SEDAN.

Timaru Herald, Volume CI, Issue 15444, 5 September 1914, Page 6

SEDAN.

THE CROWXIXG DISASTER. ; FATAL FIRST OF SEPTEMBER i DEATH BLOW TO FRANCE IX 187". Sedan, like Waterloo, ranks as of the decisive- battles ot the world. By the capitulation of Marshal MacMalion with the whole French army and the dilated Emperor Napoleon 111. the last effective iorco of the French was ieinoved, and heneetorward the onward march ot the Prussians on Paris and tlu- surrender of the capital were almost inevitable. The Franco-Prussian War is one of the shortest, sharpest, and most decisive in history. You Moltke, ihe Prussian Couimander-in-Chiel, had perfect' d his army, his plans, and his methods long before the outbreak of hostilities. On the other hand, the French were caught absolutely unprepared. Against Prussia's three invading armies of 400,000 men. with 1200 guns, they were only able to oppose some 280 i) 00 with a more marked inferiority in artillery still. Hostilities broke out on P.Oth .ruly. 13<0, with a ■Might French success at Saavhruekeng. On the -!th August the French were repulsed with heavy loss at AYeisscmhurg. and on the oth were defeated at Worth. Front the 7th io the 1-lth August the French, unable with their numerical inferiority to check the German advance, wire retreating on Met?.. On tlio 10th August was fought the bloody battle of Re:'.onvil!e. with casualties of over 10,Iv )0 on each side. Two days later ihe Germans, outnumbered at Rezonville.

wei\ heavily reinforced by tlio oncoming main army, and at the sanguinary battle of Gravelotte drovo Razaine and his armv into the fortress of Metz, where iiiey wire locked up and tise'ess till tlio surrender of Metz on 27th Otober. This was roallv the finish of the war in that sphere of operations. POLITICAL PRESSURE. Meanwhile Marshal McMahon. after the battle o! Worth, had rallied au i armv of about 100.000 men and GOO ! {Miiis, and was covering the advance on I Paris. Tho Government- of the day forced his hand, and he had to march I to '.he relief of Metz. After Gravelotte. , tin- Germans prepared to march on I Paris. Thus, whilst the invading army lon a trout of nearly o0 miles was j marching duo we>t on Paris. MacMahon, I under political pressure was moving J parallel to them, but on a northerly • route, to attempt the relief of Metz. So unexpected was this move that [ Mo'.tke did not at once venture to ! '-hange the direction of his whole armv, but he directed .the army of the Mouse northward on Datnvilliers. and ordered Prince Frederick Charles to detach two corps from the forces investing Metz Ito reinforce it. For the moment, therel fore, MaeMahon's move had succeeded, and the opportunity existed for Razaine la break out of Metz. But at, the critical moment the hopeless want- of real efficiency in MacMahon's army enmpel'ed him so to delay his advance

that it became evident to the Germans that there was no longer any necessity for the Third Armv to -maintain the directum towards Paris*.'" nml "that the urobable point of contact between the Mouse army and the French lay nearer to the ri-'ht wine." of the Third Army than to Princ. Frederick Charles's in-vc-itinjr force before Metz. The detachment front the Second Armv wm therefore countermanded, and the whole 1 of the Third Army changed front to the north, whi'e the Mouse army headed rbf- French off from the East. On tin 2Pih Axmi-t the advance guards came •ntr. cr-ri.s'O'i ,-uid on the 30th Auj/"s1 t.lio little or Beaumont took p?nee. The Frvneh. yioUliiiK to the force of liuir>-b'-r-j. combined with superior morale, wore driven ncrth-'vestward in Sedan, ■jrii'lifc ncrois tlio front of tho Third | .\r"»v. now rapidly coming up from tin couth.

