The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVEMNCI, AUG UST 13, 187().

man, said that on the previous evening he was in the Gros-
venor Arms, Buckingham Palace-road, when the defen-
dant entered and behaved in a rude and insulting man-
ner, flourishing a cane about and shamming drunk. De-
fendant and others at the bar cleared out, expecting some
mischief, when defendant placed himself in front of him,
and put his stick up in a fencing attitude. Defendant begged
him to desist, as he feared he would do some mischief,
when the defendant struck at him, and the cane cutting
his lip entered his throat and passed into his windpipe,
severely injuring him. Defendant expressed no sorrow
for what he had done, refused his card, and was given
into custody. Defendant said he was drunk and didn't
remember it. Complainant said he was sober enough to
run away when the police came after him. Mr. Selfe
remanded him till Thursday, and he was locked up.
Consequently a lady attended, and stating that defendant
was her husband asked that he might be admitted to bail.
Mr. Selfe said he should not have dealt so summarily with
the.prisoner had he expressed the smallest compunction.
He had committed what might be a most dangerous
assault, and it would go hard with him if he did not at the
least make him most handsome compensation. He would
take one surety in £5O for defendant's reappearance.

(CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAMS.)

THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL ON THE WAR
Sir Robert Collier addressed a crowded meeting of the elem.
tors of Plymouth on Friday, at the Mechanics' ,Institute
with a view to his election after the acceptance of the
Recordership of Bristol, which he declared himself willing
to resign if the acceptance were unsatisfactory to his con-
stituents. The war he regarded as the greatest calamity
that has befallen Europe for generations ; the greatest
discouragement to those who believed in the influence
of progress and enlightenment. It was lamentable that
thousanda should be thus sacrificed because two great
persons had quarrelled. Ho believed the English Go-
vernment would interfere in the interests of peace as soon
as possible. Meanwhile the steps which had been taken
to vindicate the treaty engagements and honour of this
country with regard to Belgium approved themselves to
men of all parties, and would obtain the desired end.
He did not believe England would come into the quar-
rel. But if she did he would quote the authority of Lord
Derby to show that she was never better prepared. Next
in importance to the new treaty guaranteeing the
integrity of Belgium he placed the new Foreign
Enlistment Act, on which he had exercised all his skill to
make it perfect. It was impossible to pass a law which no
one could break, but he believed this measure would be
effective. He denied utterly the charge that he had been
culpable in the matter of the Alabama.

A t the close of the learned Attorney-General's address
a vote of confidence was proposed ; to which an amend-
ment was moved, thanking Sir Robert for past services,
but expressing regret that whilst holding the lucrative
post of Attorney-General he should have taken the Re-
cordership of Bristol, and denouncing the financial policy
of the Government as in many instances mean, dishonest,
and cruel. The amendment was carried by a small majo-
rity. The Western Morning News, is authorised to
State that in consequence of the above adverse resolution
the Attorney General, if re-elected on Monday (to-day),
which there is no doubt he will, he will resign the Recor-
dership of Bristol, the acceptance of which has necessi-
tated his present appeal to his constituents.

THE TWELFTH OF AUGUST ANNIVERSARY

AT DERRY.

The anniversary of the relief of Derry was celebrated
on Friday with some singular attendant circumstances.
The freedom to fight• was entirely taken away ; and what
with real soldiers and military-looking policemen the city
had the appearance of a besieged place. Every street-
was guarded, some by cavalry, others by infantry, and
the rest by policemen. The gates of the city were occu-
pied by constabulary, and on the walls bodies of troops
were stationed. During the morning fresh contingents, in
addition to those which came in last night, arrived in
town, and early in the day cannons were discharged from
some unknown quarter, which gave rise to great excite-
ment, as the city is proclaimed. About ten o'clock an
Orange procession, wearing party colours and carrying
flags, and accompanied by four bands, was formed on the
walls. It numbered about three thousand, and paraded
the principal streets inside the walls, cheering and dis-
coursing party music. At this time the Catholics were
congregating in the Corn M arket, where they were ad
dressed by the editor of a Belfast paper. At about ball-
past eleven, to the number of seven thousand, they formed
in procession, and waving partycolours and carrying banners
they proceeded to make a circuit of the streets. At Bishop's
Gate they were refused admission inside the walls by the
authorities, and on this a most determined attempt was
made to force the gates. The mob were charged by the
Carabineers and constabulary, who displayed great for-
bearance, and were ultimately kept back. One cavalry
officer and a processionist were hurt, and a flag torn. At
this time Orangemen and Catholics were not more than
one hundred yards apart, the military holding possession
of the gate, which is about ten feet wide. The magis-
trates issued.ordersclosing the public-hous es, and forbidding
all bands to parade the streets after six o'clock. The people
were also ordered home after that hour. One man is dead
from, it is said, the thrust of a cavalry officer, and others
are more seriously injured than was at first reported. A
later telegram says :—There was considerable rioting in
several parts of the city, and several charges had to be
made upon the mobs by the cavalry and the police. Con-
tingents of the Orange and Catholic parties met on the
bridge, and a desperate affray ensued. Shots were ex-
changed. Some omnibuses in which the Orangemen took
refuge were wrecked. The Riot Act was read several
times, and up to eight o'clock forty persons were known
to have been mere or lees seriously injured.
Up to nine o'clock the 12th had passed without disturb-
ance in Enniskillen. A large and enthusiastic gathering
of the Orange party, with colours and flags, paraded
through the town, and massed themselves in a field, when
addresses in accordance with the principles of the lodges
were delivered. Throughout the day frequent cheers
were given for the Prussian army and King William, ants
for the downfall of the Emperor.

