AT SEDAN.--THE EMPEROR IN TRANSIT.--OUR FIRST RETREAT BEFORE THE
PRUSSIANS.--THE CASERNE D'ARSFELD.
On the 30th of August we got orders through the _Courrier des
Ambulances_, the Vicomte de Chizelles, to proceed at once to Carignan,
where hard fighting had been going on, and where, we were told, the
field had been won by the French. Accordingly at noon the whole
ambulance moved out of the town, by the Torcy gate to the railway
station, a few hundred yards outside the ramparts, whence a special
train was to have carried us on to the field of our labours. Through
some mismanagement on the part of the French authorities, and through a
combination of adverse circumstances, our transport was delayed so long
that we were unable to leave that evening. The railway officials
contended that the cause of the delay was neglect, on the part of our
_comptable_, to specify the exact amount of accommodation required for
the transport of our waggons, stores, and horses, without which we could
not work efficiently on the field of battle; but the real cause of the
delay, we subsequently discovered, was the capturing and blocking of
the line by the Prussians, which fact was, in French fashion, studiously
concealed from us. All this was very annoying to our chiefs, who were
most anxious to get to the front. In order, therefore, that we might be
able to start at daybreak next morning, we took up our quarters for that
night in the station house. Being much fatigued after the excitement of
the day we went to the bureau, where all our luggage was, and, after
much ado, got hold of our wraps. There was one large waiting-room
through which every one was obliged to pass in order to enter or leave
the station, and here I and a number of my comrades stretched ourselves
upon the bare boards, covered up in our rugs and overcoats.
Shortly after eleven o'clock, the arrival of a train caused us to start
to our feet. The Germans, we knew, were in the neighbourhood, and the
thought of a surprise flashed simultaneously through the mind of each
one, when, to our intense astonishment, the door opened, and Napoléon,
with his entire état major, marshals, and generals, walked into the
room.
The Emperor wore a long dark blue cloak and a scarlet gold-braided képi.
At first he seemed rather surprised at our presence, and for a moment or
two delayed returning our salute, which he eventually acknowledged by a
slight inclination of the head. He had a tired, scared, and haggard
appearance, and, besides looking thoroughly ill, seemed anxious and
impatient. After a few moments' delay he hurried off on foot, in the
midst of his _entourage_, through the station house, and along the road
leading to the town of Sedan.
I and two of my comrades followed until we saw the Emperor and his
attendants arrive at the gate, through which, after some parley with a
blue-bloused sentry (for there was not a regular soldier in the town),
they gained admittance. As we were about returning to our temporary
quarters, speculating on the probable future as suggested by the scene I
have described, we met a party of soldiers straggling along, composed of
men of different regiments, both line and cavalry. We addressed one of
them, who seemed more tired and worn out than the rest. He told us they
belonged to the 5th and 12th Army Corps, and that they had escaped from
the affair at Beaumont, where, having been several days short of
provisions and exhausted with hunger and fatigue, the French were
thoroughly routed. He said that they numbered about eighty, and were
accompanied by an officer whom I afterwards heard give the name of De
Failly, when challenged by the sentry. This was no other than the
General de Failly who, on that very day at Beaumont, was deprived of his
command for bad leadership, and superseded by De Wimpffen. In the rear
of this party of fugitives was a cartload of women and children. One of
the women told most pitifully how the Prussian shells had that morning
devastated their homes in the vicinity of Beaumont and Raucourt, and how
several parts of those villages were then in flames. These poor
creatures, numbed with cold and fright, gladly partook of the contents
of some of our flasks; and we were all pleased when, after half an
hour's parley with the peasant sentry, the drawbridge was let down and
they were admitted into the town.
