360 



GERMAN-FRENCH WAR. 



and Nord. The decision, on the beginning of 

 the armistice, in the departments of Cote-d'Or, 

 Doubs, and Jura, was reserved, and until then 

 the operations of war, inclusive of the siege 

 of Belfort, were to continue. A National 

 Assembly was within two weeks to be con- 

 voked in Bordeaux. For the purpose of main- 

 taining order in Paris, the resident National 

 Guard were to keep their arms; the soldiers of 

 the line and the Gardes Mobile were to be 

 made prisoners of war and to be kept in Paris : 

 all the forts, with the exception of Vincennes, 

 were to be occupied by the German troops, 

 and the arms of the prisoners of war, consist- 

 ing of about 200,000 chassepots and 1,400 

 bronze pieces of ordnance, and a considerable 

 number of iron cannon, were to be delivered 

 up; after this condition had been complied 

 with, provisions were allowed to pass through 

 the German lines to Paris. The city had to 

 pay a war-tax of 200,000,000 francs ; the corps 

 of Franc-tireurs were to be dissolved ; the Ger- 

 man prisoners of war and the captains of ves- 

 sels to be exchanged ; and the walls of the city 

 to be disarmed. The occupation of the forts 

 began in the morning of January 29th. The 

 Saxons took possession of Romainville, Noissy, 

 Rosny, and Nogent; the Bavarians of Mont- 

 rouge, Charenton, and Vanvres ; the Wurtem- 

 bergers of Gravelle and Faisanderie ; the Prus- 

 sians of Issy and BicStre. On the next day 

 St. Denis and the other forts were occupied 

 without disturbance. On other seats of the 

 war the position of the French had, in the 

 mean while, also become more desperate. The 

 German Army of the "West had from strategical 

 reasons not followed up the pursuit of the 

 enemy in the direction of Brittany, and the 

 forces which had advanced the farthest had 

 been called back. But, on the other hand, one 

 part of the army of Prince Frederick Charles 

 had advanced in a southwesterly direction on 

 the road from Le Mans to Angers. The Grand- 

 duke of Mecklenburg had marched from Alen- 

 $on upon Rouen, in order to operate conjointly 

 with the other parts of the First Army. Farther 

 to the north the German troops appeared now 

 here, now there, in order to leave the French 

 at a loss as to the points against which their 

 operations were directed. From Cambrai, 

 which they had surrounded, they withdrew and 

 appeared at Arras. Not far from Valen- 

 ciennes, uhlans suddenly made their appear- 

 ance, while other divisions made demonstra- 

 tions against Douai, and raids even as far as 

 Maubeuge. Thus the whole of the north 

 regarded itself as threatened and became 

 thoroughly discouraged. In some places the 

 National Guard refused to march, and laid 

 down their arms. 



Still more depressing was the condition of 

 the French in the east, which had not been in- 

 cluded in the armistice of January 28th. After 

 the battles at Belfort, the army of Bourbaki, 

 leaving behind their wounded and sick, had 

 retired in disorder, and in a most wretched 



condition. Bourbaki had so fully lost all hope, 

 that he attempted to commit suicide. The 

 wreck of the army for eight days wandered 

 about between Besancon and St. Hippolyte, 

 and subsequently between the latter place and 

 Pontarlier. Finally a concentration in the 

 direction of Pontarlier was attempted, in order 

 to reestablish a connection with the south by 

 way of Champagnole and Lons-le-Saunier. 

 But it was already too late. As early as Janu- 

 ary 25th German troops had reached Arbois 

 and Poligny; the circle around the French 

 army was more and more contracted, and the 

 danger that it might be pushed across the 

 frontier of Switzerland daily increased. On 

 January 29th the first encounter took place 

 near Pontarlier, on the roads leading from 

 Salins and from Arnans through Pontarlier to 

 the frontier of Switzerland. The villages of 

 Sombacourt and Chassois, which are situated 

 about six miles from the frontier, were stormed 

 by the Fourteenth Division. The French lost in 

 this fight 3,000 men and six pieces of ordnance. 

 This immense loss indicates the terrible con- 

 dition in which the army must have found 

 itself, which was now commanded by General 

 Clinchamp. On January 30th and 31st new 

 encounters took place, in particular near Pe- 

 louse, between the German van-troops and the 

 French rear-guard. The French lost in these 

 fights two eagles, 19 cannon and mitrailleuses, 

 two generals, nearly 15,000 prisoners, many 

 hundred wagons of ammunition, and a large 

 quantity of war-material, and they were driven 

 more and more into the mountains ; the total 

 loss of the Germans amounted to 600. The 

 French now began to cross the frontier in 

 large masses. Up to February 3d, about 

 56,000 men had laid down their arms on the 

 soil of Switzerland ; but, on the whole, 80,000 

 men had crossed the frontier. The French 

 Army of the South had ceased to exist. Gari- 

 baldi succeeded, by a hasty retreat, in escaping 

 with his little force from the danger of being 

 surrounded by the Germans, who after a small 

 skirmish occupied Dijon. Soon after, Garibaldi 

 resigned as commander of the Army of the Vos- 

 ges, on the ground that his mission was fulfilled. 

 In the mean while, Longwy, the only fortress of 

 Lorraine, with the exception of Bitche, which 

 was still held by the French, had surrendered 

 on January 25th. The bombardment of Bel- 

 fort, temporarily interrupted on the Lisaine, 

 had also been renewed with greater vigor. An 

 attack made, January 26th, on the forts of 

 Basse and Haute Perch e, failed, and the storm- 

 ing battallion of landwehr suffered severe 

 losses ; but, on February 8th, both forts were 

 taken. Then the commander of the fortress 

 asked for an armistice, and began to negotiate 

 concerning the surrender; on February 16th, 

 an agreement was arrived at. On February 

 18th, the fortress was occupied by the German 

 troops. The garrison, consisting of 1 2,000 men, 

 was allowed to march off with military honors; 

 it was the only one from the captured fortresses 



