, 1875-03-15
THE STORY OF SEDAN,
Remarkable Trinl In tho French
Courts.
Gen. Wimpilen Charged by Paul De Cas-.
sagnao with Ncing Responsible
for tho Great Disaster.
Wimpaen Brings Libel suit--Oassagnao's
Ohargos Proved to Bo True.

Sizes, In which very curious caso wAs being
tried. 10 compact was tho crowd that tho h,,is-
slsrs had great difficulty In getting tho Witnesses
through, and dnring tho operation tho noise they
mnds forced tue court to Interrupt It's proceeds
inRs. Modesty prevnntod 1no from making the
attomrt, antl remained basrcadol III Until The
opd Of tho triat. Tho casa OF Wimplien W. Paul
DO Caesagnao Was Of great petsonal inteseet to
me, for tho Jury had TO decide upoh statc-
nlcnts mado by uis In your columns In tho year
1870, and repeatul otten enough since. In
Ills case tho personalities Of tho General and Of
tile journalist wero soon Lost to view, and tho
roal question At ieauo soon became tho reaponsl-
bty regarding tho disaster OF Sedan. Soon
after Tho event. put on rocorl my opinion TINT
tho larger part Of this responsibility should iost
upon Gen. WlmpGen. was delighted wiion
Gen. Ducrot's book camo out to BuAlatn my
view. but greatly chagrincd to Cad, noswitstand-
Ing its e1tsemo Importance and although af-
proved by ovory gcnorAl officer commanding at
Sedan, that this book attracted very little atto-
tion. Il whh In reality the key to tho whole TN.
harpy history. Since the German reports lavo
como to confirm Its facts aud conclusions, IL 10
Of far less Interest," but II must DO romnrkod that
Ibis is tho only WORK published In Frauce since
tho war which IL In accord With tho German off,
mcnta Of German military writer's.
wIMrFrKN Al A JouhNAtiBT.
Con. Ducros's book vna, IN fact the melting
causo Of tho present ptocc.B. It answered
Wlmp1cn's Btatoments. mud defended the officers
outragcons}y Attacsod in tho lattcr'a dGfousa-
a protentious book Of snuc 400 pagos-whilo
giving comprehensive story Of tho battle Of
Hcdan. Greatly annoyed by this, and by tho
attacks Of tho press on account OF his accnsa-
tiona against tho Emperor and NIL hta bEothor
Generals, without etug'e exception, Con.
Wimpfinn turned Rouublican. and, what IL more,
becamo Republican 16urual'st. io Joined tho
tho editorial direction OF Edmond About. md
In this journal continued Ills attacks upon tho
Emperor and his Ministers, aud upon tho Goo-
era that commanded divisions and brigades at
Sedan. For long time tllcso ntsacks wore lnno-
t,ced but thoy could not be expected to escape
forever from Tho eyos Of so kocn and earnest q
champion of the Imperial cauae aa II. Paul De
Cassagnac, Lie replied to ono Of these articles
IN The columns OF tho Pays. Tho artic!a MAS
mao, and every ono Vas surprised when It was
read 10 court. Wimpdon replied sharply in tho
K,neiccnAt Century. oyer his own tlgnaturo. Tho
Hys I9iosd s cshsRy the wa.n Sisa DcuE sguoa
this using aome Yioiont language: aud Do Cas-
sagaae auswcrcd ln an article which closed the
newspaper dobate. He accused Wimpnon OF BE-
Ing tlaitor, Of being mainly responsible for tho
through hta vanity and iucapacftY. The dispute
Then assumed a mcnacing character, and a long
private correspondence enaued. I bcllevo that
duel WAS talked Of, but the seconds could
then tTiod to bring Dc Caesaguao boioro tho
Civil Tribunal under tho at sclcs Of tho code re-
iattnE to insultu and outrages to an officer or
functionary. lu this court no proof in tustiaca-
tton Ia allowed. Tho court hao to ascertnin il
thcro has boou in.ult and outrage whether Jus
titled or not; and II tho fact III proved. tho Ru-
thor is subjected to heavy Ane, with ruspen-
tson. In some cases, OF the jnurnal In which 1t
sppseared. % Cas'sgnao denied the ,35nrao!ctiep
Of tbis court. since ho bad cs'ticiaed Wimpnen in
hts public capacity, aud had dealt with him IL
journalist rather than - soldier. IIe dcmaud-
cd criminal charge and trial before tho AS
Sizes Court where, in case Of condemnation.
ho would havo bcen subjected to dnc and I'm.
prisonmcnt both. Thn case was argued by
Lacaud on ono Side and Julos Fnvro on the
other; tho court finally deciding that II bud no
jurisdiction.
