Organization of the Allied army of occupation, under the supreme command of the Duke of Wellington—Return of the remainder to their respective countries—Instructions of the Allied Courts to Wellington—Convention relating to the occupation, attached to the Treaty of Paris—Positions assigned to each contingent on the north-eastern frontier of France—March from Paris to Cambrai—Military precautions—Camps of instruction and field exercises—Reduction of the army of occupation—Difficulties with the French—Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle—Evacuation of France—The Guards Brigade leave Cambrai, after nearly three years' stay there, and embark at Calais—Valedictory Orders—The Coldstream sent to Chatham—Conclusion of military service in French territory.

In consequence of the Treaty of Paris, November 20, 1815, the capital was to be relieved of the unwelcome presence of the invader, and all the troops not required for the occupation of the north-eastern frontier were to evacuate France as soon as possible, and to be sent back to their respective homes. Of the Allied army of occupation, 150,000 strong, Great Britain, Prussia, Austria, and Russia supplied a contingent of 30,000 men each; of the remainder 10,000 were Bavarians, while Denmark, Saxony, Hanover, and Wurtemburg furnished each a force of 5000 men.

By a General Order, dated the 30th of November, the future organization of the British contingent was notified. It was formed of 3 brigades of cavalry (3 regiments each), 3 divisions of infantry, and 60 guns; the cavalry under the command of Lieut.-General Lord Combermere, and the infantry under Lieut.-General Lord Hill. The First Division (Lieut.-General Sir L. Cole) was composed of 3 brigades (8 battalions); the Second Division (Lieut.-General Sir H. Clinton) of 3 brigades (9 battalions); and the Third Division (Lieut.-General Sir C. Colville) of 3 brigades (8 battalions). The 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards, and the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards, who were ordered to remain in France, formed the 1st Brigade of the First Division, under Major-General Sir P. Maitland.^[75] The Duke of Wellington, having in the same General Order provided for the return home of the rest of the army, took leave of the gallant troops now about to be dispersed, in these words:—

The despatch upon which the above arrangements were made was communicated to Wellington by H.R.H. the Duke of York by letter, dated the 9th of November, and is reproduced in an Appendix.^[77]

The Prussian contingent was commanded by Lieut.-General von Ziethen, and consisted of 10 infantry regiments (thirty battalions), 1 battalion of Jägers, 9 regiments of cavalry (thirty-six squadrons), and 80 guns, formed into five brigades of infantry, and three of cavalry.

The Austrian corps, under General Baron von Frimont, contained 22½ battalions, 28½ squadrons, and 96 guns, divided into three divisions of two brigades each.

The Russians, under Lieut.-General Count Woronzow,—24 battalions, 6 regiments of cavalry (thirty-four squadrons), and 84 guns: two infantry divisions (of three brigades each), and the cavalry division (also of three brigades).

Prince Frederick of Hesse commanded the Danish contingent,—5 battalions, 4 squadrons, and 20 guns (two brigades). Major-General Sir J. Lyon (relieved afterwards by Count Alten), the Hanoverians,—6 battalions, 4 squadrons, and 6 guns (two brigades). Lieut.-General Baron de Wöllwarth (replaced afterwards by General Count Scheler), the Wurtemburgers,—6 battalions, 4 squadrons, and 6 guns. Major-General von Gablenz, the Saxons,—5 battalions, 4 squadrons, and 8 guns. And Lieut.-General de la Motte, the Bavarians,—3 regiments of infantry, and 2 of cavalry.^[78]

It had already been agreed by the four great Powers (Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia), on the 22nd of October, that the Allied armies—other than the corps required for the occupation—should evacuate French territory as soon as possible, and Wellington was commissioned to make the necessary arrangements for this purpose. Even before that date, the Russians, having a long way to march home before the winter set in, began to move eastwards; and Blücher intimated, as far back as the 8th of October, that, having been desired to withdraw towards Prussian territory, he was giving orders for the purpose of carrying out the intentions of his Government. The evacuation, however, by the British troops, did not begin till the middle of December, when, marching to Calais, they were shipped over to England with the least delay possible under the supervision of Major-General Sir D. Pack; but adverse winds retarded the operation, and it was only completed on the 4th of February, 1816.

