The Sun.
London, England, 1862-07-02 00:00:00

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THE FRENCH RETREAT IN MEXICO.

The following are the orders of the day issued by
Gen. Lorencez after his movement of retreat :

" Orizaba, May 21.
" Soldiers and Sailors,—Your march on Mexico
has been checked by material obstacles which you
must have been far from expecting, after the infor-
mation which had been given you. You had been
a thousand times told that the town of Puebla was
anxious for your approach, and that its inhabitants
would press round you to cover you with flowers.
It was with the confidence inspired by those deceit-
ful assurances that we presented ourselves before its
walls ; but that place was full of barricades, and
commanded by a fortress, in which every means of
defence had been accumulated, Our field artillery
was insufficient to breach the walls, a siege battery
became necessary. We did not possess it, confident
in your intrepidity, you, without hesitation, rushed
forward on the fortifications defended by artillery
and by a triple range of musketry, while on flanks
you had to support the efforts of several Mexican
battalians and of a numerous cavalry. You did
what French soldiers alone know how to do, and
the most advanced of you reached the very walls of
Guadaloupe, when a torrential rain deluged the
ground, rendered the steeps inaccessible, and made
it impossible for us to renew the attack. Soldiers
and sailors! you gave proof on the sth of May of
the most heroic courage, and the enemy became so
well acquainted with you on that day that, during
I your retreat from Puebla to Orizaba, although you
were embarrassed with a convoy of more than 200
carriages, they did not dare to attack or even to annoy
Y Palmar a party of 22 Mexican cavalry
laid°n-A
downt their arms before a corporal and four
privates of the African Chasseurs. At Aculcingo,
the cavalry of General Marquez found itself cut off
on the 18th by the army of Zaragoza, debouching
from the Cumbres. The second battalion of the 99th
Regiment of the line marched from Ingonio with a
Si ction of mountain artillery to release the cavalry.
They rushed on the enemy with such vigour that
they captured a flag, and led to the dispersion of the
army of Zaragoza and the surrender of 800 infantry
and 400 cavalry. The battalion of the 99th, under
Commandant Lefebvre, covered itself with glory at
Aculcingo. Soldiers and sailors, your feats of
arms since your departure from Cordova, on the 19th
of April, until your return to Orizaba, on the 18th
of May, and the difficulties you have had to sur-
mount, will be judged of and appreciated by the
Emperor, and be assured that his Majesty will re.
cognise by noble testimonies your valour and your
devotedness. Vive l'En2perour !

" COUNT DE LORENCEZ."
A second order of the day is as follows ;
" Orizaba, May 22.

" After having addressed to the troops who fought
during this short but fatiguing campaign the praises
which their courage and good spirit so well merited,
the General Commanding-in-Chief is desirous of
giving a special testimony of his satisfaction to
the whole of the administrative services, and
of thanking the medical officers for their
zeal and devotedness. It was in the thick
of the combat, where the fire was the warmest, that
the wounded were received, attended to, and com-
forted. During the marches, in the midst of the
greatest embarrassment and difficulties, distribu-
tions of every kind were made as regularly as in
time of peace. The Mexican expedition has offered
the unique spectacle of an army making a retrograde
movement in perfect order, carrying with it a
month's provisions in 250 carriages. A great part
of those results must he attributed to Military Sub-
Intendent Raoul, who, in the organisation of all the
administrative services, united to great superiority
of mind the most remarkable activity. He met his
death on the sth of May. To the inheritance of
glory will be added for his family the esteem and
regret of his Commander-in-Chief and of the army.
Count DE LORENCEZ."

AFTER THE BATTLE BEFORE
RICHMOND.

