There but for the Grace of God ...

Kronprinz Friedrich Wilhelm an der Leiche des Generals Abel Douay, Weißenburg am 4. August 1870
Anton von Werner
Source

There are a number of superb paintings with the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 as their subject. (You can see some of them at the source above.)

While reading about the war I came across the story of Général de Division Charles Abel Douay, who at the age of 61 was recalled to active duty from his post as president of the French military academy at Saint-Cyr and given command of a division under Maréchal Patrice de Mac-Mahon.

At the Battle of Wissembourg, the first battle of the war, Douay's division, some 6,000 men, holding positions in and around the town of Wissembourg was attacked by elements of the German 3rd Army, which consisted of two Prussian and one Bavarian corps, (25,000 men) the III Corps of that army being commanded by the Prussian Crown Prince, Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl, the son of the Prussian king (soon to be Kaiser) Wilhelm I. (Note, Wilhelm I had fought at Waterloo, 55 years earlier.)

The French fought bravely, their Chassepot rifles causing lots of German casualties, also their positions in and around the town gave them excellent positions from which to defend. However, the Germans, though their attacks were uncoordinated and somewhat sloppy, eventually used the weight of their superior numbers to drive the French from the town, street by street, in bitter house to house fighting.

The French cause was not helped by the death of Douay who was hit by shell fragments when a Prussian shell hit a nearby mitrailleuse¹ battery. The general's death not only demoralized his own troops but the French army in general. 

The painting depicts the Crown Prince of Prussia observing the body of his dead opponent sometime after the battle. A scene I found touching and immensely sad. Especially when you notice the presence of the small dog lying across the general's feet at the foot of his improvised bier.

It's worth noting that the artist, Anton von Werner was actually traveling with the staff of the III Corps during this battle. After action paintings are often glorified looks at otherwise horrific scenes. I wonder how accurate this painting is as to what the scene was actually like.

In truth, I don't care. It depicts well the sadness of loss, even as experienced by an opponent. The Crown Prince of Prussia succeeded his father, Wilhelm, as Kaiser (Friedrich III) for only a short while before dying from cancer, an illness he'd been diagnosed as having just before his father's death.

His son succeeded him, Wilhelm II. The man who fired Bismarck and plunged Germany into the First World War and all the horrors which followed. He doesn't bear sole blame but he does share that with other short-sighted European leaders.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

¹ A multi-barrel early machine gun. Effective but nearly as effective as the Gatling gun.