When the Allied Sovereigns placed the supreme command of the army of occupation in the hands of Wellington, they gave him instructions to enable him to carry out the duty with which they entrusted him. On the 20th of November, they dealt with the political situation, by reminding him that the objects for which their troops were stationed in France were: (1) to secure the execution of the treaties concluded with that country, and (2) to protect Europe from French violence, and from internal revolutionary upheavals which were liable to take place among the people. They said their hopes of tranquillity were founded upon the system which they had established in the country, and they attached the greatest importance to the maintenance of a legitimate Sovereign, in the person of Louis XVIII. Until such times, therefore, as the forces of the King were organized, it was to be the duty of the Allied armies, in concert with the French Government, to protect the capital and the Royal family from popular effervescence; with this view the Commander-in-chief was empowered to delay his march from Paris until His Most Christian Majesty should notify to him that his presence in the capital was no longer necessary. The Allied Sovereigns, moreover, did not desire their troops to perform mere police duties, or to interfere in the internal administration of the country; but this did not exempt them from the obligation they were under, to maintain Louis on the throne of France, and “to support him against every revolutionary convulsion which might tend to upset by force the order just established, and to compromise the general tranquillity.” They did not disguise from themselves that it would be a delicate matter to judge when intervention might become necessary, but they announced their entire confidence in the British Commander-in-chief, to whose discretion they left the matter, should it ever arise. In order, however, to enable him to form a correct opinion upon it, they instructed him to take into consideration the views of the diplomatic Agents of the Powers residing in Paris. Finally, the latter were directed to send him, at least once a week, a united and common report, when he was absent from the capital; and they were also to transmit, in their corporate capacity, any communication which he might think it proper to address to the French Government.^[79]

The military situation had been considered at an earlier date (October 22nd), with the following conclusions: Full authority over the Allied army was given to the Commander-in-chief, who was enjoined to consult, as far as he could, the usages which prevailed in each contingent. The troops of each nationality were to be quartered as much as possible together, and on the lines of communications leading to their respective countries; they were to be under the immediate command of their own Generals, and everything relating to the discipline or to the interior economy of the various corps was to be dealt with by their own Officers. General Officers commanding contingents were formally placed under the supreme command of the Duke of Wellington; they were ordered to send their reports to him, and to obey him in all the dispositions which he might deem it his duty to make. Lastly, the French Government were invited to arrange with him, without delay, all matters affecting the occupation and the maintenance of the troops, as well as the “execution of particular conventions to regulate both these objects.”^[80]

Attached to the Treaty of the 20th of November there was a Convention, which was “as valid as if inserted word for word” in the Treaty, and, by Article No. 4,—

(1) The Allied troops were to occupy the Departments of Pas de Calais, Nord, Ardennes, Meuse, Moselle, Lower and Upper Rhine, their line of demarcation being the frontiers of these Departments respectively.

(2) A neutral zone was established between the above-mentioned strip of French territory in foreign occupation, and the remainder of the kingdom, in which neither the French nor the Allies were to maintain any military force, except for some special reason, and then only by mutual agreement. This zone was bounded on the south and west, by the river Somme to Ham, thence in nearly a straight line to Chalons-sur-Marne, whence it continued to a point between Joinville and Chaumont; from that place it took an easterly direction to Blamont, and then ran south to the Swiss frontier near St. Hypolite.

(3) The French were to have power to garrison certain places within the territory to be occupied by the Allies; but the forces to be quartered there were not to exceed the number which was laid down, and only such war matériel and stores as properly belonged to these places were to be kept there, the remainder to be removed into the kingdom west of the neutral zone. Altogether 22,000 men were allowed to garrison these places, the largest number being in the following fortresses, viz. Calais, where the garrison was not to exceed 1000 men; St. Omer, 1500; Arras, 1000; Lille, 3000; Dunkerque, 1000; Douai and Fort Scarpe, 1000; Metz, 3000; Strasburg, 3000; Schelstadt, 1000; Neu Brisach and Fort Mortier, 1000; and Belfort, 1000 men.^[81]

The British contingent was ready to move to its allotted stations by the beginning of the year 1816; but a delay occurred in consequence of the representations made by the Duc de Richelieu, the French Minister of Foreign affairs, who believed that it would be dangerous to leave Paris unguarded until the discussions on the law of Amnesty, which was then being debated, had terminated.^[82] Wellington adds, “From what I have seen and heard likewise of the King’s Guard, I don’t conceive it is as yet a body in which much confidence could be placed, in case there should be any disturbance in this town.”^[83]

