Mr. Rublee to Mr. Fish.
Sir: The French army of the East, or what remains of it, its retreat being cut, and finding itself destitute of supplies, crossed the Swiss frontier, in the neighborhood of Pontarlier, this morning, and laid down its arms. General Bourbaki, its late commander, is reported to be dying from a wound inflicted by his own hand some days since, designed to terminate his life. The Swiss general-in-chief, Herzog, reports the number of the French prisoners thus suddenly thrown upon Switzerland at eighty thousand, or, perhaps, rather more. The federal council are making arrangements for their internment. They are to be apportioned to the different cantons, the quota of the canton of Berne being twenty thousand five hundred. The war has already imposed burdens that are serious to be borne by so small a country as Switzerland, and this event will, for the present, materially add to their weight. They are, however, cheerfully met by a brave, patriotic, and intelligent people, who shrink from no sacrifice that is essential for the preservation of their independence.
The Swiss army now occupying the northwestern frontier, along the line of the Jura, numbers about thirty thousand men.
The news of the armistice recently arranged between the members of the government of the national defense at Paris and the Emperor of Germany, notwithstanding the deep sympathy which is felt for France at [Page 871] the present moment, was received here with much satisfaction, since it was generally regarded as the preliminary step to a conclusion of the war. It appears, however, that a strong disposition is manifested in many quarters of France, and especially in those which have, as yet, remained unvisited by the actual horrors of war, to reject the armistice and to adhere to Mr. Gambetta’s policy of war à outrance. Thus that unhappy country is threatened with new distractions, and it is possible that the calamities of civil strife are about to be added to the ruin and humiliation brought upon it by a foreign invasion.
From the most trustworthy data I am able to obtain, I am firmly of the conviction that if the real voice of France could make itself heard it would pronounce decidedly in favor of peace, even though upon terms hard and humiliating. Whether that voice can be stifled and a contest of despair continued, in which there is no prospect of ultimate success to justify it, and which promises nothing but new, and, if possible, more frightful disasters, the unavailing slaughter of thousands of men and the devastation of still more cities and provinces, remains to be seen. During the past three or four months France has surprised the world by the rapidity with which she has called new armies into existence, but it would, perhaps, be erroneous to attribute her achievements in this regard to the patriotic fervor of the masses of her people. The government of the national defense inherited the machinery of the empire. It found also a people with the habit of obedience of yielding readily to whatever person or persons the vicissitudes of the time might bring into authority. The new levies answered promptly to its call when summoned. Thus it was a comparatively easy task to place in the field armies imposing in point of numbers, however deficient in other vital respects. But it was quite another thing to breathe into them that ardor and frenzy of patriotic enthusiasm which have sometimes enabled a people, accustomed to liberty and fighting in seif defense, victoriously to confront superior numbers and organization. Thus the French armies have been scattered as rapidly as they have been organized. With many individual exceptions, of course, there has been a lack of zeal and steadfastness among the soldiers, while no happy inspirations of genius seem to have visited their commanders. Moreover, both the armies and the people have been constantly fed upon delusions. False reports from Paris have stimulated the courage and the hopes of the provinces, and false reports from the provinces have stayed up the faltering resolution of Paris to the hour when surrender became inevitable. With the fall of Paris it will be necessary to abandon this system; at least it will become, in a great measure, impracticable to continue it. A large body of German troops will be released for other operations, and it is quite improbable, whatever may be the present inclinations of the people of cities like Bordeaux, Lyons, and Marseilles, that the war can be renewed upon any large scale. The great mass of the rural population want peace.
During the later stages of the contest, the sympathies of the Swiss people, at first largely enlisted on the side of the Germans, have turned strongly in favor of France. Commiseration for her misfortunes, the hope, though clouded by many doubts, of witnessing the successful establishment of republican institutions in that country, and apprehensions respecting the ulterior designs of those who bear a leading part in accomplishing the unity of Germany, have united to produce this change. There have not been wanting fears that in the intoxication likely to follow such unexampled successes as have attended the German armies, the absorption of the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland might be [Page 872] regarded as essential to German unity. Some manifestations of a desire to rectify the boundaries of Baden by acquiring certain small bits and salvages of Swiss territory lying on the right bank of the Rhine and including the city of Schaffhausen, have created more or less uneasiness as to the future policy of the new German empire. The subject has given rise to some discussions in the public journals, but I think no serious apprehensions respecting it are at present entertained in government circles here.
I am, &c.,
P. S.—I have received some additional particulars respecting the surrender of the French troops on the frontier this morning. They are under the command of General Clinchaut. Only a part of the troops have yet crossed the frontier, but the whole force is to cross and lay down their arms in pursuance of a convention concluded between General Clinchaut and General Herzog, the Swiss commander, at 5 o’clock this morning.
The number of French troops who thus surrender is 84,900. They are to be interned in the several cantons as follows: Zurich, 11,000; Berne, 20,000; Lucerne, 5,000; Uri, 400; Schwytz, 1,000; Obwalden, 400; Midwalden, 300; Glarus, 1,000; Zug, 700; Fribourg, 4,000; Soleure, 3,000; Baleville, 1,500; Bale Campagne, 1,500; Schaffhausen, 1,200; Appenzell, R. E., 1,500; Appenzell, R. I., 200; St. Gall, 7,000; Grisons, 1,000; Argovie, 8,800; Thurgovie, 3,900; Vaud, 8,000; Valais, 1,000; Neuchâtel, 1,000; Geneva, 1,500.