The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-17 00:00:00

THE EAST OF FIi.A.NCE.

The Staatsanzeiger says :—Since the beginning of the
month very important events appear to be approaching
in the east of. France, and especially in the Vosges.
General Bourbaki has marched to the south-east with his
forces, composed of portions of the Army of tilt)
Loire, and other troops collected near Bourges and Nevers,
in the middle of. France, to unite with Garibaldi's corps
and the Army of Lyons under General Bresolles
for a grand coup against General von Werder. The plan
of the then French War Minister Gambetta was to compel
the German troops to raise the siege of Belfort, and after
that to turn towards Nancy, and'inenace the line of com-
munication of the German forces, opening up for them-
selves at the same time a road in South Lorraine.
For this purpose General Bourbaki marched upon several
corps to the Oote d'Or, Garibaldi advanced with four bri-
gades, cavalry, artillery, the Trancs-tirenrs de la mor t,
and the Enfantg perdus de Paris ;—as the Franco-
Spanish corps and the Genoese carabineers call
themselves likewise upon Dijon, and General
Bresolles marched with from 30,000 to 40,000 men
of the French Eastern Army along the Swiss frontier
upon Belfort. These forces were to unite in the neigh-
bourhood of Montbeliard, in order to endanger the Ger-
man positions in Upper Alsace by means of a powerful
attack. In consequence of these movements General von
Werder was compelled to concentrate his forces ; he eva-
cuated his advanced position near Dijon for the present,
effected, notwithstanding the difficulties caused by the
nature of the country and the severity of the weather,
the necessary strategic flank movement at the right time,
and collected . his troops in such a position along the
Vesoul and Montb6liard Railway, that he was not only
able to preVent the relief of Wlfort, but also to meet the
advance of any force Of the enemy that might be brought
against hirn.',

THE ARMY OF TIIE NORTH.

LILLE, January 14.

The Fabian policy of Trochn is creating some irritation
at Lille, where it is believed that the Germans profit by
the inaction of the capital to crush the provinces until the
annihilation of the provinces shall enable them to crush the
capital. As for the Army of the North the German staff
seems to trouble itself very little about it, having more
pressing matters on hand, reckoning on the weakness of
the force. Faidherbe gave an estimate of his soldiers in
one of his despatches, and moreover the Prussian
generals are seldom at a loss for any infor-
mation they care to acquire. The army of the
North is not, however, without enemies confront-
ing it. Von Goeben's troops oppose it, but there
is much uncertainty *its to their strength. It is generally
believed that if the Baxon reinforcements which joined
Manteuffel at Bapaume have really returned to Paris the
numbers of the belligerents, are about even. The
Commandant Gamier, who was conquered at Pe-
ronne, arrived last night at Lille, where his
reception was not very cordial. it would not be
fair to pronounce upon lAis conduct before the pending
court-martial on the reddition of Peronne with its ram-
parts intact, but it has been suggested that M. Gamer

acted from motives of humanity. The Prussians
placed in position three batteries, and began
the bombardment of the town with petroleum
shells without firing a single shot on the ramparts. The
first shell fell on the hospital and set it on fire ; but they
paid dearly for their acts, since nearly all their guns were
dismantled the first day, and they lost a number, of men.

_ .
They then brought from La Fere some guns of immense range
and, despite the frost, made trenches to shelter themselves
firing at a distance, which the French guns could no longer
reach. The inhabitants took refuge in the casemate4,
where the bad air and agitation killed anumber of women
and children, but only some five or six pt.rsons
died from the enemy's fire. The officers under
the capitulation retreated under parole not to
serve against Prussia during the rest of the war.
There were some 3,400 prisoners, who have been sent to
La Fere. Half the town is burned, and the rest much
injured. The commandant yielded, it is said, to the
reiterated remonstrances of the frantic inhabitants, and
if hecommitted a military error, his supporters plead that

he is absolved by the humanity of his motives. The
severity of the bombardment is attested by the fact that
besides the hospital, the church, the Hotel de Ville, and
the Receiver's Office, were all destroyed.