The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-09-10 00:00:00

THE BATTLE OF SEDAN.

We (Pedj ?tan Gazette) have received from our cor-
: respendent at the German headquarters the following
at count of Thursday'm battle, of which he Was an eye-
witness :-
.
CilEvEree, Selig awn,. g, dam, Sept. 2.
Raving witnesied the greet battle of yesterday. which In
all prohebility is the latt of the war, from a hill above the
village of Chefteste,e, from which I Itrite to you. based., the
King aret Mt staff. i think I cannot in better than OescrMe
to ton *hat I saw myself, as the official telegrams will have
felvin you an lICCOUII4 if the main facts of the battle before
this can possibly reach you.
Above the village of Cheveuge rises a high hill, ftorn the
crown of which a moat magnificent view, not only of the
town of Sedan, but of the whole valley of the Meuse for many
nines, Is to Inc obtained. The bottle began about 6 a m., and
the King left the village of Vendee, where he had elept, at
7.30 alto. for the scene of action. I arrived here about half
an hour after his Majesty. A more splendid penorama them
that which stretched for miles beneath us it would he im-
Poesible to laments,. The hill On which the King, Bismarck,
Von ITIon, General Moltke. and numercus staff (including
Generels Sheridan and Forsyth, in she uniform of the
United Steles) stood Is &mut three miles from the town of
Sedan, which Iles oh the Meuse come thousand beet below.
On our left, emit half a mile off, was mouth, r coil.
floors. crowned by • chateau, newly built and nely,
In front of which the Crown Prince and his staff were
placed Sin onr left, in the valley below, were heavy messes
of Primelen cavalry cut of rluge of the French gone Still
farther to the heft, though out of riebt, were the Wurtem.
herders, in reserve in case the deemed and hemmeatsin French
army should attempt to break nut in that direction. About
half • mile in front of .1, e 1 'ley ran the Meuse. the 11/ oken
railway bridge . 1 el .•1 emiepienens point de mire
from our bill e, t.'IA.! • ' -the French aide, I may
say-the Po:- e 1 is a • .a • lain guns., which did them
groat eervt, UI,. 10111 I 0r,.4 the ac fon. Beyond
thl.• battery was ,eae • ~.• mooed FL lug. which met
, h tee rls ~1 10 warfare, toeing all ou
by the Frni.. 5.,,1.5 tn the day. The Pruseau
~•,0 eltonl4.•l r lanes b,), owl the village, as far
• , the greet *coed* of Coot and li,dan, which
• .-, s,. t he Mired frontier, only "roe ten miles from where
and foam part ,I iae great forest of Ardeenes.
To C e right -cur 'right-of the Prussian line, and distant
,abun is, tunes. icy, Medan; but between Floing and Sedan
I there • ern a plain and then a low hill running cut PA a
Prow • • .ry into the plain, end steep on the side towards
Flokog, hot flat and unbroken on the top for more than •
mile until it reaches the outskirts of Sedan, where it rises
Sharply to the woods of Ls Gamine above the town. Right
of this hill IlesSedan, its buildings and old-fashioned fortilice-
Mous plainly visible to the naked eye from our hill. We
could easily distinguish not only the fortiticetloue, hut all the
hater bunt item a new lookieg stone church with a handsome
Gothic spire being conspicuous. To the right or east of this
were large barrarks close to the Meuse, and beyond these
again en old castle, I believe the arsenal of Sedan, Alone
this chateau to the north essitw,,r4 was the citadel. Above
Sedan is tile wood of La Gamete, nod In the feuhourgs
between theae woods and the town ihelf were the French
troops In masses, some of the COlLtlnila apparently inactive all
I day. On the east of the town was a toleranly open ounce for
, some three or four ndles, and then a gentle rise on which the
French batteries were placed ; helmet them were large
woods, in front of which were the *axons under Prince
Albert, the heir to the throne. Behind the Saxons were the
Prussian Guards in reserve, at tint to prevent tile French
I attempting to cut their way out to Carignau and Montmedy.
