a continued succession of attacks;<br>Whilst the British cavalry charged them in all their drawbacks;<br>And the courage of the British Army was great in square at Waterloo,<br>Because hour after hour they were mowed down in numbers not a few. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">At times the temper of the troops had very nearly failed,<br>Especially amongst the Irish regiments who angry railed;<br>And they cried: &quot; When will we get at them? Show us the way<br>That we may avenge the death of our comrades without delay&quot; </div><div style="margin:10px 0">&quot;But be steady and cool, my brave lads,&quot; was their officers' command,<br>While each man was ready to charge with gun in hand;<br>Oh, Heaven! if was pitiful to see their comrades lying around,<br>Dead and weltering in their gore, and cumbering the ground. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">It was a most dreadful sight to behold,<br>Heaps upon heaps of dead men lying stiff and cold;<br>While the cries of the dying was lamentable to hear;<br>And for the loss Of their comrades many a soldier shed a tear. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Men and horses fell on every aide around,<br>Whilst heavy cannon shot tore up the ground;<br>And musket balls in thousands flew,<br>And innocent blood bedewed the field of Waterloo. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Methinks I see the solid British square,<br>Whilst the shout of the French did rend the air,<br>As they rush against the square of steel.<br>Which forced them back and made them reel. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">And when a gap was made in that square,<br>The cry of &quot;Close up! Close up!&quot; did rend the air,<br>&quot;And charge them with your bayonets, and make them fly!<br>And Scotland for ever! be the cry.&quot; </div><div style="margin:10px 0">The French and British closed in solid square,<br>While the smoke of the heavy cannonade darkened the air;<br>Then the noble Picton deployed his division into line,<br>And drove back the enemy in a very short time. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Then Lord Anglesey seized on the moment, and charging with the Greys,<br>Whilst the Inniskillings burst through everything, which they did always;<br>Then the French infantry fell in hundreds by the swords of the Dragoons;<br>Whilst the thundering of the cannonade loudly booms. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">And the Eagles of the 45th and 105th were all captured that day,<br>And upwards of 2000 prisoners, all in grand array;<br>But, alas! at the head of his division, the noble Picton fell,<br>While the Highlanders played a lament for him they loved so well. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Then the French cavalry receded from the square they couldn't penetrate,<br>Still Napoleon thought to weary the British into defeat;<br>But when he saw his columns driven back in dismay,<br>He cried, &quot;How beautifully these English fight, but they must give way.&quot; </div><div style="margin:10px 0">And well did British bravery deserve the proud encomium,<br>Which their enduring courage drew from the brave Napoleon;<br>And when the close column of infantry came on the British square,<br>Then the British gave one loud cheer which did rend the air. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Then the French army pressed forward at Napoleon's command,<br>Determined, no doubt, to make a bold stand;<br>Then Wellington cried, &quot; Up Guards and break their ranks through,<br>And chase the French invaders from off the field of Waterloo!&quot; </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Then, in a moment, they were all on their feet,<br>And they met the French, sword in hand, and made them retreat;<br>Then Wellington in person directed the attack,<br>And at every point and turning the French were beaten back. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">And the road was choked and encumbered with the dead;<br>And, unable to stand the charge, the French instantly fled,<br>And Napoleon's army of yesterday was now a total wreck,<br>Which the British manfully for ten long hours held in check. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Then, panic-struck, the French were forced to yield,<br>And Napoleon turned his charger's head, and fled from the field,<br>With his heart full of woe, no doubt<br>Exclaiming, &quot;Oh, Heaven! my noble army has met with a total rout!&quot;</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=William+Topaz+McGonagall">William Topaz McGonagall</a><div class=q>
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<script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=539654" data-title="The Battle of Waterloo de William Topaz McGonagall" data-description="'Twas in the year 1815, and on the 18th day of June,
That British cannon, against the French army, loudly did boom,
Upon the ever memorable bloody field of Waterloo;
Which Napoleon remembered while in St. Helena, and bitterly did rue. 
The morning..."></div>
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