190 WILHELAM DER SIECREICHE 
  
announced a great victory and the “ Baptism of Fire of 
his son Louis. Nothing important happened on Wecd- 
nesday August 3. On the following day the crown-prince 
Frederick of Prussia surprised a French army at Weissen- 
burg, which was compelled to retrcat. Two days later 
the Crown-prince, who had boldly marched into French 
territory, attacked Alackhlahon at Wörth and utterly de- 
feated him. On the same day Prince Frederick Charles 
tock the heights of Spicheren by storm. The French 
now retreated to Lorraine, where on August 14, 16 and 
18 three great battles were fought, in all of which the 
CGermans were victorions. The king himself conducted 
the last of these three battles at St. Privat or Gravelotte, 
by which the French army was compelled to fall back on 
Metz. The CGermans had lost at least 20, 000 men in 
killed and wounded, but Moltke had attained his object— 
to shut up as many troops as possible in Aletz. This 
strong fortress was now invested, and the crown-prince 
advanced on Paris without delay. Macahon had, how- 
euer, turned northwards in order to relieve Metz. This 
Project was frustrated, and MacMahon was compelled to 
retreat to Scdan. 
IX (pp. 51—60) 
On September I a great oDattle was fought at Sedan. 
The German army completely surrounded the French 
troops and drove them into the little fortress on tbe Meuse, 
their Emperor among them. The next day Napoleon 
capitulated with 83,000 men, and was sent to the castle 
#of Wilhelmshöhe near Kassel, as prisoner of war. His 
army was transferred to German fortresses. As scon as 
the disaster of Sedan became known, the Empress fled to 
England, and the Republic was proclaimed in Paris. 
Jules Favre and Gambetta were placed at the head of the 
new Covernment of National Defence.) This govern-- 
ment determined to carry on the war with the utmost 
eenergy, and declared that not a focot of French soil should