Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1870-09-09


twenty minutes past 3, the Bavarians be- |
low US not only contrived to get inside /
the forihcations of Sedan, but to main
tain themselves there, working away for
ward from house to house. About 4
there was a great fight for the possession
Of the ridge of the Bazeille. That done,
Sedan was swept on all sides by the
Prussian cannon.
This point of advantage was carried
by the Prussians at 4:4O, and when car
red there could no longer be a shade of
doubt as to the ultimate fate of Sedan.
THE SURRENDER OF THE EMPEROR.
About : o'clock there was again
sudden suspension of the cannonading
along the whole line. Many were the
speculations as to the cause, but nobody
seemed to define the truth. You may
judge of our surprise, when four minutes
later we saw a French officer, escorted
by two Uhlans, coming at a hard trot up
the steep bride path from Sedan to our
post, one of the Uhlans carrying a white
duster on faggot stick as a flag oftruce
The messenger turned out to be a French
Colonel, come to ask terms of surrender
After very short consultation between
the King and General Won Moltlze, the
messenger was told that in matter so
important as the surrender of at least
eighty thousand men and an important
fortress, it was necessary to send an of
hceF of high rank. ''You are therefore
to return to Sedan and tell the Governor
of the town to report himself immediate
ly to the King of Prussia. If he does
not arrive in one hour our guns will
again open fire. You may tell the COM
mander that there is no use of his trying
to obtain any other terms than uncondi-
tional surrender The bayZemeHttaTe
rode back with the message. When he
was fairly out of earshot his mission was
most eagerly canvassed. AT half past 6
there arose sudden cry among the
members of the Kings staff. "Der
Kaiser ist d." and then came a loud
hurrah. Soon we began to look anX-
iously for the second flag of truce, and
in ten minutes more Gen. Reilly rode up
with a letter for the King of Prussia. AS
soon as the French General was in sight
the slender escort of cuirasseurs and
dragons we had with US was drawn up
in line, two deep, behind the King. In
front of the escort was the staff, and ten
yards in front of them again stood his
Majesty, King William, of Prussia, to
receive Gen. Reilly. That officer, as we
soon learned, was the bearer of an au-
tograph letter from the Emperor Napo-
leon to King William The Emperor
of the French wrote:
Gas can not die at the head of my
army, lay my sword at the feet of
your Majesty ('fNe poaeUGnt pas
mourn q tG tete de mon 07n1ee, Je Vte7lS
METRE mon epee aatT l0ieds de UotTe Maj
este. :"
Why Napoleon Third could not die as
did thousands of his soldiers, sword in
hand, with his face to the foe, is not so
clear. On receipt of this most astound-
ing letter there was a brief conversation
between the King, the Crown Prince,
who had come over from his hill on the
arrival of the flag of truce, Count Bis
marck, Gen 4Von Moltke and Gen Won
Room After a few minutes conversa-
ton the King sat down on a rush bot
tom chair and wrote note on another,
held as a table by two of his aids-de-
camp, to the Emperor, begging him to
come next morning to the King of Prus-
sia' headquarters at Vendresse.
While this note was being written
Count Bismarck came up to Gems. Sher-
idan and Forsyth and myself and heart
iIy shook our hands. "Let me congrat-
ulate you most sincerely, Count, said
Gen. Sheridan. 81 can only compare
the surrender of Napoleon to that of
Gen. Lee at Appomattox Court House. !"
When it came my turn to grasp the
Chancellor's hand / could not help say
ing, after I had warmly congratulated
him "You can not but feel pride,
Count Bismarck, in having contributed
L. # h
tory" ooh, no, my dear sir, was the
mild answer, Il am no strategist, and
have nothing to do with the winning of
the battle-what am proud of is that
the Bavarians, the Saxons, and the
Wurtembergers have not only been on
our side, but have had so large a share
the fdrgest share, in the glory of the
day; that they are with us and not
against US. That is my doing. l do not
think the French will say now that the
South Germans will not fight for our
common Fatherland. asked his Ex-
cellency whether Louis was taken with
his papa, and was told that no one knew,
and think that no one cared where
that small, young man was.
When the King had written his letter
he himself handed it to Gen. Reilly, who
stood bareheaded to receive it, the Ital-
ian and Crimean medals glittering on
his breast in the fading twilight. Queen
Victoria's S image and superscription have
not often been seen on the uniforms of
men surrendering without conditions.
At twenty minutes to 8 Gen. Reilly
left for the beleaguered town, escorted by
the Uhlans. The duster which served
as flag of truce was offered to me as a
souvenir of this most memorable day,
but it had a strong resemblance to other
busters and declined the proffered ar
dcle. Then there was a general demand
for something to drink, and Count Bis
marck's aide-de-camp produced two
bottles of Belgian beer. One of them
His Excellency shared with General
Sheridan, General Forsyth and myself,
saying that he drank to the closer union
of the three great Teutonic peoples.
As soon as General Reilly was gone,
l was anxions to be off to the Belgian
frontier, in the hope of getting messages
through, but Count Bismarck's Aide-de-
camp assured me that must wait until
the next morning, and even then must
be careful not to fall into the hands of
the stray French soldiers, who were
along the Belgian frontier, and said to be
little better than bandits So slept at |
the village of Cheronge, a mile behind |
our post, throughout the day, and after
doing a little hunting for quarters, actu-
ally got bed.
THE ROUTED ARMY.
Early next morning started for Bel
gium. As / rode along suddenly |
came first on knot of Uhlans, then on
-wo Piquers in the green and gold I'M
oerial livery. Directly behind them came !
he travelling carriage of His majesty, |
with Napoleon the Third on his way to |
Dreport himself a prisoner at King
William S headquarters at Vendresse, a
title, dirty village, some eighteen miles
rom Sedan.
ruE nrznrof-r, amrC nDrsS arm