Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/409

 FRANCE 397 Sedan. Here MacMahon massed his army and prepared for a more important conflict. The emperor Napoleon was now with this portion of his forces. After the first defeats he had relinquished the command of the armies to his marshals (Aug. 8), and the management of affairs in the capital to a new ministry (Pali- kao's) under the empress regent ; and leaving Metz immediately after the battle of Courcelles, he had gone to MacMahon at Chalons. The prince imperial had been sent to Belgium when the situation had first become critical. The op- posing forces were now prepared for an inevi- table and decisive engagement. The battle of Sedan was begun by the Germans Sept. 1. The troops of the army of the Meuse and the third army, by a series of manoauvres and after severe fighting, drove the French from all sides to that fortress, where, almost surround- ed, entirely defeated, and without provisions or defences sufficient to endure a siege even of a day, they were compelled to capitulate. The emperor surrendered himself to King William in person, Sept. 2, and was carried a prisoner to Wilhelmshohe. In dead, wounded, and the vast number of prisoners of war, the French had thus lost in a few days an army of nearly 150,000 men. The news of Sedan created intense excitement at Paris. In the night of Sept. 3-4 Jules Favre demanded in the corps 16gislatif the deposition of the em- peror and his dynasty ; the popular indignation against Napoleon and his party was without bounds. On the 4th the people filled the streets and thronged to the hall of the corps le"gislatif and thence to the h6tel de ville. Here Gambetta, in the midst of the most tumultuous applause, proclaimed the republic ; and a pro- visional government of national defence was at once formed. This was under the presi- dency of Gen. Trochu and the vice-presidency of Favre, and included Emmanuel Arago, Cre"mieux, Ferry, Gambetta, Garnier-Pages, Glais-Bizoin, Pelletan, Picard, Rochefort, and Simon. In the evening a decree of the new government declared the corps legislatif dis- solved and the senate abolished. Jules Favre was placed in charge of foreign affairs. The empress fled from Paris and took refuge in England. The government of national de- fence issued an address to the army; and a circular was sent to the European powers ex- plaining the attitude of France. The most energetic measures were begun for putting Paris in a position for defence. Later in the month Favre had an interview with Bismarck at Ferrieres, in which he unsuccessfully sought to negotiate terms of peace. A similar pur- pose was the cause of a visit of Thiers to the principal European courts. The elections for a national assembly, to immediately regulate affairs, which were decreed during the month by the government of national defence, were postponed from time to time on account of the difficulty of communicating with the coun- try at large. After the battle of Sedan there was but little to impede the advance of the German army to the capital. On the 5th they entered Rheims, and only minor skir- mishes and trifling engagements attended their further march, until on the 15th they had closely approached Paris, advancing in the general form of a half circle. A sortie by Gen. Ducrot on the 19th was repulsed, and a few days later the actual investment of the city was begun, with the army of the Meuse on the northern and northeastern sides, the third army on the southern and southeastern, and bodies of cavalry guarding the approaches to the western front. The German head- quarters were established at Versailles. A portion of the French government of national defence remained in the capital ; a portion, in order to be in communication with the prov- inces, was established at Tours; among the latter was Gambetta, who exercised the func- tions of minister of war at the same time that he led in the government of the interior, thus combining in his hands most of the executive power of the governing body. The siege of the capital, which now began, will be found de- scribed in the article PARIS. Almost simultane- ous with its beginning was the fall of Stras- burg, which capitulated in the night of Sept. 27-28. Toul had surrendered on the 23d. Sois- sons and Schlettstadt, among the chief places besides Metz which still resisted, capitulated respectively on Oct. 16 and 24, and on the 27th Metz itself also yielded, Bazaine surrendering 173,000 men. (See METZ.) The chief atten- tion was now concentrated upon Paris. All the attempted sorties of the besieged proved use- less, while great discontent and suffering pre- vailed within the city. The members of the government in the capital had the greatest dif- ficulty in repressing popular tumults and dis- order. The military situation in the rest of France was of such a character as to give little hope of rescue by those French troops still in the field. After the fall of Metz, Prince Fred- erick Charles had marched the greater part of his command southward, to engage the ene- my's "army of the Loire," now increased, in part by the addition of small bodies from the defeated troops of other corps, to about 150,- 000 men. This army, under. Gen. Aurelle de Paladines, had at first won some successes, de- feating Gen. von der Tann, the German com- mander who held Orleans, and retaking that city (Nov. 8, 9, 10). The latter, retreating, massed his troops on the Eure ; but Aurelle de Pala- dines did not follow up his advantage, and the Germans soon took the offensive. Several minor engagements occurred, and now Aurelle attempted to march almost his entire force to- ward Paris ; but meeting and attacking the 10th division of Frederick Charles's army, he was defeated near Beaune-la-Rolande (Nov. 28) and forced to withdraw again to Orleans, near which city he took up a position for bat- tle. A series of battles followed, ending with a decisive defeat of the French on Dec. 4, the