THE WAR IN EUROPE.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 16, Issue 843, 17 October 1870, Page 2

THE WAR IN EUROPE.

The Battle of Woerth. The correspondent of the Nationale gives t he following details of the engagement at Reischshoffen, called by the Prussians the battle of Woerth: — " As early as six in the morning of the 6th instant, the cannon was booming in front of the village of Froschwiller, not far from. Hagenan. McMahon was in command; he had not more than 30,000 or 40,000 men to resist forces four times more considerable and incessantly re? newed. Everything went well till noon. Prince Frederick Charles lost ground; Froschwiller was retaken; the 2nd Regiment of Turcos charged with the bayonet and overthrew all they met. But the greater the prodigies of courage showed by our soldiers, the more dense became the hostile masses that issued from the forest. The Prussian artillery took up a position in the skirts of the wood and cannonaded us unceasingly, whilst their fusees set fire to the village. Towards two o'clock some regiments began to give way, the number of killed increased, but nothing was yet desperate. McMahon stood firm, but a rumour wa3 spread that the French artillery was in want of munitions, and that the soldiers had no more cartridges. The Cuirassiers made a desperate charge on the side of the forest, but every tree concealed a Prussian, who took sure aim. Then began the rout. The road from Hagenau was covered with fugitives; a frightful pellmell under the fire of the enemy's artillery redoubled. Night came on, adding obscurity to the disorder, the cries, howlings, and curses of a whole multitude rushing towards the railway station at Brumath. All this I saw, and in the midst of it I retraced my steps. Two observations are to be made on this account: the want of cartridges, and the terrible part that the woods either at Forbach or elsewhere play in this war. The French army seems to have neglected the service of scouts. Amongst the superior officers killed in the combat I see the Colonels de Krien and Marquis de Grammont; the 47th and 6th of the Line and the 2nd Turcos were the corps which suffered most." The Victories at Forbach.

The battle of For bach was fought on tbe 6th of August, and ended in the rout of the French troops. As indicative of a feeling that has been gaining strength ever since the first failure of the French troops, and, as will be seen from our further record, culminated in the resignation of the command of the French army by the Emperor, we give the following account of the attack on General Frossard's corps at Forbach by an eye-wit-ness, a correspondent of the Soir: —" I have just come from Forbach, where I have been present at the almost total destruction of our second corps d'armSe, commanded by General Frossard. Our soldiers acted as heroes from 11 in the morning, and not fr om 2 in the afternoon, as the despatch stated, till 7.40 in the evening, and not merely till 6. We have struggled, defending foot by foot the ground attacked by forces greatly superior. We have scarcely had 20,000 men engaged, while the Prussians have been able to deploy more than 100,000 men. Our soldiers still arrived regiment by regiment, not like troops brought to a battle, but like beasts brought to a slaughter-house. We have been played with like children by the Prussians, and our staff has allowed themselves to be duped, believing in all imaginary ruses of the enemy, and giving credence to the reports of spies. There is but one cry in our army, and this cry I heard on the field of battle at Forbach, in the midst of the Prussian balls and bullets: ' Let them give us a leader in whom we can have confidence.' Officers, soldiers, every one repeated this expression, and, while falling, our soldiers had but one thought, • The country I' The whole Prussian frontier is covered with woods, which shelter the enemy; therefore all the manoeuvres of the Prussians escape us, and we wander like blind men. Marshal McMahan asked the Emperor by telegraph for instructions to burn these woods, The Emperor refused from motives of humanity. The enemy have shown themselves not so innocently childish. They have formed two armies one threatening Metz, the other Strasbourg. With these formidable forces tbey crush qujc &Yi#<l divisions and beat us h despite

the heroic resistance of our soldiers. X was at Forbach under the Prussian fire, and I heard our soldiers, while falling, curse those who sent them to a useless death. What I say here is the feeling of 20,000 soldiers cut to pieces by the fault of their leaders; it is the last wish of the dying."

The Second Battle of Saarbruck. The foUpwing graphic description of one of the contests is given by the special correspondent of the Times, and is the only one from the French quarter, as correspondents were forbidden afterwards to accompany the army :-*- " Paris, August 8.

