Les Misérables Volume 2, Chapter 6 Summary

Summary

The chapter gives a detailed military picture of the battle around four o’clock in the afternoon, focusing on the state of the English army and the defensive importance of the centre on the plateau of Mont-Saint-Jean. Commanders are named: the Prince of Orange leads the centre, Hill the right wing, and Picton the left (Picton has just been killed). Wellington’s two main strongpoints, Hougomont and La Haie-Sainte, are compromised—Hougomont is burning and La Haie-Sainte has been taken with near-total loss among its defenders. Numerous English units and leaders have been cut down, with devastating cavalry losses and the annihilation of some divisions.

Harrowing specifics emphasize the cost: regiments shattered, flags lost, officers slain, and individual acts of violence (a drummer-boy killing a famed English sergeant). Wellington concentrates on holding the centre: he reinforces the plateau with brigades and divisions drawn from the wings and with allied contingents (Brunswick, Nassau, Hanoverians, and various German battalions), arranges an improvised battery masked by earth and sandbags, and positions Somerset’s Dragoon Guards behind a rise. The chapter describes the terrain—the stout sixteenth-century house at the road intersection, hedges cut for embrasures, concealed sharpshooters in tall wheat—and explains why the forest and ponds nearby make retreat perilous.

As shells and musketry drive many regiments down the slope and into the hollows, the English front visibly draws back toward the bottom and the road behind Mont-Saint-Jean; Wellington, though grave, remains composed on horseback. The moment culminates when the English line withdraws its main forces to the reverse slope, leaving guns and skirmishers forward; Napoleon exclaims that retreat has begun, marking a tense turning point in the day’s operations.

Key events

1. Picton is killed and the English left suffers severe losses.
2. Hougomont is on fire and La Haie-Sainte has been captured with heavy casualties.
3. Wellington concentrates forces on the Mont-Saint-Jean plateau and fortifies hedges, shrubs, and a makeshift battery.
4. Allied and German battalions (Brunswick, Nassau, Hanoverians, etc.) join to reinforce the centre.
5. Somerset’s Dragoon Guards remain the last major English cavalry force after Ponsonby falls.
6. Under heavy fire many English regiments fall back to the reverse slope; Napoleon declares the retreat begun.

Analysis

This chapter functions as a close, almost journalistic military snapshot that anchors the novel in the historical reality of Waterloo. By shifting to detailed troop movements, losses, and terrain, Hugo compresses the chaos and human cost of battle into concrete images (a burning farm, a sixteenth-century house, embrasured hedges, wheat concealing skirmishers). The clinical enumeration of killed officers, broken regiments, and improvised field works emphasizes themes of human vulnerability, the brutality of war, and the fragile improvisations that determine survival. Wellington’s calm, compact figure—impassive on horseback amid falling bullets—provides a counterpoint to the carnage and underscores leadership as composed duty, while Napoleon’s single exclamation registers the psychological stakes: the appearance of retreat is as momentous as an actual rout.

Narratively, the chapter widens the novel’s scope: Hugo momentarily leaves individual protagonists to present a panoramic military tableau, which reinforces the historical frame for the personal stories that intersect with the battle later. The precise attention to topography and makeshift defenses also foreshadows how small features and human decisions will shape outcomes; the masked battery, the hedgerows, and the concealment in wheat are symbolic of improvisation and the thin line between order and collapse. The technique—dense, descriptive reportage mixed with named vignettes of loss—creates both credibility and emotional weight without focusing on any single character from the novel’s main cast.

Important quotes

“Nassau! Brunswick! Never retreat!”

Prince of OrangeA command shouted to rally the Hollando-Belgian troops and show the desperate resolve at the centre.

“To do like me," replied Wellington.”

WellingtonWellington's laconic answer to an aide's question about orders if he were killed, showing his steady leadership.

“The beginning of retreat!" cried Napoleon.”

NapoleonNapoleon exclaims when he sees the English line drawing back toward the reverse slope, interpreting it as the start of a retreat.