DRIVEN INTO SEDAN. •Sedan is a small, old-fashioned fortress, lying in a depression between two r:dg<.'.s which converge in the plateau of Illy, about- 2\ miles north-cast of the town. The main part of the town |ies to the oast of the Meuse, which to the north makes a horse-shot, bend. coming hade within a wilo of -Sedan. The fine an-! roomy bridge head of Torev contnianding this bend of tlio river offers tactical possibilities for a general of vigour to deal a smashing conntiv-blow at the circle of enemies. Hut MncMahon seems to have been too despondent to contemplate anything further than a "battle for the honour of the :>s-liiy. ;>.nd though communications with Mey/eres, 1-1 miles away, lay open during il:*» day. he neither .sent: orders to it nor made any arrangements to meet tlie coming danger. Locally tile French pi„-ition was it long, particularly to the east. but. as a whole it was far too crampr-d for the numbers crowded 'into :t. and it could be connjletely overlooked from tho heights of Frenois, whers King Wi'liam of Prussia posted his hea .louartors and who-iee in the afternoon the German artillery fin; brgan io cross over the town itself. At nijditlV! on thy 31st August; the army of the Mouse on the right bank of the r : ver. with the Bavarians, was moving toward liax-rilles io reinfoive it. and the Third Army with the AYurtteinhorg divts'on •■as headed io euv tho French oil" from MezV-ris. l)y the morning -of tho Ist of £ei>r.-inl,er the French Army was pr::i tical'y surrounded.

MACMAIION WOUNDED. Firing commenced early about o ->'<ii)i k—on a misty morning of what promised to hi- a broiling autumn day. About 0 o'clock the fog 'lifted from the ir valley, and the German batteries began 10 operate. One of their first shells wounded .Marshal MneMnhon. I be next senior ollicor. Genera! Ducrot. at once a.s-unied command. 'lbis was about 7 oVlock. But it happened that General AVimpH'en. who had only joined '.be army Irom Algiers on tho night. of th<- 'tlt. brought with him a secret commission to a.-Minic eonimaml in event mi the de:ith or disab!- incut of Afac.Mahoii. Of this power ho did not ai lir.-i avc.il Irm-eif. Since he was a •strange:- both to the army and the country. whilst Ducrot possessed the eoaiideiii .• or t !><■ one and the knowledge of ihe other ill the highe-t degree. But v. ii.-n about 0 o'clock he learned that Ducroi proposed to move ihc whole army under cover of rearguards to the Wisi towards .Meziero-, iie produced h : s commission and eountor-mauded the moveim nt. being himself convinced thai oa.-". ward towards Bazaitie at Met z iav Iho road to f-iivat ion. Ordeis once i-sm-d in a battlefield are not easily reoabed. and the ii-sult oi til's change of . ommaiid \ra, dire confusion. "The Freiieli troops northwards of Baxoiius. along th° l->.iid du f:i\ otnio. were • dreadv commencing their w-thdrawil w iit-ji the li-ad'ug trooos of tho enemv b,• :1 n i> arrive abeiu. Daign.v, iu'o miles 1.1 the north, ami easily' carried ih.- 1 id"e south of the Givoiinc-Sedan- ! 1 bus threatening ihe retr-ai of the F* elicit in and about BazeiPcs. r. !"• h ie'l into the hand-, of the Bavari:ni~ about 11 o i-loek. At the su'ne t0.,., til.- Guards Con.s dev. iooed -i •! y aien.' the wiv'ern heigitts •v r'ookfiig til-- Givonne X'alii y. (; A 1.1.A NT. P.FT 1 NFFI-T.cn VE.

linn i :i i lit ■ f.ni" «'i fin* fi-w (h'Miuat [< in :n, 111- 111 :|ti- _li;>il\\ Sliiiili'illy ;i ijl'luiiiu ty. Ffvii'-ii iuhmu-y. .mjUH

