(.KKMAN-1HKNCII \\.\li. 



301 



.1. Afu-r t ho urrivul (September 17th and 

 i *; i 1 1 >i'i \vo trains of heavy rifled 24-pounders 

 from C.il.'^iii-, Toul succumbed, on September 



. a lioinlianlmunt lusting eight hours. 



t[)itultition was made on the same con- 

 ditions as that of Sedan, and delivered into the 

 Imii'ls of the Germans 109 officers, 2,240 men, 

 1J i horses, 197 cannon (48 rifled), 3,000 guns, 

 ami a considerable amount of ammunition. 

 Four days later, September 27th, Strasbourg, 

 the capital of Alsace, capitulated. After the 

 battles of Weissenburg and Worth, the speedy 

 occupation of Strasbourg was urgently de- 

 manded by the people of Germany, especially 

 of Southern Germany. Although the city ha<l 

 In-longed to France since 1681, it had occupied 

 so prominent a place in the former history of 

 the German Empire, that the people of Ger- 

 many had never forgotten its loss. Poets and 

 patriotic enthusiasts had never abandoned the 

 hope that Strasbourg might once more become 

 a German city ; but never, until the retreat of 

 the defeated French army from Alsace, had 

 there been a strong or general feeling on this 

 point among any considerable portion of the 

 German people. Now it became, all at once, 

 the voice of the whole German people, which 

 was nearly unanimous in designating the re- 

 union of Strasbourg, the whole of Alsace, and 

 the German portion of Lorraine, as the most 

 essential condition which their Government 

 would bo expected to insist on at the final con- 

 clusion of peace. The investment of Stras- 

 bourg began soon after the battle of Worth. 

 On August 14th, the Prussian Lieutcnant- 

 General von "Werder assumed the chief com- 

 mand of the besieging army, which consisted 

 of the division of Baden and several Prussian 

 divisions. The bombardment began on Au- 

 gust 24th. As the citizens of Strasbourg fully 

 agreed with the commander of the fortress, 

 General Uhrich, in favor of an energetic re- 

 sistance, the regular siege operations were 

 begun on August 27th. The French made 

 several attempts to interrupt these operations, 

 and even bombarded the open German town 

 of Kehl, which lies opposite Strasbourg, on the 

 right bank of the Rhine ; but the siege-works 

 advanced steadily, with but moderate losses to 

 the besiegers. A deputation of the Interna- 

 tional Commission of Geneva received permis- 

 sion from the Prussian commander to conduct 

 the aged and the sick, the women and the 

 children, who wished to leave the city, into 

 Switzerland, and about 800 accepted their in- 

 vitation. The remainder of the population 

 courageously braved the immense suffering 

 which the siege entailed, and the commander 

 hold out until September 27th, when, after 

 several important outworks had been taken, 

 General Uhrich agreed to a capitulation, on 

 the same conditions which had been accepted 

 at Sedan. The garrison, consisting of 17,111 

 men, was chiefly conducted into the fortress 

 of Rastadt ; besides them, the Germans took 

 1,070 cannon, 12,000 chassepots, 6,000 cwt. 



of ammunition, and 50 railroad locomotive*. 

 When the l'r-n<-h garrison defiled bcfur- 

 Prussian and French commanders, a portion 

 of them wore intoxicated, and shouted, " We 

 have been betrayed; Uhrich is a rascal!" 

 The citizens of Strasbourg, in general, showed 

 very hostile feelings against the Germans, and, 

 during the first twenty -four hours after the oc- 

 cupation, two soldiers were murdered. The 

 ( i > mians, on the other hand, made extraordinary 

 efforts to rcconciliate the captured city, and t< 

 dispose the people favorably for a union with 

 Germany. The royal house of Prussia, and, 

 after the precedence of Berlin, a large number 

 of German cities, sent liberal contributions for 

 repairing the losses and mitigating the Buffer- 

 ings caused by the war, and the nniv. 

 and booksellers vied with each other in col- 

 lecting books for replacing, as far as possi- 

 ble, the very valuable library which had been 

 destroyed by the fire of the besieging army. 

 On October 8th, the German Governor-General 

 of Alsace, Count Bismarck-Bohlen, transferred 

 his seat from Hagcnau to Strasbourg, and he 

 was soon followed by the prefect of the De- 

 partment of the Lower Rhine, the Bavarian 

 Count Luxburg. 



When the army of Macif ahon had surren- 

 dered at Sedan, and that of Bazaino had been 

 shut up in Metz, the French Government made 

 extraordinary efforts to organize two new ar- 

 mies ; the one near Lyons, the other in the 

 centre of France, on the Loire. Both had as a 

 nucleus a number of regular troops, estimated 

 at about 20,000 men ; they were to be joined 

 by from 50,000 to 60,000 Guards Mobile, and 

 by National Gardes, so as to bring the strength 

 of each to 70,000 or 80,000. Long before 

 these numbers had been reached, the Army of 

 Lyons was pushed forward toward the Vosjjes, 

 and that of the Loire toward Orleans. The 

 former had the special mission to cut the line 

 of communication between the army besieging 

 Paris and Germany. To thwart this plan was 

 the task of the Fourteenth army corps, which, 

 after the capitulation of Strasbourg, was formed 

 of the division of Baden and some Prussian 

 troops, and placed under the command of Gen- 

 eral von Werder. The corps was ordered to 

 advance in the direction of Besanoon and Di- 

 jon. On October 6th, a brigade of Baden 

 troops, under General DegonfeM, numbering 

 about 3,800 men, encountered, at Etival, a 

 French force of about 12,000, belonging to the 

 corps of General Cambriel. After a bloody 

 engagement, which lasted for six hours, and in 

 which the Germans took three places by a 

 bayonet charge, the French were compelled to 

 floe. The loss of the Germans was 374 killed 

 and wounded, while the French lost about 

 1,400 killed and wounded, and 583 captive*. 

 This victory cleared nearly the whole of South- 

 ern Lorraine from franc-tireurs, who had of 

 late become exceedingly troublesome. The 

 whole of the Fourteenth Corps now advanced 

 in a south westerly direction, and soon the 



