Page:Viscount Hardinge and the Advance of the British Dominions into the Punjab.djvu/31

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PENINSULAR AND WATERLOO CAMPAIGNS
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stinke etwas;' that he had been obliged to take medicine, having been twice ridden over by the cavalry; but he should be quite satisfied if, in conjunction with the Duke, he was able now to defeat his old enemy. I was told there had been a great discussion that night in his rooms, and that Blücher and Grollenau had carried the day for remaining in communication with the English army, but that Gneisenau had great doubts whether they ought not to have fallen back on Liège."'

It has been said that the Marshal, who, as Müffling puts it, was not famous for his strategy, relied implicitly on the military ability of Gneisenau as Chief of the Staff. However, in this case Blücher and Grollenau appear to have fought it out with Gneisenau and carried the day. The above discussions have been so ably commented upon by Colonel Maurice, K. A., in his article in the United Service Magazine for July, 1890, that those specially interested in this question need only be referred to it.

As on previous occasions. Sir H. Hardinge did not permit his wound to detain him long from his duty, although from some attendant circumstances he suffered severely from it. He was, of course, unable to accompany the Prussian army to Waterloo, but within a fortnight he had so far recovered as to be conveyed to Paris in an ambulance waggon. He used to relate how he suffered on this journey in his debilitated state, and how on arriving at the barrière at Paris he was met by one of Blücher's staff", who directed