THE WAR IN EUROPE

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 15, Issue 2011, 6 December 1870, Page 3

THE WAR IN EUROPE

(From the Correspondent of the " Melbourne Age.") ;;- BisMAKck-lias published an account of his negotiations with Jules Favre. He demanded the cession of Strasbourg, Metz, i; r "ain&tae adjacent territory, and urged that 'dnCiarea little short of Nice and Savoy should be^yielded.' He thought the population greater by three- quarters of a million, and denies that he even hinted at reducing ; Plaice toasecond-ratepower, or made any offensive allusions to the consequences of : the war. ;. Bismarck holds that such cession . would not lower France's position materially in Europe. In the contests outside Paris the line docs not, behave well.. The Garde Mobile acts better. Accounts respecting food in Paris • are very contradictory. The woods and copses round the city are burned by means . of petroleum and tar. The burning forests . at night are an awful spectacle. The villages and camps for many miles round are clearly .; visible. , On Martyn's-hill the French dug an immense grave, throwing up corpses and coffins to the surface ready to receive the killed. 6 On Sundays the population make ; merry as usual, the principal difference being in the Blovenly dresses of the citizens. . - ..;, At the engagement, 19th September, outside Paris, French troops behaved disgracefully, many running away without their officers, and spreading universal panic. Dur- j ing the engagement a battalion of Mobiles ..: a regiment of the line by . mistake, ■y causing their retreat. The Prussians fought under shelter of the woods at great advantage. 'Many Zouaves fled without firing a . shot, and were arrested in great numbers, and it was proposed to shoot them in the Champs de Mars. j \The Russian Press continued to advocate the cause of France, even after Napoleon's surrender. The Moscow Gazette appeals to. Europe, urging her to intervene — not with diplomatic notes, but an army. If . there was any life in Europe left she should not permit the brave French nation to be . humiliated and plundered, and the Gazette argues that if annexation begins, there may be restitution by Prussia of countries formerly Sclavonic. Russia is making immense military preparations. Strasburg must have been taken by storm, had it not capitulated, in a few hours, as all the necessary preparations had been made, and surgeons and other members of sanitary, corps had been told off to hold themselves ready for such. Taking an inventory of all material of this enormou? arsenal will be a great task. The cannon " alone is estimated from fourteen to fifteen thousand, and many more no doubt' have : been destroyed at the fires which took place • at the arsenal. The garrison will go as prisoners of war to Ras tad t. The population has not suffered much from want of food, .but many are ill from anxiety and \ . confinement. The gates are now besieged by Strasburgers, seeking readmission. A breach in the citadel wall 60 feet wide is just opposite lunette 52. General Werder on meeting General Uhricb, embraced him. TJhrich had held out till threatened, with assault and a general bombardment. His position was utterly untenable. Trains now, run regularly to Kehl, within half a mile of the old station, and in a few days, the, rail way .bridge being repaired, Strasburg will be in communication with the Getman lines. The breach in the basti on is 200 yards wide. After surrender the behaviour of the French garrison, except tbe marines and Customs 1 officers, was disgraceful. Two-thirds ' of tbe men were violently drunk, and dashed their rifles to .pieces 'against the walls and paving stones. They hurled their swords and bayonets into the moat. Many danced to the music of theJPrussian bands. Some rolled about on the ground. Some tried to embrace German soldiers, and sang ribald songs ; others shook their fists in the faces of their -captors: The officers made no attempts to - control them, probably thinking it hopeless. - At Toula tremendous bombardment preceded the capitulation; 2,500 men taken . prisoners, eighty officers set free on the condition not to perve again in this war. . Seventeen, including Commandant Huck, preferred captivity. .. At Metz Bazaine was regularly informed by Prussian Generals of French reverses, but he refused to surrender. There were numerous deserters from him. A sharp attack occurred before Metz on the 20th September; The Times correspondent says: — "The French attempted to break out in force towards Thionville, at the same time making a feigned attack on MercbyleHaut. A heavy cannonade continued four hours. Ultimately, the French were driven ' back. The fighting extended over several I miles. The casualties on the French side were considerable. Marshal Bazaine again j .sent the Prussian prisoners back into their lines, and it was stated in Berlin telegrams, of 14 tli September, that he offered to capitulate if toe "garrison was allowed free retreat with all arms on condition of not serving against Germany for three months ; this is ■ contradicted from other quarters. Bazaine, _J" it is said, holds to the Emperor and declines to recognise the Republic." On the 27 th, the correspondent of the Cologne Gazette, writing from Marly, gives the following account of sorties made from Metz : — "lt is now 10 a.m., and our baggage and our former quarters are deserted. Like poor wanderers we are seated at an old table in the road, counting shells .that hum over our beads, marking their flight, and listening for their explosion behind the village ; we are seated by the side of a waggon heaped lip with bundles containing all our baggage, " drinking yrme and watching the progress of ; ffdmes Jri three villages which are on fire, and waiting for the moment when Marly, - struck by French shells, shall also take fire. ■ Troops; are drawn up in" companies and . . battalions alongside the road. At three enemy ceased, firing from their -.heavy guns. .-.-.We again go into saloons of ; chateaux and sit'down upon our boxes and -bundles, and we soon managed to sleep as comfortably as we should do between decks . of aaemigrantjship, butallof a sudden can- > nqn shots are heard between Quelerand Pel- .;: tre. <L hastened to the tower of tbe churcb, and climbed up to take a bird's-eye view of ;>^b.e..battle field. From behind Magny can be : _■>; seen' issuirig-Vfrotn tbe works at Montigny /: Piipbn44be;h'De-6f railway a long train of f v carriages drawn by the engines ;it ventures ; ' .asfrir ps P^Hre, and in front of the station , -infantry; and cavalry .of the : enemy get out i Tof "tb'ejfrain, and Renfllout skirmishers against .---:'"^'"^Jtr^ih^il._the''fnriur : 6f Tbieboult, alarming .. I -ibixf^vipostf. : *rhe empty train then re-.'"r^-jTuitfi^ more ?:%^roopsi?butriurbatterießiof Mercy, de Haut St&,#enjt4=|h?jr^iron/mo.uths &nd protest. At Out^ in. three Kt^i^Sil^rspgB !au.x Boi'sj Airs La Guneye,

