The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-03-16
The Bronze Medallion

Some years went by. | worked hard
at my profession and began to be known
as painter Of animal life and especial
ly of horses. A battle sceno OF mine,
"Horses In War" brought me an in
vitation from my old friends, the pro-
prietors of The Illustrated Weekly. to go
out as war artist during the Franco
Prussian campaign. was disposed to
go before the invitation reached me. |
was unmarried, | had no ties, and
there seemed no reason why should
not see something of war at first hand
Accordingly accepted the invitation,
and within week was with the Prus-
sian forces near Saarbuck. 1 am not
writing the history of that famous cam
paign, and ] shall therefore pass over
the preliminary events of the war and
60 ON to the time when the Prussians,
having easily recovered from their first
reverses. poured over Alsace and Lor-
raine and began to besiege Strasburg
and Metz. !, in company with several
other English war correspondents and
artists, was with the advance corps of
the attacking army and had consider
able difficulty In getting on at all. The
Prussian military authorities had small
love for special correspondents, and we
were indebted solely to ourselves for
whatever information we got. To me
this official standoffishness did not so
much matter as to my companions, the
special correspondents. My business
was to make pictures; theirs to find
news. Nevertheless l found it hard
work sometimes to get materials for my
sketches, and the risks l occasionally ran
were greater than those which should
have incurred had l mixed in the thick
of the skirmishes, which went OH con-
tinually.
1t was cold, damp afternoon In Oc-
tober, and we We're lying half way be-
tween Bonzonville and Gravelotte, about
rine miles from Metz. The Prusslans
were slowly advancing upon that city,
and the air was continually disturbed
by the vibrations of their cannon. A
regiment near which / had remained
all day was engaged in skirmishing
operations with French battalion, and
from the top of a slight eminence was
endeavoring to make an effective sketch
of the scene. Suddenly white fog
rolled over the valley and wrapped both
bodies of combatants in its thick folds.
endeavored to regain my quarters, but
the fog increased i'll density, and / soon
found it impossible to make headway
against 1t. For some time / remained
motionless. The noise of cannon and
musketry died away, and I heard the
bugles sounding retreat on both sides.
Then l determined to go slowly back
to my quarters near the village of Bon
zonville. Unfortunately found it i'm
possible to decide which was east and
which west. had been stationed on a
round knoll or eminence, and / had
walked about Its crown so many times
during my observations that l was now
unable to decide on the exact spot at
which | had assembled it, At last. how
ever, ! came to a tree Of which seemed
to have some recollection, and / de-
scended the hill and walked, as /
thought, toward Bonzonvile. BY that
time the plain was quiet, and | heard
nothing save an occasional faroff bugle
note. walked on for an hour through
the thick white fog, seeking for some
familiar landmark. None came. be-
gan to realize that / was lost. / stood
and wondered what to do. Then l went
forward again. A church clock struck
the hour, ., close by. Clearly / was
near village. | came to a road and
hastenod along 1t and presently fell
into the hands of French picket
had walked west instead Of east. vas
at Gravelotte.
Tho t,it,l-af arrhoI ipfa he I'll
lage and led me before their colonel, a
fierce looking militaire, who glared at
me from behind table at which he
was evidently writing dispatches.
What's thisi" said he. "A spyf"
Now, unfortunately for me, | cannot
speak French, but my knowledge of
German is extensive. ! replied to the
colonel question in English He shook
his head. then spoke in German, and
his face grew dark. A soldier inter
preted my answer.
'So!' said the colonel. "A pretty
story indeed He speaks German like
native and processes to be an English
nan. Everybody knows that an Eng
lishman can speak no language other
than his own. An English artist, ell
See what papers he has.
drew ali my papers from my breast
pocket voluntarily and handed them
over. As i'll luck would have it, l had
that morning made plan of the sur
rounding country in my sketchbook.
The French colonel looked at this mar
rowly and nodded his head. "As l
thought, " said he. What is this but
a map2 Come, Mr.. Spy, what have
You to say!"
Tell the colonel, said I to the in
terprctsr, that l am no spy. but the
special war correspondent of a great
English newspaper, and that what l said
before is true. These are my credentials
bid him look ut them
The colonel tossed the papers aside
contemptuously. "What of themf"
said he. "They may have been stolen,
forged how do | know? Ho speaks
German he l0,i;r IT," G,..itn no.