, 1870-11-17


fho question 1t once.'
Il IL reported that certsin parsons who are
argely Interested il these claims he:e have
With tho lending Eogiish states"
nelt xoulc gladly tur up tie CLAIMS, either
dire city u, through third pkrties. and thus
taks tha quettion out Of tbs control Of tho
United Slates author.iea- Il
EApOLEOE'S HISTORY OF. TIE
WAR. L
The, Franco-Ptus.tan Campni:u OF |
1870 by HonaPaxso-Eais MnJasay's
Rcy,ew OF EEcnle-Causes Of the
French 1sevezscs-Hopcs OF the
Final Ife>u1t.
The following is tho Emperor Eapoleon'B
history Of the campaign, literally tran-lsted
fsom proof sheets OF The brochure about to
appear in Brussels uEder the title Of Cam
pagne de 1870: des Causes qui ont annene "a
capitu]stion de Sedan. Par un OH:er atiache
AfEtat Major General" This statement has,
we arc informed. been dictased b5 the En-
reror during his retirement At Wllhelushohe.
It reads: Fl
When war Was decl1red, and ths Emperor
assumed the command-ln-chfef of the French
afmiee, he frequently gave expression 70 the
thought. reflected In his initial proclamation,
be surrounded by the greatest difficulties
Ia tho midkt Of the satisfaction oc-
cseioned by the enthusiasm which every
where greeted his footstcpa many observed
the icok Of sadness With which he 1Mtened o
thc excited uultitude-As II the enterprise
were deslined to be merely military pAtaue,
and mlrrh forward would sufi>a to yasqu,sh
tho nRtlou Of Europa mont thoroughly txet-
cisfd In the profession Of arms. and best pre-
pared for war: The Emperor knew thai Prus-
tia was ready to csii out a 4 short limo 9ao,-
o00 men, and. With tho MD Of the Southern
States Of Germany. could countupou III 900
eoIditrs. France was only able to muster
GOO, COO; and, a the number OF d2hting men
ia never nore than cpe~half the effective
force, Germany WIS In poation 70 hnug into
.he fed $50, ,ooo nen, while we had only about
safe for this numerical infenorftY It Vas neo-
essszy for u by rapid movement to cross Tho
Rhine, separate Southern Germany from
the North German Confederation, and BY
the eclat Of hrst aucce.s secure the allianc$
vent the a1mies Of SoutheEn Germany from
forming their junction WITH those Of the
North, tie eHec1iye strength Of the pTusaiAns
would &c reduced 29o, 900 men, Aud the dit.
proportion between the number Of combatant4
thus much diminished. II Austin and Italy
maEe common cLuse with France. then tho
superiority Of numbers would be In our fAvorl
The EMpernta plan Of c1upst8u-nh1ch ha
cIntided, at Paris, to MxrEhxls MacNahou aud
I6borf alone-xA. TO uasa Isl, ,0o0 nen &t
Metz, 1oo. 600 Ut Strasoourg. and SO, o0o 1t hhd
camp Of Chalons.
The concentration Of the first two armies
one on tho Satre. and the other On the Rhine
-di1 not reveal his projects; for The enemy
VAS left In uncertainty aa to whether the at
tick would be made against the Rharish
| provinces or upon The Dnchy of Baden,
As acon As The troops ehuu1d have been
| nsr4r Aa Lot IA int tr1ic AfAH FTR Al
| the Euperor'a purpoac to 1muediatcly unite
| The tao armies Of Metz and S,raabourE. and,
| AZ the head OF 251, coo men. to cfoss che Rhine
! ut Ma1au, leaving 1t his righk tho fortress OF
N.stadt. ard at lis LETT sAat Of Germ ershe.n-
Reaching the other side Of the Rhine. be
would have forced tho States Of the South to
observe neutrality, and would then hive bur-
! ritd on 10 encounter the rEussiana- While
this movement was in conEae OF execution, the
10000 men It Chaioun, under the command Of
Mar. bal CanEotert, we're TO proceed to Aet7
to protect the rear Of the amy, aud to Eua,d
tho northeastern frontier. At the aane time,
! our fleet cruising in ths Baltic would have
held stationary, In the uo1:h OF Psussia. : part
Of tls enemyH forces, Obliged to defend the
coasts threatened with ilyAeion.
The Eole chance Of this plan succeeding wat
to sutpass the enemy IN rapidlty Of move
| uent. To accomplish this it was necessary K
muetcr in very few days, At the points de-
cided upon, moi only the number Of men re
quire5, hut also the e.sential accessories o.
tho protected campaign, such ~ wagon equip
ages, ARTILLERY parka, pontoou train. gunboats
to cover the passnXa OF tho Rhine, and
finally. the commistAtiat necessary to eupp(l
large a1m5 on the march.
