d the night before that memorable struggle.
It had been a wet and stormy night; at dawn the rain was falling
heavily, the ground was saturated, and the troops in the rival armies
were thoroughly drenched. About nine o'clock it cleared up, but on
account of the rainfall no movement was made by the French till
towards twelve o'clock.

On the night of the 17th the Duke of Wellington made every portion of
his army take up the position it was to occupy on the following day.
He slept a few hours at the village of Waterloo and rose early in the
morning to write letters, giving orders what was to be done in case
the battle was lost: although he felt sure of winning.

Before leaving the village he saw to the preparation of hospitals for
the wounded, and to the arrangements made for the distribution of
the reserves of ammunition. Then mounting his favourite charger,
Copenhagen, he rode to the positions where his men were posted, and
made a careful and thorough inspection. The farm house of Hougoumont,
where some of the most furious fighting of the day took place,
received his special attention.

Having thus done all that a commander could do to ensure the success
of the day, he rode back to the high ground from which he could
command a full view of the battle, and with a face calm and serene
waited for the French attack.

It was this serenity which had so great an effect on his troops. They
knew their great commander, and had confidence in him, and this aided
them during that eventful day in holding their positions with that
stubborn courage which destroyed all the hopes of the Emperor
Napoleon.

At Waterloo for the first time the two greatest commanders of the age
met face to face. Here across the valley they watched each other in
stern anticipation as the church bells called worshippers together for
prayer.

At about half-past eleven Napoleon's troops advanced to the attack;
and from this time till six or seven o'clock a series of terrific
charges continued to be made by the French, resisted and defeated by
the steady bravery of the British and Germans.

The duke was often in the thick of the fight, and in so great danger
that his staff advised him for the good of the army to withdraw to a
somewhat safer position. Passing one of the squares of grenadiers a
shell fell among them, and the duke waited to see the result. Several
soldiers were blown to pieces by the bursting of the shell, but
Wellington seemed quite unmove