Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-10-05
PHYSICIAN,
THE BURNING OF BAzEILLEs.
The Duke OF Fitz-James TestiGes to
the Horrible Barbarity Of the
Prussians - Seventeen Hunureu
women and Children Roasted
Alive.


The Duke of Fitz-James Testi1es TO
the Horrible Barbarity of the
Prussiaus - Seventeen Hundred
women and Children Roasted
Alive.
The following is a translation of the
text of the Duke of Fitz-James letter
on the burning of Bazeiles, addressed
to the London Times in French. The
Duke of Fitz-James, it may be observed,
is neither Napoleonist or Republican.
He is the head Of the semi-royal family
of the Fitz-Jameses, descendants OF
the great Marshal Duke Of Berwick, the
son of James III of England.
SIR: ! have come from Sedan. Since
we left Chalons | have not quilted our
courageous though unfortunate army.
Charged, in company with the Prince OF
Sagan, with the duty of placing the am
balances of the International Society for
aiding the wounded wherever they might
best render the services which entitled
them to general gratitude | have seen
every field OF battle from Beaumont to
Sedan, upon which our soldiers,
crushed by numbers, have fallen
gloriously for France. | might,
sir, give a long, mournful recital
of ali that / have seen; but in the face of
the new dangers which menace my coun-
try, | will only speak Of what took place
at Bazeilles. l wish to utter but one cry
of Indignation. Bazeilles is near the
Meuse, about eight kilometers from Sc
dan. On the evening Of August 81 the
brave villagers, seeing the enemy arrive,
assumed their uniforms as National
Guards and aided the army in their de-
Tense against a Bavarian corps and
against the division Shaeler Of Erfurt, OF
the 4th corps of the Prussian Reserve.
The French army was repulsed. The
enemy entered Bazeilles, and then began
scenes of horror and of excess without
name. which stain forever those who
commit them. The Bavarians and Prus-
slams to punish the inhabitants for de
Tending themselves, set fire TO the village
The greater portion of the National
Guards we're killed; the population had
taken refuge in the cellars; women and
children were burned; Of two thousand
sonls scarcely three hundred are left,
who tell how they saw Bavarlans pushing
back whole families into the flames and
shooting down women who wanted to
run away. / saw with my own eyes the
smoking ruins ofthis wretched village;
there is not a single house standing. A
stencil of burnt human flesh makes the
stomach revolt. i have seen the bodies
of the inhabitants calcined on their
doorsteps. This, Mr.. Editor, / cannot
allow TO remain unknown. War has its
rigcrs, but it has also its rules based on
the laws Of honor and humanity. Those
laws. you Bavarians, you Prussians who
were at Bazeilles, have been violated
by you. You have disgraced your victory.
L appeal tosthe world, TO judge you. !
ask whether you have the right TO lay
down a principle that you may slaughter
the women aud children Of a village
whose inhabitants, seeing you arrive,
defend their homes and their country.
In every case the National Guard is a
regular troop, as regular as the fourth
and fifth bar of your Landwehr. You
have even, in the name of your own ter
rible system, the right to burn Bazeilles;
you killed for killing sake; you con-
Quoted yourselves like savages, and not
like soldiers. This, Mr. Editor, is what
feel duty upon me TO write and to
submit 10 the judgment of all men.
Most respectfully, Duc DE- FITzJANEs.
Paris, September II, 1870.