Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1870-11-15
Changarnier Vindicate8 Bazaine.

The New York Herald correspon,
dent at Brussels, on the 9th inst, i'll
tervlewed General Changarnier on
the subjects Of Metz, Paris and the
Republic. In reply to the question,
Did Metz surrender through treacn-
cry p Changarnier said No, Bazaine
did not sell himself He had 10 need
of money. His work was far from
an act Of treason. There was no
reachery, and no necessity for il"
orrespoudent-"Wbat do you
think Of Bazaincs military capacity ?"
GeneraI-"There it is-Bazaine's
incapacity to command a large army.
Numbers bewildcr him. He could
not move men; he could not operate
forces. He had no judgment; no fore
sight. He was also a selfish man
All for self and personal glory. not
for his country honor.
Bazaine thought all the time that
peace would be proclaimed soon, ana
that Paris would never hold out. aud
that the war would fall flat, ald that
his military reputation would not be
impaired. He had hoped TO march
out Of Metz at the head Of 10000
men, the cream Of the French army,
and make the public believe him he
70. After Bazaine was driven into
Metz, on the 18th Of August. he could
have escaped had he marched boldly
out with his entire army during the
thirteen Remaining days Of that month,
the thirty days In September, and the
first fifteen days III October. He
could have done this with absolute
certainty. ANY sound military man
will tell you the same thing. Look
at it. There we're ilJy-eight days
that they were i'll the strongest fort
ress in France. when this 10000 and
over OF the Orayest anJ most expert
enced soldiers could have made their
exit, and once in the field, there would
have been no more Sedaus. Sedan was
noted for troops VINO insulted their OF.
icers, were insuUordiuate and iuelh.
cieut. In Metz lie soldiers were
obedlent, and every command was eX.
ecuted. There were no Red Repu5-
licans in the Metz army"
Correspondent-"Whatw was The &c.
curate number Of soldiers at Metz at
the time Of the surrender r
General-"There we're $4,000 sol
diers. OF these, $4,000 were wound.
ed or disabled, aud 10000 sick. The
cavalry and artillery were useless
because Chere were 10 horses. These
reduced the effective force to coo c
infantry. Our fine horses were eat
en-, our bread was gone and we had
no salt. Do not forget that during
the last ten days of the investmen,
the soldiers walked in mud up TO their
knees. Heavy rains and starvation
made US surrender. But during tht
fifty eight days there were times when
BaZaine could have taken this fine ar
nay to the field aud saved Frauce.-
Look at the sOrties Of Bazaine. He
never made serious effort 10 escape
from Metz; every sortie was only q
pretended sortie, for appearance, and
nothing else. There were four higL
officers in Metz besides Bazaine, and
they were all for inaction. | saw all
the military maUeuvres: they were
all shams. Bazaine and his friends
were not acting as soldiers, but only
seekin- their OWE fortunes. Let me
say more of Bazaine. He was not
at the battle on the 18th of August
He was far from the field. SO also
was King William, who sent a BON
bastic account to the Queen, stating
that he was on the field. | was there
myself, and slept under the historic
tree that night, now known as L'Arbre
des Morris"
The conversation then turned on
the situation Of affairs in Paris and
the prospects Of the restoration of the
Orleani5ts. The General expressed
himself warmly iii favor of the resto
ration Of the Orleans Princes, which
would bring peace, quiet, repo5e and
general happiness to France, and as
serted that the Republic had already
proved failure by our dissensions
lie declared Napoleon dead, and tho'l
that the Prussians might put hin
back into power, but neither Paris
nor France would ever recognize him.