BA'ITIAC UF \WERTH.

A special correspondent of the Telegraph, writes on
Sanday, August 7, from the' bivouac at Woerth :—Ac•
circling to the unanimous verdict of- both officers and
surgeons, Koniggratz WAS mere child's play when com-
pared to the battle of Woerth—a name by which I think
the great struggle will be known in history. A glance at
the heights was sufficient for me to fully comprehend the
difficulties which the Germans had to encounter, and
which they so victoriously overcame. The hills are very
steep, and their slopes are for the most part covered with
vineyards, while their summits are well wooded. Here,
in a circle, lay the main body of the French for two os
three hours, their troops having also occupied the val-
ley of Woerth in front of them. The Germans
advanced from the much lower heights between Soultry
and Woerth, which were a'so partly occupied by the French
lank. Between three and four o'clock our troops com-
menced the battle, and drove the enemy out of Woerth,
forcing them to retreat to the opposite heights. The
Prussians, while pursuing the French through the valley,
were exposed to a hailstorm of bullets, bat neither the
musketry nor the cannonade of the enemy, although it
caused the loss of many brave soldiers, worked as much
havoc as it was at first feared had been the'case. The
most sanguinary portion of the strife commenced at the
foot of the heights. In the vineyards the Zonaves and
Turcos had taken up their position, and they possessed the
twofold advantage, over the impetuous advance of the
Germans, of being under cover, and of being in a position
to take good aim at their foes—the Germans at the same
time being entirely exposed, and compelled to fire at
chance. Two, three, and in some places even four times,
were our men repulsed. Twice, indeed, did the French
succeed in recapturing Woerth At one time they looked
upon victory as so certain that they ordered two regi-
ments of Cuirassiers to the attack, thinking at once to
complete their triumph. It must have been a wonderful
sight as these troops suddenly sprang from their
hiding-place into the valley. The Prussian artillery,
however, were equal to the occasion. Two salvoes, and
the whole of the proud cavalry corps were either writhing
on the ground, or seeking safety by the wildest flight back
to the woods. The confusion was so great that the
infantry also was included in the flight, retiring back upon
the heights. The battle then became fiercer than ever,
and, after a struggle that lasted for fifteen hours,
it ended decisively in favour of the Germans. Our army
consisted, on the left flank and in the centre, of troops
of the sth and 11th Corps d'armee, and of some regiments
of the 6th PrOssian Corps d'armee, both from Wurtem-
berg and Baden. The right wing consisted of Bavarians,
who, through their. timely intervention by means of a
" clever flank movement " (to employ the words of the
Crown Prince), did much towards the successful issue of
the day. with regard to the valour displayed by the
German troops there is but one opinion : through-
out they have shown themselves to the most brilliant
advantage. Our terrible loss, which amounts to 6,000
killed and wounded—l take the lowest estimate—suffi-
ciently proves the contempt for death shown by the
Germans. A glance at the conquered positions of
the enemy would seem to show that even this ter-
rible number is by contrast almost small. The loss of
the enemy will probably be found to amount to about
12,000 killed and wounded and 6,000 prisoners. I• saw
the latter taken away from here, and the procession lasted
nearly half an hour. More than half of the prisoners
consisted of Turcos and Zouaves ; and one is
seized with imlignation at the bare idea of such
wild hordes having been chosen to be the first
to attack - our Fatherland. Our soldiers have
evinced great rage at having had to fight with such
enemies. Many enormities are attributed to them. It
is certain that a Zouave fired upon an ambulance atten-
dant after the latter had bound up his wounds. Still
snore frightful acts are narrated by the inhabitants of
Woerth and the vicinity. • Willingly would I regard these
stories as fables, but unfortunately I have with my own
eyes seen a wretched lad, aged not snore than sixteen,
who first robbed a wounded Prussian soldier, and after-
wards gouged out his eye,s. One miscreant, lying
with a broken head on a waggon, openly boasted
that wounded men had had their tongues cut out.
There is no doubt that when the Germans were
repulsed from Woerth for the second time eeveral•civilians
fired upon our troops, and for this reason the town has
been visited with all the rigours of a conquered place.
The houses are for the meet part destroyed, and thereby
many an innocent ono may have suffered with the guilty.
The matter is e ven worse at Freachweiler—at which village,
for a considerable period during the continuance of the
fight, the head-quarters of the French were placed, and
which had to bear the brunt of the fighting during the
retreat. Up to this time I have not been able to visit
personal►y more than a small portion of the battle-field.
The dead lie about by hundreds in the vineyards,
mostly Zouaves and Turcos, of whom certainly one-
half have been destroyed. Now, four-and-twenty hours
after the fight, the wounded are being continually
brought in to the field hospitals. To-day, also, several
hundred additional prisoners who had concealed
themselves in the woeds were capturest Alas ! the
German forces also lost, on the various lines of
retreat which they mere necessitated to follow,
some prisoners, but their number cannot be large.
General von Bose, the Commander of the 11th
Army Corps, is severely, but not dangerously,
wounded ; and his son has a wound in the arm.
Among the trophies our troops have taken two eagles,
thirty cannons, and six mitrailleuses. The latter, which
our soldiers call Sprutzkanonen (literally, "squirt
cannons "), excite great and general interest. With regard
to the effects, they are all but unanimous in saying that
the mitrailleiftle is not more destructive in any case than