I now returned to my quarters in the station, where I slept soundly
until I was awakened at break of day by Dr. Frank, who enjoined us to
get ready at once, so as to push on to the front. This was the morning
of the 31st August. At early dawn there was a thick fog, which, however,
soon cleared away, revealing to us the fact that we were not far from
the Prussian lines, and that they had actually during the night got full
possession of the range of hills commanding the station and the whole
town of Sedan. At times we could see distinctly numbers of Prussian
Uhlans appearing now and then, from behind woods and plantations, on the
heights of Marfée opposite us, and again disappearing, leaving us fully
convinced that there were more where those came from. A little later,
when the fog cleared off, we perceived in the opposite direction, at the
north-east side of the town, numbers of troops moving about. These we
found to be MacMahon's forces. Now we became conscious of how we really
stood. Our chief called us together, and with the stern manner and firm
voice of an old veteran said, "Gentlemen, by a combination of unforeseen
circumstances over which I had no control, we are now in the awkward
position of finding ourselves placed between the line of fire of two
armies. If they commence hostilities we are lost. It is therefore my
intention as promptly as possible to retreat behind the French lines."
Having said so much, he gave the order to move on. This we did across
some fields, which we traversed with ease; but presently we came upon
some heavy potato and turnip plots. Here our progress was necessarily
very slow, heavily-laden as we were, with our three waggons ploughing
through the soft furrows; and as we were not quite sure of the country
that lay between us and the army, our position was most unenviable.
Two of our party, Drs. May and Tilghman, went ahead upon horseback, one
of them carrying an ambulance flag. These two galloped along rather too
impetuously as it appeared, for they came unexpectedly upon the French
outposts, who, not knowing them to be friends, quickly fired a volley at
them. Having discovered who they were they did not repeat this salute.
It was just as our waggon horses had come to a standstill, being
completely exhausted from pulling and floundering in the soft ground,
that Drs. May and Tilghman returned at a gallop to inform us that the
Meuse lay between us and the main body of the army, and that there was
no bridge, or other means of crossing, without going round through the
town.
Just at this moment a courier came up in hot haste to say that, as the
Prussians had just been seen in the immediate vicinity, the gate of the
town would be immediately closed, and that the Military Commandant
required us at once to make good our retreat, and get in the rear of the
French army. We now saw that there was no alternative but to leave our
baggage, stores, and waggons just where they were, and to fly into the
town, which we did with all possible expedition, as from the position of
the enemy we expected every minute that an engagement would take place.
When we got inside the gates, two civilians volunteered, for a reward,
to recover the baggage and waggons, with May and Tilghman as their
leaders. These two gentlemen were veteran campaigners of the American
Confederate Army, as were also all the other Americans of our ambulance,
save Frank Hayden, who hailed from the North.
These not only brought back all our effects, but also a quantity of
potatoes which were found in the field where the waggons had been left,
and upon which we largely subsisted during the week following.
We now reported ourselves to the Intendant Militaire, who told us that
he had the night before received an order to have in readiness 1800 beds
for the use of the wounded. There was not a military surgeon in the
town, nor any medical stores or appliances save our own; and of civilian
doctors we never heard, nor were they _en évidence_.
The Intendant Militaire put all the beds which he had provided at our
disposal, and gave us full control over their disposition and
management.
Accordingly we took possession of the Caserne D'Asfeld, and made ready
for receiving the wounded. We also had our stores arranged so that
everything might be at hand when required.
It was while thus busily engaged, transporting our stores, and putting
things in their place ready for use, that I saw the Emperor Napoléon
slowly pacing up and down in front of the Sous-Préfecture, cigar in
mouth, with his hands behind his back and head bent, gazing vacantly at
the ground.
All that morning we had heard the distant booming of cannon, in the
southward direction of Carignan and Mouzon. As the day advanced the
cannonading came nearer, and grew more distinct, until it seemed to be
in the immediate neighbourhood of the town. At nightfall the firing
ceased, and we could perceive the glare of a distant village, in the
direction of Douzy, lighting up the darkness.
A brief sketch of the defences of Sedan, as well as an explanation of
the position in which our hospital stood with regard to the
fortifications, will not be out of place. The river Meuse, on the right
bank of which Sedan is situated, communicates by sluice-gates with two
deep trenches about thirty feet wide, separated from one another by a
high embankment. On opening these gates, the trenches and a vast expanse
of meadow land, extending nearly to Bazeilles and along the river beyond
it, had been flooded, and the city was thus defended by a double wet
ditch for about three-fourths of its circumference. All this lay
external to the stone-faced ramparts, upon which stood heavy siege-guns,
ostensibly to protect the town. They were, in fact, obsolete dummies.
