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

THE FIGHTING ON THE LOIRE.

The special correspondent of the Daily News at the
headquarters of the Duke of Mecklenburg, writing from
Jeanville, December 2, thus describes the fighting on the
Loire :—Early this morning the Grani Duke rode out
with the entire staff to the front, and shortly after the
headquarters were under alarm, and retired outside
the town. At eight o'clock the engagement had
already commenced. The whole country north
and north-west of Orleans, to the distance of
twenty-five miles and more, is one vast plain. It
is thickly dotted with villages, all of which present the
same characteristics. The houses are low, with walls of
mud and stone, and roofs of straw. The inhabitants are
poor and miserable. The day was lear and cold, the
thermometer standing nine degrees below zero (Rdaumur),
and varying but little during the day. As I drove along
the highway leading towards (Means I stopped and
counted twenty-one of the small villages ; so that without
inquiring of the villagers, although with the most
accurate maps, it was impossible to come to a conclusion
respecting their names. The small square windmills were
everywhere along this vast plain in motion, while on my
right and left, to a distance of twenty or twenty-five
miles, a furious fight was raging. The battle, as far as I
can at present collect the details, commenced against the
Bavarians, who were four times beaten back, and
at last were unable to resist any longer, and their
place had to be supplied with the 75th and 76th Hanse-
atic Regiments of the 17th Division, who entered the
fight at about eleven o'clock. The battle gradually ex-
tended towards the east, and at two o'clock the whole
line, from beyond Artenay to the Bavarian lines, was one
continuous storm of shot and shell. The French
stood their ground bravely. The Germans, weary
and exhausted by long marches, made desperate efforts
to beat back the French, who were largely superior in
numbers, and had cannons, mitrailleuses, and Chassepots.
Besides, the whole Seventeenth Division was entirely new
to serious engagements. Quickly all the houses in the line
of battle, which were, as-I have mentioned, of very in-
flammable materials, were in flames from the bursting
shells ; and as night approached, on one side the
moon shone brightly, and on the other, the whole horizon
was illuminated by the glare of burning houses and vil-
lages. The ground was very well adapted for cavalry
charges, and opposite Artenay the Fourth Cavalry Division
was very active. At one time along the road I was met
by a herd of over a hundred riderless horses, which
galloped along in great terror, most of them being very
badly wounded, and covered with blood. A whole cavalry
regiment had been met by a deadly mitrailleuse fire.
The battle to-day was one of those very bloody ones of
which the three before Metz in August
are the most striking examples, and like
those, it is apparently without any result.
Towards evening it was everywhere loudly asked
" Where is Prince Frederick Charles? Why does he leave
us alone in this way ? " I have just returned to head-
quarters after having passed along the entire line of
battle. Everywhere the number of dead and wounded
was very great ; nowhere appeared any decisive advan-
tage on one side . or another ; and in all pro-
bability the slaughter will recommence to-morrow. If
Prince Frederick Charles sends reinforcements, the sue-
eess of the Germans is certain. But the Bavarians are
hors de combat. It is, of course, impossible to estimate
the losses with any accuracy. Lieutenant-General von'

Stephan, commanding the first Bavdtialt Division, i 8
badly wounded, so are also Colonel von Neutiithart; off
the 76th Regiment, and Major von Hirschfeld, o
the 75th Regiment. It is also said that General
Vdn der Tann is wounded, but of that I have
no trtistvedftlit intelligence. I saw eighteen hun-
dred rteneh HBOtiergi among them a general.
Selen eannotts have sled Nett taken by the Germans.
When I left the geld of battle at dietieti eelosk at night,
the virortien find children and did men were wandering
about in the iiiferise cold hi search d shelter, having been
driven out of their 41146'6 bq the flames. The troops
were mostly in bivouacs witlidiit eo*ering, and ex-
pecting a renewal of the combat. The Moon was
shining brightly, lighting up the whole plain except
where its light was obscured by the black smoke
frond the burning villages. The sanitary arrangements
are excellent. Net' house, every shed that could be
rescued from the flames was I.4tvinptly applied for the use
of the wounded, and during the whole tight the medical
corps was busy in carrying off the wounded froth tilt field.
There were physicians in abundance, and all necessary
materials for their prompt treatment.

M. GAMBETTA AND THE PROJECTED
ARMISTICE.

The statement which we published on Friday
with respect to M. Gambetta's application for an
armistice, 'bas based upon a telegram from a
member of the Provisional Government to a
French gentleman in London. A subsequent
telegram froth the same quartet states that M.
Gambetta, finding the spirit and temper of the Army
of the Loire much better than he had sUppfosed, and being
especially encouraged by the success of General Chansy,
had for the present abandoned the design of asking for an
armistice. He will remain at the headquarters of the
Army of the Loire.—Daily News.
The Morning Post says 3 The exact truth about
the recent proposal is that M. Gambetta suggested to
Lord Lyons that, with a view to the speedy meeting and
efficiency of the coming Conference, an Armistice shonldbe
pressed forward by the Neutral Powers. This would allow
of the election of an Assembly, and give increased weight
to the presence of a French plenipotentiary. This sugges-
tion of M. Gambetta has not, however, been attended with
any result.

THE EXPECTED ATTACK ON HAVRE.
The Daily News correspondent at Havre, under date
December 9th, writes as follows :—Thd Prussians are
marching rapidly on Havre. Telegrams this evening say
that they have reached Bolbec, a town of 10,000 inhabi-
tants, distant about 18 miles from here. The despatch
goes ott to say that at 11 o'clock this morning 31 hussars,
one regiment of infantry, six squadrons of cavalry,
and two batteries of artillery entered Bolbec. In all
probability they will reach Harffent, to which place
the fortifications of Havre extend, to-morrow, and perhaps
we may be startled by the booming of cannon on Sunday.
The people of Havre are determined on a most resolute
defence. The journals of this evening appear with the
most spirited appeals to the patriotism and courage
of the inhabitants. No doubt we have a large force of
troops in garrison, if they are ably managed. The
French soldier is ready and willing to fight, and
fights bravely, particularly with the bayonet, if he is only
well led ; but during the present campaign there appears
to have been mismanagement and bad generalship in
almost every important encounter. However, the
Havrais have the utmost confidence in their commander,
and thoroughly believe in his loyalty to the Re-
public. He reviewed the mobilised National Guard
opposite the Hotel de Ville to-day, and expressed himself
pleased at their appearance. The fortifications are now
occupied by the Mobiles, and the Marines are busy in
giving their cannon a last regulating before using
them against the Prussians. Great indignation is
expressed here_at the amount of money the Prussians have
exacting from the town of Rouen. People declare that
instead of giving the invaders seventeen million francs,
they will give them seventeen million French bullets.
They say there was treachery at Rouen ; but the French
people are prone to attribute all their disasters to that
fatal cause.