Sedan, at all points of the compass, appeared a dense, dark mass
of German troops, with their commanders and artillery. Not one
sound had been heard by the French army, not even an order. Two
hundred and fifty thousand men were in a circle on the heights round
the Sink of Givonne. They had come as stealthily and as silently as
serpents. They were there when the sun rose, and the French army
were prisoners."

The battle was one of artillery. The German guns commanded every
part of the crowded valley. Indeed, the fight was simply a massacre.
There was no hope for the French, though they fought bravely. Their
best troops, the Garde Impériale, were with Bazaine at Metz. Marshal
MacMahon was wounded very early in the day. The command passed
first to General Ducrot, who was also disabled, and afterwards to
Wimpfen, a brave African general who had hurried from Algeria just
in time to take part in this disastrous day. He told the emperor
that the only hope was for the troops to cut their way out of the
valley; but the army was too closely crowded, too disorganized,
to make this practicable. One Zouave regiment accomplished this
feat, and reached Belgium.

That night--the night of September 1--an aide-de-camp of the Emperor
Napoleon carried this note to the camp of the king of Prussia:--

MONSIEUR MON FRÈRE,--Not having been able to die in midst of my
troops, it only remains for me to place my sword in the hands of
your Majesty.

I am your Majesty's good brother,