Bismarck

by Moritz Busch

On the same evening I learnt from another source that lodgings had been taken for Favre in the village near the Château of Ferrières, as he desired to have a further conference with the Chief. He was accompanied by MM. Rink and Hell, formerly Secretaries of Embassy under Benedetti, and Prince Biron. Keudell said, “As the Chancellor left the room where his interview with Favre had taken place, he asked the dragoon who was on guard before the door whence he came. The man replied, ‘From Schwäbisch-Hall.’ ‘Well, then, you may be proud,’ he continued, ‘of having stood guard over the first negotiation for peace in this war.’”

In the meantime the remainder of us had a long wait at Cheffy for the return of the Chancellor, and then—probably with his permission—drove on to Ferrières, which we reached in about two hours. On the way we passed along the edge of the zone which the French had designedly laid waste all round Paris. Here the destruction was not very marked, but the population of the villages seemed to have been in great part driven away by the Gardes Mobiles.

At length, just as it began to grow dark, we entered the village of Ferrières, and shortly afterwards Rothschild’s estate. The King and the first section of his suite took up their quarters for a considerable time in this château. The Minister was to lodge in the last three rooms on the first floor of the right wing, looking out on the meadows and the park. A large drawing-room on the ground floor was selected for the bureau, and a smaller one of the same corridor as a breakfast and dining-room. Baron Rothschild was in Paris, and only left behind him three or four female domestics and a housekeeper, who gave himself great airs of importance.

It was already dark when the Chief arrived, and shortly after we sat down to dinner. While we were still at table a message was received from Favre, asking when he could come to continue the negotiations. He had a conference tête-à-tête with the Chancellor in our bureau from 9.30 P.M. until after 11. On leaving he looked distressed, crestfallen, almost in despair—my diary remarks that possibly this expression was assumed with the object of impressing the Minister.

In connection with the news that the King has gone to Clayes in order to prevent an attack being made by our troops, the Chief, in the course of conversation at dinner, said, amongst other things, that “many of our generals have abused the devotion of the troops in order to secure victory.” “Possibly,” he added, “the hard-hearted reprobates of the general staff are right when they say that even if the whole five hundred thousand men whom we have now in France were to be wiped out, that should merely be regarded as the loss of so many pawns, so long as we ultimately won the game. It is very simple strategy, however, to plunge in head foremost in that way without counting the cost. Altogether, those who conduct the operations are often not worth much—armchair strategists. A plan is prepared in which the whole calculation is based first of all upon the extraordinary qualities of both soldiers and regimental officers. It is these who alone have achieved everything. Our success is due to the fact that our soldiers are physically stronger than the French, that they can march better, have more patience and sense of duty, and are more impetuous in attack. If MacMahon had commanded Prussian soldiers and Alvensleben Frenchmen, the latter would have been defeated—although he is my friend.” “It is no longer possible, as it was in the Seven Years’ War, to direct a battle from the saddle—the armies are too large. There is also no genuine co-operation and mutual assistance. Battles begin usually like those described by Homer. Some of the men commence with small provocations, and go on taunting each other, then they begin to shoot; the others see this and rush forward, and so finally the engagement becomes general.” “The plan of surrounding the enemy is the right one, and properly speaking that was only adopted at Sedan. The engagement of the 16th at Metz was quite correct, as it was necessary there at any cost to prevent the French from escaping. The sacrifice of the guards on the 18th however was not necessary. It was a piece of pure folly, occasioned by jealousy of the Saxons. They ought to have waited at Saint Privat until the Saxons had completed their manœuvre for cutting off the enemy.”

Keudell and Bohlen afterwards ascribed this unfavourable criticism to a quarrel which the Chief had had with Moltke at Reims.

While still at table we had a specimen of the hospitality and gentlemanly feeling of the Baron, whose house is honoured by the presence of the King, and whose property has, in consequence, been treated with every consideration. M. de Rothschild, the hundred-fold millionaire, who, moreover, was, until recently, the Prussian Consul-General in Paris, has declined, through his housekeeper, to let us have the wine we require, although I informed that functionary that it would be paid for, just as everything else was. When summoned before the Chief, he had the audacity to persist in his refusal, first denying absolutely that there was any wine in the house, and afterwards admitting that there were a few hundred bottles of a common Bordeaux. As a matter of fact, there were some seventeen thousand bottles. The Minister, however, explained the situation to him in a few sharp words, pointing out how niggardly and discourteous it was of his master to requite the King in such manner for the honour done to him in taking up his quarters there. As the fellow still seemed obstinate, the Chancellor asked him sternly if he knew what a bundle of straw was. The man made no answer, but seemed to suspect what it meant, as he became deadly pale. He was then informed that it was a contrivance on which obstinate and impudent housekeepers were laid face downwards—he could imagine the rest for himself. Next day we got everything that we required, and, so far as I am aware, there was no further cause of complaint.

Next morning the Chief came into the chambre de chasse of the château, which we occupied as our bureau. Turning over the game book which lay on the table he pointed out the entry for the 3rd of November, 1856, which showed that he himself, with Galiffet and other guests, had that day shot forty-two head of game—fourteen hares, one rabbit, and twenty-seven pheasants. He is now engaged with Moltke and others in chasing a nobler quarry—the bear to which he referred at Grand Pré.

At 11 o’clock the Chief had his third meeting with Favre, after which followed a conference with the King, at which Moltke and Roon were also present.

In the evening I was called to the Chief, who had not appeared at table, and who, it was understood, did not feel quite well. A narrow stone winding stairs, which was distinguished with the title, “Escalier particulier de M. le Baron,” led to a very elegantly furnished room, where I found the Chancellor sitting on the sofa in his dressing gown.