Between the Saxons and mirselvee, slid south cost
of Sedan on both sales of the Meuse, were the two Bavarian
corps, their kit Ilauk extending to our Mil, and 5- thing the
two Prussian corps of which I have already snoken on the
west and south.w.st of the beleaguered town. tin the imme-
diate right if our hill was the large wood of La ae6e,
famous -for a battle its the wars of the League. Between this
and Sedan the ground sloped away, formitig a plateau half
way down to the river, which wits oacupled by the Bavarian
batteries thundering all day at our feet.
The number of the Prussian troops engaged was estimated
b'y General Moltke at 24e,01.,0 and that of the French at till nese
We know that alocalahon had with him on Thesday 1011,1.01
•-i four corps-his own ;that lately commanded by General
de Failly, now under General Lebrun : that of Folio Douoy,
brother of General Abel Donley, who fell at Wiasenuourg ;
and a fourth corps principally composed of Gerdes
the Lame of whose commander has escaped me. Maclletion
balite wounded, General Wimptfen connumded in chief on
the French side. It is almost needless tansy that the com-
manderdn.chlet of the Germans was Von Moltke. with the ,
Crown Priem, and Niece Albert of Saxony immediately next ,
in command. There was hardly any maroeuvring at all ,
durieg the day. The Prussian, Bavarian, and Saxon army ,
corps formed a crescent round the town, with its horns to. ,
ward. the Belgian Wittier. About twelve o'clock this ,
crescent became a circle, the junction between the Prussians
Os the left and the Saxons on the right being affected near
the road to Bouillon, not far from La Chepeile. This circle ,
grew ever smaller and smaller, nntil at length its circulator-
some was in•lde the ontwarks of Sedan Itself.

There had been a few stray Cannon shot's' fired—merely
fired—merely,, sighting shots," however—as men as it was light, but the
real battle did not begin until six o'clock, be mining a sharp
artillery fight at nine, when the battered had on each side
got within easy ranter, and the sheets began to do real mis-
chief. At 11 55 the musketry fire In the volley behind Sedan,
which hal begun about 11.25, became tremendously lively,
being one unabated rattle. only broken by the loud
growling of the mitrailleurs, which played with
deadly efetet en the advance g Soren suit Bavarian
cOumns. General Sheridan, was standing by me at
the time, told me that he never remembe,ed to have
heard such well... Mined and long-centamani email-arm
lire. It made itself heart alone the rose of the batteries
at our feet. At twelve precisely the Prussian hattere—six
guns—on the stelae the we the Lrolten railway Midge over the
Meuse near La Villette had silenced two batteries of French
guns at the foot of the hill already mentieried. near the
village of tieing. At ten minutes pest twelve the French .
Int Aetry, no borer umported by their artillery, was com-
pelled to retire from Floieg ard soon afterwards the
Ow, between the Saxons and Prussians behind Sedan was
aunourced to us by General Von Been, eagerly peeeng
through a large telescope, as being safely completed. From
this moment the result of the battle was as good as
fort gene, the French being completely surrounded mid
brought to bay. At 12 25 we were all astentsbed
to see clouds of retreating Foeuch infantry en the bill
beteeee Fioing and Sedan, a Prussien baitery in float
of et Merges Inaldug pre! practice with percussion shell
among the retreating ranks. The whole hill fora imparter of
an hour was litereey cevcred with " erettleimen ensues,
really. Less than bolt en hour after, at le ere General Von
noon called cur attention to another French column in full
retreat to the right of Seim, on the Tool leading from
Baseilles to La Gamine wood. They never halted until they !
got to a small red-roofed house on the outskirts of Sedan
Itself. Almost at the same moment General Sheridan, who
• was using my opera glees, called nay attention to a third I
French column mevinig up a hr iail grass road through L.