Outside these, again, were high earthworks, faced by strong palisades of
spiked timber. At the summit of the north-east corner of the
fortifications, towering above the plateau of Floing, rose the
Citadel,--a huge, dark mass of mason-work and grassy slopes, which
seemed to frown over a series of steep cliffs upon the town beneath.
Above this stood our hospital of the Caserne D'Asfeld, called after a
French Marshal of Louis XIV.'s time. The Prussians afterwards knew it as
the "Kronwerk D'Asfeld". It was a fortress which had a drawbridge and
defences of its own. From these details we may judge what a stronghold
Sedan would prove, were it not for the range of hills opposite, called
the Heights of Marfée. But these command the town; and the Prussians had
been permitted to occupy them.
Now, as to the Caserne itself. Standing on the highest point of the
fortifications, about 100 feet above the Meuse, it might have seemed the
very position for a hospital. It was a two-storied bomb-proof building,
with a flat roof, 240 feet long, and contained nine large wards,
fifty-three feet by seventeen, and ten feet high, as well as four small
ones with twenty beds in each. There were two spacious windows in every
ward. The floors were concrete. On the fortifications outside were rows
of magnificent trees, which gave the grounds a picturesque appearance.
But in front, facing the town, there were no trees; and from this point
we had an unbroken view of Sedan and the valley of the Meuse, with the
hills opposite. The villages of Donchery, Frénois, and Wadelincourt were
all visible.
Six cannon commanded the outer breastworks, behind the buildings, and
two sallyports led out beneath the fortifications, on to the plains of
Floing. We heard from the wounded, as well as from other sources, that
the French were retreating on Sedan, and that the Prussians held the
left bank of the Meuse, and the valley and hills about it. The French,
on their side, occupied the Illy heights to the north of the town above
the plateau of Floing, the Bois de Garenne, and the east and south-east
plains, from Daigny and the valley of Givonne to Bazeilles. Hence, it
was evident, even at so early a date, that the French army had only the
strip of small country to the north and east of Sedan, between the right
bank of the Meuse and the Ardennes, by which to make good their retreat
on Mézières. And of this narrow space, the defile of St. Albert alone
was available for the passage of large bodies of soldiers.
The Prussian outposts were already in Vendresse and Donchery. Could they
succeed in moving further north before the French started, they might
cut off the retreat of the whole army.
The movements of the French in these straits had been extremely
perplexing to us. They must have known their situation, if not on the
29th, certainly on the 30th and 31st. Why, then, did they not keep to
the left bank of the Meuse, and seize the only available strong position
visible on that side--the Heights of Marfée, which they could have held,
and the possession of which would have covered their retreat along the
defile of St. Albert? Instead of doing so, they chose to fall back on
Sedan; a trap out of which no sane man, military or civilian, could,
under the circumstances, expect an army to free itself. These positions
were occupied by the Prussians at the earliest possible moment. But even
if the French could not have come up by the left bank of the Meuse,
they might, as late as the night of the 31st, have retreated by
Moncelle, the plain of Floing, and the right bank of the river. Thus, at
all events, they would have got clear of the enemy's heavy guns, which
assailed them from the hills in front; and would have had some chance of
meeting their foes on more equal terms. But they went to their
destruction like men in a dream.
Late that evening, several large batches of wounded came into the
Caserne. These kept us employed till after midnight, when we slipped out
and ascended the fortifications, that we might look once more at the
still blazing village, the name of which we had not then heard. Of
course it was Douzy. And now we perceived, by the innumerable camp-fires
gleaming around us on all sides, that we were close to the ill-fated
army, of which Marshal MacMahon held the command. To-morrow it would
cease to exist, and with it the Napoleonic Empire would come to an end.
[Illustration:
BATTLE OF SEDAN
Positions at Daybreak
Sept^r. 1^{st}. 1870.
French | Germans
A _12^{th} Corps (Lebrun_) | G _Prussian Guards_
B _1^{st} " (Ducrot)_ | S _Saxons_
C _5^{th} " (Wimpffen)_ | Bav. _Bavarians_
D _7^{th} " (Doucey)_ | W _Wurtembergers_
E _Cavalry_ |
_London, John Murray, Albemarle Street._
E. Weller]