eight o'clock
The guards were recalled and prepared to oppose the second column , but their aid was not needed ; the Fifty-second threw themselves upon its flank , the Seventy-first and Ninety-fifth swept its head with their volleys , and as the column broke and retired the Duke of Wellington gave the orders the men had been longing for since the fight began . The squares broke into lines , and the British , cheering wildly , descended the crest . The French retreat became a rout , cavalry and infantry fell upon them , the artillery plied them with their fire , the Prussians poured down upon their flank . By eight o'clock the splendid army of Napoleon was a mass of disorganized fugitives . For ten hours the battle had raged . To the men in the squares it seemed a lifetime . `` When shall we get at them ?