POLITICAL PERISCOPE. Panorama Office, June 27, 1815. Exit Tyrannus!!! { A noble beginning, to what should have been a Periscope of Periscopes! A man struck with astonishment, is not expected to display his eloquence. The faculties may be lost, as well in contemplation of the past, as in speculation on the future. We are, confessedly, reduced to the simple beginning of long speeches in a certain assembly" Mr. Speaker, I want words to express." -Them agician who could shew us in a glass, as he revolved it in his hand, the events of the moment with the same rapidity as they really occur, would deserve to be placed at the head of his profession. Our last left France under the Second Emperorship of Napoleon the First; our present, finds France under the first Emperorship of Napoleon the Second:-that is to say, if Napoleon the First may have his way. In short, BUONAPARTE HAS ABICATED IN FAVOUR OF HIS SON; which is the very game he intended to play before he set his foot the last time on the soil of the Great Nation. Did he think to cajole the Allies into an acquiescence with his scheme? He did. Does he think now to cajole them? No: but, he could do no better, for the purpose of prolonging the miseries of France; it was the most effectual proceeding in his power. As we observed, Murat, in Italy was UNKINGED, by the advance of Austrian troops and British ships to Naples, his capital (May 11th). He was defeated in his object of revolutionizing Italy: he failed in his attempt to cut his way through the Austrians at Tolentino, May S. Murat arrived at his capital, just in time to escape from it, distinguished under another name, with a British pass, intended for another person. His army capitulated May 21. The populace of Naples rose against his family; and the Austrians were entreated to enter the city before the time agreed on ;-which, to restore order in some degree, they did, at two o'clock in the morning of May 22, during the height of the tumult. Murat escaped to France: his Queen and family are sent under the British flag to Trieste, and very probably from thence, ander Austrian convoy, to the fortress of Gratz. Thus was a principal member of the conspiracy of Elba disposed of. The Aus trians were now at liberty to pour their troops into the South of France. Thus was the last King of the Buonapartean Dynasty dethroned; and there remains only the Master Tyrant himself. With the lightning swiftness, for which he is famous, Buonaparte travelled from Paris, to head his army in the north. He commenced his irruption into the plains of Belgium June 15th, and brought to action the Prussian posts scattered on the Sambre: they retired, of course. His fighting force is from 120, to 130,000 troops. The next day witnessed a very severe action against the Prussians, principally; who resisted most violently; and sustained, as. with its consequences, will be best given in well as inflicted, great loss. But this, the words of the heroes themselves. THE DUKE OF Wellington's Account. Waterloo, June 19, 1815. MY LORD, Buonaparte having collected the 1st, 2d, Sd, 4th, and 6th corps of the French army and the Imperial Guards, and nearly all the cavalry on the Sambre, and between that river and the Meuse, between the 10th and 14th of the month, advanced on the 15th, and attacked the Prussian posts at Thuin and Lobez, on the Sambre, at daylight in the morning.—I did not hear of these events till the evening of the 15th, and I im mediately ordered the troops to prepare to march, and afterwards to march to the left, as soon as I had intelligence from other quarters to prove that the enemy's moveThe enemy drove the Prussian posts from ment upon Charleroi was the real attack.the Sambre on that day; and Gen. Zieten, who commanded the corps which had been at Charleroi, retired upon Fleurus; and Marshal Prince Blucher concentrated the villages in front of his position of St. the Prussian army upon Sombref, holding Amand and Ligny. The enemy conti nued his march along the road from Charleroi towards Brussels, and on the of the army of the Netherlands, under the same evening, the 15th, attacked a brigade Prince de Weimar, posted at Frasne, and forced it back to the farm-house on the Prince of Orange immediately reinforced same road, called Les Quatre Bras.-The this brigade with another of the same division, under General Perponcher, and in the morning early regained part of the ground which had been lost, so as to have the command of the communication leading from Nivelles and Brussels, with Mar chal Blucher's position. In the mean time I had directed the whole army to march [678 pursue Marshal Blucher. On the contrary, o'clock. The enemy made no effort to morning, found all quiet, and the enemy's a patrole which I sent to Sombref in the Neither did he attempt to molest our videttes fell back as the patroles advanced. middle of the day, except by following, march to the rear, although made in the with a large body of cavalry, brought from his right, the cavalry under the Earl of Uxbridge. This gave Lord Uxbridge an opportunity of charging them with the 1st Life Guards, upon their debouche from the village of Genappe, upon which occasion his Lordship has declared himself to be well satisfied with that regiment. of Waterloo, crossd the high roads from The position which I took up in front Charleroi and Nivelle, and its right thrown back to a ravine near Merke Briane, tended to a height above the hamlet Ter which was occupied; and its left exla Haye, which was likewise occupied.