and Peltre. As, however, shells from Quelen again begin to fly over the village and about the tower of the church, and as our men were swarming out of the houses, duty called us down. It was aboufc 8 p.m., and the roar of cannon hud ceased two hours, when all of a sudden Peltre and the whole of it3 surroundings became a sea of fire. We were told that our Brigadier-General Von der Golze had set fire to and determined to completely reduce this place to ashes, as it was only a place for the French to forage in, and was continually the cause of all those repeated sorties. These unexpected steps seemed to draw upon us as a reprisal heavy Cannonading from Fort Quelen. At about [ 8.30 shell followed shell, and flashes of guns were followed by the roar of the discharge, which was replied to by the Prussian batteries which were placed in the neighborhood of the blazing tillage of Peltre. At 9 all was quiet again. The N.E. portion of the sky was reddened and colored as if with fires of northern lights. All round was in flames afc 10.30 p.m. We were again called into the streets — a fresh alarm had called us to arms, as a night sortie of the enemy was signalled. From 10.30 p.m. up to 6 a.m. we lie in the trenches in a most apathetic manner. 28th September, 9 a.m. : A farm close to Magny was in flames. One of Bazaine's orders fell into our hands, wherein he states, as the plan of operation of his invested army, that they are to seek by all means to harass and tire the enemy. The French soldier is to have biscuit and as large a quantity of ammunition as possible with him, so as to make small raids and foraging expeditions in the adjacent villages. At noon Maison Rouge, on the Moselle, near Tournbridge, was deserted by our 68th Regiment, and set on fire ; and it is stated some sharp fighting took place there. At 2 p.m. a heavy cannonade from Fort St. Quentin was directed against Frascati, where our fourth company was placed. Next morning the Prussians evacuated all the villages, and will allow the French to choose between ceasing their useless shelling and cannonading, or seeing a number of burning villages around them. A severe outpost engagement, which took place before Metz on the 3rd October, is probably the next important military event reported of late." A BALLOON VOYAGE FBOM PARIS. M. Tissandier gives the following account of his balloon voyage : — Yesterday (Friday), 30th September, the balloon Celeste, containing about 800 cubic metres, was filled at the works of Vaugiand. At half- past nine it was ready to Btart. The director of posts placed in my care 100 kilogrammes of letters; that is to say, 25,000 epistles directed to all parts of France. I tied my cage of carrier pigeons to the circle, and ! soon rose with moderate speed to a height of about 1000 metres. In a few seconds I was soaring over the fortifications. I looked for the Prussians, and, to my great surprise, saw none at this side. The environs of our capital are deserted, abandoned ; not a traveller on the roads, not a boat on the Seine. They might be supposed to be the environs of an ancient city abandoned by its inhabitants centuries since. But in the distance I perceived smoke. I heard, the terrible sound of cannon, which informed me that an action was going on under the walls of Pan's. Presently Versailles opened on my view. Versailles, this jewel of France, sullied by the enemy. I saw patrols in the park, sentinels looking at me, and a few Uhlans asleep on the green sward. The sight saddened me, and I cast my eyes to the east of Versailles, where I noticed a small Prussian encampment. I threw down proclamations in German, among the soldiers, but these gentlemen replied by a fusilade which could not reach me in the regions where I was soaring. The sun was hot, and the balloon remained high in air. The wind drove me eastward, and I passed over the forest of Rambouille. I saw some Prussians also ; but from beyond Houdan I ceased to see them. My passage at a height of 600 metres above the wood had singularly chilled the gas, which swelled the silk, and I was obliged to throw overboard great quantities of ballast. Soon I perceired Dreux in the horizon. I approached the earth within 50 metres, and seeing some peasants cried out, ' Have you any Prussians in your parts ?' 'No, no,' waa the reply. Satisfied with this I was about to open the valve, when a wind blowing downwards seized me suddenly, and threw me to earth with great violence, before I had time to throw out tbe grapnel. I sustained a severe shock, the cradle was upset, and I was almost thrown out. I threw out the last sack of ballast, but the balloon would not rise. Fortunately, I had time to lay hold of my knife, while being dragged along with some force, and at last to throw out the grapnel, which the excellent inhabitants of Dreux hastened to lny hold of. The wind was tolerably high, and my balloon was split literally from top to bottom at the moment of being stopped. I took the bags of letters out of the cradle, and carried them myself to the post-office of Dreux, where tbe clerk had to stamp and despatch the 25,000 letters. M. Alfred Sirven, the sous prefect, greeted me most cordially, and most kindly called a special train to be got ready to take me to Tours. I was questioned all along the road with respect to Paris, and everywhere I met with enthusiastic responses to tbe news of the excellent spirit of our besieged capital. Paris is indeed fortified in a formidable manner, and is defended by 400,000 National Guards as well as by 100,000 Mobiles and troops of tbe line. The Prussians receive shell and shot wherever they appear, and wherever they try to erect a battery ; they are said to be discouraged and hesitating. Paris is confident and resolute, and is now aware of ! its own strength. In the streets or the boulevards there is no appearance of change save that the kepi of the National Guard has everywhere taken the place of a hat. A large number of shops remain open, and the promenades are covered with soldiers at drill. In the outer boulevards and in the Champs de Mars barracks have been erected for the Mobiles, who for the most part have hitherto lodged with tbe citizens of Paris. In the evening the cafes close afc half-past ten, and at eleven the great city seems to sleep, but has always one eye open. Watchmen are on the look-out for fires, and 40,000 National Guards man the ramparts, while tbe forts send afar the roys of the electric light to hinder attack or surprise. Certain kinds of provisions are scarce ; there is no more butter nor fruit, and meat will soon be hnrd to obtain. But corn will not fail, and while the Parisians have bread tbe Prussians will be kept at a distance. As they do not seem to attack us any longer, we shall march against them, and the National Guard will make constant sorties.

