The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-18 00:00:00

WAR NOTES.

THE EMPEROR'S MANAGEMENT.—The following
is noteworthy as being from " the " correspondent of the
Telegraph at Paris : The Emperor has taken great credit
for the " friendly inactivity" of France during the Austro-
Prussian war of 1866; but we now know that the French
army was in such a condition as to have been utterly
unfit to take the field during that year. Then followed
the reign of Marshal Niel, and the reforms which he
initiated, and which led to the new regulation of
the army enacted by the French Legislature in
IS6B. Upon the death of Marshal Niel, imbecility and
and incapacity, represented by Marshal Lebceuf, suc-
ceeded to the command. From that hour the French
army has been going down hill. Millions of francs have
gone into the pockets of the intendants militaires and of
army contractors. Fraudulent returns have satisfied the
easy-going auditors of public accounts. Whatever melits
the present Emperor may have possessed as a
ruler, he has always shewn himself utterly in-
tolerant of details. Naturally idle, he has been altoge-
ther destitute of the vigilance and insight which charac-
terised the mighty fouAder of his family. " I know the
draught of water of all my generals," said the Great
Napoleon. It is because he has known nothing of the
" draught of water" and character of the men in whom
he has trusted that, so soon as this terrible wrestling
match with Germany is at an end, France will call the
tresent Emperor fearfully to account.

THE DEFEAT AT WOERTH.—The following
is from a letter in the Journal de Paris.
It is written by a French soldier. "On arriving at
Brumath, where the branch line from Haguenau joins the
trunk line to Strasburg, our train stopped to allow the
passage of another filled with wounded. A little after we
saw the road which skirts the railway covered with men
running away—horse and foot—pell-mell, in fearful con-
fusion—a terrific route (debandade epouvantable.) We
were evidently beaten ; but no one supposed the
disaster to be so great as it was discovered to be next day.
Strasburg was in a state of scare : such must have been the
tumultus of the Romans when the Gauls had arrived at the
gates. The drums beat to muster, the church bells rung the
tocsin, the gates were hurredly shut. The wounded and run-
aways from the battle-field arrized in crowds, went about
the streets imploring the inhabitants' charity, and describ-
ing the incidents of the day. It soon became known that
the first corps was utterly routed, that our sokiers fought like
heroes, but had to succumb under overwhelming odds ; that
towards evening ammunition failed, and retreat became
necessary ; that the cavalry had suffered heavily,
most of its otlicers having fallen whilst charging
at the head of their squadrons ; in short, that
there had been a defeat ; but a glorious re-
treat. Next morning—Sunday—ill these rumours were
confirmed. It was reported, moreover, that the railway
was taken by the enemy, and that we were all prisoners
in Strasburg. I did not believe a word of it, and
jumping on a locomotive soon reached Saverne, at the
foot of the Vosges. What troops Marshal MacMahon
had left were encamped at Saverne, on both sides of the
railway. The soldiers were in a state of intense fatigue
and dilapidation, seeking in vain for something to eat in
the little town which had witnessed their onward passage
with so muoh enthusiasm, and]. did not expect to see
them return otherwise than victorious. Neverthe-
less a few cows were slaughtered—a very meagre
meal for so many hungry men. But before the
rations were cooked, the outposts set up a shout of alarm—
' The Prussians are coming!'—and the camp was thrown
into confusion, and the town into a perfect panic.
I then saw a sight which I never can forget.
The whole population leaving behind their
houses, their business, their interests, fled as
though seized with frenzy, with all they could carry
away, shouting 'To the mountain ! to the mountain !'
I ran to the station for my luggage, and as I could
not find a single house where I could put up, I entrusted
it to a person who was kind enough to take it in charge,
and started up the mountain with the rest. The scene
was precisely like that in one of Erchmann-Chat-
Ames novels. Along the rugged pathways of the
Vosges a long file of women in tears, children stagger.
ing and stumbling along, men with sad, gloomy faces,
in the plain below the confused noise of the Prussians ad-
vancing and of our retreating forces—night coming on,
and the mists rising from the valleys. After two hours'
march we got to a village perched on so isolated a peak
that the natives had not the remotest idea of what was
going on a few miles below, and whom our arrival threw
into a state of panic."

THE STRENGTH OF THE GERMANS.—Nominally
the forces now collected together on French territory
number 570,000 men and 1,506 guns—namely, 364 squad-
rons of cavalry, 251 batteries artillery, and 439 battalions
of ktfantrY ; or 91,000 horse, 489,000 foot, and the
rest artillerists; but the real fighting strength
of the German hosts occupying the line between
Bouzonville and lameville this day is, as stated above,
about KAM WA &WA This fArQe 09111Prehtudq

the whole system of army corps opiporod ti 1866 by
Prussia as the military head of thelliorth German Con-
f ederation,and the entire a:Mt:input furnished by Southern
GertharkY three weeks atio, viz,, 140,000 men—the
latter constituting more than half of the Crown
Prince's command. itis old army corps, curiously
enough, is attaohed to his cousin's army —so
that the sturdy Pomeranians are temporarily
severed from their beloved Lord-Lieutenant, but he has
under his orders the Guard, flower of Prussian manhood,
the fielle Poles, the stout Rheinlanders, and the stubborn
Silesians, as well as the martial legions of Bavaria,
Wurtemburg, and Baden, worthy rivals of their northern
brethren in gallantry and in discipline. Such an army
has never been assembled under one 1 'ader since the
days of Xerxes ; yet Germany is in a position to double
or treble it, if need be, without proceeding to the
desperate measures already instituted in France.— -
reßrxmdent of I,lm Telearanh.