hasseurs, lancers, etc.,
encamped amid the growing grain.

Nobody had any fears now that the English would beat a retreat, we
lighted as many fires as we pleased, and the smoke from the damp straw
filled the air. Those who had a little rice left, put on their
camp-kettles, while those who had none looked on thinking:

"Each has his turn; yesterday we had meat, and we despised the rice,
now we should be very grateful for even that."

About eight o'clock the wagons arrived with cartridges and hogsheads of
brandy; each soldier received a double ration: with a crust of bread we
might have done very well, but the bread was not there. You can
imagine what sort of humor we were in.

This was all we had that day: immediately after, the grand movements
commenced. Regiments joined their brigades, brigades their divisions,
and the divisions re-formed their corps. Officers on horseback carried
orders back and forth, everything was in motion.

Our battalion joined Donzelot's division; the others had only eight
battalions, but his had nine.

I have often heard the veterans repeat the order of battle given by
Napoleon. The corps of Reille was on the left of the road opposite
Hougoumont, that of d'Erlon, at the right, opposite Haie-Sainte; Ney on
horseback on the highway, and Napoleon in the rear with the Old Guard,
the special detachments, the lancers and chasseurs, etc. That was all
that I understood, for when they began to talk of the movements of
eleven columns, of the distance which they deployed, and when they
named the generals one after another, it seemed to me as if they were
talking of something which I had never seen.

I like better therefore to tell you simply what I saw and remember
myself.

The first movement was at half-past eight, when our four divisions
received the order to take the advance to the right of the highway.
There were about fifteen or twenty thousand men marching in two
columns, with arms at will, sinking to our knees at every step in the
soft ground. Nobody spoke a word.

Several persons have related that we were jubilant and were all
singing; but it is false. Marching all night without rations, sleeping
in the water, forbidden to light a fire, when preparing for showers of
grape and canister, all this took away any inclination to sing, we were
glad to pull our shoes out of the holes in which they were buried at
every step, and chilled and drenched to our waists by the wet grain,
the h