Page:Reminisences of Captain Gronow.djvu/123

This page has been validated.
General Byng.
105

services of those I have particularized should not be forgotten by one of their companions in arms.


Byng with his Brigade at Waterloo.—No individual officer more distinguished himself than did General Byng at the battle of Waterloo. In the early part of the day he was seen at Huguemont leading his men in the thick of the fight; later he was with the battalion in square, where his presence animated to the utmost enthusiasm both officers and men. It is difficult to imagine how this courageous man passed through such innumerable dangers from shot and shell without receiving a single wound. I must also mention some other instances of courage and devotion in officers belonging to this brigade; for instance, it was Colonel Macdonell, a man of colossal stature, with Hesketh, Bowes, Tom Sowerby, and Hugh Seymour, who commanded from the inside the château of Huguemont. When the French had taken possession of the orchard, they made a rush at the principal door of the château, which had been turned into a fortress. Macdonell and the above officers placed themselves, accompanied by some of their men,