Writing the next day, Monday, the correspondent
adds :—" After a more extended survey of the field of
battle than I was able to make yesterday, the conviction
has been forced upon me that the battle of Saturday was
far more bloody than I believed when I first wrote. The
impression which I derived from this survey I hope
to send you -in a detailed sketch in my next. At
present I am hardly in the position to do it ;
there is no quiet spot at hand, and I am chilled all over
with last night's bivouac, which I passed during a torrent
of rain under a railway waggon, and wrapped in a
soldier's cloak. I therefore limit myself now to brief
notes. The wretches of whose outrages I have already
informed you, have met their reward—one-and-twenty
of them have been shot by order of a court-martial. The
troops which bivouacked last night on the field of
battle have to-day moved towards the high grounds.
The Crown Prince is following from Soulz. Fresh
regiments are continuously marching hither from the
South. The dead are not yet buried. For this reason
the villagers have been publicly called upon to come to
the field and assist in finding the bodies and burying the
dead. Notwithstanding the cooler weather which we have
Marl, the atmosphere all round is pervaded with the stench
of corpses. The women and girls in the town have been
summoned to the town hall to attend to the washing
of the linen and bandages. Provisions are not to be had
in the place for money. Every bakery is in possession of
a guard, and all the bread baked is taken for the
wounded. Almost every house which could in any way
be so used is an hospital. The many thousands these
contain can hardly receive even the most necessary
attention. Wo are in want both of bandages and refresh-
ments."

MacMahon had at least 50,000 men in line at the
commencement of the attack at seven a.m. ; while
in the afternoon, in time to cover the retreat, a
division of De Failly's Fifth Corps—making other
10,000 men—arrived at Niederbronn. Thus, by the Mar-
shal's own account, he delivered battle with his centre
corps—minus the loss of some 3,000 men at Weissenburg
--with a division of the Seventh Cops in line, a division
of the Fifth Corps to cover the retreat, and a division of
Cuirassiers, not belonging to his own corps, to take a bril-
liant part in the bittle. On Monday we reckoned that
MacMahon had placed about 60,000 men on the heights;
and the computation is entirely borne out by his own
admissions, which, falsifying repeated assertions
from head-quarters, shows that be had really six divisions
in the field. The battle seems to have been won by a
powerful attack on the left, followed up by a feint on the
centre, and, as the day closed in, by a tremendous onset
on the right, supported by sixty pieces of artillery massed
on the heights of Gonstett. Marshal MacMahon says
nothing about his losses of guns and eagles, but his
report makes it sufficiently clear that he was by no
means so vastly outnumbered as the French affirm.
Outnumbered, and met with equal gallantry by their
Prussian foes, the French right was at length, after many
hours of hard lighting, borne back. The action had com-
menced at seven in the morning; at four in the afternoon
the retreat began. It was commenced from the beaten
right in rear of the left, which covered their movement.
At Niederbronn L'Esparre's division of Do Failly's
corps had arrived, and held the defile for a time
against the Bavarians till nightfall ; and with such suc-
cess that whereas the retreat was really on Saverne south-
wards, the Prussians believed it to be north-westerly
upon Bitsche. Heavy as were MacMahon's losses, there
is reason to suppose those of the Prussians were equally
severe. But some portion of the French troops ap-
pears to have been cut off, for there were doubtless great
numbers of unwounded prisoners taken, besides the guns
mitrailleuses, and eagles. That MacMahon's corps was
terribly demoralised after the fight M. Texier's account
places beyond question—that it fought splendidly
during the day is only to give the greater
credit to the determination of its enemy. We esti-
mate the French troops engaged during the day at
about 50,000, subsequently covered in their retreat
by 10,000 of De Failly's corps. The Prussians had at
least three corps engaged, and these would not contain
less than 105,000 troops. It is not to be wondered at,
then, that M`Mahon was beaten and routed, but it still
remains matter for astonishment that he was so placed
that an attack upon him by such vastly superior forces
was possible.—Telegraph.

