The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-08-20 00:00:00

A SCENE FROM THE RATTLE-FIELD.

The following sketch is given by a correspondent of The
notes (—"Then we turned down a by-road—a communal
highway—end, after a time, reached the village of Ounstett,
the envirens of which were the scene of a desperate action
between the French right rind the Prussian left during the
memorable battle of Woerth. Like several others of the
It wan crowded with wounded, and the pale faces
looked out of the windows of the cottaees, with heads hound
up ; but there were soon more terrible evidences of the
struggle. The d'Thris of knapsacks, pouches, napkets,
Shoes, fragments of clothing, shakos thickened as .we
With 00 ; dead horses nehru t, an enormous or
With their legi stuck up In the air, lay about in the
fields; and slow we came on a deal Prussian who had fallen
stiff as if in the act of chergiug, and thin came Z moves and
Timm', mostly the latter, in all the fantastic rigidity of
death in battle, the faces in most cases covered by the
decent care of the country people with little pieces of
linen, which the rain had be den in on the lineaments
In relief. The burial parties were busy close at hand
and MI over the country, but the harvest was too
heavy for the reapers. I have seen now many fields
—and the more I see of them the lets I like theni—
but never have I beheld a sight so extraordinery as I came
on by the little streamlet, the Sauer, which II isve by Gum
Stall. At an angle of the road, by a van plantation, there
fiat been evidently a sanguinary combat between the In-
fantry but a little beyond it lay the scene of a cavalry
charge, the relics of which formed the is' range spectacle I
am writing of. There were heaps of cuirasses still bright,
and brass helmets with plumm which had been taken from '
the dead, wounded, and prisoners, and piled at intervals
along the road. Between these lay saddles, swords stuck
hi the ground, horse trappings, veliseis with
and '6' on them, here and there single cuirasses,
dead horses, helmets, swords, muskets—the groomi
trampb d, the vines beaten down—pools of blood—a foul,
sour smell everywhere; this literally for two miles on each
ride of the road. In the vide., itself was a pile of thirty or
forty cuirasses and helmets, then another pile of the same.
Further on, mixed up with these trophies' of the hapless
Cuirassiers, we came on the signs of di Aster to &regiment of
humeri—staves with red and white streamers in all dime--
Weds, lateen shakos, saddles, valises, and tunics—blue laced
w 4 i white. One would thilik Lancers and Cuirassiers hail all
fallen together; but to whatever regiments Lome and cuirass
belonged, it was plain they had been rouied and rie,troyed.
Oue remarkable cireinurwrici is this—not a cuirass was
Merced by bullet. I looked mist narrowly—others did
the same. A yet what had been the fate of the wearers
That Is a problem I cannot solve, nor could any one else'
but Ills plain that the Cuirassiers were annihilated It is said
that one regiment charged• battery and got in among the guns,
but wins smitten by the infantry on the flAilkif with a leaden
shower that beat them to the earth never to rise again—un-
horsed, or dead and wounded, the unhurt all taken in a few
memide As I said, this sort of work was visible for quite
two miles sing the road. The rain cleared up bef.re !moo.
and that mast nave linen some little tettei from suffering ti
the worm-ed, who were still motto carts. Tatra were some
with faces ueturned, and raid who cared or, more for
What the elements might elm I shall dwell no longer on such
/crime. There will, I fear, be many more of them, turd
wane."

.78KS AT WOERTH.

_
The Petrie lades that " at the battle of Woerth six
mkratheuses were taken. These engines had been planed at
NO =WWI from the them.). mid the atitllerhle who handled

them were killed by the hoethe marksmen. At 1,000 inetra
the mltrailleusee only swept a space of a metre and shalt to
two metres in width; and those In charge were still exposed
to the energy's fire. At 2000, metres they did Food [MICA
that is to say, they covered the frost of an entire battalion,
and themselves could be touched only by artillery Me.
Another time we shall know better bolt to employ them, and
shall turn the lesson to account.