The garrison daily diminished from the effects of the fire and the exhaustion of the men, who were obliged to be almost constantly under arms; forty heavy guns, mounted on the edge of the counterscarp, converged their fire upon the bastion of Toledo, and the high brick walls tumbled in ruins from its effect.
On the 23d of December General Chassé wisely concluded that he had prolonged the defence quite as long as was required either by military honor or state policy, and that further resistance was useless. He hoisted a white flag, and the firing ceased immediately. Two Dutch officers were sent to treat for terms and ask that the garrison be allowed to retire with the honors of war. Marshal Gérard immediately granted the request, and the rest of the matter was arranged in a few minutes. The Dutch were to surrender the citadel, with the forts of Lillo and Liefkenshock farther down the river and commanding navigation from the sea to Antwerp. The garrison was to retire into Holland with its colors and arms, but all government property inside the fort was to be given up to Belgium. The commander of the Dutch flotilla tried to break through the French lines, but finding he could not do so, he burned his gun-boats rather than surrender them to the enemy.
When the terms of the surrender were submitted to the king of Holland, he refused to ratify them, so far as the forts down the river were concerned, on the ground that they were not under General Chassé's orders at the time of the capitulation. Marshal Gérard then offered to let the garrison of the citadel retire into Holland with their arms upon the simple obligation not to serve again against France or Belgium during the continuance of hostilities, but General Chassé refused to do so. He said it would not be in accord with the original terms of capitulation, and therefore he and his men must be treated as prisoners of war. At an appointed time the
