THE WAR IN EUROPE.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 747, 1 November 1870, Page 4

THE WAR IN EUROPE.

NOTES AND INCIDENTS. The city of Berlin hag furnished over fifty thousand soldiers for the North German army. The guests of a German hotel went the other day in a body to the landlord, demanding tlio abolishment of French terms from tho bill of faro. Two photographs, one of Napoleon 111, and the other of Ollivier, were found nailed to what had been formerly the pillory at Breclau, Silesia. The enthusiasm displayed by the old Bavarian regiment, when they caught sight again for the first time of their former adversaries of 1866, the Prussian soldiers, is said to have been touching in the highest degree. A German professor nailed on the door of his closed lecture-room a piece of paper with the following notice: — " As the students have at present something 'more important to attend to than lectures, I v herewith declare my lectures temporarily suspended." Bismarck wrote the opening speech of the King, at the opening of the North German Parliament, himself. Three speeches were written, one by Lothar Buch&r, one by Counsellor Wagner, and the other by tho Chancellor. The latter was selected as the most to the point. Several German papers have been compelled to stop publication because all their compositors and pressmen voluuteered for the war. The Prussian fleet in the Baltic is under the command of Rear-Achmral Heldt, and that in the German Ocean under the command of Vice-Admiral Jachman. ' The armies of all the different states of the North-German Confederation wear but oue cockade, the colors of the Confederation, black, white and red. A Prussian soldier who had been drinking lots of beer, in a bar-room, amazed the barkeeper by the following pompous reply, when the latter asked for pay : " I have nothing but my life ; and that belongs to the King. On the march through the Renish provinces of Prussia, the troops found at every station immense caravans of peasant carts, which contain kegs of wine and otht-r refreshment for the fatigued defenders of the fatherland. An old widow named Hnckert, seventy- , five years of age, who accompanied the i Prussian army, in 1813 and 1815, in \ France as vivandiere, has again been permitted to accompany her old regiment, the Thirty-fifth Brandenburg, at her most urgent request. The soldiers call her the Mother of the Regiment. The Prussian Government has promised a special reward to every pilot who will take a German ship which is in danger of being captured safely into a port. J In all the Prussian barracks puppets in i the uniforms of Turcos and Zouaves have been placed in order to accustom the recruits to the fantastical dress of those troops. The sympathies of the Poles in Prussian Poland are entirely with their German countrymen. Not an exemption is claimed, even in districts that are almost entirely Polish. It is seldom that a nation has been -so infatuated with a worthless article as has lately been the case with the French in their fondness for the Chassepot rifle. It almost would appear to foreshadow their decline and fall, on the supposition that they have been miraculously demented ; for assurely on no other ground can the ' selection of this miserable arm he explained. Ten years ago it might possibly have stood comparison with Prince's sliding barrel, which was superior in all respects but the objectional slide, or with Ncedham's needle gun, which had not that objection. Since then more than twenty actions have been invented on the same principle which would be classed above it by English giinmakers, and notably Westley Richards' original patent, which carried all before it at SVimbledom for three or four years. The cartridge used with these rifles — even when well constructed, as it was by the above celebrated hrm — has been for some time utterly condemned on this side the Channel in Europe ; while on the other side the Atlantic it has never found favour, a copper case having been universally employed through the American war. For these reasons, except on the supposition at which we have hinted, it is wholly unintelligible that the Emperor Napoleon should have selected a rifle with this fa'ilfcy cartridge, and that the.Fiench nation should have endorsed his opinon. Prince Achille Murat reports that Marshal M'Mahon's army was without rations twenty-fonr hours before the battle of Woerth. All doubt of tho falsehood of <he story that Mr Elliot had been shot as a Prussian spy in Paris is now set at rest. Mr Elliot himself arrived at Brackley from Paris. When the 9th Cuirassiers charged at Froschwiller, Lieut. Billet, son of the Colonel, charged four times, having his jaw fractured by a ball. His father was obliged to have him transported by force to the ambulance, at the moment cf his making a fifth charge, in which the father himself fell. The Gazette, da Fraivcfort, of the 10th of August, says:— The inhabitants of Woerth having fired upon the Prussians, and been guilty of cruelty (exerce des curanten) towards the wounded Germans, their town has been treated in hostile fashion. Twenty of the offenders have been shot upon the spot. Extreme agitation reigns at Constantinople, where it is believed that Russia and Austria are negotiating with a view to partitioning off the European end of Turkey. The Prussian fleet in the Black sea exceeds the limits set by the treaty of Isras, and there is the greatest activity iv the Austrian dockyards at Poia and Trieste. A private letter, dated Paris, Saturday eveniug, 13th August, says :— The Fa .tern Railway has removed all its plant, carriages, steam engines, &c, from Strasbur fa '. The administration here are all in an awful state of confusion and disorganisation, owing to the reduction of their staff. Everything is out of joint, Cash payments are virtually stopped. A man has been at the Bank for me to-day and yesterday to change 2200 francs. It is now* half-past three, and he is not back. Thousands of people surround the building waiting their turn. I offered a 100 franc note at tho Rue de Grenelle telegraph office yesterday, and they had not change. My telegram to you raised the sum due, and by favor 1 got tho

