, 1870-10-25

Ire Presence. and commanding the admiration. OE
New York pr rf-ernioentiy that CITY. but ID auIte
sure Washington + not.
TIE PRUsSIANS AT BAZEILLEs
DcAtfacsion OF the y"fl1nEc-Rm1bar.
tiles OF the R'ruxxtnu1.
Correspondence cf Re London .Sexs
,. ~ BoCtplIoS, Sept 80.
This evening returned to this pietnre<oue
own, after short tour amongst the battle-
fields round about Se.lan. One object
IN visiting lsazeiilea was to make in
to tl,eir version Of tic Incidents which
led to the destruction Of that thriving
place, and to ascertain, it possible. the num-
IeIs cf those killed bs the Bava1ians. In this
have been totetably successful, and can give
you faiihful account OF what the peasants
and wealthy 70. .ideuts Of HlzeiE1es hare to say
in thelz own defence Unfe1tunRte!v, could
not exhaust tile sources Of information which
arc attaIuable, because ocly few. scarcely
fifty, have II present returned to the place:
and they live in constant terror Of tho reap
pcaranco Of those eo1diers who irdicted such
terrible punishment upon them.
The term village. as applied to Dazeill es, IL
calculated 10 convey 4 very erroneous impress
ron Of the Character Of the piaee. Il is one
Of tho mogt dourishiug suburbs of Seiap.
from which 1t il distant about two mies'
Tie houses in the principal street we're four
att tita in height, aud were built OF la1ga
block. OF white etone. All along the road
zcilles the tteor.s Of battle nbounds !;
hnapsasls and helmets By hundreds lie in tho
tlitclles; and il, the fields arc the remains Of
tho PTuEeian encafnpments. a few hundred
yards from Bazeil[es l met soms peasants
Gil The roadway who belonged to that village,
a1 1qncetioned them closely a. to their knoWl-
edge Of the fac 3 wl,lchled to tho bomba1dment.
I told them tnat it had been reported in Eng
land that some OF their number had thrown
wounded 1iarartan soldiers into houses and
then SGT the bulldipgs on fire. Their sn-
eWers took down At the time, and Afterwar3,
among the ruins Of the houses. every nan
snd woman vas subjected to = similar
ss~e1smipation. There were originally
upward Of 500 houses there, the major
PORTION Of which we're Of the hnd hayo de-
| eciibed. For several days preceding the dtsss-
ter, the people remained At their homes. Init
~ tho 1Iussian circle narrowed Aound them
there came rumors Of terrible euHerings hAY-
ing BEEN experienced At the f:anda Of tho SOL
diers IN the neighsosiu villages. This in
other effects in carts, with the hope Of escap-
ING through Givonne and L. Chapel1e to Bel
giuu1- Ono poor WOMAN told me ahc succeed
ed in escaping from Dazeillos on
Tho morning Of Thursday, September |,
when re dght took place, but aho
the houses, the French troops, and number
OF Eancs-tireurs, believed they would be able
to Lold tho place successfully against tho
cceny; and there can be no doubt that des-
peszto conflict hsppened in the streets. There
was one through which I passed where tho
down BY mit1ail1enrs. The Bavarlaus
lost heavily, but It was in 4 fair fight
with the French soldicrs aud the massacre OF
the inhabitants these who survive declare to
have been OF the most nnwarr1ntabte char
| actcr- In answer to my questions, men, wo-
men, and priests most indignat1y denied that
any strocity bad been committed upon
wounded nava1i;ns. They did tell nae Of one
woman whose husband and sous had bean
killed BY the soldiers, who from her owu
house tired upon the Davasians, Killing
Two; and as long as one stone sem1;us to
mark the site OF DAzeil1es, 70 long viii the
story OF that woman's heruis1n excite tl1s ad-
miration and the patriotism Of the people Of
Franco. Decause Of her it will hardly be
her shoulders and those OF tho Francs-
bility OF What followed. burins the isspSast asbt
certain things took placc which hare not
get been made public. A woman Of inde-
pendent uaeans, named Douchen<, was 30
foully abused bv the soldiers-and thai
phrase is intended to describe tho n1ost seri-
QUE outrage that cau be inflicted upou wotuan
--tbat she died threeld1ys afterwarl, This
fact WIS attc=ted br the priest, who confessed
tho woman in her dying moments. Her
louse wss subsequently, se. On fro, and the
viilagcrs. deceived By the rrocl.mations Of
tho Germans. remained, believing that war
nas not made upou them. Wien the fight
commenced, numbers hid themselves in the
cell:ts Of their houses. II. Roberts,
wealthy: brewer, and bis servants. we're
slot. In another house two children
named Dehsye, one aix months and the
olLcE eighteen mortls old, were pitched
from the window Of the house into the street
" the BaEalians, then thrown back again intn
the house, which MAS eet On fire, md the chill
dren burnti but theirp4zeuts escaped. A young
man named ltemy. 81 yea.s OF age. who had
been confined to bis bed two years With = spinal
complaint, WAS bayonetted and killed AS be 1av
en- his couch. In smother house. = msn nam
Espehelet, his daughter, his brother.in-l -laE, and
bic father-in-lAw, were fastened in the cellar
and burned to death. Their chaHed remains
were subsequently buued by come Of their
neighbors who had known them, Cotin Cha.