When the country shall be ready, when she shall send armed men to harass tbe Prussian lines, our enemies will find themselves battered between two circles of iron. But let all the inhabitants of the country say that they can only save the country by saving Paris, and let them hasten en masse to the succour of our threatened capital. The news which we bring to-day may be frequently followed up, for the balloon post is being organised on a great scale. We may rejoice to see the great service rendered by balloons in the country of the illustrious Montgolfier. VON MOLTKE ON THF PHENCH ARMY. An interesting letter appears in the Sahit Public of Lyons, relative to the instruction which Prussian and French officers are respectively obliged to possess. The writer says :— "M'Mahon is supposed to have adopted tactics which are not new — namely, to act above all with his artillery, said to be formidable, and to spare his men as much as possible. Napoleon 1,, of whom General de Moltke is only the pupil, never proceeded otherwise. He it was who first imngined tbe great concentrations of troop3 by rapid marches. M.de Moltke, his fervent admirer, has always manifested the greatest contempt for our strategy. I remember having heard quoted some of his words addressed to a French officer on a mission to Berlin — 'Do not talk to me of your military education in Africa. If you have never been there, so mueh the better ; when you become a general, you will be very glad of it. The war you have been carrying on for forty years against the Arabs is a guerillerie of an inferior order. Never any skilful marches, no feints, no countermarches, rardy any surprises. With that school you will do nothing more than form other schools like ic. The first great war will demonstrate your inefficiency, and were I not in presence of a man of your merit, sir, I should not hesitate to lau«h at your ignorance of the trade to which you devote yourselves. Amongst you — do not deny it— a pioneer is almost a ridiculous person, and in general the working man is one of mean intelligence. Here, on the contrary, the most conscientious studies are in the order of the day, and the lowest captain knows as much as your staff officers who are so brilliant in the ball room. Have you even a superficial smattering of the elements of the military art on leaving your special schools ? lam tempted to doubt it. Come now,' continued General de Moltke, taking the other by the hand, 'I wager that you do not know what is the most valuable piece of furniture for the chamber of an officer in garrison. Come with me.' So saying, the old Prussian led his interlocutor into a small bed-chamber suited to a sub-lieu-tenant; a small bed without curtains, three straw chairs, shelves of books from the floor to the roof, and in the middle of the room a black wooden board on an easel ; the ground strewed with morsels of chalk. 'It is with this that we beat our adversaries every morning,' murmured the old tactician, who waa destined to give afterwards so severe a lesson to General Froissard, the professor of the Prince Imperial. ' And for drawing, here is all we want,' and M. de Moltke exhibited some geographical maps. What a singular conversation, when one thinks it took place in March, 1870, for I copy it literally from a letter dated the 21sfc of that month."