The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-20 00:00:00

THE BATTLE OF WOERTH.

24 now seems long since Woerth was fought ; but that
Prussian victory had such decisive effect on the campaign,
and has been hitherto so imperfectly described, that an
account from an eye-witness, Mr. M. Laing Meason, is
even now not unacceptable. Mr. Meason saw the fight
from the village of Woerth, vib,cd. was left unoccupied
with troops by the French, and was not seized by the
Prussians. It is quite certain, he says, that the French
had no idea of the strength of the army they were about
to meet. They imagined it was 60,000 or 70,000, and as
they had 50,000, their strong position made the
position quite equal. In reality, the Crown Prince had
with him over 100,000 men. Mr. Meason says :—"About
eight o'clock the fight began in earnest. The attack was
first made upon MacMahon's right, as if to drive him
from the best part of the position he had chosen. In the
meantime the French attacked the centre of the Prus-
sian line, in which the village was situated ; and,
under a tremendous fire of artillery, attempted to draw
on the Prussians at that point. This movement was
at first only intended as a feint; but it soon became
serious, for, as it seemed to me, the Prussians had
by this time become aware of the weakness of the
enemy. For four hours the battle on MacMahon's centre
and left raged as if the infernal regions were let
loose. Chassepots, needle-guns, mitrailleuses, field
artillery, and shells, all played their parts in the devilish
concert. At both points the Prussians were twice
driven back by sheer hard fighting, and in both
instances they fell back on their reserves, and the reserves
again on their supports, with as much order as our
Grenadier Guards would show in a field day in Hyde
Park. Anything like their steadiness under fire I never
saw, and I have been witness of not a little fighting in

India. In many nstances there were hand-to-hand
encounters between Zouaves or Chasseurs h Pied and
Prussian troops. At one time, about three p.m., I felt
7ertain that Marshal MacMahon would so far carry
~he day that he would force the Prussian centre, take
possession of the only bridge upon the Sauer, about thirty
yards from where I was posted, and break through the
Prussian centre. Had he done this, and been able to hold
what he was possessed of, he would have captured a vast
portion of the German artillery, and have inflicted a
fearful punishment upon every battalion of the enemy
that had crossed the bridge. But the French had to
deal with a much larger force, far more orderly,
and better generally, than their own. The Prussians
fought like soldiers in the highest state of discipline, the
French like a gallant mob. There seemed to be no order
in their formation after the first ten minutes of their being
under fire. Any advantage which they had in the Chasse-
pot over the neelle-gun they threw away by advancing—
rushing would be the better word—so near the enemy that
they were placed upon an equality with him. In numbers
they were as one to three. MacMahon's forces
when he commenced that morning were about 50,000 men
of all arms, and the Prussians had not one less than
150,000. Soon after three came the turning-point of the
battle. The Wurtemburg division, on the extreme left of
the Prussian line, came up, deployed some of their batta-
!ions into line, and attacked MacMahon's right. From
the moment at which this movement commenced, it
was evident that the French were outnumbered, out-
flanked, and beaten. The troops that ought to have
supported the French centre were wanted to check the
movement on their right ; and the French centre was,
therefore, driven back. The Prussians took advantage
of this like lightning. Fresh troops pushed against
both the French left and centre, and a retreat of the whole
lino took place, the combatants fighting hand-to-hand
as the one drove the other back. Presently the re-
tiring became a retreat, the retreat little better than a
flight. By half-past four the Prussians were masters of
the whole field ; the French were merely attempting to
stop the pursuit by occasional discharges from the field
pieces in the rear ; and the Bavarian cavalry were in full
pursuit. Seven thousand prisoners, thirty pieces of
cannon, six mitrailleuses, withithe whole of the baggage,
treasure, provisions, and wounded, fell into the hands
of the Prussians. In twenty minutes every house
in Woerth was filled with the wounded and the
lying. Such a scene I never saw, and I hope I may
never see again. The streets of the village were literally
paved with dead. At one place, an open space about the
size of Berkeley-square, it was impossible to walk without
treading on the dead or the dying. The nrmber of
Prussians wounded and killed outnumbered the French
casualties by at least four to one. Such fearful wounds,
too, as those from which the poor fellows were suf-
fering, are very difficult to describe. The hideous
disfigurations, the number of men whose very features
seemed to be shot away, and the gory masses of quivering
human flesh everywhere visible, are not to be forgotten
in a hurry. The French prisoners and wounded seemed
to be most indignant with the manner in which they had
been handled. 'lt was a regular butchery,' they said ;
we were outnumbered on every side, and left with our
regimental officers to fight our way as best we could.'
Whatever could have made MacMahon accept
a battle under the circumstances, I am utterly at
a loss to conceive. A glance at the two armies
seemed to show how utterly impossible it would
have been for the French to do more than hold
their own, and even to do this must have cost
them dear. But truth compels me to state that
the vast superiority in numbers was not the only
reason why they lost the fight. The Prus-
sian troops are, without exception, in the
highest possible state of discipline ; the French
are the very reverse. They are brave to a fault. I never
knew men fight better, or despise death more. I saw one
regiment of Zouaves, which was 2,000 strong when it
went into battle. It lost an immense number of men,
and the survivors were finally surrounded by the Prus-
rians. They fought like devils ; and I don't think
there could have been 200 men left when they held
up a white handkerchief, and were made prisoners.
the Prussian officers themselves admit the reason why
they took so many prisoners to be that the French
were all detached, were here and there in small bodies,
and were cut off in detail. The Prussians seemed to me
me never to lose their formation ; the French seemed
really never to have had any. Their system, or want
Jf system, might answer very well against undiscip-
lined tribes in Algeria, but as they are they never will be
able to face a regular disciplined European army. I
repeat that, as regards their bravery, even to a fault,
there can be no doubt whatever. But in these days courage
is not the only requisite for a soldier. In saying that
HacMahon's information was of the very worst kind.
I am merely repeating what every French officer I have
seen since the fight told me. It is hardly to be believed,
but it is perfectly true, that the maps of Alsace, fur-
nished by the Prussian topographical department to every
nicer in the army, were infinitely more correct than
than those used by the French headquarter staff. But
most to blame of all the military departments seems to
have been the " Intendance." Prussian officers have told
me that, if the French army in
.Strasburg had crossed
the Rhine about the 20th of July, and with a
hundred and fifty thousand men had made a forced march
upon Mannheim, the results of the campaign would have
been very different. I believe the fighting portion of the
army was perfectly ready to move on that day, but there
were not two days' rations ready for them,"