The Emperor fattered himself with hehopi
Of attaining these results, and in this he va
deceived as, in fact, everybody Was lex
astra5 bv the suEpraition that. By nacAns 0
The railwaSe, men conld os coneeut!atea q, ~ p
order and precision Indispensable 10 SUCCESS
! uhere PREPARATION had not been mado long i
advance b yig1lAnt administration.
The dslays incurred arose, III great meas
u1c* fron he deteets q our niisa5y organ.
and which revealed themselves from the yer,
ics,cad Of having. Is il the caaa with prua
e:a, army corps AtWays in an organized stase
recruited in the province itselt. md possess
Accessories, in Franco ths tsoops composiu
IN army ara dispersed oytr the whole country
while the n.aseTiei is a:ored in difforeu: cities
in cIo4ded magazines. Three yeaIs ago ol
! ders we1a given " the Emperor to ascortai
the tho ntcessaty to set up the wagons dis
mounted 1t Vernon, wien it was proved thi
this simple operation Toula require sl
i divided between psra. CLAtons and S.,or,
The concentration still remained too grea
and has been irsught with deploraple cons
. IN case it is decided to form an actiyo cisi
! ion TpOn my given point 9! tho frontier 7,
place and the train equipa9c and ambulance
+ |. from Paris and verdnn. Esarlv all the uun
3 tiCpB ard provisions arc brought from tt
capital - for tho 81 ldiers Of the Eeserv
. they rejoin their regiments from ~ pArtR I
. France The cons equence Ii that the railaa,
{~o, *H1r rAft Af
= men, holsas, and nnater.ei confusion TAX
!; ! place everywhere, and the rail1ar etaaona ::
often ercumherod viii: objects Of which Il
nature and the destination are equals 1gno.s
). In 1860 the Emperor haa resolved that tt
Iecs u,ts Of ths second portion Of the annu
;, contingent ehould be drilled i'd the depots
. stheir respective proyirces, theoca to be uraf
. Jed. il tiEe Of war, into the regiments de
9 tined for tho campaign. This plan combine
= the advantages Of the Pfusaian with those
= thu Frcneh gyetetu. The men belonging to Il
4 reserve being simply obliged to e from the
: rlsce Of residence to tbs PRINCIPAL so*n
: 1y equipped, and divided among the direre'
!, regiments. Std. although rapidly complete
@ thH Regiments vera not, n in ptuEBiR, mst
Y up f1cta tho population Of An entire PROVING
Is Unfortunsttly, this plan VIA modified By Il
: Wsr Office IN 1866, and each soldier, Aftet b
T. Ing mustered into the service, WAS 1muedlst
u assigned TO regiment. The result vi
!. tilat, ii 1870, 7hen tbs reaervc was called on
themen belonging to it, In order to rejo
y their TaT10ns 1egmen's. were, in many
- Htaneet, Obliged to follow long and comp
L were 1t straabourg, and whose regiments We
= actnally stationed in As.ce. instead OF
L once joining the ranks At StraebourX. we
}. rent to their respective regimeuta9 depot
e which might be In the south Of France,
!. oven In A1gierr, and we're thence obliged
tn for inv
f. E porasion. It may be eaaily conceived wh
II delaya in the assembling uf the troops ~
q cAused ty such N organization II thia.
. The sane fact existed with regard to Il
n camliug material, the ambulance wagon
y apd tho officers transportation. Instead
Ii being distributed among the depots in I
y centre OF each department OF the ompi,
= thts vera all stored In limited number
- military warehouses, 70 that many troops I
10 longing 10 the reserve wero forced to JON I
+ corps only imperfectly equipped. destitute
i P.z' P.1s. I'D 'e.npfatsi.,, Ii Objects d ri i
Ks 10 these defects must b Added the limit
IL, power entrusted to the Generals In compaA
70 1T the department. and to tho military co
Fe mts11iat: Tia most trd'ng thing Required
IN naioisteria1 authorization II v.s, for
au ttarce. impossible to distribute to efhoers
mtn The n1ost Indispensable adjunetn-e
sss tho necessa1. arms-wisaout In express or
III from Paris.
to This administrative routins deprived .
he Geuesals Of the actiyity and foresight VII
en nnay sometimes remedy defective orEani
IN | ticp.
oW Te hasten to Add, howessr. that, to nj
ne up IN amy, leas account mu4t 10 tskeu
r. Individual intelligence than Of : subatAnt
u organization. moved By tinple rn1ehine
IN sn3 nuahln Of Hurkinc rerufa1Iv in t1rne'
lor u.r- bee,use il haa teen habfiusted TO vo
ith ipg regularly in time OF peace.
No Yet, Notwithstanding al the deceptioos
to encountered, Justice must be rendered to
= fur ctionaries II The Nzt Office, who, It = L
N ment of profound tranquility were lnve.
UR s-;th fnsf ~ ~ %1,a