United States or Benin ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
On December 23, 1793, Hoche defeated Wurmser at Freschweiller, when the Austrians, abandoning the lines of Wissembourg, fell back across the Rhine.
"I have been abased before the Conde of the Republic, the man I esteem above all others, and to whom I unjustifiably gave the lie the Prince of Wissembourg! Is that nothing? That is the score his country has against him!" He wiped away a tear. "Now, as to his family," he went on.
The Baroness, as a prudent housewife, calculated that an evening party would cost less than a dinner, and allow of a larger number of invitations; so Hortense's wedding was much talked about. Marshal Prince Wissembourg and the Baron de Nucingen signed in behalf of the bride, the Comtes de Rastignac and Popinot in behalf of Steinbock.
Jack began to fire volleys of questions at the young hussar as soon as they entered the forest, and poor Georges replied as best he could. "I don't know very much about it; I was detached yesterday and taken on General Douay's staff. We were at Wissembourg you know that little town on the Lauter where the vineyards cover everything and the mountains are pretty steep to the north and west.
"The last time that the Prince de Wissembourg dined with the Minister of the Interior, he spoke to the Prefet of the position in which you find yourself a deplorable position and asked him if you could be helped in any friendly way. The Prefet, who was interested by the regrets his Excellency expressed as to this family affair, did me the honor to consult me about it.
What did the war matter to her except so far as its inconveniences were concerned? What had la patrie any more than l'amour to do with art? He put the question to her in his wild evening walks. It angered him that as the weeks swept on, and the great thunderbolts began to fall Wissembourg, Forbach, Worth his imagination would sometimes show her to him agitated and in tears.
Alas! no. Mr Moulton's eyes were not the kind that recoiled from anything so trivial as light or darkness; and hardly had we finished our coffee than out came the Gazette. We all listened, apparently; some dozed, some kept awake out of politeness or stupefaction; Mademoiselle Wissembourg, without any compunction, resigned herself to slumber, as she had done for the last twenty-five years.
The lines of Stollhofen, which on the right of the Rhine played the same part as those of Wissembourg on the left, were equally unfortunate; and those of the Queich and the Kinzig had the same fate. However well they may be supported by natural obstacles, their great extent paralyzes their defenders, and they are almost always susceptible of being turned.
An important member of the family I must not forget! the governess, Mademoiselle Wissembourg, who is very much of a personage. My coachman, who was one of the "anciens zouaves" so renowned for their bravery generally has cramps when he is told that I am going to drive myself to Paris. And when I drive those twelve miles I do it in double- quick time with Medje and Hilda, my two "limousin" horses.
"Ah!" said Prosper, with a more serious face, "it's different here; the fighting is done in quite another way." And in reply to a question asked by Maurice, he told the story of their landing at Toulon and the long and wearisome march to Luneville. It was there that they first received news of Wissembourg and Froeschwiller.
Word Of The Day