41 On the night of Friday, the sth, I left Paris for Metz. I started off along the road leading from Forbach to Saarbruck. The distance between these two towns is, I should imagine, some six or seven miles. Proceeding along the road in the direction of Saarbruck, we begun to pick up some information a 3 to the actual state of things, and I found to my great surprise that the French division which had occupied the heights overlooking Saarbruck, on the Forbach side, had voluntarily abandoned that position on the previous evening, and xetired within their own frontier, being at this time disposed about Forbach. We came upon a regiment of infantry and a battery of artillery, which were the furthest advanced troops we could see at this time. The arms of the infantry regiment were piled, the men were lounging about in easy deshabille, some of them lying in their tentes Wm, some cooking, some clean* ing their accoutrements; the same symptoms were observable among the gunners; nothing betokened any expectation of trouble or disturbance from the enemy, We)had scarcely made these observations when of a sudden the roar of a cannon was heard sounding quite close to us, and on looking through my fiekUglass, I saw that a Prussian battery, posted on the external slope of the heights which the French had abandoned the night before, and in front of a large farmhouse (to which, for convenience and because of its red roof, we gave during the day the the name of the " Maison Rouge "), had opened fire on some French troops at the farther extremity of the valley, which were then invisible to us, but which afterwards represented in the battle the French Right. Immediately all was hurry and bustle. Orderlies and aides-de-camp began to tear back and forward along the road to Forbach. The battery of artillery was got into position facing up the valleys, the arms of the infantry were unpiled, their tents were struck, and as quick as lightning a working party were hard at work throwing up an intrenchment in front of their position. At this time we were ordered back, and we turned off the road and clambered up the wooded heights on the right of the valley, in the hope of seeing to advantage all that passed. When we first reached the summit we found ourselves behind the French rightcentre ; on the right their artillery was replying with considerable vigor to the Prussian guns, which were firing at them across the valley from a plateau in front of the " Maison Rouge." The Prussians seemed to be very strong in artillery, and every now and then a new battery was, brought into action moving for the most part (at thi3 time) along their own left, and thus forcing the French to extend their right iu a way which, considering the manifest inferiority of their cumbers, must have made their position, I should imagine, a very critical one at this part of the day. A little later fresh Prussian batteries" began to descend straight intothe plain from the w Maison Rouge," and the French right aud right centre appeared, to me to begin to, fall back. Regiment after regiment, descended in skirmishing order into the plain, and fighting like heroes did their best to check the forward movement of the Prussians, but they were always obliged to recoil before the superior numbers of the latter, and to withdraw up the heights on their own side of the valley. At this time we, the spectators, began to find our position rather a hot one, and beat a retreat in the direction of the French left, working our way through, the dense woods. At this time also —■• that is. to say, some two hours after the commencement of the action, or about 1.30 p.au—l believe the French right, must have been reinforced, and particucularlj in artillery, for one could see b# the line of stnoke from the French guns, tfoat the backward movement was not continued. Qa. taking ug our position.

Mind the French left, we found that the woods on the opposite side of the plain were by-Ibis time filled with the Prussian infantry, who were keeping np a murderous fire on the French infantry in the open, and on some artillery which was replying to certain Prussian guns now in position in th« plain below the •' Maison Rouge," and firing up the valley in the direction of Forbacb. It was here where the heaviest losses of the French must havo been sustained. Obviously they fought at a tremendous disadvantage; and the effect produced by the fire of their tirailleurs upon the enemy, who kept themselves carefully concealed, must have been infinitely less than of that which was directed against them from the dense cover of the woods. It would be impossible to overrate the dash and |valor of the French infantry at this point, or to pay too high tribute to to their endurance under such trying circumstances. A hundred times they advanced close up to the wood with a desperate impetuosity, but although they did all that could be expected of mortal men, they were always obliged to retire,, and from our position "we could see them dropping in scores at «ach successive advance or retreat —a truly lamentable sight. This sort of fighting appeared to me to go on steadily for a couple of hours, the artillery being engaged incessantly on the right, and the contest between the French in the open and the Prussians in the wood never lagging for an instant. About the end of this time, a contest which had been going on at intervals between the Prussian battery firing up the plain from below the "Maison Rouge" and tfhe French battery (or its successor), which I mentioned as being in position at the end of the plain at the beginning of the day was suspended for a time by the explosion of a caisson in the rear of the French battery. The effect was tremendous; the battery was put entirely hors de combat ; everything was a wreck; remarkable enough, all that remained of the battery was one poor horse, which by some singular chance remained alive and orect, standiug pathetically motionless among the debris. Another French battery was brought up, I think, but the Prussians did not seem to push their advantage. Their tirailleurs in the wood, however, seemed to redouble their efforts, and for the first time in the day ventured out of cover, threatening to advance from the corner of the wood and effect a lodgment about the factory buildings in Styren-Wendel. A battalion of Chasseurs de Vincennes, who occupied this position, very effectually checked the proposed movement, dashiug out across the open with immense elan, with fixed bayonets, it is said, charging the enemy, who at once gave way before the vigorous onslaught, and made a hasty and undignified retreat to their frieudly woods. From this time, which was, I should say, about 5 o'clock, the battle languished all along the line, and, in fact, died out altogether for a little, so much so that we considered the affair at an end, and began slowly to return through the woods towards the town. By the time we had reached a height just overhanging the town, and from which we had an open though distant view of the field, a tremendous cannonade had recommenced, principally in the Saarbruck direction, and large reinforcements —four or five regiments of Chasseurs and Dragoons, and several regiments of infantry—arrived about the same for the French, from the Sarreguemmes direction. The battle now raged with redoubled vigour, but the efforts of the Prussians were apparently directed for the time chiefly against the French right. The Prussians were also at this time strongly reinforced, and I saw an immense column of their infantry descending into the plain, in the distance from the Saarbruck direction. Their cannonade then became more and more vigorous, and I could see by the line of the smoke that the whole French line was gradually giving way. At this critical juucture we were startled by a sudden cannonade in a totally new direction, and quite close to U 3. The Prussians had suddenly descended from the heights, and shown themselves in force opposite the French left, which their fire, directed across the railway and high road, was threatening to turn and cut off from their communication with Metz. The French reply was as feeble as pqssible, and already along the road ominous symptoms of retreat began to be visible. The Prussians had evidently teen strongly reinforced simultaneously

