FRENCH ACCOUNTS OF THE BATTLE.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 737, 8 October 1870, Page 3

FRENCH ACCOUNTS OF THE BATTLE.

A correspondent of the National writes: — " I saw the affair commence, and was present until nearly its close. From 6 o'clock in the morning the camion thundered before the village of Freischweillcr, not far from Hagenau. Marshall M'Mahon is in command, and has not more than 30,000 or 40,000 men to resist forces at least four times their number, and continually reinforced. All went well until midday. Prince Frederick Charles was losing ground. Freischweller had been retaken ; the two regiments of Tnrcos charged with the bayonet and carried all before them. But while onr Iroops were performing prodigies of valor, the enemy debouched upon them in compact masses from the woods. The Prussian artillery took up a position upon the edge of the woods, and poured its fire upon us without intermission, the Prussian shells setting fire to the village. About % o'clock some regiments began to waver. The number of killed on our pide was increasing. Still there was no cause for despair. M'Mahon held his ground, but presently a rumor was spread that our artillery was short of ammunition, and that our soldiers had exhausted their store of cartridges. The cavalry attempted a Last effort. The enirassiers charged upon the foreefc, but every tree concealed a Prussian, who fired with a certain aim. Then began the rout. The Hagenau road was covered with fugitives ; it was a fearful pell-mell under the increasing fire of the enemy. Night began to fall, adding darkness to other causes of disorder. Amid cries, expostulations, oaths, it became an infernal gallop towards the , railway station at Brumath. That is what I saw, and in the midst of which I pursued my way. 1 hope that the disaster may be less severe than it appeared to be ; but I tell you what 1 saw, and I give you honestly the impression that was left upon ray mind." A correspondent of La Libcrte says : — " The Douay division of the Ist Corps, which had been surprised and decimated by the Prussian Army of the East under

tlie Crown Prince, having effected its retreat upon Bitsche by the Col dv Pigeonnier, Marshal M'Mahon, upon ascertaining what had occurred, advanced with the utmost rapidity to a point between the Vosges and Hagenau with the infantry divisions of Ducrot, Raoult, and Lartigue, and the two remaining brigades of cavalry belonging to the Duhesme division. During the interval the Crown Prince, who had been unable to force the Col dv Pigeonnier, or who left the task of approaching Saarbruck from Treves to Prince Charles, descended the valley of the Rhine, in order to invade our territory on that side. Between the foot of the Vosges mountains and the course of the Rhine, the valley, which averages about twenty kilometres in width, is very broken and hilly. Marshal M'Mahon, j not being able to prevent the enemy from entering the valley, desired to collect and rally his second division, and at. the same time to cover the Vosges and Saveniß. He advanced from Hagenau towards Wissenibourg, and his corps d'armee, which he believed was in a position to be supported by those of Generals de Failly and L'Admirault, found itself suddenly engaged with the entire forces of the Crown Prince in advance of the road from Bitsche to Hagenau, about ten kilometres from the Rhine and four from the forest of Hagenau. The field of battle was thus enclosed on the east by the forest, and on the west by the lower spurs of the Vosges mountains. The country in the vicinity of the mountains is very brokui and woody. The Marshal commenced the action vigorously. His cavalry attempted to turn the left flank of the Prussians, and advanced as far as Freischweiller, | two kilometres from Reichshofen, but the weak division of the Due de Magenta, notwithstanding prodigies of valor and the most heroic devotion, could do no more than, as at Wissembourg, inflict upon the enemy a greater loss than itself sustained. At last it was compelled to give way before an overwhelming superiority of numbers. Where we had a battalion the Prussians sent forward 10. We had 16 squadrons ; the Prussians brought 60 into line, and their artillery bore the same proportion to ours. We should have held our ground much longer, despite the uselessness of the attempt, as we could not get any support, but for the crushing superiority in number of the Prussian guns. The greater part of our pieces were dismounted by the concentrated fire of the enemy's batteries ; it became inevitable that a reti-eat should be effected, and we did so, leaving the field covered with the slain. The enemy, exhausted by the struggle, did not pursue, and the marshall, with the remains of his corps, fell back upon Saverne." The Opinion Rationale states that a report from Marshall M'Mahon was read at the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, which announced that of tho 33,000 men whom he commanded at Reichshofen, 18,000 had been rallied to their standards.