The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1870-10-01

3elHI 1OdAIt nlC IlO wv
nicturesoue group of round turreted towers VI
the Sixteenth century, very useless even aSa
four-pounder field pieces. Inns DuliuihS
is now an arsenal. Beyond this was the cloauei'
the heart of Sedan, on rising the NH aDo'o 'n0
Meuse to the southeast. but completely com
monded nv hills on both sides of the river, winch
runs in front of the citadel
There will be a devil of a fight for that crest
before it is won or lost, said Sheridan, straInihS
his ewes through his field glass, at the hIli' "hicn
was not three miles from where we stoou' "i'n
the fall sun shining on it from behind us.
At half past one, the French cavalry, this time
T fancy. a regiment Of carbineers, made anOther
dash at the Prussians, who, on their part, were
being reinforced every minute, but they met WIN
the same fate as their brethren in the iron jackets,
and were sent with heavy loss to the right ABOUT
The Prussians took advantage OF their Hight 70
advance their lines a couple of hundred yards
nearer the line which the French infantry heid.
These adventurous Prussians split into two
bodies. leaving a break of a hundred yards IN their
line. We were not long in seeing the object OF
their movement, for in a little while, pufs from
the crest beyond the skirmlshers, followed by a
commotion in the dense French masses, showed us
that les diableS, des PrusSianS, had contrlVed,
Heaven knows how, to get a couple OF four pound
es up the steep ground, and were opening upon
the French.
Something must have at this point gone wrong
with the French infantry, for instead of attacking
the Prussians, whom they still o~ut-numbered by
at least two to one, they retired in column on the
hil, seeing their only hope of retrieving the day
vanishing from before their eyes then the French
cavalry tried to do a little Balaklava business,
but without the success of the immortal 50 Six
Hundred"
Down came the cuIrrassieurs-this time riding
straight for the two field pieces, but before they
had got within two hundred yards of the guns,
the Prussians formed a line as if on parade, and
waited till the furious French horse had ridden
out to a point not fifty yards away and then fired.
The fire seemed to us to empty the saddles of al
most the whole of the French squadron, and the
dead so strewed the ground as to block the path
of the following squadron, and close before them
the direct and dangerous road they meant to
follow.
Their dash at the guns came to a halt, when
once this last effort of the French horse had been
made and had fallen, though pushed calamity as
far as men and horses could go. The French in
fantry also fell back towards Sedan it fell back
because it saw that its chance of carrying that
fercely contested hill was gone, and saw that
with the Prussians holding the power of browning
it with guns of their own, the French line in its
face could not much longer hold out.
In an instant, as the French retired, the whole
slope OF the ground was covered by swarms OF
Prussian nlitrdiUeurS, who seemed to rise out OF
the ground, and push forward by the help of every
slight roughness and dent in the surface. AS the
French went back these reckless enemies followed.
After the last desperate charge of the French
cavalry. General Sheridan remarked to me that
he g never saw anything SO reckless, SO utterly
foolish as that last charge-it was sheer murder"
The Prussians, after the French infantry fell back,
advanced so rapidly that the retreating squadrons
of the French cavalry, being pursued too closely,
turned suddenly round and charged desperately
once again, but it was all of no use-the days
of breaking squares are ver-and the thin blue
line soon stopped the Gallo onset.
1t struck me as most extraordinary that at this
point the French had neither artillery nor mitraiE-
eurS-especIally these latter-to cover their in
fantry. The position was most important, and
certainly worth straining every nerve to defend.
One thing was clear enough, that the French in
fantry, after once meeting the Prussians, declined
to try conclusions with them again, and that the
cavalry were seeking to encourage them by their
example.
About two o'clock reinrorcements came to the
between Torney and Sedan, and fell
back on the faubourg to the canal Just outside the
ramparts of the town. Now the battle is lost
for the French - said Sheridan, to the great de-
light OF the Prussian officers. One would fancy
that the French had almost heard his words;
they had hardly been uttered when their came a
lull in the firing along the line-or circle, as it
had now become.
Count Bismarck at that moment came over
this long disputed hill, between Foray and Sc
dan. 70 support the regiments already established
there, L was anxious to know what the Federal
Chancellor had done about the threatened neu-
tIdIIGy VI DclSluIl, anu my curiosity was soon
81 have told the Belgian Minister of
War" said Count Bismarck, that so long as
the Belgian troops do their utmost to disarm any
OF French soldiers who may cross the
| will strictly respect the neutrality of
but if, on the contrary, the Belgians,
either through negligence or humanity, do not
dlsarm or capture every man in French uniform
sets his foot in their country, we shall at
once follow the enemy into neutral territory with
our troops, considering that the French have
been the first to violate the neutrality of Belgian
troops near the frontier, and l confess they do
impress me with a very high opinion of mar
tlal order or discipline; only when they have
heir great coats on one can see a great deal of
but hardly any soldier. / asked His
whether he thought the Emperor was
in Sedan or not. "NO," was the reply, g Napo-
con is not very wise, but he is not so foolish as
TO put himself in Sedan just now For once in
his life, Count Bismarck was wrong.
AT a quarter past three o'clock the King came
% where [ was seated, saying he thought the
French were going to try and break out, Just be-
heath us, on the front of the Second Bayarian
AT ten minutes to four General Sheridan told
ne that Napoleon and Louis were in Sedan. At
wenty minutes past three the Bavarians below
Is not only contriVed to get into the Notifications
It Sedan, but to maintain themselves there.
" hAiS 1hOIl way W Hd1 uOubt " OU6
About four there was a great fight for the
of the ridge above Bazeilles. That
lone, Sedan was swept over all sides by the Prus-
ian cannon. This point of vantage was carried
" the Prussians at 40, and when carried, there
ould no longer be a shadow of doubt as to the
fate of Sedan.
About five o'clock there was a sudden suspen-
ion of the cannonade along the whole fine.
lany were the speculations as to the cause, but
obody seemed to divine the truth. You may
ldge of our surprise when, five minutes later,
We saw a French officer, escorted by two Uhlans,
oming at a hard trot up the steep bridge path
rom Sedan to our post, one of the UhIans carry
ng a white buster on a faggot stick as a flag of
ruce.
The messenger turned out to be a French
'olonel, who came to ask the terms of surrender.
Ifter a very short consultation between the King
nd General Won Moltke, the messenger was told
I'm a matter so important as the surrendering
10000 men and an important fortress, it is
to send an officer of high rank you