Garenre Worn' immedistely above Sedan, doubtless to Support I
the troops defending the important Bea-titles ravine to the
north-east of the towu. At 12 55 the French hatterics on the
edge et the wood of Lae:lrmo and Mere it epened a vigorous
ere on the advancing Prussian columns ot the 3rd Corps,
wl fee evident inteLtion it Was to storm the i,.11 north...eat
at La Garenne, awl so gain the koy of the pusttion on fled
Mee. A .1 5 yet another French battery Lear the weed opened
On the Prinei,ii crenunes, which vicre winrclleil to he in
Whin; their greeted till neatly kr their Med rush at tee
hill. in order te avOlil Minting se cool a mark to the French
shells. Shor latter wr sow the first Prussian sit irmisherson the
ore of the La G trent.° hill Tency. They did not stem
in strength. arid General Storeisn scartileg beset, nue ex-
claimed, "Air ! the hearers are too weak, they eim never
hold that position neatest all thee° F,esnoh " The general's
prophecy Well prove.l correct. ter the French eel...wive at
least six to °Le the Prussian, were forced ti re:tre /molt the
hill to seek reinforeemerti from the columns It lech were
heel-plies to their mem ri. tnt eve minutes they came
beck egain, Iles time in gm ,ter farce, but still terribly
'Metier to tee Mee, Freecli militates. " Geed heavens!
the French Cuirassiers are going to charge them," said
General Sheridan; and sure enough the regiment of Cuiras-
siers, their helmets sudbreast-rlates flushing in the September
sun, e.rm up in le ctitus of squadrons nod dash cloWil on the
Pressed, scattered eelrmiserre Without Seething to form
Me—squeres are Dever Wed ey the Pius:hoe—tee infantry
leeeireil the Crifrasalers with a roost treniereleus " eehruell-
feuer " :quick lOU, at about 19S ',rd., leasing anti flrieg as
tut as possiele into the dense squadrons. Over went men
and hor ies by hundreds, and the regMient was cenipelled to
retire mach futer, it seemed to me, than it came. The
menieet the CUmarisinw tweed bridle the plucky Pruoians
actually dashed in hot pursuit after them at the
Such a thing bas not often been recorded in elm aemes
of war. The Freech infantry thee ems forward in
turn and attacked the Prussian', who waited meetly
ludrr a most rapid fire of ChLtliepote until their
rliennee got within clout lou yards, when they gave
them such a dose of lead that the infantry soon followed the
cavalry to the "piece from which they camee—that is, be-
hind a ridge IMMO feu yards on the way to eulan, cline the
tirailleurs could not hit them. The great object of the
Freese:Ls wae gained, as they were not dispose:sad of tee
crest of Oa hill, anti it won fair bettitue that they would tea
all that in them lay to get sem° artillery up to help them
before Napoleon 111. was mach nearer Lis deposition.
"There will be a of a fieht tor that crest," so s Sheridan,
peering through hie field glue at the hill, slrch was not
three miles from where we steed, with the fail ere on it
from behind us. At half-pest one the French cavalry, this
time I fancy a regiment of Carabiniers, made another at-
tempt to dial.: ire tee Prussians, who wore beirg reinforced
every minute. But tht y met with the same fate a. their
brethren in the Oen j gigots, and were le rut with heavy less to
the rightahout, the Prussians tuber ailearitage of their light
to, advance their line a couple of hurler.' yards nearer the
Vona Infantry. Soddenly they spilt into two bodies,
leaving a break of a Lundred yerde in their lime We were
not long in oreing the °heed of this reeve ment, tor the little
white puffs fe in tile ernaa la hind the skirueshers, followed
by a commetieu in the dome Fr, ncla masses, show us that
ces diables de Pruasiens" have contrived, ileeveu only
kootrehow, to get a c.mple et four•peunders up the steep
grated, and have Opened or, the Freiiiih. Siitnethicii Mist
have at this point twee very wrong with Ore Eunuch infantry,
for imtead of atteckleg the Pritealatia—whino they still out-
timelier.' by at leaet two to one—they remainied au column
on the hill, Seeing their only hope of retrieve% the day ya-
rd/Ming from before their eyes without etirrieg. Tee cavalry
I then trine to do • little Balaklava busitiess, but without the
slimes of the immortal six hundred. We hok the guns In the
lielakleva valley. Down mime the cuirassiers once more,
this time riding straight or the two flehepieces. But before
they had got Ellie 200 yards of the gees the Prussian.
: formed line ars if on parade, arid, waiting till they, were within
: fifty yards, love them a volley which teemee to us to destroy
, almost the whole of the leading "waitron, end so actually
, block up the way to the I. uns for the next one. following.