— In front of the right centre and near the Nivelle road, we occupied the house and garden of Hougoumont, which covered the return of that fank; and in front of the left Sainte. centre, we occupied the farm of La Haye upon Les Quatre Bras, and the 5th divi- Iterloo the next morning, the 17th, at ten sion under Lieut. Gen. Sir T. Picton, arrived at about half-past two in the day, followed by the corps of troops under the Duke of Brunswick, and afterwards by the contingent of Nassau. the enemy commenced an attack upon At this time Prince Blucher with his whole force, excepting the 1st and 2d corps, and a corps of cavalry under General Kellermann, with which he attacked our posts at Les Quatre Bras. The Prussian army maintained their position with their usual gallantry and perseverance, against a great disparity of numbers, as the 4th corps of their army, under General Bulow, had not joined, and I was not able to assist them as I wished, as I was attacked myself; and the troops, the cavalry in particular, which had a long distance to march had not arrived.-We maintained our position also, and completely defeated and repulsed all the enemy's attempts to get possession of it. The enemy repeatedly attacked us with a large body of infantry and cavalry, supported by a numerous and powerful artillery; he made several charges with the cavalry upon our infantry, but all were repulsed in the steadiest manner. bis Royal Highness the Prince of Orange, In this affair the Duke of Brunswick, and Lieut. Gen. with Marshal Prince Blucher, at Wavre, By our left we communicated Sir T. Picton, and Major General Sir through Ohaim; and the Marshal had James Kempt, and Sir Denis Pack, who promised me that in case we should be were engaged from the commencement of attacked he would support me with one the enemy's attack, highly distinguished or more corps, as might be necessary. The themselves, as well as Lieut. Gen. Charles enemy collected his army, with the excepBaron Alten, Major Gen. Sir C. Halket, tion of the 3d corps, which had been sent Lieutenant Gen. Cooke, and Major Gene- to observe Marshal Blucher, on a range of rals Maitland and Byng, as they succes- heights in our front, in the course of the sively arrived. The troops of the 5th di- night of the 17th and yesterday morning; vision and those of the Brunswick corps and about ten o'clock he commenced a fuwere long and severely engaged, conducted themselves with the utmost gal-I had occupied that post with a detachand rious attack upon our post at Hougoumont. Jantry. I must particularly mention the ment from General Byng's brigade of 28th, 42d, 79th, and 92d regiments, and Guards, which was in position in its rear; the battalion of Hanoverians.-Our loss and it was for some time under 'the comwas great, as your Lordship will perceive mand of Lieut.-Col. Macdonel, and afterby the inclosed return, and I have parti- wards of Colonel Home; and I am happy cularly to regret his Serene Highness the to add that it was maintained throughDuke of Brunswick, who fell, fighting out the day with the utmost gallantry by gallantly at the head of his troops.-Al- these brave troops, notwithstanding the though Marshal Blucher had maintained his repeated efforts of large bodies of the position at Sombref, he still found himself enemy to obtain possession of it. much weakened by the severity of the attack upon the right of our centre was contest in which he had been engaged, accompanied by a very heavy cannonade and as the 4th corps had not arrived, he upon our whole hue, which was destined determined to fall back, and concentrate to support the repeated attacks of cavalry his army upon Wavre; and he marched and infantry occasionally mixed, but somein the night after the action was over.-times separate, which were made upon it.^ This movement of the Marshal's rendered In one of these, the enemy carried the necessary a corresponding one on my part; farm house of La Haye Sain'e, as the de and I retired from the farm of Quatre tachment of the light battaliou of the Bras upon Genappe, and thence upon Wa-legion which occupied it had expended 2A2 This enemy on our position, was defeated.