These difficulties, however, were speedily overcome; and on the 24th of January, the Commander-in-chief of the army of occupation wrote to the Ambassador of Great Britain and to the Plenipotentiaries of the other Allied Powers, saying that he proposed forthwith to evacuate the capital. These Ministers having agreed, the troops began their march towards the fortresses on the north-eastern frontier of France, which they were to occupy, and, before the end of the month, Paris was left to the King and to the new system that had been established by the Treaty. No disturbances occurred, and Louis was enabled to maintain his authority without the intervention of a foreign force; but Wellington found that it would be expedient to remain a short time longer in the capital, believing that his presence there was “very useful to the Government and to the King, in a variety of ways, and gives confidence to that party which brought back the King.” As he was alone in the capital, and without British troops, Marshal Oudinot sent a detachment of French soldiers to mount guard over his quarters.^[84]

The positions occupied by the Allied contingents were as follows: The British corps had their head-quarters at Cambrai, and were quartered in the Departments of Pas de Calais and Nord, at Cassel, Hazebrouck, Lillers, St. Pol, Bapaume, Cambrai, Valenciennes, etc.; near them, in the Department Nord, the Danes were stationed at Bouchain, the Hanoverians at Condé, and the Saxons at Le Quesnoi. Occupying the eastern portion of the latter Department, as well as nearly the whole of the Ardennes, the Russians placed their head-quarters at Maubeuge, and were quartered in Landrecies, Avesnes, Charlemont, Givet, Réthel, etc. The Prussians were in the Departments of Meuse and Moselle, their head-quarters at Sédan, occupying Mezières, Montmédy, Longwy, Briey, Thionville, Commercy, Bar-le-Duc. The Baravians were close to them and to the Palatinate, at St. Avold, Sarreguemines (head-quarters), and Bische; the Wurtemburgers at Weissemburg and Lauterburg.^[85] The Austrian contingent took possession of the Departments of Upper and Lower Rhine, head-quarters at Colmar, and the principal garrisons were at Hagenau, Molsheim, Bischweiler, Mulhausen, and Altkirch.^[86]

The Coldstream Guards were the last troops to leave Paris. On the 26th of January all the public duties in the capital were found by the Battalion,^[87] and the 4th and 5th companies, under Lieutenant-Colonel MacKinnon, were ordered to relieve the 23rd Regiment at Montmartre. Next day, the Guards Brigade with Captain Sinclair’s brigade (field battery) of Artillery and the Sappers and Miners attached to the First Division, marched off from the barrière de Villette; the Grenadier Guards and the Sappers and Miners to Louvres, the Coldstream and the Artillery to Gonesse. The public duties were collected by Lieut.-Colonel Dawkins at the barrière des Martyrs, where they were joined by Lieut.-Colonel MacKinnon’s detachment, and the whole followed to Gonesse after the rest of the troops had left Paris. The march was continued to Cambrai in detachments, the Battalion being billeted at each halt in several villages,^[88] and the route taken was by Senlis and Peronne to Cambrai, which was reached by the head-quarters, together with the Grenadier and the 1st companies, on the 6th of February.

The 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards and the two companies of the Coldstream just mentioned, formed the garrison of Cambrai, while the remainder of the latter Battalion occupied the following villages:—2nd company, Villers Ploich; 3rd and 4th companies, under Lieut.-Colonel MacKinnon, Marcoing; 5th company, Banteau and Bantouzelle; 6th and 7th companies, Gouzecourt; 8th and the Light-infantry companies, Villers Glishain, under Lieut.-Colonel Dawkins, who had orders “to detach an Officer’s party to Honnecourt, if he deemed it desirable;” Lieut.-Colonel Macdonell was quartered at Gonnelieu, and took command of the 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 7th companies.^[89]

Though peace had been concluded, the foreign contingents were kept ready for active service, and the fortresses were held closely guarded, as if an enemy were in the field. Thus at Cambrai, the gates of the town were carefully locked under the superintendence of an Officer of the main guard, and were kept closed from sunset to dawn; no one was allowed to enter at such times, except under peculiar circumstances, (and then only when the main guard was turned out). Patrols were sent out constantly at uncertain hours; Non-commissioned officers and men were not permitted to leave their quarters after dark, without a pass; sentries were relieved hourly, both by day and by night; and even the Field-Officer of the day was not admitted into the Citadel by night, and the Officer of the guard there had to communicate with him from the ramparts.^[90]

