The Defeat at Sedan, Part 4

by Brett Rutherford

     Translated from Victor Hugo, l'Annee Terrible

PART 4

THE CATALOG OF SHAME

 

We can laugh about Agincourt. From now on Ramillies,[1]
Trafalgar[2] provoke, at most a melancholy smile.
When you say “Poitiers,”[3] no one need dab
the corner of an eye with handkerchief.
The mention of Blenheim,[4] one shrug
and never a need for fisticuffs.
We used to bow our heads at Crécy[5] — no more.

Rosbach,[6] where idiot armies failed to find
the right roads and lost their cannons,
seems less a black spot than a missed victory.

 

No, France, here is the unspeakable: Sedan.

This name blots out all other losses.
Spit out these two syllables beneath your breath
and never say that name again!

 

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[1] In the Battle of Ramillies in Flanders, in the War of Spanish Succession, on May 12, 1706, the French army suffered 13,000 casualties.

[2] At the naval Battle of Trafalgar, October 21, 1805, Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet, a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars.

[3] Battle of Poitiers, September 19, 1356. In this episode of The Hundred Years’ War, thousands of French soldiers, and even nobles, were killed, a calamity to French pride.

[4][4] The Battle of Blenheim on the banks of the Danube, August 13, 1704, in the War of the Spanish Succession, ended the myth of French invincibility. Thousands were killed by locals in the long trek through the Black Forest, and France suffered 27,000 casualties in the final battle.

[5] The Battle of Crécy in The Hundred Years’ War, August 26, 1346, pitted French crossbows against English longbows, and ended in a catastrophic defeat.

[6] The Battle of Rosbach, November 15, 1757. In this battle in the Seven Years’ War, a disorganized Franco-Imperial Army was repeatedly in the wrong place and suffered a humiliating rout.