Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-11-25
JOURNEY FROM METZ.
An English Report or Greetings by
II. lT rf the Way

| fs III the Way.
The following details of the capitula
ton of Metz are supplied in Telegram
from the special correspondent of tn
London News with the German arm,
which invested that fortress. tits date,
Metz, October 30th, and supplies fey
facts additional to those already pub
lished: SKI
At four o'clock in the afternoon tn,
French companies which still MOUNTED
guard at the various gates in the city
and at the depots and arsenals were re
lieved by the Prussians, two regiment
of infantry and one of cavalry having
entered into the town. The German
Military Governor, General Won Zastrow
Commander of the Seventh Corps, tool
possession Of the government Of tn,
city and fortress, where he tells me he
expects to find the portrait of one of his
ancestors, who was at some early period
also military governor Of Metz. The
tragedy was completed, but its s9ddest
side. remains to be recorded.
According to the statement of Gen.
eral Won Zastrow, who held the Bois dc
Vaux on the morning Of the 18th of Au.
gust, Bazaine could then have avoided
being shut up in Metz. After he was
there he could, according to Metz state
ments, have readily made sortie and re-
Joined him. After most of his cavalry
and artillery horses had been eaten this,
Of course, was more difficult. But still
his movements are said to have lacked
determination, and even to have been
frivolous in the last two sorties. These
facts are put down to the account of a
complot with the Regency, according to
which his army was to try to remain
in statu quo until the conclusion of the
war in Western France, and then be-
come available, with Prussian consent,
for Bonapartist purposes, Bazaine him
self expecting in that case to be the
Governor of the Imperial Prince and
the virtual Regent.
Nearly all the people of Metz seem to
believe this, and many Of the most infu-
entail have admitted so to me. During
the whole of the investment Bazaine had
never been seen in the camp, except on
extraordinary occasions; never at all in
the ambulances, which were partly con-
structed in numerous railroad carriages
on the Place Royale, and hardly ever in
the city. The civil authorities had to
find him at st. Martin. He would not
once appear at the Marie. He rarely,
if ever, said word to encourage the
troops. Canrobert sometimes cheered
their patience little, and then they
would cry Vive Canrobert!" I" A bas
Bazinel" :" Toward the last he burst not,
it is said, for fear of assassination, show
himself to his own men.
For the last FIVE weeks the amputations
have been performed without chloroform
or ether, and the wounds dressed without
carbolic acid. There are more than
$4,000 sick and wounded, and $4,000
persons have died in the town alone dur
ing the siege, the greater part from lack
of proper care. The prevailing diseases
are variole, spotted typhus and dysen-
terry, Scurvy has not prevailed, though
even the sick have for more than three
weeks received their horse steaks and
horse broths without salt. The reported
discovery of saline spring at st. Julien
was hoax, got up by putting salt into
spring, to encourage the army.
When the surrender became known the
people became furious. The National
Guard refused to lay down their arms,
and on the 29th, in the afternoon, dra-
goon captain appeared at the head of
body of troops, who swore they would
sooner die than yield; while Albert Col.
lgnon, editor of an ultra democratic
paper, the Journal de Metz, rode about
on a white horse firing pistol, and ex-
horting them to sally out and seek death
or victory, to escape the impending
shame. He was followed by lady sing
ing the Marseillaise," which produced
terrible excitement. The doors of the
cathedral were burst open, and the tocsin
and funeral bell rung nearly all night
When General Cofiniere appeared to
pacify them, three pistol shots were fired
at him Finally, by the aid of two line
regiments, he quietly dispersed the mcb.
But all night the sounds of grief, in
dignation and terror we're kept up. Re-
spectacle women ran about the streets |
tearing their hair and hinging their bon
nets and laces under their fleet, wildly |
crying aloud, What will become of our
Soldiers, drunk and sober,
tumbled hither and thither in irregular
groups, with their caps off and their
sabers broken, crying, sobbing and weep
ing like children. "0h, poor Metz
Once the proudest of cities What a
What an unheard of ca
We have been sold All
is lost 1t is all up with Francel" and
so on. The civil fnnctionaries asked
each other across the streets, Who will
be our master2 Who will govern us
Where shall we go that we may not see
The ruin that has come upon the nation|
Yesterday | was closeted with the
Marie and City Council for two hours,
while they detained me as the first
stranger who had entered the town.
They asked me all manner of questions
some really childish, in their agitation,
and terror.
At four yesterday afternoon Bazaine
passed through Ars, on his way to Viii
in closed carriage marked
With his name, and escorted by several
)fficers of his staff on horseback. The
women of the village had heard of his
arrival, and awaited him with exclama-
ions OF "traitorp coward" sneak"
thief" etc. Where are our husbands
whom you have betrayed2 Give us back
,ur children whom you have soldP
they even attacked the carriage and
,roke the windows with their fists and