The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-05 00:00:00

THE FIGHT AT SAARBRUCK.

The correspondent of the Debats gives the following
curious description of the fight at Saarbruck :—August 2,
11.15—Three platoon discharges in front. Clear, firm—
a proof that our soldiers have not lost their coolness.
11.20.—Silence. Then we are advancing, for if our men
were falling back they would defend themselves. 11.30.
A discharge by platoon or battalion, but less audible than
the first, therefore we are advancing. 11.35.—Silence. The
reserve division has not stirred, therefore it has not been
wanted. The soldiers chat pleasantly. There is a joyous
ardour amongst them, and a confidence which is delightful.
11.40.—We have reached the spot from which the firing
commenced. The soldiers search about the fields and
woods with anxious concern ; not one dead or wounded.
Have we for the first time made the enemy sensible of the
superiority of our rifles, which they cannot reply to ?
What is that? Is it cannon or platoon fire ? `Tis so far
off ; one, two, three discharges ;no more. 11.47.—Can-
non. Two, three, four, five discharges. Before me is a
smoking locomotive at a standstill. No doubt it is wait-

ing for news. Perhaps it carries Caesar and his fortunes.
One, two discharges. Men about me are impatient, and
complain that all will be over without them. We have
not had a chance they say, You will have plenty to-
morrow, and the day after, replies an old campaigner.
11.50.—More discharges ; two or three per minute.
The resistance is not much. All these discharges are
from the same point ; there is neither advance nor retreat ;
We should be in front of Saarbruck. There is not enough
of firing to constitute a real action. I shall count the dis
charges by the chronometer—twelve per minute at regular
intervals. ILss.—Some hurried discharges ; people have
different opinions about them. They are guns fired to-
gether—three at least in battery. The cannonade gets
more lively-21 discharges per minute. The Emperor has
Passed by on horseback some short distance on our left,
At 11.30 there was a cry of " Vive l'Empereur." I thought
it wa§ the cry of victory. I am now sure it was the
army saluting its sovereign, its Commander-in-Chief.
12 5. Cannonade going on in the same way. Behind us
troops are advancing to the air of the " Marseillaise.',
The Douay division belonging to the corps of Bazaine
brushes by our side ; this morning it was near Forbach.
12.10.—Again I see the locomotive which brought the
Emperor. The cannonade is either slackening or more
distant. We should be firing on the other side of the Saar.
12.30.—The cannonade continues-22 shots per minute. I
should imagine, from the difference in sound, that one
Is firing 7, the other 15. The engine has returned quietly
to Forbach. The Emperor, it is said, has remained.
But I have not seen him ; he is much too far in advance.
The correspondent of the Moniteur Universel carries on
the account. He says :—At 12.45 our reserves advance
before us on the left. On our right they descend behind
Ile and deploy. They are the 2nd of the Line, and will
not flinch. General Bataille is in the front, like a sala-
mander in a sea of fire. A house on the side of the fixed
battery is on fire. We advance. Two terrible detona-
tions, followed by a plume of smoke, inform us that the
bridges of the Saar have been blown up. We are in
Saarbruck. Victory. By one o'clock the enemy's bat-
teries in the wood on the right cease to fire. The affair
is over. At 1.5 we are in possession of the Prussian
manoeuvring ground. Severe discharges of mitrailleuses
followed each other. There was no reply to them. The
enemy has fallen back. We have won a great moral
success.

Letters from Metz speak of the great success of a bat-
talon of military workmen intended to repair any rail-
roads destroyed by the enemy. The Eastern line has don•
a great deal for this scheme, sending 600 volunteers, mid
giving many carriages for the conveyance of material.
The Paris Journal states that according to a statistical
table there are in Paris at this moment 80,000 Germans,
of whom 8,000 are Prussians. Of that number 1,500 have
left, mostly young men, in consequence of peremptory
orders to join the Landwehr. There consequently remain
6,500 Prussians in the French capital
A telegram in the France is thus worded :—The Prince
Imperial in person fired the first shot from our mitrail-
leuses, which literally mowed down the Prussians. Vive
le Prince Imperial !