HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1969-06-19, Page 18°
6A► (QDERLCH_SIGNAL-STAR, THURSDAY, JUNE 19,1969 ,
THE DLUE THU$B
BY G. MacLEOD ROSS
Two hundred years ago,'on impassable. When his plan to
May 1, a man was born in manoeuvre the •French,, out of
Dublin who, for nearly the same the south was held up, it was the
number of years, has epitomised young Rothschild in Paris who
SERVICE • and all the best smuggled him funds through the
English characteristics. In a French line. There followed
period when dukes were a dime Talavera. "Never was there such
a dozen, Arthur Wellesley, the a murderous' battle," he
Duke of Wellington, becathe recorded, for he lost 5,000 men,
"The Duke"; "The Iron Duke"; a quarter of, his force,
"The Sepoy General." Of course whereupon . formal,Spanish
he had several other nicknames. 'assistance collapsed. ortunately
The troops referred t him as , their places were taken by their
"Old Hookey," and "Nosey." i n c o m parable "guerrilleros,"
The Spaniards called him who formed the nucleus of a
"Eagle." His chief opponent in new Spanish army.
war; Napoleon, merely said he By the summer of 1810
was a bad general, an opinion he Massena had captured the border
was taught -to reconsider. When .fortresses of Cuida,d Rodrigo and
he died at age 83 he had served Almeida. About" this -time
his country through a Critical Massena became more interested
period as soldier and statesman in his camp companion who,
and it was not surprising that his though dressed . as his A.D.C.,
-funeral was am, ost a pattern for was better known as Madame X.
that accorded Sir Winston` So at Busaco 51,000 British and
Chufehill. His home, Apsley Portugese defeated 65,000
House, at the corner of Hyde Frenchmen, though the next day
Park became generally known Massena forced Wellington's left
as: Number One London. and a race for Lisbon began.,The
Among the many qualities French armies were thus drawn
which set him apart and above into an area which the peasantry
his . peers were imagination; he had selflessly destroyed. On
:could divine what the enemy further still and Junot suddenly
was doing behind the hill. Most found. himself up against
uncommon common sense. A Wellington's eighth wonder of
touch of eccentricity without the world: The Lines of Torres
which no hero is acceptable to Vedras, which he had been
the English people. A humble fortifying secretly for a year.
brand of self-confidence which In . March 1811 Massena
might be ' called optimism -on -a- attacked at Fuentes de Onoro.' •
knife-edge, and which in time of ' "If Boney had been there, we
stress gave him the ability to should have been beat," wrote
think calmly and most Wellington. It was another of his:.
positively. Selflessness too, "close run things." Today a
almost too much, so that in later pillar of Hercules marks the
years any and every conundrum Lines, with the motto "Non
would be referred to him to Ultra"; Thus far and no furter.
Solve. The power of decision; After a victory at Salamanca, ` he
readiness to take responsibility, French were pushed out of
to . act quickly and to stand by Spain at Vittoria. Wellington
the results. then invaded, France and ,had
How was this outstanding seized Bayonne and was near
character developed? It began Toulouse .when news of
with eight years in India with his Napoleon's abdication on April
Regiment in support of the East i2th ended the Peninsular War.
India Company; the most Asked in later years how-to
formative and toughening years , run an army, Wellington replied:
of his life." Though- he is still "There is but one way. To do as
•remembered for t he 1 did. To have a hand of iron." It
"Wellington" boot, which he was in the course of these same
took two years to perfect against soliloquies that Wellington
the- bid ortheIndian mosquito; _ declared: ``here is nothing so
his .victories at Stringapatam stupid as a gallant officer." Su ±t
(1799); against Dhundia . Wagh, an opinion, coming at a period
and his defeat of 50,000 French when soldiers were regarded as
trained- Mahrattas at Assaye, are "cannon fodder," is notable. It
l 1 d b hlater was a precept forgotten in
1914.18 and only half learned
between 1939 and 1945. It is a
dictum which every _ soldier
should hang above his cot. Only
live soldiers are useful soldiers
and to throw . away a life by
foolhardy action brings no
advantage.
