Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1890-10-30
ONE MEMORY OF SEDAN.
The Interesting Story OF a Brave
Fight Under the Most Hopeless
Circumstances.
French Soldiery Held House Against
German Troops Until the Last
Cartridge Was Expended.
The Riddled Walls of the Building
Attest to the Heroic Bravery Of
the Frenchmen.

| The small two-storied house, on the gable
end of which is the notice in large letters,
4 la de,niere cdrtonche; MuSee de BaseiI-
las, was held by handful of men against
the German troops during two long sum-
mer days. and only when the last cartridge
was spent did the gallant little stronghold
surrender, says writer In Cornhill. All
around Sedan, but chiefly in the valley of
the Mouse, those terrible days were passed
in bitter battle and when this tiny fort
ress was reduced the emperor of the
French gave himself up as a prisoner, the
Second Empire was at an end, and bril-
liant chapter in the history of France was
closed. The valor of the French and
the forbearance of the Germans must for
ever excite our admiration. The elderly
woman to whom la derRiere cdrtouche be-
longs, and who resides ON the ground
floor with her pretty daughter, did not
even hint at any excess or outrage, or
even violence, on the part of the Germans.
There was no bitterness in her tone, nor
in the word or manner of any of the per-
sons to whom spoke-a fact as creditable
to the conquerors as to the conquered.
This lady first showed me over the musee,
room in which are preserved all the
debris found ON the battlefield curious
medley of the pathetic and ludicrous.
There are kepis, and the heads which wore
them lie close at hand in the crypt; there
are musBets, and the fingers which WELD
ed them, stitfened in the death-clutch,
and may now be seen, few unstrung
bones; there are swords, bayonets, mitrail
leuses, medals ana crosses once worn on
gallant breasts relics of Uhlans, of
Zouaves, of Francs-tireurs; a rifle of
American make, which must have been
carried by some volunteer from the great
continent.
A SOLID BUT NOT BATTERED UNION JACK
belonging to tie English ambulance corps,
and telling of the part taken by England
in the struggle-a part of charity and
mercy. l.also several mitralleuses, deadly
instruments of destruction. They are
frames Of iron, but eight inches square,
from which twenty cartridges can be fred
at the same moment. Of the attack
brought to bear on this little house the
marks both insi1e and outside are
very evident. There are holes in the out
er walls into which one could plunge ones
fist, and small round spots through which
single bullets passed. That such mere
cottage could have been held for two days
fills one with wonder and admiration.
The old guide gave me much information,
and replied most intelligentiy to my ques-
tions. She told rue that at the war she
was living with her children then all
quite young The whole of the first of the
memorable two days they took refuge in
cellars. | asked il the Germans kept up
the siege during the night. Sac said
Mo- firing ceased at FIVE o'clock, and
recommended at daybreak. These two
days were August 81 and September /.
| As soon as hostities ended on August 81
this poor woman, with her children, and
also all the non-combatants of the village,
of sixteen kilometres. Nine miles is not a
great distance, but to the old and the
| feeble, to the women and the children, 1t
must have appeared interminable. The
homeless, unhappy, bewildered cavalcade
set out in the dusk of the summer evening.
and could not have arrived much before
daylight at the neutral frontier. They
went in the clothes they stood in, taking
nothing with them the strong leading
the weak, mothers carrying their babies,
girls guiding their grandparents.
As they passed along the roads where as
yet the balls had not swept the hedges,
nor the roar of cannon deaf med the cot
tagers, these fugitives received great kind
ness. One person would bring out loaf,
another cup of milk; and so the
ExILEs MADE THEIR WAY
to the borders of country which, stand
ing apart from the contest, was ready to
succor the distressed of either side.
She next took me to the upper floor,
where the heroes defended themselves SO
! long. 1t consists of two bedrooms com
municating, and no one occupies it, every
thing being preserved there precisel as on
the day of battle The mattresses were
EN- 2loyed to barricade the windows, and
| the bed curtains used also as shields. But
| thousand holes in the walls showed where
| bullets entered; all the furniture bears
marks; an oaken wardrobe has many such,
and one especially noticeable where three
holes make one long jagged wound. be-
| tween the two bedrooms is door Of which
the upper half is glass. 1t has been re-
| placed on its hinges, but the glass re-
mains broken as on that stormy day.
| These upper rooms held out until the last
cartridge had been fired, and then the gal
/ liant little bano of heroes surrendered.
| Afterward when the war was over and the
| people of Bazeilles were on their ground,
rebuilding and restoring their homes as
| best they could NJ lie Commandent Lam
bert set an artist to paint the scene in
| those bedrooms where the fight was at its
hottest; the place was done from the facts,
! as it might be done at this moment the
smashed glass door, the oak wardrobe, and
all the other surroundings; the figures
were painted under the personal direction
of NJ Lambert, on whose heart must be a
more vivid picture than any which pencil
, and brush can supply. The artists rep
reSentation is very life-like, and has been
engraved and photographed, but in the
I the latter form all the objects have been
reversed. the broken door on the right is
really on the left; the wardrobe on the left
/ is real y on the right, and so on. The old
woman who shows la derniere cartouche
obtains payment for her trouble by the
sale Of photographs said adieu to her
and went out feeling more intimately than
evor bafpra bp1- x-yl rfara CONFORMS mot IN IL