The Pastor's Narrative, or, before and after the Battle of Wörth, 1870 . ... Translated by Mrs. F. E. Marshall

Front matter

BEFORE AND AFTER THE BATTLE OF WORTH LONDON : PRINTED BV SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE AND PARLIAMENT STREET Condons. Longmans & Co '""■■■■■"-"■ ■■ '--™- ■.■m.wm™ ,,« , E.Walfer. I 2 3 Kilometres l.ChurchYards. 2 ,Wurtembiuy Monument 3 .Charge of Cuirassiers . 4- ,DeatJii'f'(wtseraLCoLsou.. 5 ,Mtmianent of SZ^'Req* 6, Great GernumMonument . 7 ', Ma£ Mahon's Jhtt tree 8 , />c orfi os tir-iwr,d Moire 9, GreatJWnchMi'rumumt . 10 .Death of General. Saouit. )X, Monument of 42".tl 13 , Turco quarters. YA, Monument of '47*** 14 , The Jhphav , where the (ro.\nVruux stood. . «■> , Odes 'numb er of graves . THE PASTOR'S NARRATIVE OR BEFORE and AFTER the BATTLE of WORTH 1870 BY PASTOR KLEIN TRANSLATED. BY MRS F. E. MARSHALL LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 1879 All rights reserved TRANSLATOR'S

Preface

. After reading this little book, which was recommended to me by some German friends, I was seized with the desire to further the object of the good man who wrote it, by translating it for the benefit of those who have not the opportunity of reading the original. The book had such an astonishing effect upon the German public, that I cannot but think that my own countrymen must also be touched by the simple, earnest recital of the author's experiences during the summer of 1870. Before setting to work, however, I wished very much to go to Froschweiler, to see Pastor Klein, so my husband and I started off early in the August of last year (1878). We reached Reichshofen, the nearest railway station, on a lovely afternoon, and had to wait some little VI time there, until a ' carriage ' could be brought from the fields, where it was doing duty as a hay waggon.

The road from Reichshofen to Froschweiler is charming. A slight rise the whole way leads partly through open field country, and partly through woods. It was so wonderful to look under the trees — indeed along the very roadside, and to see here and there little black crosses, bearing the date August 6, 1870 — showing where one and another had either been overtaken in flight, or had dropped from his wounds, and had just been buried where he fell. But when we sighted the little village, it was difficult indeed to realise the state in which it had once been. There it stood, happy and quiet, with the new memorial church in its midst, looking as if no tide of battle had ever passed over it. Only one sign of the past disorder could we discover — many of the houses had a very new-looking front or roof; some, indeed, were entirely rebuilt.

Our driver, who had concluded that we were going to ' Klein's,' drove us without question to his door. The Pastor was not at home, but his wife received us most kindly, and begged us to wait for him. We went out to the battle field, and never shall we forget the marvellously fair scene which lay before us. Cornfields all around were waving in the sunshine, just as they had waved on that day eight years before, only now they were dotted thickly with monu ments of the dead. Further on was the broad Rhine valley, with its many villages, and the hills of the Black Forest on the horizon. Just as we were turning away, we saw, coming along the road from Worth, a figure such as one imagines the Vicar of Wakefield to have been. It was unmistakably that of the Pastor, who was accompanied by the Count.

They both greeted us in a friendly manner, and the Pastor took us afterwards over the village, and showed us the points of interest. The little place is a charming mixture of orchards and red roofs, which peeped out cheerily from the trees on this bright afternoon. The Pastor lives entirely among his people, who are evidently very fond and proud of him, and of themselves too ; for are not all their real names in his book ? One incident illustrating this I must give, at the risk of being too lengthy. Iu going through the village we passed Meyer henner's house (see page 240), and on my ex pressing a wish to see this patriot, the Pastor called to a little girl, who was standing at the door, ' Lischen, fetch thy father, if he is in.' Meyerhenner appeared — such a big, jovial man, with honest blue eyes.

He chattered innocently with us for a few minutes, till the Pastor, slap ping him on the back, said : ' Dost thou know why I called thee out ? Why, to show thee to this lady and gentleman, as the man who had to fetch and carry for the Prussians. Good night ! ' The man blushed crimson, and grinned from ear to ear, and we went on our way laughing. It is a curious fact, that although the peasants in this part of Alsace looked upon the Prus sians as ' barbarians,' they have hardly learned to speak a word of French in the hundred and eighty-nine years which have elapsed since their annexation by France. We took leave of these kindly people in the evening, and our driver, having provided him self with an alarmingly substantial and bad cigar, destined to last the whole way, jolted us silently back to Reichshofen.

It was a beautiful day, with a beautiful ending, for the sun was setting most gloriously behind the Vosges, as we drove down, and we felt very glad to have this vivid little picture of Froschweiler and its Pastor to look back upon. Harrow : May 1879. CONTENTS. PAGE Declaration of War i The Theatre of War . 4 The First Hussars 7 The First Chasseurs ....... 10 The First Enemy . 14 The First Encounter 17 The Dragoon Hunt . . 21 A Visit to the Camp at Niederbronn .... 26 The First Regiments and the Gansemarsch . 29 Breakfast in Berlin, and Supper at Froschweiler 33 What the French Soldiers understood by Discipline 39 An Evening in the Camp at Froschweiler . . 44 Where the shoe pinches . . . . , . .49 The sky is blacker Contents. XII PAGE The Battle of Weissenburg 59 Results of the Battle of Weissenburg . . . 64 A Boy's Ride 70 Entry of the Turcos 73 The Position of the French Troops ... 87 Movements and Position of the German Troops 94 The Forerunners of the Battle . . . . 100 In the Cellar 111 The Release 115 How the other inhabitants fared . . .120 The Flight and Return 125 Home Sacrifices 129 The Plundering . 132 The Cow which was lost and found . . .137 The Plundering in the Village 143 The Accused • . . .151 The March of Triumph and the March of Woe 156 The Night of Terror 161 The Battle-field !66 The First Graves The Story of the Gunstetter 174 The Famine and Drought i7o Contents.

XIII PAGE The Wounded 183 First Provision for the Wounded . . . .187 The First Help 192 The Wurtemburg Physicians 200 The Burial of the Dead 204 The Clearing of the Battle-field .... 209 The First Service ........ 212 The Hospitals 218 Ben Salah and Sister Clementina . . . . 221 Light in Darkness— A peaceful Death . 226 Help from all sides 231 A nearer acquaintance with the Police . . 236 The Contented— The Deceived— The Furious . 241 The Building of the Memorial Church, 1873 . 249 The Consecration, 1876 255 The Emperor William in Froschweiler .