' Alter this last charge, weich was as complete it lettere—
' althungla most gallantly cotuceived and executed—zs the two
Ipreceding ones, the tutelary fell back rapidly towards Sedan,
and in an tretueut the whole bill 005 rowed by imams of
Prussia,, tiraieeers, who appeared ei ri • e trim the ground.
I After the last cleaver Ate charge Cl tue French cavalry,
I General Sherlilen remarked to me. "I never law anything
so reckless, so utterly fectilab, as that tut cluirge—lt WAS
Sheer murder."
The Premise.. after the Freech infantry fell back, ail-
vermeil rapidly, run mach so that the retreating squadron% of
French cavalry turned rudderily mend and cieurge.l dome-
rainy once &gala. Mit it Was all Lo use. True daps out
breakilig squares or even lines are over. aid the "thin blue
line " soon stopped the Gallic onset. It was most extraor-
dinary that the French bad neither artillery our mitrailleurs
—especially these latter—On the 1,111 to eupport their in-
faulty. The position wee a most important one, atol cm,
taint y worth straining every nerve to defend. One thing
was clear enough, that Me French Infantry, :titer onee meet-
lug the Prussians, eeclineel to try ceruelnsiona with thine
again, and that the cavalry were trybig to encourage them
by their example. About two, more Priest or reinforce-
ments came over the lone-dialoged bill between fere), mid
Sedan to reinforce the regtments already estebilsbed there.
Al! the time that this great cot Met was going on "unuler ,
Fritz's eyes aud those Of pour cuirrespontient, another was
proceeding, none the fess severe, end as murderous for the
Bev:tetanus es the one I have attempted to ilescrilne was for u
the French. If there was a want of tnitrailleure on the I
hill above Corey, there was certsibly none in the B auel!es
raseitu On tied Mae there was for snore then an hour ore
continue, to rote of muoketry and niltrailleurs, and the
mean (dicers told me on the Sad that the locals their nue
meets was terrific the mitrailleure bemire made lanes In 1
their 0010 MIS. At' 2.5 pm. the French tutully able:dowel
the hill between lorcy ainul Sedan, and fell bock on the
auboure ot Coral, Jest mite& the ramparto of the town.
"Nod the Battle is lost for the French," suay. General Shea
ti el, to the great delieht of tee Puri. offle •rs. Gee would
laved h eve fancied least. the French) had heard his words
they hag barely muir illiiereilrairhfelOotrlideere. t
u's it has now Itei
fire g all eke g the lilt or .
comu Colint hiSirlarik tool; auvemeg,e Ot thiS t,u COMM mid
bates talk with his le gesh mit Anuericen trawls. I Wen
anxious to know whet the Federal Ch incellor had dotes
ahead the threeteerateled.ned nentieldy Belgium, stet my cat-
deafly was men " I bave teel the Belgium Minister
of War," raid Cennt Bismaret,” tent so I,,rue es tho Belgian
troops dothefr utniortto disarmany number of French soldiers
who may cross; the trendier, I will stnictly respect tee
neterality of lielge,m, but if, on the contrary, the Bel-
te am, either Mirage negligence or, inability. do not
disarm and capture every man 111 Freach uniforni WhO
nets hie foot In their comitry, we shall at once follow the
enen•y lute neutral territory with our Wogs, consider mg
chat me !Omit have been tine not ti violet e slue edge,,n see
lisee heeti dean to hive a lisik at the itelgoin troops neer
the frontier,- aided Bert Yen Fismaiek, “eed 1 ' ""fe" t "
do not inspire me with aver, high opinion lot their tear ial
ardour or discipline. Why, when they have their great coats
on one con see a great deal of vested but hardly any soldier."
I asked his Excellency whether he thought the EmPeror was
in Wan. "Oh, no was so reply. "Napoleon Is sot Yea

wise, but he is out quite so Mulish ~to put himself in atdan
just now. For once in his life Count Bismarck was Wrong,
At '2 45 the King calm by where I was standing, saying he
thought the French were going to try and break out jutt
beneath Us, in front of the 2wl Bavarian corps. At ten
' minutes to hair General Sheridan ti 1,1 me that Napoleon
and "Louis" were in Sedan. No one, however, believed
this.
At 353 the Bavarians below us not only continue to get
inside the fortifications of Sedan, bul. maintain theinselvea
there, wending their way forward from house to house.
