The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-09-08
, great deal of palctots but hardly any sol
R1sMARCK's FIRST MISTAKE.

a great deal of palctots but hardly any sol
der"
BIsMARcK's FIRST MISTAKE.
/ asked his EXccllcncy where he Thought
the Emperor was. e In Sedam va,
no p was the reply :" Napoleon is not very
wise. but he is not so foolish as to put him
self in Sedan just now." For once IN his
life Count Bismarck was wrong. 1##
At 2:45 the King came to the place where
I was standing. He remarked that he
thought the French were about to try to
break out just beneath Us, in front of the
Second Bavarian corps. at $3.50 General
Sheridan told me that Napoleon and Louis
were i'll Sedan. ..-.-..
~ BRAVERY OF THE BAvARIANs.
AT $40 the Bavarians below us not only
contrived to get themselves inside the forti-
fications OF Sedan, but to maintain them
selves there, working their way forward
from house to house. About 4, there was
great fight for the possession OF the ridge
above BaZeille. That carried, Sedan was
swept on all sides by the Prussian cannon.
This point of vantage was carried ut 4:4O.
When carried there could no longer be a
shade OF doubt as to the ultimate fate OF
Sedan. ,G , aE%'
FLAG OF TRUCE.
About . O'Clock there was again sudden
suspension of the caunonade along the
whole line. Many were the speculations as
to the cause, but nobody seemed to divine
the truth. You must Judge of our surprise
when, i've minutes later, we saw French
officer, escorted by two UhlanS, coming at
a handsome trot up the steep -brldle-path
from Sedan to our post, one CT the UhlanS
carrying white duster Oh faggot stick as
u bag of truce The messenger turned out
to lie a French colonel, come to ask for
terms of surrender. After very
short consultation between the King and
General Won Moltke, the messenger was
told by the General that, in mat
! ter SO important rs the surrender
| OF at least $4,000 men, and an important
| fortress, it was necessary to send an officer
of high rank. "You are, therefore,. said
! the General. to return to Sedan and tel
the Governor of the town to report himself
! immediately to the King of Prussia. If he
! does not arrive within an hour our guns
will again open fire. You may tell the com.
mandunt that there is no use of his trying
to obtain any other terms than uncondi-
tional surrender" The parlem entairerode
back with this message. When he was
fairly out Of ear.shOt his mission was most
| eagerly canyasSed.
at $3.50 there arose sudden CRY among
the members Of the Kings staff" Der
Kaiser sst da !"-and then came loud
hurrah. Soon we began to look anxiously
! for the arrival Of the second flag of truce
! In ten minutes more General Reilly rode
IN with letter for the King Of Prussia.
THE EMrERoR's SURRENDER. ,..
! AS soon as the French general was ir
sight, the slender escort Of cuirassiers and
Ia ftf
line, two deep. Behind the King, in from,
of the escort, was the staff, and ten yard,
! in front OF them again stood His Majesty
King William of Prussia, ready to receive
General Reilly. That officer, rs we soor
! learned. WAS the bearer OF an autograph
letter from the Emperor Napoleon to King
William. The Emperor of the Frencl
wrote " As | cannot die ut the head OF
my army, | lay my sword at the feet o.
your Naiesty." [" \ e pouunm pas mouri'
| q la ttte de mon ar7nee, je rie7as anettre nlGr
; fpte aur pieds de rotre MGjeste."
| WHY Napoleon i'll. could not die, as die
thousands Of bis soldiers, sword in hand
/ with his face to the foe, is not so clear.
] On receipt Of this most astounding letter
there was brief consultation between the
King. the Crown Prince (who had come
over from his hill OH the arrival Of the FLAG
of trucc), Count Bismarck, General voL
Moltkc, and General Won Room. After Il
few minutes conversation the Hing SAT
down on a rush-bottomed chair and wrote
a note Ton another chair held as table by
two s-de-camp) to the Emperor, asking
/ him TO come next morning to the King o
Prussia's headquarters at Vendresse.
SHERIDAN coNGRATULATEs BISMARCK.
While the King was writing this note
! Count Bismarck came up to Generals Sheri
4 ~ &
shook our hands. "I.ct me congratulate
YOU most sincerely, Count" said Genera
Sheridan. q can only compare the sur
render of Napoleon to that Of General Lee
at ApDomattoX Courthouse"
! When it came my turn to grasp the Chan
ccllor's hand could not help saying, after
had warmly congratulated him
! "lou cannot but tecl Il pride, Count Bis
marck, in having contributed SO largely tc
! the winnin. Of to-day's victory"
| "Oh no, my dear sir, y was the mild an
| swer; &" am no strategiSt, and have nothing
! to do with the winning OF battles. What
SaXons, aud the Wurtcmbergers, have not
/ only been on our side, but have had SC
| larme a share-the largest share-in the
! glory of the day; that they are with us.
! and not against us. That is my doing.
don't think the French will say now that
the South Germans will not fight for oui
common Fatherland."
asked his ENcelIency whether Louis was
taken with his papa, and was told that nc
one knew and l think that no one much
cared where that little man was.
| When the King had written his letter, he
| himself handed it to General Reilly, VINO
stood barehcaded to receive 1.-THE Italian
and Crimean medals glittering on his breast
in the fading sunlight. Queen Victoria:
image and superScription have not otter
been seen on the uniforms OF men surren
dering without conditions.
At 7:4O General Reilly left for the be-
|! lcauued town, escorted by the Uhlans
| The duster which had served as flag o
truce was offered to me us souvenir oil thai
memorable day; but it had a strong resem
! blance to other busters, and l declined thu
prottered relic.
DRINK TO UNITED GERMANY.
Then there was a general demand fol-
something to drink, and Count Bismarck's
aid-de-calnp produced two bottles of Bel
| rian beer. One of them his EXcellency
Shared with Gcreral Sheridan, General For
| syth, and myself, saying that he drank tc
| the closer union of the three great Teutonie
peoples.
CONDITIONS OF PEACE.