Connecticut western news., 1878-04-04
The Battle of Sedan.
BY VICTOR HUGO.

On August 31, 1870, an army found itself assembled and, as it were, massed, under the walls of Sedan, in 8 place called Fond de Givonne. This army was French army; 29 brigades. 15 divi- sions, four army corps, 90, 900 men. This army was at this place no one knew why, without order, without purpose, pell- mel, as kind of heap of men thrown there as though to be grasped by glant hand.
 This army did not experience or seem to experience, for the moment, any inn mediate uneasiness. It knew, or thought 1t knew, that the foe was pretty remote. Calculating the marches at the rate of four leagues day, it was removed by a three days march. Still, toward eve niag, the chiefs made some wise strategi- cal arrangements as the rear of the army rested upon Sedan and the Mouse river, they protected it by two lines of battle one, consisting of the Seventh Corps, and extending from Floing to Givonne the other, consisting of the Twelfth Corps, and extending from Gi- vonne to Bazeilles, triangle of which the Mouse formed the hypothenuse.
 The Twelfth Corps, including the three divisions of Lacretelle, Lartigue, and Wolff, drawn up in a straight line, with the artillery between the brigades, con- stituted real barrier, having at its ex- tremeties Bazeilles and Givonne and m its centre Daigny; the two divisions of Petit and Lheritier abutted the barrier. Gen. Lebrun commanded the Twelfth Corps.
 The Seventh Corps, commanded by Gen. Douay, included only two divisions, Dumont's division and Guibert's, and formed the other line of battle covering the army from Givonne to Floing, to- ward lily; this line was relatively weak too open ID the direction of Givonne, and only protected in the direction of the Mouse by the two cavalry divisions of Marguerite and Bonnemains, and by Guyomar's brigade resting in square upon Floing. In this triangle were en- camped the Fifth. Corps, under Gen. Wimpfen, and the First Corps, under Gen. Ducrot Michers division of cavalry covered the First Corps toward Daigny ; the Fifth leaned upon Sedan. Four di- visions, each drawn up In two lines, -Lheritier's. Grandchamp's, Goze's, and Conseil Dumenil's, formed a sort of horseshoe turned toward Sedan and con- necting the first line of battle with the second. Ameil's division of cavalry, and Fontanges' brigade acted as a reserve for these four divisions. The whole artillery was in these two lines of battle. Two sections of the army were in mid-air, one to the right of Sedan, beyond Balan, and the other on the left, this side of Iges. Beyond Balan were vissoigne's division and Rebouls brigade this side of Iges were Margueritte's and Bonnemains' di- visions of cavalry.
 These arrangements indicated . sense of perfect security. First of all the En- peror Napoleon would not have come there had he not been quite easy in mind. The Fond de Givonne is what Napoleon
 
 I. was wont 10 call wash-bowl, and what Admiral Tromp called pot de chombre. No packing-box could be closer. An army on the spot is so thor oughly at home, as to be too much 50 il runs the risk of not being able to leave the place. This gave preoccupation to . few valiant and prudent chiefs like Wimpfen, who were not listened to, If worse comes to worst, said the members of the imperial suite, we are always sure to reach Mezieres, and, happen what may, the Belgian frontier. But ought such extreme eventualities to be fore seen? In certain cases, to foresee is al- most to offend. So all agreed for tran- quility's sake.