In a swamp we found eight bodies of Alabamians
close together, and in such a horrible state of de-
composition that hardly a man saw them without
turning away his head. Their clothes were on, but
their bodies were so swoolen that they fitted as
tightly as the skin itself. In several cases the flesh
had already been eaten off by vermin and the head
and skull were bare. It was a disgusting scene,
which some people might have seen with profit. I
saw one body, which was evidently that of a rebel
officer. His clothing was rather better than that of
the large majority we saw, and other indications of
rank were numerous. He lay concealed behind
some brush, and had evidently been wounded,
sought its shelter, and there died. The limbs were
contracted, but upon the face there seemed to rest
a placid smile. One hand held on to a fence rail
near by, while the other was extended upon the
earth. Like all the rest, the body was s wollen to
twice its natural size, and millions of vermin were
fast devouring it. Calling some scouts, a grave wag
dug, and the decaying flesh was consigned to its
last restingplace. Another body was found sitting
on the ground, the back braced against a fence. The
skin was peeling off the hands, and hung down from
the fingers in shreds. One hand rested on the
musket the contents of which had been discharged.
The head dropped to one side, and the features were
of a
fearfully contracted,evidencing a dying Btru 1
gg
most painful nature. In his vest
pocket there was a
me to read it,
piece of paper, and curiosity
prompted
it,
There was some scribbling
uponthe distinguish-
ing words being " Eight Ala. will never yield."
"No,Sir, never." Then some
Poetical lines, of which,
succeeded in deciphering
amid the blood and dirt, I sue
the following:—
on the field f'
6, suppose we die up
'Twill prove that never
will we yield;
'Twill show the foe that like a flood
We'll pour, for Southern rights, our blood."
A curiosity-seeker might have collected a bushel of
letters in these words so full of horrors, but I bad
not the heart for the task. To show how desperate
was the struggle in the heavy woods between
Casey's and Ward's Camps, I have spoken of the
bullet marks on the trees, of the doad and of their
effects, everywhere seen. Another
indication was
the clothing, yet hanging upon low tree branches,
fences, and lying on the ground. An officer engaged
in the battle tells me that when we pursued, on
Sunday, the retreating
which on Saturday
they drove us, a desperate en-
counter ensued. Hundreds of men on both sides
threw off their superfluous clothing, and went in,
as we are told the 69th did at Bull Run, stripped
almost to the waist. Those who had the opportunity
placed their coats where they could be preserved;
others, with no time for that, threw them on the
ground, and lost them with their lives. Within a
space of two acres there are ungathered arms enough
to supply a New York militia regiment. In that
small space 600 men were sent to their long account.
Speaking of the hospital at this station reminds m;
that our men yet find wounded men in the woods.
Yesterday two or three were discovered under 8. 0
knee
brush. One had a leg amputated just below the
;
by a rebel doctor, who is with his companionsarm.
another had a foot off, and yet another,
t the ope-
Without conveniences for proper treaetrins w
ere seated
ration seemed very hard. The suffoefrin
en submitted
on a barrel, and held by a couple
were the am-
to the painful treatment. aroundAbllud.
Seated against a
putated parts, and pools ofdielr,
well-clad in a suit of
tree near by lay a rebel sohn
tton-hole in both cheeks.
Confederate grey, with d ain
through one side and come
The missile had pastsheer.
His face was besmeared
out through the oand
owing
to long neglect (the
with clotted gorset,
found h.m.,
1 ) it was impossible for
Federals had ju
fp The very picture of misery, this
I him to articala*
sat propped against a tree, await-
unfortunate man
rn for treatment.blankets near by
ing his tuOn
were half adied during dozen who had
the surgical
operation. Others, pale and weak, looked around
them with a half-frightened gaze, witnessing the
work of their surgeons. Dozens of our own men
were at hand, and in silence saw the fate which yet
awaits so many. All these horrors of war one wants
to see but once,—New ) ork Paper.

The Emperor Napoleon intends presenting a
copy of his forthcoming ,i Life of Julius Cmstir" to each
member of the Institute ; it is supposed they
will elect him
unanimously member of the section a Moral Politica
Sciences,