Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1870-10-12
ktAG WILLIAM ON THE SURRENDER
f.tf OF NtfObE0Nsafs
-
Hts Letter to tAe QEeen-The Rrecys
4 4s. Words OF NapoIeon

: 1t unroll itself hour by hour: but when
- consider that after one great srccessfnl
war L could not expect anythinr r,o-a 5,Io,,
lous duung my reign and that T,,oow9 coo
: the successful issue of an act which - dos.
elned to DO famous, in the historyI of tbe
world, bow before God, who alone hos
chosen my army and allies to carry II into
eAecu'ion, anu mas chosen as as the instru-
II laehts OF Ills Will. lt IS only in this sense
sii@t L can conceive thus work, and in all
mummy praise Gods guidance and grace.
81 viii now give you a picture o7 tba
a battle and its results in a aeenpressed forr,
On the evening of the e3istand the mornino.
G OF the lst the army had reached the ane
pointed positions around Sedan. The
# bavarlans held the left wing, near RazeiI-
ies, on the Meuse; next them the Saxors
towards Moucelle and Daigny: the Gnaras
st1it marching towards Givonne the Fifth
and Eleventh corps towards St. Menges
and Flelgneux. As the Meuse here makes
sharp bend no corps had been posfeJ
IRON St. Menges to Donchery, but at, the
latter place there were Wurtembsroers
VINO covered the rear against sallies from
Naezleres. Count Stolberg's cavalry divis
Ion was IN the plain of Doncherv as rjobt
wing; the rest of the Bavarians were in 3he
front towards Sedan.
: Notwithstanding 3 thick fog, the battle
began at Bazeilles early in the morning.
and sharp action developed itself bv
degrees, in which it was necessary to lake
house by house. It lasted nearly all day.
and Scholer's Erfurt division (Reserve
Fourth corps) was obliged to assist IT,
was eight O'Clock when 1 reached the front
before Sedan, and then the great battery
commenced. hot artillery action now
began at all points 1t lasted for hours,
and during it we gradually gained ground.
AS the above-named villages were taken.
very deep and wooded rayines made the
advance OF the infantry more 7iffieult and
favored The defence. The villages eIfr TIlv
and Floring were taken, and the fierv cir
Gle drew gradually closer around Sedan.
lit Was grand sight from our position
on commanding height behind the above
mentioned battery, when we looked to the
front beyond st. Torey The violent re
slstanee of the enemy began to slacken by
degrees, which we could see by the broken
battaiions that were hurriedly' retreatine
from the woods and villages. The cavalry
endeavored to attack several battaiions Of
our Fifth Corps, and the latter behaved
| admirably. The cavalry galloped through
| the interval between the batbalions, and
! then returned the Same; way. This was
repeated three times, so that the ground
was covered with corpses and horses, all of
| which we could see very well from. our
| position. / have not been able to learn
the number of this brave regiment, as the
| retreat OF the enemy was in many, places q
Tight. The Infantry, cavalry and artillery
| rushed IN q crowd into the town and its
immediate enylrons, but no sign was given
| that the enemy contemplated extricatino
himself from his desperate situation by
capitulation. JEe Itsi,ils
10 other course was left than to bonn
bard the town with the heavy battery. In
twenty minutes the town was burning in
several places, which, with the numerous
burning villages over the whole field. pro.
duced terrible impression, Iaocordingiy
ordered the firing to cease, and sent Lieu
tenant Colonel Won Bronsart, with a flag of
truce, to demand the capitulation of The
army and the fortress. He was met by
Bavarian officer, who reported to mo
that French p0rle1ne,ataire had announced
himself at the gate. Colonel Won Bropssrt
was admitted, and on his asking for the
commander-,n-chief, he was unexpectedly
introduced into the presence of the En-
peror, who wished to give him letter for
myself s - ,-F .s4f5f
"When the Emperor asked what his
message was, and received the answer. TO
demand the surrender of the armv and
fortress, he replied that on this subject he
must apply to Gen. de Wimpffen, who had
undertaken the command, in the place of
the wounded Gen. MacMahon, and that he
would now send his Adjutant- General
Reille, with the letter to myself. It was
seven O'Clock when Reille and Bronsart
came to me, tho latter a little III advance
and it was first through him that learned
with certainty the presence of the I'm.
peror. e9r
''You may imagine the impression which
this made upon ali of US, but particularly
upon myself. Reille sprang from his
horse and gave me the letter of the En-
peror, adding that he had no other orders.
Before | opened the letter [ said to him:
But demand as the first condition, that
the army lay down it's arms The letter
begins thus: 'N'ayant pas du MOURN /. Ia
tete denies troupes de lepose mon. epee o.
votre Majeste, leaving al the rest to me.
The answer was that [ deplored that man
ner OF our meeting, and begged that q
plenipotentiary might be sent with whom
We might conclude the capitulation. lAftee
| had given the letter to General Reille L
spoke q few wolds with him as an old ac-
quaintance, and SO this act ended gave
Moltke powers to negotiate, and directed
Bismarck to remain behind in case politi-
cal questions should arise. R
here, greeted everywhere along the road
with the loud hurrah of the trains that
were marching up and singing the Nation
al Hymn 1t was deeply touching. Can
dies were lighted everywhere, SO that we
were driven through an improvised illu-
mination. / arrived here at eleven clock,
and drank with those about me to the
prosperity of an army which had accom-
plished such feats. AS on the morning of
the I'd / had received no news from Moltke
respecting negotiations for the capitule
tons which We're to take place In DON
cherry, drove to the battlefield, according
TO agreement, at eight o'clock, and met
Moltke, who was coming to obtain my con-
sent to the proposed capitulation. He
told me at the same time that the Emperor
had left Sedan at five o'clock in the morn
ing, and had come to Donchery, as he
wished to speak to me. There was a
chateau and park in the eneighborhood, and
[ chose that place for our meeting. At ten
| o'clock I reached the height before Sedan
Moltke and Bismarck appeared at twelve
o'clock, with the capitdlation duly signed.
SAT one O'Clock [ started again with
Fritz, the Crown Prince, and, escorted by
the cavalry and the staff / alghted before
the chateau where the Emperor came to
meet me. The visit lasted d quarter of an
noEr. we were uoth aucn HioFeolab see
| ing each other again under such circum-
stances. What nay feelings were--7I had
seen Napoleon only three years before st
the summit Of his power-is more than [
can describe. After this meeting, from
| half past two to half-past seven o'clock
/ rode past the whole army before Sedan.
! Tho reception given me by the troops, the
meeting with the guards, how decimated-
| all these things which l cannot describe
| to-day, / was much touched by so many
proofs of devotion.
Now, farewell, with heart deeply
moved at the conclusion of such letter.
+ ID tfs t9f sWIrHEfAI -
cir is usual part Of the performance of
| an elephant at public exhibition to pick
up piece ofcoin, thrown within his reach
for that purpose, with the fnger-hke