New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-11-22
TIE CASE OF LlRSHAt bAzAINf

appear In the course OF tnlS Wcch. oomethinB
of tho kind is certainly needed, for the credit
of the French army, and still more of the i'm
perial cause which the Marshal upbOlds. The
voice of the subordinate officers implicated in
the surrender of Metz is almost unanimous in
angry condemnation Of Bazaine's conduct; the
testimony of the newspaper correspondents
points to him as traitor, and the Provisional
Government has ordered his arrest whenever
he may be found on the territory of France.
A staff officer Of the surrendered 0rmy-ODe
Col. do ValcOurt-has recently made critical
report of the siege, in which ho distinctly
charges the Marshal with treachery, and this
report has been published under the sanction
of the Government. Of course document of
this kind, when it accOrds so closely with the
wishes of those official superiors, from whom
come promotion and other good gifts, is always
to be taken with reserve. Without fully con-
demning the Marshal, therefore, until we have
heard his defense, we shall content ourselves
for the present with stating the case as it
stands 40 that we may the better comprehend
his story whenever he shall see fit TO tell it,
The opinion of the subordinate officers is
apparently very positive that there was no
reason why the army of the Rhine should
have been fastened up under the walls of
Metz, and there was no time, until the horses
were all dead of starvation or slaughtered for
food, when vigorous sally would not have
released it, The last serious engagement was
on the 31st of August-the day before the
Emper0r's surrcnder-and according to the
Prussian official statements tho condition of
the field was such at the close of tho day that
Bazaine by o bold night march might have
effected q junction with MacMahOn, and so
prevented the disaster of the 1st of September
That he failed TO do this does not necessarily
imply treachery; it is more probable that
the Marshal lacked the supreme military
virtues of decision and moral courage
which enable commander at critical mo
mcnts TO seize great opportunity in
the face of formidable dangers. But after the
overthrow of tho Empire. the state of the case
was different. A correspondent of The Man
chester Guardian was in Metz all through the
siege, and his last letters which have just
been received tell some remarkable facts.
CATER Sedan and the fall of the Empire"
says this writer, "tho news of which reached
Gus on the 9TH of September, it became
"evident to all that Marshal Bazaine refused
"to act on the aggressive. He would not
compromise himself in any way.-tO play
"waiting game was his policy" He had be-
tween 10000 and 200,0 900 men, and the bcsiegcrs
were but slightly more numerous. lie had
abundance of ammunition of all kinds. lie
had horses and artillery. On all principles OF
military science it ought TO have been
comparatively easy for him to cut through the
investing lines and make his way to Paris, while
the gates of the capital were still open. Or
course, the loss would have been heavy, but
the result would have been ample cOmpensa-
ton. Yet the sorties which he made from time
to time, when the clamor of the soldiers and
citizens could no longer DO resisted, were
never earnest, and apparently were never
meant to succeed. Officers who insisted upon
vigorous fighting were imprisoned. Newspa-
pers which talked of active operations were
suppressed.
But if it was clear that Bazaine did not
mean to cut his way ont it was equally clear
that he did not mean to stand q long siege.
No care whatever was taken of the stores.
The cOmmissaries petitioned again and again for
q reduction of tho ratons, and only succeeded
at last according to Col. do Valcourt "by
I" using actually violent language to the Mar
seventy days SIEGE officers were not only
allowed to draw and use double ratiOns i'll
camp bat to live upon tho provisions of the
town besides. The horses Of the cavalry and
artillery received full rations to the very last
but this was not that they might be in good
condition for o sortio, for az soon as forage
became scarce they were killed and eaten.
There never was any systematic collection and
distribution of the provisions in Metz, and at
the timo OF the surrender, though luxuries
were scarce, there was still supply of food,
nobody really knows how much. All this, it
is true, does not prove treachery. But the
escape from the charge of treachery is in
confession of iDcOmpetency-tO which, indeed,
VIC have heretofore been disposed to assign
most of the extraordinary circumstances con-
nected with the siege and the surrender.
In the mean time, Bazaine carried on nego-
tiations with the Empress and The lmperlalists,
the exact history of which will perhaps never
be fully divulgcd. A scOro of different YER
sions have been published of the mission of
Bourbaki to England. and the missions of
Gen. Boyer to Versailles. 1t is unnecessary to
know the particulars; it is enough that
Bazaino continued to recognize the dynasty,
and though false to France, remained true to
the man who had made him a Marshal. He
never proclaimed the Republic; he never
allowed tho army or the citizens of Metz to
know the names of the Provisional Govern
mcnt; he never announced any other authority
as ruling in Paris except the purely military
authority of Gen. Trochu. At last he proposed
TO march his army out on parole not to fight
against Prussia again during this war, and
lead them into Paris there to "protect" the
i ncislatiyc Chambnr until it shOnld establish a