- all its ammunition, and the enemy occupied car who assured me of his intention to follow Your Lordship will observe, that such a desperate action could not be fought, and such advantages could not be gained without great loss; and I am sorry to add, that ours has been immense. In Lieut. Gen. Sir T. Picton, his Majesty has sustained the loss of an officer who has frequently distinguished himself in his service, and he fell gloriously leading his division to a charge with bayonets, by which one of the most serious attacks made by the se and conduct upon this as upon all former occasions." His Grace highly praises the other departments of his army, also: he also applauds the Prussians; and particularly the attack by Gen. Bulow. It was soon felt by the public that this battle was of consequence; but none ventured to give it its real consequence. Finding all was lost, Buonaparte fled to Paris, with the same velocity as he had quitted that city; and he entered his palace! at eleven o'clock at night, on the 21st. Immediately was published the following account of the great battle of the 18th. BATTLE OF MOUNT ST. JOHN. At nine in the morning the rain having somewhat diminished, the 1st corps put-itself in motion and placed itself with the left on the road to Brussels, and opposite the village of Mount St. John, which op posed the centre of the enemy's junction. The second corps leaned its right upon the road to Brussels, and its left upon a small wood within cannon shot of the English army. The cuirassiers were in reserve behind, and the guards in reserve upon the heights. The 6th corps, with the cavalry of General D'Aumont, under the orders of Count Lobau was destined to proceed in rear of our right to oppose a Prussian corps which appeared to have escaped Marshal Grouchy, and to intend to fall upon our right flank, an intention which had been made known to us by our reports, and by a letter from a Prussian General taken by our light troops. The troops were full of ardour. We estimated the force of the English army at 80,000 men. We supposed that a Prussian corps which might be in line towards the right might be 15,000 men. The enemy's force then was upwards of 90,000—our's less numerous. of leading an attack upon the village of Mont St. Jean, from which he expected decisive success: but by a movement of impatience so frequent in our military annals, and which has often been so fatal to us, the cavalry of reserve having perceived a retrograde movement made by the English to shelter themselves from our batteries, from which they had suffered so much, crowned the heights of Mont St. Jean, and charged the infantry. This movement, which made in time, and sup. ported by the reserves, ought to have decided the day, made in an isolated manner, and before affairs on the right were terminated, became fatal. Having no means to countermand it, the enemy shewing several masses of cavalry and infantry, and his two divisions of cuirassiers being engaged, all our cavalry ran At noon, all the preparations being ter- at the same moment to support their comminated, Prince Jerome, commanding a rades. There for three hours numerous division of the 2d corps, and destined to charges were made, which enabled us to form the extreme left of it, bore upon the penetrate several squares, and to take some wood of which the enemy occupied a part. standards of the light infantry, an advanThe cannonade began. The enemy sup- tage out of proportion to the loss which ported with 30 pieces of cannon the troops our cavalry experienced by the grape shot he had sent to keep the wood. We made and musket firing. It was impossible to also on our side dispositions of artillery. At | dispose of our reserves of infantry until we one o'clock Prince Jerome was master of had repulsed the flank attack of the Prusall the wood, and the whole English army sian corps. This attack still was profell behind a curtain. Count d'Erlon then longed, and perpendicularly upon our right attacked the village of Mont St. Jean, and flank. The Emperor sent thither General supported his attack with 80 pieces of can- Duhesme with the young guard and seveBon, which must have occasioned great ral battalions of reserve. The enemy was loss to the English army. All the efforts kept in check, repulsed and fell back-he were upon the Plateau. A brigade of the had exhausted his forces, and we had no1st division of Count d' Erlon took the vil- thing more to fear. It is this moment that lage of Mont St. Jean; a second brigade was indicated for an attack upon the centre of was charged by a corps of English cavalry; the enemy. As the cuirassiers suffered by which occasioned it much loss. A the the grape shot, we sent four battalions of same moment a division of English cavalry the middle guard to protect the cuirassiers, charged the battery of Count d'Erlon by keep the positions, and, if possible, disenits right, and disorganised several pieces;gage and draw back into the plain a part but the cuirassiers of General Milhaud of our cavalry. charged that division, three regiments of Two other battalions were sent to keep which were broken and cut up. themselves en potence upon the extreme It was three in the afternoon. The Em-left of the division, which had manœuvred peror made the guard advance to place it in the plain upon the ground which the 1st corps had occupied at the outset of the battle. This corps was already in advance. The Prussian division, whose movement had been foreseen, then engaged with the light troops of Count Lobau, spreading its force upon our whole right flank. It was expedient, before undertaking anying elsewhere, to wait for the event of that attack. Hence, all the measures of reserve were ready to succour Count Lobau and overwhelm the Prussian corps, when it should have advanced. ..That done, the Emperor had the design upon our flanks, in order not to have any uneasiness on that side-the