Wellington's favorite epithet .
for soldiers: "The scum of the
earth," is usually misapplied, for
he referred ,only, to recruits in
such terms, whilst trained troops
were "such fine fellows." Yet
who but desperate " characters
would have volunteered? Unlike
the French, the British army was
comprised entirely of volunteers.
By August 1814, Wellington
was ambassador in Paris and
spent much time looking to the
future .as usual; surveying the
fortifications between the Low
Countries and France, including,
"many • advantageous positions,"
such as the Brussels -Charleroi
' road where it crossed the ridge -
of Mont Saint-Jean in front of a
village called Waterloo.
At the Congress of Vienna in
January 1815, Wellington was
the . first general to reach the
-.Council table. When, he asked:
"What have you done?"
Metternich replied: "Nothing.
Absolutely nothing!'? Tsar
Alexander then rose and
clapping Wellington on the
shoulder said: "It is for you to
save the world again." It was
clear that everyone now left
everything to Arthur!
Napoleon had escaped from
Elba on March 1, 1815; The
Hundred Days had begun., The
30,000 British troops assembled
round Brussels were already
asking: ,"Where is Nosey?" The
allied invasion of France was to
begin in July, but�by June -it was
all too clear that ',Napoleon
would - make the first strike
against the two armies 'of
and Blucher in the
Netherlands. High jinks in
Brussels were still ,pursued;
racing, cricket, dancing, even the
Duchess of Richmond's famous
ball were all part of a scheme to
give the jittery Belgians
confidence.
When -news—came of fighting -
round Charleroi, it behoved
Wellington to decide whether
this was a genuine thrust or a
feint to distract -him from Mons.
He alerted his army, but refused
on ec y ipse y is
successes in the Peninsular and
finally at.Waterloo.
Elected to Parliament in 1806
and appointed Secretary for
Ireland, he was still not
prevented• from leading an
expedition against the Danes to
assist Portugal in its revolt
against Napoleon. At age 39 he
set off for the Peninsular with
9,000 men; he defeated General
Junot at 'Vimiero and established
the tactics which were soon to
form a winning formula. He
stationed his infantry prone and
in line on- the reverse slope of
the hill, out of the reach of
enemy artillery fire. When the
French advanced in column, the
British infantry were ordered to
withhold their fire until their
enemy was 20 to •30 yards away.
Thus the deep but narrow.
fronted column was opposed by
the thin, red line, two files deep,
which could Jap. the head and
flanks of the column with vastly
superior fire power.
When the government
superseded him • in Portugal by
two senior generals, who failed
to follow up his victory, it was
left to Sir John Moore _ .at
Corunna to enact the forerunner
of Dunkerque against Napoleon
and Soult.
Wellesley sailed for Lisbon
again in 1809, though, he could
only persuade the government to
give, him • 20,000 troops with
which to pin, down the huge
French armies of 200,000 or
more. Only two days after
landing he drove Soult into the
mountains of north Portugal by
a daring crossing of the Douro
river, which Soult believed
•
youR OLD
K LEARN TO
LAUGH
AT youR, MISTAKES,
AND YOULL ALWAYS
NAVE LOTS TO
LAUGH ABOUT.
y • .
,„
Ili
'6,416 -46.r.47N.
HUGILLS
For
BACK -HOE
SERVICE
PHONE 624.7170
BELL
LINES
by
W.W.HA YSOM
your telephone manager
Have you seen this man?
Sure you have _ driving about your town or on the
highways, in a green van with red wheels, with a "Bell
• Canada", insignia on each of the cab doors. You also see him
in your community as he comes to repair your telephone, fix
cable breaks, locate cables for erstwhile diggers, or install new
telephones.
• Don has a record no, not a police record, but a safe
• driving record, fifteen years without accident or
misdemeanour.
