The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-09-24
TIE DECISIVE BATTLE.

fConcltded from FIRST Pagel
-;.,. that Mcmahon himself was wounded
80 carly in the day, when directing ms
ICONS In an offensive movement against
Bezeilles.
orSpR.I. puCRos THEN TOOK COMMAND
oe tho whole army, but General de Wimpfen,
r-oducing sealed letter, showed tnaS ne was
s,,tnorizea m assume the control OF the opera
t;nns of fhe army in case Of any accluent ~
Marshal Mcmahon. The marsnai Was mo..ii:a uo 't,a
early in the morning, and accorulns tho ~ Rs1 Ise
reports of French ofhcers, pilsohIr nr onin;on he
varans. there was difference Oh oPruron MIras"n D
t,,aan General Ducros and General "impnen
resnectinr the plan of attack which tne french
aJdy,od a. one period of the day as the pest
mssns of defence. Having beaten the baVa-
Rams ont of Balan at one time the french
made rush in the direction OF lily, as II de-
termIned to cut their way through on the hank
of the Saxon army, and pass towards Metz.
But the Crown Prince of Saxony had by that
n me resumed the offensive, and had brought
an Overwhelming force to block their way
They were driven back, delivering the Bava-
rians from the stress 10 which they had oeen
exposed. Their divisions advanced once more,
and Bazeilles, or as much as remained OF IT,
was firmly occupied. But the fight about ba-
Ian lasted much later. Here II was, accordlne
to Bavarian reports, that
THE EMPEROR,
declaring that he only served as private SOL
dier. went with the attacking column, COM
posed Of the remnants Of various regiments, TO
drive out the Bavarians. But the ARTERY on
the heights above the road were too much for
troops shaken by incessant fighting and FEAR
full losses. Shell and shot rained fast about the
Emperor, Que Of them bursting close TO ms
person and enveloping him in smoke. The
officers around entreated him to retire, ana
and engaged the French on the glacis OF the
fort. 7 cannot say whether this was previous
to the period referred to by General Wimp-
fen in his address to the army. He speaks
therein of supreme moment Wien IL was
necessary to make o final effort and cut their
way through the masses OF the enemy az az any noS
hazard. But of all that great host OF so,Co0
men, there were only 1000, he says, lett VINO
answered to the appeal. or the remainder
there we're PROBABLY 10000 In the hands OF the
Prrssians, but $4,000 men, deductlng Killed
ard wounded had by this time thef oefo cobesion ea M
s.willing to wound but yet afraid to strike, and
crushed out of all semblance of military vitali-
~ nv an overwhelming and most murderous
artjiiery. of which the moral effect was at
least as great as the physical. The oltterness
of recrimination between omcers ana mep
shows that long before the battle raalcai ele. .
ment of force was wanting. There was not
only deficiency 0f cordial relations In their
kind between the officer and the soldier, out
worse evil still-an actua! apprehension on tne
part of the officers Of those whom they were
to command fear to enforce the ordinary
rules Of discipline, lest the soldier should pe-
come unmanagable altogether; the scene can.
occurred when the army. or thet unnormeo
rabble, had been fairly driven in by the beat.
ers, to be shot down at will. The French
artillery had practically ceased TO exist as a
protecting arm. The guns on the WORKS are
ridiculous small ordnance OF the date OF ISIS,
with a few heavy pieces here and there, and
Sedan, commanded completely from tne SCUM
poses an open town, with the Inconvenience
Of having walled enceinte to embarrass
the movements of the troops. The En-
peror. retired, I believe, within the place,
but not, surely, for safety, but rather
to, escape from the surging mass OF I'M
potent soldiery. There was rain. OF Prus-
sian ind Bavarian bombs upon the town; fned
escape. The troops outside had been fighting
without food since the morning.. and there
were no resources within the city to meet
their wants They were in an angry and ter
rible mood, upbraiding their officers, mutln-
GUS, and every shell that fell increased the
evil OF their spirit. To one OF many missiles
was now reserved great mission. Shell
vas stored some infammable material. A
vast volume Of flame rushed for moment into
the air, and volume of thick white smoke
which lowered and spread out so as to over
shadow half the city gave rise to the appre-
hension on one side and expectation on the
other that some central magazine had gone
up. But no noise ensued. Still. at the mo.
ment the resolve was taken That SEDAN ana ~ ,a an
that it contained should be placed In the
bower Of the victor. in the belief that 1t was
Impossible to resist with any prospect but that
'frqin complete, however lingering.
rur EMPEROR COULD NOT OPPOSE coussELs
dictated by obvious prudeIlccee, nor coaa pc ]
encourage the despair Of brave men. A white
dag was called for, but none was forthcoming.
I iancer's fac was raised aloft. General
Ia,riston stood upon the battlements anu
waived It. while trumpeter sounded, out IN
that Internal din neither sight nor s0und az
tracted the besiegers, and 1t was only Maeh
the gate was opened, after attempts aa III walSn
officers and men were KILLED ana Rounoeu,
that the Prussians recognized u tne nrst omen
IF their stupendous victory. The hiring sud
denly ceased after the discharge OF few drop
ping shots, and then, as all along the blood
stained hilis and valleys in which the smoke
of battle had been hanging, the news, or
rather the. instinct, prevailed that the enemy
mad asked for terms. there rose, am told,
cheers, such as only can be gwen Dy trl-
nmphant soldIery. Shakos and sabres rose in
The air. what an additional pang.of agony
that must have been to the wounded French,
who felt that they had given their blood IN
vain, while the Prussians beside them, mann
ed as they were, tried to swell with their
feeble voices the chorus OF JOY Aa oHcer
related to me that he saw huge Prtlssian
who had been lying with his hand to his side
in mortal agony, rise suddenly to his feet as
he comprehended the reason Of the ringing |
voices, utter loud hurrah, wave his hands |
an hioh and then, as the blood rushed from |
his wound, fell dead across Frenchman.
The officer who came out eventually and met |
General Moltke in consultation was, believe, |
General Reille, who was the officer In attend |
ance on the King when he was at Compeigne. !
he was the bearer OF an autograph let |
ter from the Emperor addressed to his Majesty, |
and written in no agitated hand. You already |
know the terms: Mon Ffere--N'dyont pea1
n1ouria q la tete de mon dr7nee, Je depoSe mon
eoee au pied de rotre Mqjeste.' This letter was |
conveyed to the King, who, with
Count Bismarck, General Moltke and his staff,
were looking down from height above Wade
lincourt on the extinction OF an empire. His
Maiesty'S answer was courteous and 1rm, and
General Wimpfen was informed
that the terms offered to the army was the
surrender of the whole force, guns, horses,
and materials, to the Prussians. do not know
whether the officers were then exempted from
general surrender, but, any way, the French
declared he would sooner per- |
ish In the field than sign such disgrace
full capitulation; and, so the sun went down in |
the west. iiehtine the path of the King to Ven |
dresse, through the most enthusiastic ovation |
from all the sOldiery along the road south Of the