The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-08 00:00:00

the mouth of General de Wimpffen, grew to be
believed, and a Lew thousand men were rallied, 0.ni,1
followed him out of the town. The people began to
have hope, and for one brief moment we believed
the day might yet be saved. Alas / need I say that this
intelligence was a patriotic falsehood of brave General de'
Wimpffen. Mad with anguish, and in direct opposition
to the Emperor's orders, he had resolved to rally what
men he could, and make a stand. He could not have
known that he was bound in the grasp of at least three
hundred thousand men. The bugle and trumpet ring
out on all sides. A few thousand men hearken to the
sound. A friend, li4n4 de Guiroye, of the
Chasseurs d'Afrique, whom I have just met, after losing
sight of him for ten or twelve years, got on home-
back agAin and joined the General. This is what took
place in the sortie. They went out at the Porte de Balan.
The houses of the suburb are already full of Prussiana,
who fire on the French out of every window. The church
especially Is strongly garrisoned ; the heavy doom are
closed. The General sent off De Gniroye to fetch two
pieces of cannon, These soon arrived ; and with
them the door of the church was blown in. Two
hundred Prussians were captured, and brought back with
the French, who, spite of all efforts, were soon obliged to
retire again into the town. It was the last incident of the
battle—the last struggle. Whilst this took place at the
Porte do Balan. the Prussian shelling went on, and the
shells began to fall into the hotel. Shocking scenes
followed. A boy, the son of a tradesman round the corner
of the street, game in crying and asking for a surgeon.
His, fathers' leg had been shot off. A woman in front
of the house met the same fate. The doctor .who
went to the tradesman found him dead, and
returning, attempted to carry the woman to an
ambulance. lie had scarcely made a step when she was
shot dead in his arms. Those of us who stand in the
gateway and witness such scenes had got beyond any feel-
ing of personal. fear. Any one of us, I will venture to
say, would have' given his life to spare France this
dreadful day, yet we stand pale and shuddering
at the sight of , the, fate which befalls these poor
people of the town, civilians, and even the jaded
soldiers, as helpless .as they. I pass over details.
I care not to dwelt on horrors which nevertheless I shall
never be able to forget. I could mention more than
one brave -officer who did not fear to own that he
shrunk from the sight of what had become a mere
massacre. Those who were safely out of the way
as prisoners, whether officers or men, need not be
pitied. When after a time it -became clear that there
was no sign of Bazaine, the hopes of the French again
departed, A sullen sort of fight still went on. The guns
of the town answered the Prussians. An aide-de-camp of
the Emperor vc ent by on foot, and I heard him ask the
officers near to help him in putting an end to the fire,
such being the Emperor's wish. At length the white
flag was hoisted on the citadel. The cannonade ceased,
suddenly ahout hall-past four. Eager as we are to know
the cause, tie cannot leave the house, for the street Is
impassable, and we have to be content with learning the
mere fact of the surrender.