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The Prussian Terror By: Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) |
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BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS
A FIRST TRANSLATION FROM THE FRENCH BY R.S. GARNETT
WITH AN INTRODUCTION
LONDON: STANLEY PAUL & CO PHILADELPHIA: DAVID MCKAY COMPANY 1916
[Illustration: ALEXANDRE DUMAS.]
"L'ennemi, c'est le Prussien" GAMBETTA.
CONTENTS TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I. BERLIN
II. THE HOUSE OF HOHENZOLLERN
III. COUNT VON BISMARCK
IV. IN WHICH BISMARCK EMERGES FROM AN IMPOSSIBLE POSITION
V. A SPORTSMAN AND A SPANIEL
VI. BENEDICT TURPIN
VII. KAULBACH'S STUDIO
VIII. THE CHALLENGE
IX. THE TWO DUELS
X. WHAT WAS WRITTEN IN A KING'S HAND
XI. BARON FREDERIC VON BÜLOW
XII. HELEN
XIII. COUNT KARL VON FREYBERG
XIV. THE GRANDMOTHER
XV. FRANKFORT ON MAIN
XVI. THE DEPARTURE
XVII. AUSTRIANS AND PRUSSIANS
XVIII. THE DECLARATION OF WAR
XIX. THE BATTLE OF LANGENSALZA
XX. IN WHICH BENEDICT'S PREDICTION CONTINUES TO BE FULFILLED
XXI. WHAT PASSED AT FRANKFURT BETWEEN THE BATTLES OF LANGENSALZA
AND SADOWA
XXII. THE FREE MEAL
XXIII. THE BATTLE OF ASCHAFFENBURG
XXIV. THE EXECUTOR
XXV. FRISK
XXVI. THE WOUNDED MAN
XXVII. THE PRUSSIANS AT FRANKFORT
XXVIII. GENERAL MANTEUFFEL'S THREATS
XXIX. GENERAL STURM
XXX. THE BREAKING OF THE STORM
XXXI. THE BURGOMASTER
XXXII. QUEEN AUGUSTA
XXXIII. THE TWO PROCESSIONS
XXXIV. THE TRANSFUSION OF BLOOD
XXXV. THE MARRIAGE IN EXTREMIS
XXXVI. "WAIT AND SEE"
CONCLUSION
EPILOGUE
INTRODUCTION
"The enemy passed beneath our window and then out of view. A moment
afterwards we heard the sound as it were of a hurricane; the house
trembled to the gallop of horses. At the end of the street the enemy had
been charged by our cavalry; and, not knowing our small numbers, they
were returning at full speed hotly pursued by our men. Pell mell they
all passed by a whirlwind of smoke and noise. Our soldiers fired and
slashed away, the enemy on their side fired as they fled. Two or three
bullets struck the house, one of them shattering a bar of the
window shutter through which I was looking on. The spectacle was at once
magnificent and terrible. Pursued too closely the enemy had decided to
face about, and there, twenty paces from us, was going on a combat life
for life. I saw five or six of the enemy fall, and two or three of our
men. Then, defeated after a ten minutes' struggle, the enemy trusted
themselves again to the swiftness of their horses, and cleared off at
full gallop. The pursuit recommenced, the whirlwind resumed its course,
leaving, before it disappeared, three or four men strewn on the
pavement. Suddenly we heard the drum beating to the charge. It was our
hundred infantry soldiers who were coming up in their turn. They marched
with fixed bayonets and disappeared at the bend of the road. Five
minutes later we heard a sharp platoon firing. Then we saw our hussars
reappearing, driven by five or six hundred cavalry; they reappeared the
pursued, as they had started the pursuers. Amid this second tempest of
men it was impossible to see or distinguish anything; only, when it was
past, three or four dead bodies more lay stretched on the ground." The boy who saw these scenes, to record them in his Memoirs many years
later, was living with his mother at Villers Cotterets, on the Soissons
road in the Aisne, where fierce fighting between our little army and our
allies the French on the one hand, and the Germans on the other, is
taking place as these lines are being written. The time was 1814.
Napoleon had retreated from Moscow and had lost the battle of Leipzig,
and the Russians, Prussians, and Austrians in alliance were gradually
closing in on France. All confidence in Napoleon's star had disappeared.
Every hour was bringing the roar of cannon nearer to Paris: in a few
days the Allies were to enter it and Napoleon to sign the decree of
abdication and leave for Elba... Continue reading book >>
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