at either extremity of their line, whereas •the French reinforcements must have been sent away to their right and right-centre; and there was nothing to meet the Prussian attack when it fell thus unexpectedly on their left. The battle was clearly lost, and it became seriously necessary for us who were spectators to " consider our situation." We found ourselves under the Prussian fire, shells bursting around us in all directions, and bullets whistling over our heads in a manner that was not soothing to the nerves. We did not stay to find out whether the battle was really lost, but fled with the rest, and I know I performed prodigies of velocity in the way of up-hill running, of which I could not believe myself capable. French soldiers, too, and villagers, were tearing madly up the street in such a way that I never doubted the Prussians were close at their heels.

" My own conjecture— valeat quantum —is that there were probably from 25,000 to 30,000 French troops engaged first to last. I hazard the conjecture that the Prussians outnumbered the French by three to one, and I am certain that in artillery their numerical advantage was even greater, and the only wonder is how, with this superiority and the advantageous position they held—most mysteriously ceded to them by the French on the previous evening—they were not able to finish the battle many hours before. I can hardly say it is wonderful, however, when I remember the splendid valour of i the French and their heroic endurance, which it is impossible to think of now without the deepest emotion. As to the numbers killed and wounded among the Prussians, I can say nothing. The French loss must have been prodigious. I saw regiment after regiment go into action and retire fearfully reduced. The 76th and 77th Infantry of the Line and the 3rd Chasseurs a Pied were all but annihilated. In one of my own movements of retreat through the wood, I met with a captain and six men of the 77th regiment. The rest of his company were 1 dead or wounded on the field, and these men were retiring, their ammunition being exhausted. Many thousands must have fallen on the French side.

"ILinong the retreating and panicstricken crowd we found ourselves, and we thought it better to continue with them and avail ourselves of their knowledge of roads and byways, whereby to get, at all events, to a more comfortable distance from the Prussians. When we had reached the summit of the heights, and were actually out of immediate danger of Prussian shot and shell —when in fact the poor people could think of something beyond the instant peril of life and limb —they seemed suddenly to realise the entire ruin which had fallen upon them ; they also began to think of their families and friends who were all scattered, flying in desperation through the deep woods, where the darkness was deepening with the falling night. Such scenes of anguish and misery I never saw before, and hope never again to see. Mothers who had lost their children seeking for them with frantic cries and gesticulations —old, tottering men and women stumbling feebly along, laden with some of their poor household gods, silent with the silent grief of age—little children, only half-conscious of what all these things meant, tripping along, often leading some cherished household pet, and seeking for some friendly hand to guide them —husbands supporting their wives, carrying their little ones (sometimes two or three) on their shoulders, and encouraging the little family group with brave and tender words —the woods ringing with shrieks and lamentations, with prayers to the Saviour and the Virgin. It is impossible to describe in language the sadness and the pathos of that most mournful exodus.

" After we bad proceeded some miles into the interior, having Metz on our right, we came to a village, the name of which I do not know, and here the great body of the retreating peasants seemed resolved to remain for the night. Therefore, when I left this place my party was reduced to three, including myself, the other two being a French gentleman of Nancy and my servant. " We struck the high road on leaving the village, and this we found to be a road leading to Metz. We had not proceeded far along it when we met a very large force of French artillery reinforcements coming up, as usual, too late. They had only heard some vague rumour of a

disaster at Forbach, from some of the flying villagers probably, and we bad to give them a hurried account of the af air. Loud were their vows of vengeance; and the Prussians were to evacuate Forbach before the dawn—of that we might be satisfied."