About four there was a great flght for the possession of the
ridge alove Bandies That gone. Medan was swept on all
sides by the Prussian Calilloll. This point of vantage was
carried by the Prussians at 4.40, and from that moment there
could not be a shade of doubt as to the ultimate fate of
Sedan.
About live o'clock there was a sudden menenston of the
cannouade along the whole line. Many and diverse were
the speculations as to what could be the cause of this sudden
lull. You may judge of our surprise when five minutes
afterwards we sown French oiliest, escorted by two Chime,
coming at a hard trot op the steep bridle-path from Sedan to
our post. °nal the Chian, carrying a white duster on a
fain:et-stick tut a Bag of truce. The messenger turned out
to be a French alone' conic to ask for terms f ...render.
After a very short consultation between the King and
General von Moltke the messenger was told that in a matter
to important as the 111111.1311:Zer oh at least SO,ted 1116111 and an
Important fortress it was necessary to Bend an officer of high
rank. Vies are, therefore, tO return tic 8C,11.11 ItIOI to tell the
cavernor of the town to report himself huutedistaly to the
Rag of Print la. if he does not arrive hi an hour nor guns
will open again. You may tell the command:pit that it Is
melees his trying to ebtain other terms than unconditional
surrender.. Ike " perlementaire" rote back with this
mesmge, and when lie was fairly out of earshot many were
the speculations concenting the minion. At 0.30 there was
a sadden cry among the menillers of the King's staff of "Ger
Kaiser Ist da!" and then there was a lou.i hurrah Koon we
began to look anxiously for the arrival of the second
trig of tee-u, and in ten minute. more Genera Reilly
rode up witn is letter for the King of Prussia. As
soon as the French general was 111 light tie Wender
es‘ort of mirassiers and dragoons we th.d with us wes
drawn spin line two deep bhiiid the Meg. In front of the
escort was the stair, mid ten yards in front of them again
stood hie 31ajesty to receive General Reilly, who, we men
learnt, was the bearer of an autograph letter from the Em-
peror Napoleon to King William, The Koperor of French
, wrote, "As I cannot die at the bead of my army, II ty my
sword et the feet of 3 our Majesty.' (Nu remnant pas mourir
Situ tele de molt arnie, je vices mettre mon epee aux pit its
de voice Majeste.) Why Napoleon 111. could not oie, as illit
thommuls at soldiers, sword in hand, with his face to the
foe, is not so clear.
Int receipt of this most axtounding letter there was a brief
commltation between the King, thu Crown Prince (who had
come from his hill °lithe arrival of tho !fagot truce), hismarck,
Molt he, and Von R-ion. After a few minutes' conversation
the King sat down on a rulh-bottotu.l ..hair, and wrote a
note on another chair, held on a table by two shles.ile• eaten,
to the Emperor. begging him to cute next neonatig to the
King of Prussia's headquarters at Veneres. While this note
was writing Count 151,m/trek cruise up to Generals Sneridan,
Forsyth, and myself, rod heartily shook our hands. " Lt•t
me congratulate you most sincerely Coast," said Genteel
Sheridan. " I can only compare the surrender of
Napoleon to that of General Lee at A epomatoX C nut It toe"
When 15w,, my turn bi grasp the Chancellor's hand I aunt
not help saying after I had warmly congratulated him, "You
must feel proud, Count von Bismarck, of having so largely
contributed to the wionieg of today's victory." "Oh, no,
my dear sir " was thu modest answer. " I am no strategist,
mid have nothing to do with the winning of battles. lod I
am proud of is that the Bavarians, the Saxons, and the Wur-
tembergers have not wily been on our side, but hive bad so
Inge a share—the largest share—in the glory of the day.
That thy are with us and 110.: against us, th stir my darer.