change. P S., quarter-past five.— -My maw has returned from the Bank with change for the notes, in five-franc, twofranc, one-franc, and half-franc pieces. Fancy having this to count ! Asked at money-changers' 60 francs for changing. See them further first." The French soldiers are in as good spirits as ever. Marshal Bazaine keeps visiting the troops. The soldiers flock round him, and esteem themselves lucky when they hear a few words fall from his lips. The following is one of his speeches to about a hundred soldiei'3 while visiting their bivouac : — "Now, my lads, I have only one thing to reproach you with ; yon fire too quick. At Weissenberg, where your ammunition failed you, the Prussians, with the quantity you had, would have gone on firing for three days. Why, what the deuce, let's look at things as they are. Where are we ? Right in the middle of our line of defence. From Thionviile to^Metz, from Metz to Nancy, we are masters of the ground. Behind this line what have we ? Another line, that of the Meuse. Behind the -Meuse, what have we? Champagne. A battle-field we all know, don't we 1 And after Champagne, what have we still 1 Argonne. Do you remember Argon ne ? Do you remember Valmy ? The Prus- • sians do, I can tell you. And after Argonne, what do we find. That network of Tiver3 rajvde. famous by the cam- i paign of 1814 ; all the country cut by the ] Aisne, the Maine, Ilie Anbe, the Seine, ] the Yonne, and the Armengon. Well, all that's nothing ; for behind Metz, hind the Meuse,"behind Argonne, behind Champagne, behind our valleys of the Mavne, there is Paris, and behind Paris, I France. France, that is to say four millions of citizens in arms, a patriots heart ix each breast, and a thousand million francs in our Exchequer. Sambleu ! I don't think it's necessary to fire double charges. Let's go to work with glee, but let us not hurry ourselves. We've plenty of time." It's needless to say that this rough and ready demonstration was received with hearty cheers. All hands were stretched out to shake the Marshal's, but he contented himself with giving that of the Colonel a good squeeze, and passed on. There is no relaxation in the preparations for defence of Paris; on the contrary, they are pushed on with greater activity than ever. The people are making up for the gross neglect of their late military chiefs. It is as if some powerful genius had stamped upon the earth, and caused armed men to spring out of it. It was popularly said that France was a soldier, but the present generation has never witnessed so striking a proof of it. The National Guards were a standing and an excellent butt for jokes, not only with the public, but with each other, so loner as they considered their institutions childish; they rivalised with one another in going through, the exercise a3 awkwardly as possible, and in transgressing all miles of discipline. But look at them now! Though the immense majority of them have no uniform at present, which is a blessing, they go through their drill with as much precision, and mount guard in as good style, as any veteran of the line, because they now feel they are doing something useful and necessary. A few days ago one of the Paris papers started the idea of organising bodies of freeshooters. Next day six hundred volunteers inscribed themselves at the office, wishing to make part of them. Yesterday Government authorised the organisation, furnishing arms and ammunition, and paying the volunteers one franc a day, till they reached Chalons, when they will be assimilated to the rest of the army. Before the end of next week they will have renewed the enemy's acquaintance, for they are all old soldiers, and have no need of drill. A compositor of the Paris journal to whom the original idea belongs, on hearing that Government had approved of it, brought a stool out into Hue Favart, behind the Opera Comique, and began t> catch flies. A crowd soon gathered, thinking the fellow was mad. When he head caught flies enough, he stuck them on a pin, and arranged them in line of bottles on the stool. By this time a very large crowd had gathered. This was all he wanted. He exj^ained the origin of the battalion of Prussian freeshootcrs, and concluded — " Government supplies them with arms and ammunition, but clothes are wanting to equip them." He then made a collection, which produced nearly 127 francs. A correspondent of the Times tells the following : — You have thus classified war incidents, according to their general importance and interest, as — 1, those worthy of mention- in a telegram ;2, those worthy of mention in a despatch ; 3, those worthy of mention in the letter of a correspondent at the seat of war. Besides these there are a class of incidents which relate to individual cases of suffering, which may be termed family incidents. It is by dwelling on incidents such as those that Messrs Erkmann-Chatrian have endeaj voured to work in the cause of peace, and they are not less instructive, but perhapu even more calculated to bring home to the English apprehension the sad realities of war than more general descriptions of carnage ; for "every battle of the warrior is and must be with confused noise and garments rolled in blood." Such an incident is that of the death of Count Paul de Leusse with his wife and many of his servants in defence of the Chateau de Reichshoffen, and it seems in accordance with the spirit of the article which I have mentioned to direct, for a moment, attention to that incident. Seichshoffea is a small town in the Vosges, . close to Woerth, of about 3,000 inhabitants, and the chateau stands just outside the town. It is a house of considerable size, and contains some excellent pictures, the stables were well filled, the grounds extensive ; a shady avenue of trees leads to the homefarm, beyond this is the brewery, and beyond the landscape slopes up to the words which form the eliasse of the chateau. De Leusse wasayoungorstm of the Marquis de Leusse. He went early into the navy , service, was decorated with the Order of the Legion of Honor for a special act of bravery before he was 19 years old, and served during the Crimean war. After the war he married, left the navy, and went to reside at Reichshoffen. His family consisted, last year, of his wife's mother, his wife, four or five children, and numerous servants. The latter, both in the house and at the home-farm, were treated with a kindness and familiarity which united them by sympathy and common interests with the family ; and, indeed, a more perfect picture of domestic happiness than that exhibited at the Chateau of Reichshoffen it wo'.ild be difficult to find. De Leusse himself was a