The occupation of French territory lasted three years, until November, 1818, and during the whole of this time, the British troops were kept actively employed on their military duties. It was a period in which the efficiency of the army was maintained at a high standard. The Coldstream were continually exercised in route marching, in drill, in musketry,^[91] and, the Officers and selected Non-commissioned officers and men, in sword exercise. Every detail of interior economy was carefully attended to, under the company Officers, who were held responsible to the Commanding Officer for the arms and accoutrements, for the men’s regimental necessaries, for the cleanliness and good order of the barrack rooms, and for the regular closing of the accounts, which at the time was done on the 24th of each month.^[92] In the summer as many of the troops as could be spared from fortress duty were encamped wherever open spaces were available, the Guards Brigade upon the glacis of Cambrai, for the purpose of carrying out the Field exercises then practised by the army. The Duke of Wellington paid minute attention to the drill of the contingent, and issued repeated orders on the movements in which he desired the regiments to perfect themselves.^[93]

Reviews on a larger scale took place in the autumn of each year, in the neighbourhood of Denain. In October, 1816, the English, Danish, Saxon, and Hanoverian contingents were assembled, 36,000 men and 84 guns strong (of which nearly 26,000 men and 60 guns were furnished by the British army); a detailed programme of the operations to be performed was prepared, a feigned enemy was told off, and the whole concluded by a march past, according to the accustomed forms of the different corps present.^[94]

Their Royal Highnesses the Duke of Kent and the Duke of Cambridge were present on this occasion, and were received by Guards of Honour furnished by the Coldstream Guards. Similar manœuvres took place in the middle of October next year, near Bouchain, at which the King of Prussia and the Prince of Orange assisted, and again the same thing was repeated in September, 1818. Finally, another military display was given on the 23rd of October, 1818, just before France was evacuated by the Allies, near Villers-en-Couchies, in the presence of the Emperor of Russia and of the King of Prussia; 51,000 men and 168 guns were then brought together, of which 23,000 and 84 guns were Russians, 19,000 and 60 guns British, 3000 and 10 guns Danish, 3000 and 8 guns Saxons, and 3000 and 6 guns Hanoverians.^[95] The enemy was represented by a detachment of Cossacks and of Russian infantry and artillery, and by the British cavalry, three companies of Sappers and Miners, and three brigades of artillery; the latter under Lieut.-Colonel Sir G. Scovell, and the whole under the general direction of Major-General Narishkin.

The movements to be executed were all published beforehand, and the operations ended by a march past.^[96]

Soon after the British contingent reached its quarters in the Departments of Pas de Calais and Nord, a reduction was effected in its strength by three regiments of cavalry,^[97] by drafts of men entitled to their discharge or unfit for service, and by 400 men from the Guards Brigade (200 from each Battalion, so as to bring them to 1000 instead of 1200 men per Battalion). By this means, taking into account some 800 recruits who joined the contingent, the latter amounted to a little more than 29,000 Officers and men in the beginning of May, 1816.^[98]

There were found to be some 60 men unfit for service in the 2nd Coldstream Guards about this time, and the 200 were made up by selecting 15 of the most unserviceable men per company (or 150 from the Battalion). Captain Shirley, and Lieutenants FitzClarence and Douglas, proceeded to England in charge of this party (April 23rd), which, together with that belonging to the 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards, was placed under the command of Lieut.-Colonel D. MacKinnon, Coldstream Guards.