4 surr ron DEFAMATION.
After some hesitation Wimptfou 1undo up l.a
mtnd to bring crlsainal suit for defamation,
and IL Was upon this charge that Do CasHaRuao
WIS cited before tho Assizes Court, Ho sum-
moned tho fiyo Generals commanding at 6e11p
Wimpiron could not get atngle general officer
on bis side. Three Coinnefs and one or two
civilians constituted his Witnesses. He bad
aaked the Comic do palIkao to testity In his
4ANvts Dut kAo 4ukkAGE lAA14let9E VI HhI WlQE4
that he could ssy. nothing in bis behalf, aud
asked to DO excused On tho very strong grouud
that tho ovldoneo ho could copsclentlous,y
give would surely turn against him. Wimpfon
Colonel who did testiiy for Wimpaen did 10
under the pressure OF private circumstances,
aud in some way tho lctsos putting the pressure
ilpon this officer foil into tic hands Of tho de-
feuso. Paul Do Caesagnao wns about to road it
whom julien Fayto protested aga!nss this breach
OF private confidence, saying that this letter
must have been obtained through tho treason OF
somo cue. M. LAchau1 replied that the let.cr
would not be read unlsas found neoessary to tho
defense, but he wished the jury to note tho OBJ
Hay tAAt tho officer In question did not force the
reading OF this note, or that his testinony WAS
Of tho ne8attYo sort. Wtmp8on could not usgo
@ a M 70 So at @
enemy. Tho procedure In this case iH wotthy OF
noto. Jules Fevre asked that the dbfonso should
FIRST be beard. The public prosecutor protca.ed
against this demand - unreasonable, but rs Do
CaAsngnao and Laohaud BAid It mas quite lmmn-
terlal to them, the President, VI, Douet-d'Arc
decided that II might DO loft to the agreement
It. "very good" satd Laahaud. 'shcu l
clIsut then exchanged q iew wonia md
smiled over the proceeding, for thoy saw
through tho dcaign. did nor. however,, until
!AlcF FeTloA. hu6u TUG 6flutHCo Oh potu bluCu
was ID Jutoa TaYle said that 1t waa hia turn TO
address, tho Jury under ordinary circumstances,
but In this case 1t Nps hts privilege to follow the
r,,la Of the evidence. aud speak after Biz al-
yors;ry; lI,a object was to avoid boiag followed
tearing an ad7eruaryfa plea Into rhteda. But this
WAS foed BY n, % Chsaagnao who made tho
frat plea. and au admirable one 1t was. II MAS
poiutng sharp, eloquent, and 10 some parts
really touching. Thoie mas malicious twinkle
!n Lachaud'a ouok-eye ~ he turned to~ard Jules
Fayre whom Do Casuaguso sat down. Thu elo-
queat adyouate waA nonpluesed, but be began hla
spsoch with apparons confidence, though be soon
proved that he was not nD to hss uaual mark. lie
soon launched out Into polt!ca. aad tnl1 tho Jury
that shey were expected BY tIe Bonaparttsts to re-
habilitaic lie memory Of the Emperor, = thing 10
Ereuon Jury could do. Ho wont 50 far in bis A.
tacks that tho President invited HIN 10 moderate
hls language. Toward the end, however, Jules
Favle grow eloquent as usual, aud furnished
new proofs Of bus great powens - sn orator.
There Is no contcatlnR his remarkable gifts ~ 4
speaker and when he cAmo to his peroraLIon
oven hia adyetsAEies were spell.bound By his
eloquencs. ,z.---.
LACtTAUD'8 ARQUNxST,