The ravine was there，unexpected，yawning，directly under the horses'feet，two fathoms deep between its double slopes；the second file pushed the first into it，and the third pushed on the second；the horses reared and fell backward，landed on their haunches，slid down，all four feet in the air，crushing and overwhelming the riders；and there being no means of retreat，——the whole column being no longer anything more than a projectile，——the force which had been acquired to crush the English crushed the French；the inexorable ravine could only yield when filled；horses and riders rolled there pell-mell，grinding each other，forming but one mass of flesh in this gulf：
when this trench was full of living men，the rest marched over them and passed on.Almost a third of Dubois's brigade fell into that abyss.
This began the loss of the battle.
A local tradition，which evidently exaggerates matters，says that two thousand horses and fifteen hundred men were buried in the hollow road of Ohain.
This figure probably comprises all the other corpses which were flung into this ravine the day after the combat.
Let us note in passing that it was Dubois's sorely tried brigade which，an hour previously，making a charge to one side，had captured the flag of the Lunenburg battalion.
Napoleon，before giving the order for this charge of Milhaud's cuirassiers，had scrutinized the ground，but had not been able to see that hollow road，which did not even form a wrinkle on the surface of the plateau.
Warned，nevertheless，and put on the alert by the little white chapel which marks its angle of junction with the Nivelles highway，he had probably put a question as to the possibility of an obstacle，to the guide Lacoste.
The guide had answered No.We might almost affirm that Napoleon's catastrophe originated in that sign of a peasant's head.
Other fatalities were destined to arise.
Was it possible that Napoleon should have won that battle？We answer No.Why？
Because of Wellington？
Because of Blucher？No.Because of God.
Bonaparte victor at Waterloo；that does not come within the law of the nineteenth century.
Another series of facts was in preparation，in which there was no longer any room for Napoleon.
The ill will of events had declared itself long before.
It was time that this vast man should fall.
The excessive weight of this man in human destiny disturbed the balance.This individual alone counted for more than a universal group.These plethoras of all human vitality concentrated in a single head；the world mounting to the brain of one man，——this would be mortal to civilization were it to last.
The moment had arrived for the incorruptible and supreme equity to alter its plan.
Probably the principles and the elements，on which the regular gravitations of the moral，as of the material，world depend，had complained.Smoking blood，over-filled cemeteries，mothers in tears，——these are formidable pleaders.
When the earth is suffering from too heavy a burden，there are mysterious groanings of the shades，to which the abyss lends an ear.
Napoleon had been denounced in the infinite and his fall had been decided on.
He embarrassed God.
Waterloo is not a battle；it is a change of front on the part of the Universe.
BOOK FIRST.-WATERLOO
Ⅹ THE PLATEAU OF MONT-SAINT-JEAN
The battery was unmasked at the same moment with the ravine.
Sixty cannons and the thirteen squares darted lightning point-blank on the cuirassiers.
The intrepid General Delort made the military salute to the English battery.
The whole of the flying artillery of the English had re-entered the squares at a gallop.
The cuirassiers had not had even the time for a halt.
The disaster of the hollow road had decimated，but not discouraged them.
They belonged to that class of men who，when diminished in number，increase in courage.
Wathier's column alone had suffered in the disaster；Delort's column，which Ney had deflected to the left，as though he had a presentiment of an ambush，had arrived whole.
The cuirassiers hurled themselves on the English squares.
At full speed，with bridles loose，swords in their teeth pistols in fist，——such was the attack.
There are moments in battles in which the soul hardens the man until the soldier is changed into a statue，and when all this flesh turns into granite.
The English battalions，desperately assaulted，did not stir.
Then it was terrible.
All the faces of the English squares were attacked at once.A frenzied whirl enveloped them.
That cold infantry remained impassive.The first rank knelt and received the cuirassiers on their bayonets，the second ranks shot them down；behind the second rank the cannoneers charged their guns，the front of the square parted，permitted the passage of an eruption of grape-shot，and closed again.
The cuirassiers replied by crushing them.
Their great horses reared，strode across the ranks，leaped over the bayonets and fell，gigantic，in the midst of these four living wells.
The cannon-balls ploughed furrows in these cuirassiers；the cuirassiers made breaches in the squares.Files of men disappeared，ground to dust under the horses.
The bayonets plunged into the bellies of these centaurs；hence a hideousness of wounds which has probably never been seen anywhere else.
The squares，wasted by this mad cavalry，closed up their ranks without flinching.Inexhaustible in the matter of grape-shot，they created explosions in their assailants'midst.
The form of this combat was monstrous.These squares were no longer battalions，they were craters；those cuirassiers were no longer cavalry，they were a tempest.Each square was a volcano attacked by a cloud；lava contended with lightning.
The square on the extreme right，the most exposed of all，being in the air，was almost annihilated at the very first shock.lt was formed of the 75th regiment of Highlanders.
