Reminiscences of General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane

30 REMINISCENCES OF
of Napoleon, and the celebrated Battle of Waterloo. On landing at Ports-
mouth, I found an order for me to take the command of twelve regiments
and proceed to Paris, and place myself under the command of the Duke of
Wellington. Shortly after my arrival in Paris, his Grace directed me to
have these regiments drawn up in order, that he might review them.
They were accordingly formed into two lines of nearly 5000 men each.
And when his Grace looked down these lines, he exclaimed, ' Had I had
these men at Waterloo, I should not have wanted the assistance of Prus-
sians.' The regiments under my command consisted of his oldest and
best troops. I continued with the army of occupation during the three
years it remained in France. During that period we were frequently
reviewed by the allied sovereigns. At the end of the year 1818, the
army returned to England. In 1820, I was appointed to the command
of the Southern District of Ireland, where I continued till the follow-
ing year, when I was appointed Governor of New South Wales, and
administered the government of that important colony for upwards of
four years."
The following memoranda will be accepted as interesting reminiscences
of Sir Thomas's personal intercourse with the great Duke, noted down at
uncertain intervals, as memory served. They relate mostly to the period
when both were with the army of occupation at Paris, after the treaty of
Vienna, 1815.
" Here I may remark that no commander of ancient or modern times
had such a power of instilling confidence into his troops as the Duke of
Wellington. When we were marching into action, no individual, from
the general down to the drummer, ever entertained any other impression
than that we were marching to victory.
" I heard the Duke at his own table in Paris ask, ' What is the differ-
ence between Soult and me ? A general pause ensued, when his Grace said,
' I will tell you the difference. I often bring my army into an infernal
scrape, but it always gets me out of it. Soult often did the same for his
army, and then he was left by it.'
" As a proof of the Duke's most excellent memory, while I was in his