Page:15 decisive battles of the world Vol 2 (London).djvu/341

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BATTLE OF WATERLOO.
333

meeting on the scene of their triumph, continued to press forward and overwhelm every attempt that was made to stem the tide of ruin. The British army, exhausted by its toils and suffering during that dreadful day, did not urge the pursuit beyond the heights which the enemy had occupied. But the Prussians drove the fugitives before them throughout the night. And of the magnificent host which had that morning cheered their Emperor in confident expectation of victory, very few were ever assembled again in arms. Their loss, both in the field and in the pursuit, was immense; and the greater number of those who escaped, dispersed as soon as they crossed the French frontier.

The army under the Duke of Wellington lost nearly fifteen thousand men in killed and wounded on this terrible day of battle. The loss of the Prussian army was nearly seven thousand more. At such a fearful price was the deliverance of Europe purchased.

On closing our survey of this, the last of the Decisive Battles of the world, it is pleasing to contrast the year which it signalized, with the one that is now passing over our heads. We have not (and long may we want) the stern excitement of the struggles of war; and we see no captive standards of our European neighbours brought in triumph to