The Washington herald., 1911-09-03

Alphonse Bazaine, csptain in the Span
ish army and son OF the notorious Mar
shall BaZaine, who lost the battle of
Gravelotte. the most terrihcaIIy fought
battle In the worlds history, and the
primary cause of the, French debacle
In 1870. has petitioned the French min
lister of war for a revision of the case
against his father, who. in 1S71, was SEN
fenced to death by a French court
martial. presided over by the Duke
d'Aumale, OF the royal house of Orleans
While It reflects great credit upon the
young man to try to clear the memory
OF his father. yet 1t were far better for
his sake and that of the family name
had he not tried to lift the veil that
covers one of the darkest pages Of the
history Of the Second Empire.
In vain does he challenge fact and
evidence. for the historians Of the cam
paign which ended in the ignominious
surrender of Metz, the stout fortress
and capital of Lorraine, degrading an
army Of a hundred thousand brave
Frenchmen, all agree that Bazaine was
worse than incompetent, and as a COM
mander one and all stigmatize him in
unmeasured terms. For besides being
an army as it's generaIissimo, Bazaine,
since his sudden elevation by the EN-
peror after the first and comparatively
trifiing defeats at WoerLh and Weissen-
burg, In Alsace-both French cities with
thoroughly German names-suffered
from what commonly is characterized
as a "swelled head" when he found that
he had been placed in command over
such noted fighters as Marshal MacMa-
hon, the victor of Magenta, and Can
robert, and others. Any one OF them
a finer strategist and better tried leader
under fire than Bazaine. the former chief
Of the French expedition to Mexico
which ended so disastrously for the
ruler whom Napoleon had forced upon
the Mexicans. the Austrian Archduke
MaximiIlan. and whose life blood paid
for his folly in trusting the willy French
usurper. being shot to death in his cas-
tie of Chapultepec.
After the double defeat just mentioned.
the French had been quite victorious in
the skirmish at Rezonville on August IS.
the first day Of the battles of Gravelotte.
and that, too. despite BaZaine's orders
On that day the French army had been
under Bazaine's supreme command only
four days. From a simple corps COM
mander Bazaine found himself the gen.
eral in chief of more than two hundred
thousand men converging toward Metz
the army forming under MacMahon at
Chalons where Napoleon ordered Ba-
zaine TO retire and concentrate for the
defense Of Paris. On August IA the Prus-
slams had attacked the French forces as
they retired across the Moselle. Without
orders the corps of Gen. rAdmirault
turned back and stood by the Third
Corps, engaged by the Prussians. Ba-
zaine, within sound Of the firing, never
gave a command
During all this time his stan wan
dered about the plains, striving in vain
to attach themselves to their chief, 10
carry out his orders and direct the
movements of troops. The only orders
on record show that II was BaZaine's
words that brought about such confusion
that the troops became a tangle, no one
knowing where to march or what route
to take. The French officers, wnen night
fell, supposed that the next morning
they would be ordered forward to finish
the victory. as they all supposed 1t to be.
Late in the evening Gen. Zuriinden, in
command of a division of infantry, came
upon the marshal in a tavern near Don
court. Napoleon appeared in the door
way and Zurlinden heard him say. Mar
shall, IL is really a victory" The little
prince imperial, Louis stood beside his
father, and both lost the harassed look
which all had remarked during the two
preceding days On the morning OF
August IS, the army was encamped about
Rezonville Every minute they expected
the order to push forward against the
enemy, when suddenly a furious can
nonade broke upon them. For time