In recognition .of this record, hes was presented at a recent
Bell Safety banquet, the safe driving award which he holds in
this picture. Fifteen years without accident is pretty good
when, you spend a great deal of the time operating a motor
vehicle.
We congratulate Don, for the fine job, and we are sure you
do also a So congratulations Don, for a worthwhile and safe
driving performance over the past fifteen years, for which you
can be justly proud. All the best for the next fifteen.
Some homes have a "collision corner". That's an
intersection where speeding bodies collide as they dash to
answer the , family's` only telephone. Why not enjoy the
step -saving the,
of extension phones conveniently placed
where people are. •
The Iron Duke
to uncover -his western flank by
wheeling towards Charleroi until
he had discovered the situation
at Mons. At midnight a delayed
message noted no enemy there.
Napoleon had moved all his
forces on Charleroi. Wellington.
had guessed wrongly by
concentrating , on Quatre Bras.
He was still at the supper table
at the Duchess' ball when news
came that Napoleon was held up
at Quatre Bras and might march
on Brussels. "Napoleon has
humbugged me!"
f..
Marshals: "Wellington is a bad
general. The British are bad
troops and it be a picnic."
Wellington t recalled:, "The
success at Waterloo consisted in
closing the gates of
Hougoumont."
At 1:30 p.m.' Napoleon
hurled 16,000 infantry against
La Haye Sainte farm, where
Wellington's command post
stood under an elm tree. The
situation had become critical.
Suddenly. 16 -year-old John
Edwards sounded the Charge,
It is not ,hard to reconstruct , whereupon the British heavy
the, excited atmosphere in the cavalry launched a thunderbolt
Ballroom amongst those, few against the French infantry,
who knew the news. You can which they destroyed.
hear the dilletantes asking: N By 4 p.m. there was still no
"What do. you intend doing?" as sign of Blucher and the. French
Wellington replies: "We shall not cavalry • were attempting to
stop him at Quatre Bras. I must overwhelm La Haye Sainte, •
fight -here," and his thumbnail defended by British infantry in
passed over the name Waterloo squares, with guns within the
on the reap he heldsquares firing grape. Wellington,
It was 8 a.m. on June 16 mounted on "Copenhagen," was
when he rode out to the battle everywhere, encouraging the
at Quatre Bras, arriving there troops entering the fray, as well
two hours later to find no sign as those being ,, relieved.
of Marshal Ney. So he rode. over "Gentlemen, I thank you,!"
to Ligny to assure Blucher of his Rfding slowly and cooly;
support. Arrived back •at Quatre encouraging his front line, or
Br, he found the French had narrowly escaping capture by "a
driven in his outposts. " very sudden run."
Meanwhile . Blucher was It was 7 p.m. and nearly dark,
committing one of `the great when Napoleon ordered, the
non-events of history; marching Imperial Guard forward to try to
first towards Quatre Bras; then win the day. Wellington was
towards Ligny and finally back back with his Guards. "Stand ups'
to Quatre Bras. Napoleon for his Guards! Make ready!, Fire!',' The
part was declaiming, to his 52nd Regiment under Colborne
attacked the flank of the
Chasseurs and soon .the
horror-stricken cry went up
from the French regiments: "La
Garde recule!" This was the
decisive moment. Wellington had
seen the Prussians at last and had
ordered a general advance down
into the valley. The pursuit was,
taken up p by the Prussian cavalry
which drove the French
remnants to the frontier.
REMEMBER
HELP
Y0U•R
RED
CROSS
O1ILP
"I hope to God I have fought
my last battle. It is a bad thing
to be always fighting."
>k * *
In an age which has begun to
gnaw away at the reputations of.
so many public men, it is
noteworthy that nothing
been unearthed to discredit
place in history to which
contemporaries raised him.
has
the
his
Phone
,2-
•142
DAY
OR
NIGHT °
Agent for 24-hlr.
FILM DEVELOPING
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