The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1878-03-30


Death--How Shame Fell upon France
and Glory on the Fatherland.
Victor Hugo, in his last work,
''The History of a Crime" describes
in graphic terms q visit to Sedan
and the "reminiscences suggested by
n Wow of the great battlefield which
laid France, at the feet of Germany.
I"r follQwing is u synopsis
look around me. The valley
was round and hollow, like tho
! bottom Of q crater. The stream
was quite tortuous and rcsembled q
serpent; the high hilloclzs, ranged
one behind another, surrounded
this mysterious place, like o triple
row Of inexorablc walls. Onco
there, ono must stay in it. That
made one think Of tho circus. An
unspeakably disquieting verdure,
which had the appearance of a
prolongation Of the Black Forest,
overran all the heights and became
lost in the horizon, like an immense
impcnetrable snare. The sun
shone, the birds sang, the wagoners
passed along whistiing; there were
sheep, lambs and pigeons here and
there; the leaves tremblcd and
whispered among themselves; the
grass-that grass SO thick-was
full Of flowers. Ii WAS dreadful.
1t seemed to me that 1 saw
trembling on thut valley the glitter
of the angci's sword. That word
''Scdah" had been like q torn veil.
The landscape had become suddenly.
tragic. The indistinct eyes which
the bark designs on the trunks of
trees are looking at-What? Some
thing terrible and vanished.
On the 31st of August, 1870, m
army found itself reunited and
masscd under the walls Of Sedan, in
q place called tho hollow Of
Givonne. This army was II French
nrmy-twenty- nine brigades, fifteen
divisions, four army corps-9O,OOO
men. This army was in this place
without knowing why, without
order, without object, pell NELL
a heap Of men thrown there rs if
for the purpose of boing seized by
M immense hand. This army had
not, or seemed not to have, for the
moment, any Immediate uneasiness.
1t was known, OF believed to bo
known, that the enemy was far off,
Calculating the days march at four
leagues n day, the enemy was
distant three days march. How
ever, toward evening, tho chiefs
made certain wise strategical dis.
positions. The army rested in the
rear on Sedan and tho NIeusc; it
was protected by two lines of battle,
one, consisting Of the Seventh
corps, extended from Floing to
Givonne, tho other, comprising tho
Twelfth corps, extended from
! Givonne to Bazeilles, forming q
triangle Of which the Meuse WAS the
hypothenuso.
These dispositions indicated q
feeling of profound security. For
that matter the Emperor Napoleon
III. would not have gone there if
he had not felt perfectly safe.
This hollow of Givonne is what
Napoleon I. called basin and what
Admiral Won Tromp called pot de
ch0neb1'e. There could be no pack
ing 80 complete. An army thore is
so much at home that it is too much
so; it runs the risk Of not being
able to get out. This was the feel
ing of some valiant and prudent
chiefs, such as Wimpfen, but it was
not listened to. cat tho worst y
said the people who surrounded the
Emperor, "we are always sure of
being able to gain Mczieres and, in
case Of dire extremity, the Belgian
frontier" But was it necessary to
provide for such extreme contin-
gencies In certain cases to fore
see is nearly to offend. All were of
one mind, then, in feeling at ease.
If there had been any rneasiness
the bridges over the Meuse would
have been cut, but this was not oven
thought of. Why should it be
done? The enemy was far away.
The Emperor, who was we'll Inform
ed, affirmed the fact.
During this same night, while the
French army slept, this is what was