tier. married noAn with family, was wound
ed By ball in the shoulder, and made pris-
one1. he WIS tied up, naked, in the rail1av
station for eight daye, and then died from
bis wound. Henry Aubergiste, landlord Of
the Golden Lion, WAS alaot on the doorstep Of
the suf5erets, and have no doubt that =
complete list Of those killed may be obtained
when the p1usfians are gone. But At pres-
ent. out Of a population Of nearly two thons-
and. scarcely ffty remain. Thils coayessius
with few Of them, At the entrance to tbs
village. trumpets were heard. and
party Of Chlans came insight, followed b. \
regiment Of tho very men who destroyed fhe
village: and my poor friends disappeared
With considerable agility, nor did they venture
from thei, hiding places until the soldiers
had passed out Of sight. aecertained
thAt only ten bodies had been dug ont
Of the ruins Of the houses, and they
sll belonged to the village; and ae to
the number missing my info1Inants varied in
their statements as to whether they numbered
hfiy OF seventy. To decide this question,
amongst others brought to me- was IN old
man named Denis Aozst. He told me that he
,s1,oS "a, one o. Of :, aeeot so.ty xhe Tese col.
marital, and condemned to bs shot His
hands we're tied, and the morning after their
condemnation, when about to etaft for tho
scene OF execution, IN officer ordered his
bouds to be cut. and he was set At liberty. but
Ms companions were executed. He could not
Why be was pazdoned. As walked
tho people whose names have mentioned
wefa pointed ont to me- The destruction is
most eomplete. Only one house remsins
standing. Every other one, including \
chateau, the Hotel do Vile. and the
church, is completely DESTROYED. In
scores Of instances the wall facing
the st1eat has fallen. aud In hundreds
Of others the walls arc 80 shastared that they
must bo blown up bafore any attempt can be
made to rebuild In little garden behind
ono house. where flowers still b1oomed. ten
sofie1s lay in ono g1aye, ana = few yards OF
Vas EEAre With one occupant The men
who took mo TO- this place stated that
one OF the soldiers shat in that garden
Wta eet on fire By the explosion md WAS
This fsct. he alleged. had given rise to the
etouyof the yilagess thoxinx the wounded
man into the houses- Before the bombazd-
toent commenced the soldiers removed about
thirty rounded fzom tho Hotel de- Vile,
eomhe were rained npon, the place. ind
lev men who hAd succeeded in hiding until
that nemeut. IN attempting to escape, were
ahos u tho street BY Bava1iAns- One house
H1s pointed out where dfy men had been
tAken Pr1aonexs, but tho fAte ct those
men conA not ascertain, probably eome
q them were amongst the forty shot.
The godc1fngs Of the people who have thus
lost their hosnea and III they possessed are
very ssFefe, and from my own observation
can testify to the immediate need OF eucoor-
tng them: But HakesIles II not solitary case !;
every village through which tho soldiers
have passed ia IN want Of help, \.