1 dou'l think the ouch will say now that ,lie South Germans
will nut fight for our minium Fatherland.' I asked his Excel-
lency whether "Louis" was taken with his Papa, and was told
that no one knew. And I think that no one wired much where
that small youth was. When the King had written his
letter he himself handed his letter to General Reilly, 11110
stool bare-headed to receive it, the Italian Bed Crimean
medals glittering on his breast In the last rays of the setting
sun. Qateu Victoria's image and superscription have wit
ellen been seen on the uniforms of 111111 espitulatieg with-
out conditions. At 7.41 the general left for the beleaguered
town, escorted by the Ultima fetid the duster which ha.:
served as a nag of truce was offdred to me sea relic of this
most memorable day. But seeing that the said duster hada
very strong family resemblauce to most other dusters,
declined the proffered relic. Theta there was a geneial

demand for something to drhik, and C.mut
de-camp produced two bottles of Belgian beer, otte of which
his Exce:lency shared with General Sheridan, Fors; ill. and
myself, saying that he tirauk tJ the hearer auk,* of the
three great reuton peoples. -

Sep. 2.
Al ter writing to you I saddled up myself, my servant
being behial at headquarters. not rode out to have a leek
at the harrie•tiel.l. Between Cheveuge and Sedan I met his
Majesty Napoleon 111. in a travelling carriage with three of
his generals—Wieuptfen, Dauay, and Lebnun, I think The
carriage, escorted oy a few Freednli lancers, passed me at a
sharp not on the road to Vendres, and few of the soldiers
seemed to know that it carried Caesar and his fortunes.
Whelk I g•.t down to Se tau ik elf I hand to gat'ea of the
fortress cEsed, and al the Emperor's baggue waggans
in most pictureaque coutuasien wafting to come out and
follow their owner to the King of Prussia's headquarters.
The ramparca above the gate were crowded with
French soldiers, unarmed of course, eating down as
uninovedly as Parisian damson on the Eaulevaras apeare
time on the signs of their Emperor's eurrender and the
strong guard of blue-coated havarims beneath them. I
found that it was impossible to cutter uic.tan itself, se turned
back and rode along the railway until I reoche han.l.
some iron baits over the Moselle near lien•illes, w lent
,nitered A good deal trent artillery fire, but e inch the
)'tench, with their listed want of (oresllillY,lll,l nog eat. el te
mine, and had left as mom at useful means of cont,toricatteo
het wesn our centre Allkl right. Etyond the 1e...1;:e I come
to the village and matte's I I BPZCIIie3, the elpatent Wilcte
Turenne for ultte hear of blind ohl Dandolo," eight
into country have said yesterday who reason) was brougOt
up. Above the chateau waved the red cross of the K ran.
kentrauuers, and wounded men were beta g brninlit in as I
passed it. The station at haaeilles was tilled wi'h French
provision and ammunition tr.ins, shot atud shell piled in
picturesque etoplust,u on biscuit and hour boxer.
Just beyond the station I met ft melabeholy procession of
some twenty French re.asarts, including one, if not two,
wont.% their honds lumen! et.uhily in itolll. 4,1 them, annul
gusrued by Bavarians with lined b tyoneta. A nude melan-
choly sight I seldom have seen, although 1 most tutu,
'menu tens witness of the loci evhdhcz. or the French
peasants, and hernia been warned that it WAS 110 t vale eyes
for a nothcombatant like myself to stay beyond the Prussian
ontposte, or even to ride at all at iil4hl, tor fear ot being
murdered by the country people, I did not feel no mach pity
for the peasants, who were probably going to be shot lu a
few hours, as I might otherwise have done.
Crossing the Carignan road I te.und the hills ant valleys
all the way from liageilles to near La ChapePe strewn with
signs of yeateraloy'a battle. As ror resders roust he pretty
well tired of descripticr s of battle-tie:hi by this time, I wall
not dwell mi the scene before flue, 11'111..11:11 It woo iI111101811,!e
to lock—ill spLe of helhtt now {pretty- hard -sled to socti aghts
oi the signs vf carnage ou every ship without woudering
bow Mel could lett. Pinch things be done ot the hidolog f
the ihealiti atlvetiturer wheat I had a ti 14111 all ',titer
hour before on his way to t'lsv Ti. award" Ala unsheathed
sword, "at the feet ol K tug Witham...
After rambling La Chat elle I trott...l on to the Pi•lclan
fr..i.Ver to have 8100 k at pair tor ,ve 110 ate encanip,ll
at Wong the froutuer, to the numb, ol about 4L,Utt)