Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1870-09-24
EVENING STAR.
KtuS Williams Account OF the Sur-
render Of sedan.

V,,o,.a,, ,ar,ars inst received contain I'M
Vortant details Of the great events ssSe1a"s
"a toII,Usr.y the PruF ian victories Al Seuan-
a.. 81 -, enfsrestpg of which Is a letter from
KIrg WIlha-l 20 queen Augusta IN Whlen Al 4
tescTibiug tie battle AT Sedsn, ne say Nhen
81 rsfrP,t OF the enemy AT All points became
-. snd all infantry, cavalry, and arulle y
Ircssed int the town, anu i~ lmmeulats
Iicinitv. aud when no INDICATION yet Presentet
'..If a. TIE I'M eutiOn OF the enemy to eXtricate
Eir,self from this hopeless position by capitu-
,,fIou. nothing remained but ID lombard the
toWn. After We had IN twenty minutes set fire
20 the town a. several points, which with the
MANY burning villages over the whole b.ttle-
Feld made a terrible impression, / ordered
,-f-ptusiOn % the hiring, and sent Lieut. Col.
I;TOussTt. Ct the General Stat, with a white
Tag. TO propose the capitulatiOn OF army and
fortress. Lieut. Col. Won BTousart was ad-
riit'ed, and on asking for the COMMANDMENT
Chief he was Unexpectedly led before the En-
prIVT. WHO wished Immediately TO hand him a
IstteT tor me. The Emperor s~ked What kind of
proposal he brought. and being told a summons
Tor the surrender of the army and fortress he
replied that he must re er on this point to Gene
raj de NImptfen, who had just assumed the
G. mmaDd in lieu OF the wounded McMahon,
and that he would now send his adjutlnt, Gen.
Eellle, with the letter TO myself. IL was
q clock when Reille and BTouSart came TO me,
through lin that | learnt with certainty the
presence OF the Emperor. You may imagine
the impression which this made upon all OF Us,
but particularly on myself. ReiIle sprsng from
hI> horse and gave me the letter of the Empe
TOT, adding that he had no other commission
Before / opened the letter, | said to him, Bu
! demand, a. the first condition, that the army
Iay down it's arms The letter begins thus
NGgGEt pas pa mourn u tstc de mes trOHpsS,j
dCY"se nsoH epSs rOtre mIJssts,' leaving all the
rest 10 me. MY answer was that 1 deplored the
manner OF our meeting, and begged that a
plenipOtentiary might be sent, with whom
might conclude the capitulati On.
After I had given the letter to General
Relic. I spoke a few words to him a.
an Old acquaintance, and this act ended
As on the morning of the 2d had received no
news from MOltke respecting the negotiations
for the capitulatiOn which we're to be carried on
at DOnchery, drove To the battlefield, accord
ing TO agreement, at O'Clock, and met Moltke.
whe was coming to obtain my consent to the
proposed capitulatiOn. and told me at the same
me that the Emperor had left Sedan at )
o'clock in the morning, and had come to DON
cherry. As he wished to speak to me, and "a
there was a chateau and park in the neighbor
hood. chose this for our meeting. At 10 o'clock
reached the height before Sedan. Moltke and
Bismarck appeared at Il, with the capItulation
duly signed At l O'Clock / started again with
fTitz. escorted by the cavalry staff. 1 aiighted
before the chateau. where the Emperor came to
meet me. His visit lasted a quarter OF an hour.
We were both much moved at meeting again
under such circumstances What my feelings
we're, considering that had seen Napoleon only
three years before at the summit OF his power,
Is more than can describe"