very energetic man, and the neighborhood, as well as his own property profited by his exertions. He did everything in his power to improve his estaie, imported horses froir. foreign countries, served as maire of the town, took an interest in all questions of education, was well-informed on all points of trade and finance, and worked and expressed his intention to make his sons work so as, in an age of progress, to live at Reichshoffen in the I style which had long been usual to the family. Last year he was elected deputy for the Haut Rhin. .Let me add that in the recollection of any friend that visited the chateau the picture presented by this ' scene of comfort, kindness, industry, and happiness must ever be enlightened and beautified by the glow resulting from the remembrance of the cordial hospitality of its gallant master and the exquisite refinement of the ladies who graced his home. All these, the fruits, the blessings of peace are no move. De Leusse was resolute as well as i brave and energelic, and is said to have announced his intention of defending the chateau, if attacked, to the last. His resolve was not surprising, for he passionately loved his home, and the hatred he expressed for the Prussians was intense. It appears that he has kept his word, for, according to the latest intelligence, he is believed to have fallen in defending his house on the afternoon of the battle of , Woerth. His wife and several of his servants are staled to have perished with him ; this rnkvht well be, for all his servants loved the place aud the man, nnd there was about Madame de Leusse, besides her fair face and gentle manners, that which might well induce those who knew her to believe that, when the occasion came, she would prove a heroine, and " true till death." This is one of the family incidents of the war. Letters from oflicers taking part in the battle of Woerth are now filling the German papers. Tho heat of the day wa3 intolerable. The village of Froschweiler was carried by a fierce hand-to-hand encounter, the houses being stormed one by one, the *doors burst open by the butt ends of the guns, and many prisoners made— Zouaves and Turcos. The assaulting parties of Wurtemberg and Prussian troops, fighting their way from opposite sides, met in the centre of the village, at the foot of the church tower. The letters from which these notes are taken were written by one of the superior oflicers in the Wurtemberg corps. He adds :— "Briefly, onr entire fight consisted of a continuous movement at a distance of 1800 paces, always under murderous fire. But our fellows drove steadily forward; their elan bore them along. They deserve the highest praise. The Crown Prince, as our brigade gathered together, rode up and expressed his acknowledgments in manly words. Had our brigade had with it some cavalry, we should have captured the mitrailleuse batteries." A correspondent of the CarlsmM Zaitunr) gives an incident : — " In a hop plantation lay a company of the 95th Regiment and some pioneers of tht 11th Battalion, the latter armed Avith tho short-barrelled needlegnu. The lieutenant-commander of these last was described to me as a man of dauntless bravery and coolness, and some of his men related to me with admiration how, shortly before, they had to cross an unsheltered tract under a hail of bullets, and as they involuntarily ran, crouching and ducking down, he stalked along majestically and bolt upright. To these troop 3, covered by the hops and tree trunks presently approached, in gentle trot, a splendid and perfectly fresh regiment of Cuirassiers. Until within a distance of twenty paces, when the French word of command to push forward was called out, onr men held the French to 1 c Bavarians. No further doubt was possible, and for the moment our position seemed a fearful one— it looked like madness to withstand these masses of cavalry, charging with uplifted sabres — fine, stately, and for the most part gigantic figure 3, for a few infantry to withstand ; and so onr fellows turned to the rightabout to retire as fast as possible. But our pioneer lieutenant stood firm and crierl out, 'Children, are you going to lfiave me here alone V And his brave fellows instantly stood still, the infantry also, and at a few steps' cla'ance fired rapid volleys. The regiment was hurled away as if by an earthquake, wiped out like a pencil-stroke with a piece of indiarubber. The few who charged through were shot down by other troops. About 200, including the colonel and other officers, were made prisoners." In the destruction of the cuirassier regiments the Gobutg Gotha regiment greatly distinguished itself. The Duke Ernest, who rode throughout the day by the Ride of the Crown "Prince, witnessed their bravery, and gallopping up to them, expressed his pride and gratitude at their gallant conduct. The French regiments of the centre fought under cover, and several Prussian regiments opposed to them were so galled by their fire that they had to fall back to reform. Fresh troops at once took their place in the line of fire, and no sooner did the French quit their shelter to take a more forward position than they were driven back. The fourpound batteries of the Prussians brought up to the front at full gallop silenced several of the mitrailleuses. A successful flank attack on the tight was. made by the Wurtemberg Division by order of the Crown Prince, supported by fresh Prussian and Bavarian troop 3. This, though gallantly withstood for some time, broke down the resistance of the French army, I and a hurried retreat ensued. The ground seems to have been very unfavorable for the employment of cavalry on either side.