In the course of the year, the Duc de Richelieu endeavoured to secure from the Allies a more solid and more general reduction of the army of occupation, in order to lessen the financial strain that burdened France, at a moment when she was oppressed by debt and afflicted by a bad harvest. He hoped thereby to render the King more popular. But he experienced considerable reluctance on the part of the British Government and of Wellington to agree to any such proposition, until the Chambers had proved by their acts that they were prepared to support the rule of Louis XVIII., and so “dissipate all reasonable apprehension as to the fulfilment of the late Treaty.”^[99] The Duke, indeed, was at first much opposed to it, and wrote strongly against it from Cambrai even as late as December, 1816, being of opinion that any real reduction of the Allied forces would tend to excite the French malcontents, and do harm to the Royal cause and to good government, and that “we ought to reduce only gradually and in proportion to our casualties.”^[100] A little later, however, being in Paris (January 9th), he modified his opinion on account of the successful negotiation of a French loan in London, which might “recall to the recollection of public men in France the obligations they owe to the Allied Sovereigns, and again reconcile them to measures which France herself, and not foreign Powers, rendered necessary.”^[101] Under these circumstances, he proposed a reduction of 30,000 men (or one-fifth from each contingent), to be made on the 1st of April, 1817, and to be announced “in the manner most likely to produce a favourable effect on the public mind,” as soon as the budget passed and the measures for ensuring the loan were definitely adopted.^[102] These proposals were accepted by the Allies, and were embodied in an official note, which was presented to the French Government on the 10th of February, 1817.^[103]

In pursuance of these arrangements, six battalions returned to England, proceeding there by Calais, to which were added detachments of 200 men from each of the Guards Battalions, or about 6000 men in all. The staffs, moreover, of the Third Division (Sir C. Colville) and of two brigades (Sir R. O'Callaghan and Sir J. Keane) were broken up.^[104]

In June, 1818, Sir P. Maitland having been sent to Upper Canada as Lieut.-Governor of that province, Major-General Sir J. Lambert was appointed to the Guards Brigade at Cambrai; but as he was on leave, Colonel Woodford, Coldstream Guards, remained in temporary command until August. In June, also, Major-General Sir R. O'Callaghan replaced Sir J. Lambert as Brigadier of the 7th Brigade, and Sir C. Colville assumed command of the Second Division, vice Sir H. Clinton.

The Band of the Grenadier Guards had been sent for a few months to Paris, during the autumn of 1815, and left London on the 1st of September, proceeding by Brighton to Dieppe. Next year, the Coldstream Band went to Cambrai, on the 10th of June, by Dover and Calais, and remained there till the following October.^[105]

The health of the troops in France, during the three and a half years succeeding Waterloo, seems to have been satisfactory. By a return, dated Paris, July 15, 1816, it appears that the number of sick amounted to 1060 men in the whole British contingent, of which only 43 belonged to the Coldstream, out of a total strength of 1104 Officers and men belonging to the Battalion at that time.^[106] The principal cause of illness arose from the prevalence of ophthalmia, which, beginning in Paris in the winter of 1815, continued to affect the men until they left the country in 1818. Numerous orders were issued to prevent the spread of this evil.

Two Officers belonging to the Regiment died in France during this period, viz. Lieutenant J. Buller, in Paris, in January, 1816, and Lieutenant A. Gordon, killed in a duel with a French Officer, at Cambrai, in April, 1818.

There were not many incidents of any great importance to mark the occupation of French fortresses by European contingents. France, deprived of her incomparable military Chief, destitute of popular leaders, and exhausted by the wars that drained her resources during the past twenty-five years, settled gradually down, and accepted, though very reluctantly, the government which the Allied Powers had imposed upon her. The alien force did the work which had been contemplated; for, keeping the people under control, and repressing all revolutionary ebullitions, while Louis was consolidating his rule, the occupation did not come to an end until he had established his power in the country. Subsequent events have proved that the settlement thus effected by the will of Europe was not a permanent arrangement; France never consented to it, and we now know that it was overthrown within the brief space of fifteen years.^[107] But when the Allied forces finally returned to their homes, and left the conquered people to their own resources, the Bourbon régime seemed, at all events outwardly, to be restored, and the new authority to be unquestioned.