I'iOU'"* strong. moving west in pursuance j i't" Wimplfen.s orders, cam,- ov< r the ; ,-imi ni border <-t tin- v:illi'.v and charged | :it full .speed towards the guns. 1 lie : who].- el' the artillery corps ni' tin* (;u:u(U turned upi.li these 'knitted men ami lore iho coinmn in luiU. slu'ouduij* it in denso el'juds of dust and smoke troir. tin- bursting shells, abo\ o whiih could Ik- seen the trunks and limbs, ot men living upwards l>v the explosion. Till' head in till- column, perhaps 2<>oo strong. nevertheless kept. "ii its wn s"* but under the combined tiro or the Guard rifle battalions and the Hanking tire from .other guns the impetus died out and its debris disappeared by deI'rcw under convenient cover. Iho German Guards were, now tree to .stretch out their I'ifxht towards the Belgian frontier and prepare tor the attack on the BoW de la Garenue. The Third German Army had already crossed the Mouse at Donchery on the bend opposite Sedan by pontoon and trestle bridges erected during the night. General Gallii'ei delivered a daslimg attack with his brigade of Chasseurs d'Afvique on tlio German artillery, but bein" unsupported he had to fall back. It was now about 11 a.m.. and whether moved bv the belated impulse of Dueot's orders or attracted by iho ain>«reiit weakness of the Prussians in sight, theFrench infantry made a. brdhant counter-attack. But German reinforc-e- ---! mcnti, came suddenly into view, ami | with tlicir elan spent the French To 7 ! • back on Fioing. to the north of Sedan ; town, and there held out for two hours j before being expelled.

CAroriT IX A TRAP

11 was now noon_, and "VYimpfl'en rode up to General Douav and asked liim if iio could hold his position. Douay replied in the affirmative, and "Wunpfl'en promised him support. • The Prussian shells were already crashing into the woods from all sides, and countless stragglers and riderless horses caused west serious delay. To gain time Mnrguerittc's division was ordered to charge. Margucritte was killed as he to reconnoitre, and GaUifet took command. Gallii'et and his squadrons covered themselves with rdorv. but he had not 2000 sabres at his disposal. Under the storm of shell and over the broken ground manoeuvring was impossible- But a series of isolated charges was delivered with results which convinced well-nigh every survivor that the day of cavalry, in sufficient numbers and properly handled on the battle-field, was by no means opent. About an hour after tlio cavalry charges, between 3 and 4 p.m.. theGermans at length gathered weight enough to attempt the assault of the French «nain position, and, moved by a. common instinct, lines of men. almost two miles in extent, pressed on. gaining cover from the convex slope of the hill, till at length-they were able to storm the stubbornly-defended ridge.

11? E WHITE FLAG OF SURRENDER

This ivas the beginning of tlie endWimpffen initiated counter-attacks with temporary success, but the Germans were all round liim in far superior numbers. Hiding back to the town to seek the Emperor" and implore him to plsiee himself at the head at all available reinforcements. he saw a white fag break out or the steeple of the eliurch tower, but almost instantaneously disappear. He did indeed reach the Emperor, but, delayed by the appalling contusion, was 100 Into. * The flag had gone up again, and ho knew that all further resistance v/a<? hopeless. The fighting did not cea.se at once. The troops lie had iVrectsd to make the final effort, their eye's fixed on the enemy in front of tiiom, never saw the flag: and until 6 o'clock a series of isolated attempts was made to break the iron ring with which tho Germans had surrounded them. The Emperor, who during the early hours of the day had fearlessly courted death, at length, overcome by extreme physical pain and exliaust : on 3 had ridden back to the town,, and about 4 o'clock, seeing no hope of success, had sent a narleinentairo conveying his personal surrender to the Ivinc of Prussia, at the same time ordering the white flag to be ho'stcd. It was torn down by a Colonel j Fauve. but was hoisted again half an hour later, when the Prussian troops were almost at the western gates of Sedan. It only remained for Wimpffen to make terms for the amy, and after a long and galUuit attempt to avert the ineviablcj ho at length signed an unconditional surrender, with the. sole allov : ation that all officers woro to retain their swords.

Thus passed into captivity 52.000 men, 558 guns, and stores to an immense amount. The price to the victors for this result w.is in round numbers 9000. The French killed and wounded numbered 17.000. It is indicative of tile demoralisation of the French Army that this figure is 1000 loss than the cost to tho Germans of the vieiorv of Worth, although on that occasion tlv: French troops actually numbered one-half of .those available at Sedan. Paris was invested about- three weeks after Sedan.