rest was disposed in reserve apart to occupy the potence in the rear of Mont St. Jean, part upon the plateau in the rear of the field of battle, which formed our reserve position. In this state of affairs the battle was gained; we occupied all the positions which the enemy occupied at the outset of the battle; our cavalry having been too soon and too ill employed, we could no longer hope for decisive success. But Marshal Grouchy, having learned the movements of the Prussian corps marched upon the rear of that corps, which insured us a part of the army. Marshal Grouchy, with the corps on the right, is moving on the Lower Sambre. signal success for next day. After eight | hours fire and charges of infantry and cavalry, all the army saw with joy the battle gained and the field of battle in our power. The loss of the enemy must have been At half-after eight o'clock four battalions very great, if we may judge from the numof the middle guard who had been sent to ber of standards we have taken from them, the platform on the other side of St. John, and from the retrograde movement which in order to support the cuirassiers, being he has made;-ours cannot be calculated greatly annoyed by their fire, endeavoured till after the troops shall have been colto carry the batteries with the bayonet. lected. Previously to the confusion which At the end of the day, a charge directed took place, we had already experienced against their flank by several Euglish a very considerable loss, particularly in squadrons put them in disorder, and our cavalry, so fatally, though so bravely obliged them to recross the Ravine.-engaged. Notwithstanding these immense Several regiments near at hand seeing losses, this brave cavalry constantly kept some troops belonging to the Guard in the position it had taken from the English; confusion, believed it was the old Guard, and only abandoned it when the tumult and in consequence fled in disorder. The and disorder of the field of battle forced it. cry, "all is lost, the Guard is driven back," In the midst of the night, and obstacles was heard on every side The soldiers which encumbered their route, it could pretend even that on many points several not preserve its own organization. ill-disposed persons cried out saune qui peut. However that may be, a complete panic spread itself throughout the whole field of battle, and they threw themselves in the greatest disorder on the line of communication; soldiers, cannoneers, caissoons, all hurry to this point; the old Guard, which was in reserve, was attacked, and completely cut up. corps. The artillery was as usual covered with glory. The carriages belonging to the head quarters remained in their ordinary position; no retrograde movement being judged necessary. In the course of the night they fell into the enemy's hands. Such was the result of the battle of Mout St. Jean, so glorious for the French armies, but, so fatal," [The above Official Account is published in a second edition of the Moniteur of the 21st. It is preceded by an account of the previous actions on the 15th, 16th, aud 17th, which we have not room for, nor is it now of much importance.] In an instant, the whole army was no thing but a mass of confusion: all the soldiers and arms were mixed pel met, and it was utterly impossible to form a single The enemy, who perceived this great confusion, immediately attacked with their cavalry, and increased the disorder, and such was the confusion owing to night The communication of these disasters to coming on, that it was impossible to rally his Legislative Chambers produced various the troops, and point out to them their stormy discussions. Nobody knew to whom error. Thus a battle terminated, a day of to look for advice, or direction: but, the false ntanceuvres rectified, the greatest suc-general will sufficiently manifested itself cess insured for the next day, all was lost by means of a momentary panic! The squadrons placed by the side of the Emperor were disorganized and destroyed by an overwhelming force, and there was nothing left but to follow the torrent. The park of reserve, all the baggage which had repassed the Sambre, in short every thing in the field of battle, remained in the power of the enemy. It was impossible to wait for the troops on our right; every one knows what the bravest army in the world is, when thus mixed and thrown into confusion, and when its organization no longer exists. The Emperor crossed the Sambre at CharJeroi at five o'clock in the morning. Phillippeville and Avesnes have been assigned as the points of re-union. The Prince Jerome, General Morand, and other generals, have there rallied a against committing another army to the BUONAPARTE'S DECLARATION ΤΟ THE "Frenchmen! In commencing war for maintaining the national independence I relied on the union of all efforts, of all wills, and the concurrence of all the national authorities. I had reason to hope for success, and I braved all the declara+ tions of the Powers against me. "Circumstances appear to me changed. I offer myself as a sacrifice to the hatred of the enemies of France. May they prove sincere in their declarations, and have really directed them only against my pow |