The British troops conformed in every respect to the laws of the country, and to the various and frequently vexatious police regulations that prevailed at the time.^[108] They conducted themselves peaceably in their various cantonments, and contrived to get on well with the population. So generally quiet was the state of affairs, that a liberal allowance of leave could be granted to the Officers of the contingent, soon after their arrival in the north of France.^[109] The same relations existed between the inhabitants and the troops of the other Powers.^[110] But, nevertheless, the occupation raised many controversies,—easily to be accounted for by the temper which the people were ready to display towards the invader, after a crushing military defeat. Irregularities committed by the troops, when they took place, were rectified without delay, and measures were adopted to prevent their recurrence; in this respect, at least, the French had nothing to complain of. On the other hand, there were repeated difficulties with the civil officials of the country, and with the turbulence that moved many of the inhabitants to be disorderly. The French Préfets and Maires too often refused to discharge their functions, the magistrates to convict on the clearest evidence, and the police to repress riots when the natives were found to be engaged in disputes with the foreign troops. Wellington continually protested strongly on this subject to the King’s Government, and assured the Ministers that, unless the local authorities did their duty, the troops would be provoked to retaliate and revenge the injuries they had too often to put up with.^[111] The irritation felt by a certain portion of the population against the foreign contingents, led to constant brawls, which became a source of danger when they occasioned the people to assemble tumultuously. The danger of frequent collisions was increased by the habit, then adopted by the British Officers, of using their fists for their personal protection, when drawn into scuffles with the natives in the streets. To stop this, the Duke insisted that all Officers should wear “their side-arms ... whenever they appeared out of their quarters or tents, except when hunting or shooting.”^[112]

A grave incident occurred at Cambrai, where a riot took place in June, 1816; hearing which, Wellington wrote to Sir. P. Maitland, then in command of that fortress, as follows:—

The questions that arose out of the peculiar conditions in which the occupied districts were placed, caused difficulties, which differed in certain respects from those arising out of other military occupations. In 1871, for instance, after the peace of Versailles, Germany occupied some French provinces; and, in this case, the conquering armies had only to deal with the inhabitants—there were no hostile troops in their vicinity. But, in 1816, the Allies were placed in another position, and French soldiers were in their neighbourhood. Europe, moreover, had caused a revolution in France, and had to support the new government, until its power was established. The army of occupation, therefore, was not only exacting redress from the vanquished nation, according to treaty, but it was also in close alliance with the Government of the latter. Hence it was not unnatural that some delicate points should be raised, embarrassing to the French Ministers, who, while they posed as patriotic Frenchmen, had much to fear from the Imperialists and other malcontents that roamed over the country. A question arose in the Prussian districts, regarding the disbanded troops of Napoleon’s armies, which is perhaps best explained by quoting an extract from a letter addressed by the Commander-in-chief to General Ziethen, dated February 15, 1816:—

Owing to the arrangement sanctioned by the Convention of the 20th of November, 1815, attached to the Treaty of the same date, by which the French were allowed to maintain garrisons in certain specified places in the Departments under foreign occupation, further complications arose, which increased the tension between the King’s Government and the Allied forces. While manœuvres were going on in the summer of 1816, the Governor of St. Omer raised a note of alarm, on seeing British troops in the vicinity of the fortress; and the excitement became such, that Wellington was obliged to write to the Duc de Feltre (the War Minister), a letter of strong remonstrance, in which, having first defended himself against a ridiculous charge that he intended to seize a French fort, he declared that the occupation was a measure calculated to secure the peace of Europe and the consolidation of the Royal power, that the foreign contingents were the allies of the King, and that he would not suffer his soldiers to be disarmed when they had occasion to march through a French garrison.^[115]

The passage of troops through fortified places had an unfortunate result at Cambrai; for, on the 10th of May, 1818, when a French detachment marched through the town from Paris to Douai, a riot ensued, in which three or four men of the Coldstream were injured. The British garrison behaved well in the emergency, and the following order was published by Colonel Woodford, then in command:—

The Allied forces were now soon to quit French territory. It had been stipulated by treaty that the occupation was to last five years, but it was also expressly stated that it might terminate in three, and all parties by this time wished to bring it to a conclusion as soon as possible. The French naturally pined for emancipation; and the words of the Duc de Richelieu, delivered in the Chambers, that “every heart throbbed at the thought of seeing on the soil of the country, no other banner but that of France,” found a responsive echo throughout the length and breadth of the land, and awoke a passionate longing for freedom in the minds of the people, which was very difficult to resist. Wellington, also, was disposed to assist them. The Government of the King had been showing increased hostility to the foreign contingents, who were becoming daily more hateful in the eyes of the French nation. He expressed himself clearly on this subject to Lord Bathurst, on the 8th of March, 1818:—

It was apparent to all that this condition of tension must come to an end; and, though there was no certainty that the King could maintain himself on the throne without foreign support, yet it was evident that the cure for the evils to be dreaded, was liable to become a greater misfortune to Europe, than the apprehension itself. The French, moreover, had made great efforts to discharge their financial obligations to the Allies; and in these efforts they were successful, aided by the Duke of Wellington, who, upon the proposal of the Emperor of Russia, was appointed president of the diplomatic and finance committee charged with the regulation of these liabilities.^[118] Added to this, the fortifications of the Netherlands frontier were by this time nearly completed, and as this was done to form a barrier against France, the moment had arrived when the country could be delivered from the burden that oppressed it, as well as from the cause which produced so much irritation.

