Here Maudit recalls one of the many futile attempts of the British cavalry to break the squares:
“At its [the English cavalry] approach, Grenadier Debergues of the 3rd Company of this [the 1st] battalion who had already fought the English in Spain, shouted, ‘Fire! These are the English hussars, I know them!’ The Emperor, who had entered this square, heard the paroles of this grenadier and said to him,
‘Are you afraid, Grenadier?’
‘Certainly not!’ replied Debergues indignantly, ‘When you have a musket, you must defend yourself!’
A few minutes later, the Emperor called over General Petit, our colonel, and said to him, ‘beat the retreat!’"
We cross-over once again to Marechal-de-Camp Petit as he described the withdrawal of the 1er’s squares:
“It was almost night. The Emperor himself gave the order to leave the present position, which was no longer tenable because the squares were outflanked to the right and left. The two squares retired in good order, the 1st Battalion across the fields, the 2nd by the main road. Regular halts were made to maintain order in the faces of the squares and to give time to the skirmishers and those lagging behind to catch up.”