130 FITZGERALD. with other British subjects, by order of the French go vernment. On his return to England, he purchased on the 18th of May, 1812, a troop in the second life guards, and obtained the brevet rank of major in the army. With this regiment, whose services were so useful in Spain and at Thoulouse, Major Fitzgerald added to his military repu tation, and was on the 14th June, 1814, raised to the rank of brevet lieutenant-colonel. In 1815, the life guards were in active service, and on the plain of Waterloo proved the superiority of British valour and strength, when opposed to the iron-clad cuirassiers of France. Few that encountered their swords in that battle, survived to tell the story of their fate—and terrible was the havock and harvest of slaughter, when the heavy cavalry dashed in to complete the destruction begun by the artillery and the foot:- “Then down went helm and lance; Down were the eagle banners sent; Down reeling steeds and riders went, Corslets were pierc'd and pennants rent. And, to augment the fray, Wheel'd full against their staggring flanks, The English horsemen's foaming ranks, Forc'd their resistless way.” Lieutenant-Colonel Fitzgerald unhappily survived not to enjoy the honours acquired by his exertions and valour in this sanguinary field. Towards the close of the action, being at the moment advanced at the head of the right squadron, and gallantly leading it on to victory, a cannon ball closed his career. The following inscription is on a plain marble tablet in the church of Waterloo :— “Sacred to the memory of Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Fitzgerald, Of the 2nd reg. of Life Guards of His Britannic Majesty, Who died gloriously in the battle of La Belle Alliance, June 18, 1815, In the forty-first year of his age.”