In the autumn, therefore, of 1818, a Congress was convened at Aix-la-Chapelle, for the purpose of determining the question;^[119] and an agreement was made, on the 1st of October, by which the foreign forces were to leave the soil of France on or before the 30th of November. To this compact was added an invitation to His Most Christian Majesty to join the four Great European Powers, and to take part in their deliberations, present or future, for the maintenance of peace, and for the mutual guarantee of the rights of nations. The conference, however, did not end there; for a secret convention was also signed, by the four Powers only, stipulating that, in case France should resume her revolutionary ways, and again threaten the tranquillity of the civilized world, British, Prussian, Austrian, and Russian corps d’armées were to assemble forthwith at Brussels, Cologne, Stuttgart, and Mainz respectively, for the suppression of these disorders.^[120]

Wellington took early measures to effect the evacuation by the army of occupation, and hastened the operation with all possible despatch. General von Frimont reported (October 23rd) that the Austrian contingent would send the first column across the Rhine on the 1st of November, and that the whole corps would quit French territory on the 11th. The Prussians moved off early in the month, and were directed upon Cologne, Bonn, and Coblentz. The Russians marched in two columns immediately after the review, which had taken place near Villers-en-Couchies on the 23rd of October, the first through the Netherlands, the other following the Prussians to the Rhine at Mannheim. After this latter column, came the Saxons, who left Le Quesnoi on the 7th and 9th, and moved to Forbach. The Bavarians began to evacuate their cantonments on the 12th; while the Hanoverians and the Danes marched northwards, through the Netherlands, the former between the 4th and the 9th, and the latter between the 12th and the 19th. The British troops, who were placed under canvas during their march, were sent to Calais immediately after the review just mentioned, where they were embarked under the orders of Major-General Sir M. Power. The embarkation began on the 29th of October. As soon as the fortresses were permanently evacuated by the Allies, the French, who had been specially authorized to enter the occupied Departments for the purpose, marched into them without delay, and, hoisting the white flag, under a Royal salute, once more took possession of their own territory, amidst the universal enthusiasm and joy of the military and of the inhabitants. The British stores, which could not be conveyed to Calais, were shipped at Valenciennes, and were taken by water to Antwerp; a portion were sold to the King of the Netherlands.^[121]

The progress of the evacuation being sufficiently advanced, the Field-Marshal commanding the Allied forces, issued, on the 10th of November, a valedictory address, and on the same day similar orders were communicated to the British army. Later, on the 1st of December, a letter from H.R.H. the Commander-in-Chief was published, conveying to the British contingent the thanks of the Prince Regent “for the discipline and good order which have been so successfully maintained, to the honour of the British arms, during the period it has been stationed in France.”^[122]

On the 6th of November, a letter was received from the Préfet of the Department of Nord, recording his gratitude and that of his subordinates, for the rigid discipline which prevailed in the army of occupation, “to which has been due the harmony which existed between the troops and the inhabitants.” He added that he felt a real satisfaction in testifying to the excellent conduct of the British corps, and to the zeal with which all the Officers carried out the views of the Duke, to alleviate as much as possible the burden of the occupation.^[123]

The Guards Brigade did not leave France with the rest of the British army, but remained at head-quarters at Cambrai, with the Chief of the Staff, Lieut.-General Sir G. Murray (the Duke being obliged to return to Aix-la-Chapelle after the review of the 23rd of October), until the morning of the 18th of November; when, evacuating the fortress, they moved, at eleven o’clock, to Cantin. The march of the Coldstream was made in six columns, four being composed of two companies; and was continued to Calais, the port of embarkation, avoiding as much as possible all large towns and centres of French patriotism. Marching by Lillers, Racquingham, and Louches, the Brigade reached Calais on the 23rd, and immediately embarked for Dover. On this date Sir J. Lambert published the following order of farewell to the Guards, who had completed their service in France:—