The Sun.
London, England, 1870-11-30 00:00:00

THE ATTACK AT BRETONCELLES.

The ✓ournal de l'Orne gives the following account of
the Prussian attack at La Fourche and at Bretoncelles.
The first battalion of L'Orne had taken up its position
at Friaige, the third at Pontgouin. Colonel Martin,
who occupied the forest of Senonches, having, no
one knew why, quitted his position, the Mobiles of
L'Orne ran the risk of being surrounded. They
were ordered to fall back, as were also the Mobiles
of Calvados, and a half-battalion of Chasseurs d pied.
This movement was effected in good order;. the Prussians
followed closely. The column stopped at La Fourche,
where two roads met—the one leading to Courville,
the other to La Loupe. All Sunday was em-

_ .
ployed in the construction of two barricades at
the entrance of the village ; these were defended by
two companies of L'Orne, commanded, one by
M. Vallee, the other by M. Thomas. On Monday, at
eight o'clock in the morning, the arrival of the Prus-
sians was announced. A 12-pound shell was fired by our
troops on their columns ; they retired immediately, and
without delay ; returned with twelve or fifteen pieces,
which opened immediately a very brisk fire. More than
200 shells were discharged ; one gave a fatal wound
to Captain Lefdvre, Commander of the company of
Le Mesle. Our troops had only one 12-pounder
pie,.e and four field cannons, which answered their
best to the fire of the enemy ; but the dispropor-
tion was too great to allow us to hope that we could
silence it. The Mobiles posted behind_ the barricade did
not permit themselves to be intimidated by the 'detona-
tions of the shells, to which the engagement at Landelles,
that had taken place a few days previously, had accus-
tomed them. Commanded with coolness, they replied
with a musket fire from which the enemy must have
suffered, as they were but little sheltered. The
barricades held out till four o'clock in the evening, with-
out too much loss. The Mobiles of Calvados, whose
companies wavered on the plain, were more tired. The
Prussians, who perceived that they were uncovered,
sent shells into the midst of them. The chasseurs
pied fought with their usual energy, but they had
opposed to them considerable forces. They were
compelled to fall back on Nogent. The retreat
might have been effected with greater order. The
same day there was a fight at Bretoncelles. We have no
positive details of the affair. Wo are assured the Prus-
sians were so little expected that the officers of the
Mobiles were walking quietly in the streets when the-
caunon was heard. The inhabitants of Bretoncelles just
had time to fly, without, however, being able to bring
with them either their clothes or money. Several houses
have been burned. 'At five, some Prussian scouts
having been announced at Morolles—four kilometres
from Nogent—the Prefectoral Administration retired to
Chateaudun. The officials of the railway and the tele'.
graphs quitted Nogent at six o'clock in the evening, by
the last train. The mobilised soldiers of Nogent have
met rather serious losses. Colonel Martin, or
De Marty, is severely blamed by the Journal
de l'Orne for abandoning his position near the Forest
of Senonches. Trouble had been taken to render this
position defensible, and by retreating from it Colonel de
Marty left a gap of which the enemy very cleverly pro-
fited by throwing itself unexpectedly on the French troops
feebly entrenched at La Fourche. The Journal de
l'Orne also instances the fact that the troops to the
right of the Forest of Senonches did not know of De
Marty's retreat as proving its complaint of the want of
' communication between the different bodies of the Frenoh
army.

FRENCH AND GERMAN SOLDIERS.
There are in the ambulance both French and German
soldiers, and it is curious to observe the different manner
in which the French and the Germans support
pain and bear the approaches of death. It is
natural that this war should often have raised
the question which of the two nations the
French or the German —is the bravest; for, of
course, the reverses of the French and the facility
with which they have sometimes given way in the battles
of 1870 cannot be taken as decisive argument against
them. There can be no doubt that all northern nations,
and perhaps the Teutonic race more than others, have a
more gloomy ideayof death than the southern races. The
southern races either never think of death at all Cr think
of it in a more smiling light than the people of the
north. It is difficult to understand, therefore,
why the German should stand with more firmness than
the French, and it would seem that it cannot be ascribed
to the intrinsic bravery of the people, but to their train-
ing and to the pressure of discipline. What one observes
in hospitals where wounded and dying soldiers of both
armies are lying side by side is very singular. The French
do not bear pain so well as the Germans. They
scream and. howl where .the Germans will not utter a
sound. The German soldier's fortitude in this instance
is owing, again, to the awe he stands in of his superiors.
But when the overwhelming terrors of inevitable death
are upon them the German's training breaks down, and
they give the most unmistakeable signs of terror. The
Frenchman, on the contrary, generally shows thebgreatest
coolness and unconcern. This contrast was shown very
powerfully the other day. A priest who had been
administering a Bavarian soldier who was dying,
styped in another room at the bed of a French-
man, who was in an equally hopeless condition,
and told him that he was about to die, asking
him if there was nothing he would like to
do to make his way clear to Heaven by confession and
the viaticum,. ''he wench soldier, turning his eyes to the
priest, answered with the faint voice that remained in
'him, 4'l should like some beef tea,"---Dailx News Cortes-
voctent at (*taw. . • . . .