356 



GERMAN-FRENCH WAR. 



morning, the bombardment would begin anew. 

 During the night from September 1st to Sep- 

 tember 2d, Napoleon resolved to endeavor, in a 

 personal interview with King "William, to ob- 

 tain, if possible, more lenient conditions. The 

 Emperor left Sedan at five o'clock on the 

 morning of September 2d. Bismarck, who had 

 spent the night in Donchery, being informed 

 of the Emperor's arrival, hastened to meet him 

 on the road from Sedan to Donchery, and in a 

 small house near Donchery had a conversation 

 with him, lasting for about half an hour. Bis- 

 marck declined to discuss the question of 

 capitulation, as this belonged altogether to 

 Moltke; the Emperor, on his part, declined to 

 discuss the question of peace, referring Bis- 

 marck, concerning this point, to the regency in 

 Paris. Moltke, who soon came to take part in 

 the conference, was requested by the Emperor 

 to present his wishes, concerning the capitula- 

 tion, to the King. It was now between nine 

 and ten o' clock. Bismarck proposed to the 

 Emperor the castle of Bellevue near Frenois 

 as a fit place for an interview between him 

 and the King. The Emperor consented, and, 

 preceded by an honorary escort of Prussian cui- 

 rassiers, he was accompanied by Bismarck to 

 the castle. "While Moltke was on his way to 

 the King, General Podbielsky resumed the 

 negotiations with "Wimpffen. The King ratified 

 the terms of capitulation as proposed by 

 Moltke, and declared he would see Louis Na- 

 poleon only after the conclusion of the capitu- 

 lation. "Wimpffen yielded, and the capitulation 

 was signed by him and Moltke. At twelve 

 o'clock, the King, surrounded by the crown 

 prince, the Grand-duke of Saxe-"Weimar, 

 Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, the Duke of Saxe- 

 Ooburg, and several other German princes, re- 

 ceived the original treaty of capitulation from 

 the hands of Bismarck and Moltke. About 

 one hour later the King, accompanied by the 

 princes just named, set out for the castle of 

 Bellevue, where he was also joined by his 

 brothers Charles and Albert, and the Princes 

 "William and Eugene of Wiirtemberg. In one 

 of the glass saloons of the castle he had an in- 

 terview with Napoleon, lasting about fifteen 

 minutes. He offered to the imperial captive 

 the castle of "Wilhelmshohe near Kassel as his 

 future residence, which was readily accepted. 

 In the evening the King visited the bivouacs, 

 in all of which he was received with immense 

 enthusiasm, and with the universal shout, 

 " On to Paris ! " Napoleon left Bellevue on 

 the morning of September 3d, being escorted 

 by a squadron of Prussian hussars to the Bel- 

 gian frontier. There he was received in the 

 name of the Belgian Government by General 

 Ohazal, who accompanied him to the Prussian 

 frontier. In the evening of September 5th he 

 arrived at "Wilhelmshohe. By the capitulation 

 about 83,0.00 men, inclusive of 4,000 officers 

 and over 50 generals, fell into the hands of the 

 Germans, 25,000 men had previously been 

 captured in tho battles around Sedan, and 



25,000 in the battle at Beaumont. Moreover, 

 44,000 wounded were found. The Germans 

 also captured TO mitrailleuses, 400 cannon, 

 10,000 horses, and an immense amount of 

 ammunition. The prisoners were sent into 

 Germany, and there proportionally distributed 

 among the several states. 



"While the Third and Fourth German armies 

 were pursuing MacMahon, Prince Frederick 

 Charles was pressing the siege of Metz. Strong 

 intrenchments, thrown up around the fortress, 

 secured each of the army corps against sur- 

 prise, and enabled it, in case it was attacked 

 by a superior force, to hold out until other 

 corps could be summoned to its aid. Bridges 

 had been made above and below Metz to facili- 

 tate communication, and telegraph-lines con-' 

 nected the headquarters of the several corps 

 with each other, and with the headquarters 

 of the commander-in-chief. During the last 

 days of August, Marshal -Bazaine seemed to bo 

 ready to cooperate with the movement of Mac- 

 Mahon. On August 31st, a strong force broke 

 forth from the intrenched camp of the French 

 against the road leading over Boulay to Saar- 

 Louis, and engaged the First Corps (East Prus- 

 sians) under Manteuffel in a bloody battle 

 between the villages of Noisseville and Ser- 

 vigny, north of the road, and the village of 

 Retonfay, south of it. The French were at 

 first successful ; in the afternoon of August 31 st, 

 tho German troops were obliged to abandon 

 the villages of Vany, Failly, Chailly, and 

 Yremy, and soon after midnight the German 

 garrisons were expelled from the villages of 

 Retonfay, Flanville, Servigny, and Noisse- 

 ville. But the arrival of the Ninth German 

 army corps and the Twenty-eighth Brigade of 

 infantry soon turned the tide. The Germans 

 recaptured all tho villages which had been 

 abandoned, took Montoy and Colombey, and 

 drove the French back into the fortress. " 



As was to be expected, the news of Sedan 

 produced tho wildest revolutionary agitation 

 in Paris. Immense crowds of people of all 

 classes assembled on the boulevards, demanding 

 arms and crying, "Fie la republique ! " and 

 " Onward against the enemy ! " In the Corps 

 L6gislatif Jules Favre at once moved to depose 

 the Emperor and his dyn-asty. As a last ef- 

 fort to remain master of the situation, the Min- 

 ister of "War, Count Palikao, moved the ap- 

 pointment of a committee for the defence of . 

 the country, reserving to himself the office of 

 governor-general, while the ministers were to 

 bo appointed with the .consent of the commit- 

 tee. Thiers seconded the motion, and moved 

 an amendment, supported by forty-five mem- 

 bers from the two centres, that a Constituent 

 Assembly be called together. During the dis- 

 cussion a great number of people forced an 

 entrance into the hall, demanding the abolition 

 of the dynasty and the proclamation of a re- 

 public. The members of the majority fled be- 

 fore these threatening masses, while the most 

 prominent speakers of the left vainly appealed 



