The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-14 00:00:00

THE ARMY OF THE LOIRE.

Tha correspondent of the Standard at Tours, in com-
menting on the reverses of the Loire Army, says :—There
can be no question that the responsibility of the check
rests entirely upon the Government, and upon M. Gam-
betta as its head and moving spirit. It Was he who pre-
pared the whole plan of the campaign ; it was he whoupon
the Ist ordered D'Aurelle tb advance, although it is gene-
rally known that D'Aurelle himself was strongly
opposed to the movement, not having as yet collected
the whole of -his troops ; and, lastly, it is due to
D'Aurolle's obstinacy, in the face of the opinion of the
Government, that the whole of the Army of the Loire
are at present safe and united upon this side of the river
instead of a considerable portion being either prisoners or
wounded in Orleans. It is evident, indeed, from the
enu aieration of the forces engaged, that the French have
beeii completely outgeneralled in the preliminary
movements ; the Government, in fact, kept
the army stationary when it ought to
have moved forward; it kept it immovable
until the forces of the Duke of Mecklenburg of
Von der Tann, and of Prince Frederick Charles were all
united against it, and then ordered it peremptorily to ad-
vance before a very large portion of its own forces were
ready to take part in the struggle. For, from the enu-
meration of the forces engaged, we now see that the real
left wing of the army had not joined it. The Army of
Le Mans, in itself, a considerable force, and, added to
the Mobiles of the Army of Brittany, certainly
exceeding 100,000 men, were not engaged at all, and
the brunt of the struggle with the united German
armies fell entirely upon the Army of the Loire,
which alone must have been much inferior in strength to
the Prussians. It was only in the retreat that the mili-
tary skill of the French generals had an opportunity of
shewing itself untrammelled by the orders of the
Dictator of • Tours. The result has been, as I

have said, astonishing, and the retreat of the
Army of the Loire will rank amongst the most skilful
operations of military history. Now that his
utter incompetency as a strategist has been
made manifest to the world, M• Gambetta, who has
hitherto been an absolute dictator, and who would have
taken the whole credit of the operations had they been
successful, turns round, and endeavours to shift the
responsibility upon other shoulders. A decree was abso-
lutely drawn out, signed, and issued, dismissing D'Aurelle
from his post, and ordering him to be tried by court
martial. The facts of the case were, however, too patent,
and M. Gambetta shrank before the storm of indigna-
tion which the publication of such a decree would
have excited. Already he finds out that his first
despatch concerning the evacuation of Orleans had ex-
cited extreme disgust, and he accordingly withdrew the
decree of dismissal, and instead appointed a commission,
composed of General Barral and two civilians, to inquire
into the facts relating to the surrender of Orleans. Why,
what inquiry can be necessary ? M. Gambetta, as
Minister of 'War, must know the facts of the case
far better than the general public, and we know
quite enough to see that the retreat was the only
hope of saving the army. After the left was beaten and
the right was beaten, and the town was half surrounded,
'what course was open but retreat? M. Gambetta knows
that as well as any one else ; it requires no strategist to
understand it. Yet he wishes to occupy the attention of
the French people. He wishes to prevent them from in-
quiring how it was that the Army of the Loire was sent
forward to fight the three united German Armies without
the support of the Army of the West and of the Army
of Brittany. The exasperation against Gambetta is, in
fact, general ; and if the young Dictator is not careful he
will find that his fall from power will be as sudden and as
surprising as his rise. If France is saved, it will be in
spite of, and not by the aid of the Republic.

No movement has yet been made towards selecting
a representative of the county of Westmoreland, in place
of Earl Bective, who has been elevated to the Peerage- by
the death of the Marquis of Headfort ; but it is stated
that his son, Lord Kenlis, of Mederley Hall, will be in-
vited to offer himself as a candidate for the seat.

QUALITY OF THE LOIRE ARMY.—TheMmes' COT-
respondent says that the retreat of the Loire army on the
'4th was admirably conducted. Every available point was
disputed, and the troops retired in perfect order. "When
we remember the qualities for which the French nation is
celebrated, and those which they are supposed to lack, we
cannot but admit that we are agreeably surprised by a
retreat which leas already involved four clays of
tolerably hard fighting, including the first, which I
did not see, and which was so disastrous to the
Bavarians—a retreat which, so far as the enemy has
been able to judge, has as yet produced no symptoms of
demoralisation. A. French captain, who bad been taken
prisoner, told me that the officer in command was General
D'Aurelles de Paladine, and it is the general opinion of
the German officers that if there had been a few more
such generals and such troops in the earlier days of the
war there might never have been a Sedan or a Metz. I
do not know' how many prisoners were taken to-day. I
did not see snore than 300 ; but, to judge from our present
experience, the Army of the Loire does not seem of the
kind that capitulates,"