THE RESULTS OF THE LATE FIGHTING.
More important, however, than the advantage imme-
diately obtained was the impression Produced upon the
hostile forces. The telegrams leave no doubt that, aban-
doning all hope of being able to reform their troops at
once, and fight again in close proximity to the fields they
had been compelled to evacuate, the French Generals
fell back further west then could have been expected. At
will be remembered, Gmeral MacMahon, w ith General
Abel Douay under him, occupied-the centre and north of
Alsace: On his left lank, near Bitsche, was arrayed the
corps of General Failly, by the side of which, proceeding

i:i the same direction from east to west, we had
General Frossard watching Saar:muck; and still further
west Marshal Bazaine near Metz. Douay was defeated
at Weissenburg, MacMahon at Woerth, Frossard at
Spicheren. After this it would have been the most natural
move for MacMahon to march west, for Frossard to gc,
east, and, meeting at Bitsche, mutually relieve each
other and Failly as well. Instead of this, MacMahon
never ventured sufficiently north to be able to
operate in the direction of Bitsche, but crossed

the Vosges straight to Saverne, thus moving
away from Failly and Frossard. Of the latter
two, Frossard made for the south-west, while

position is unknown. He has either been involved in
General Frossard's retreat, or is still in his former position
awaiting the approach of the Crown Prince from the east,
and that of Prince Frederic Charles from the north.

Having only three or four divisions, and having
already suffered some diminution by the attempt he
made to extricate MacMahon, it is probable that this
General too will have given way before the invading

hosts. On this assumption we are justified in regarding
the whole of Northern Alsace as evacuated by its
original occupants, and the theatre of war removed from
the banks of the Rhine and Saar to the country between
the Saar and Moselle.—Times' Correspondent with the
Prussian Arezy.

WAR NOTES.
PRUSSIAN ORGANISATION. We marched, or
rather came by rail, to a town still nearer the frontier,
passing, among many others, the Fusilier Regiment of
the Guard. It had poured with rain for the preceding
eight hours, mid the men, whose only covering had
been their cloaks, were wet through, but they seemed
utterly indifferent to may discomfort. I watched
the process of encampment on their arrival,
which, compared with the elaborate arrangement I
have elsewhere seen, was simplicity itself. There
were two battalions, on paper 1,000 strong, although at
the present time somewhat decreaSed by that curse of
the infantry soldier—in-fitting boots. After they had
piled arms and placed their knapsacks and helmets on
them, they simply marched to the rear of their arms
and lay down in their cloaks. Of course, there were
parties detailed on the usual camp duties, but with
these exceptions each man was in his bedroom in a
moment. The officers, meanwhile looked out for the dryest
ditch, a rather difficult task to find, and this, with a few
sods thrown in and a waterproof blanket, comprised
their billet for the night. There was a village close by,
but on no pretence whatever are they allowed to differ in
'any way from their men. There were also masses of
cavalry, and some troops of artillery, one of which, a
chestnut troop, had better horses than any I have seen.
There is one thing, however, about their artillery that I
think bad, and that is their gear, which is unwieldy in
the highest degree. In the first place, the traces are so
hopelesslylong that half the draught power of the horses is
lost ; the tackle is of the very roughest manufacture.
Then again the gun carriages are all fitted with poles,
whicloon checking the wheelers, owing to the play the
pin of the tumbril has, fly up nearly to the horses' heads,
and when on level ground are below their knees. They
have six horses to each gun, in the same manner that ours
in England are horsed. A great advantage I have for-
gotten to mention seems to me to lie in the carts of the
country, which are four-wheeled, with either wicker-
work or poles at intervals forming the sides ; they,
together with two horses and a man, are hired by Govern-
ment for the war, and are, owing to their lightness, in-
valuable for either baggage or forage,—Times' Correspon-
dent with army of Prince Frederic Charles.
THE WOUNDED.—The true nature of a battle is
to be discovered not from an inspection of the lists of
prisoners or of trophies, but from the lists which state the
numbers of the killed and wounded. At first there was
much vagueness as to the losses sustained on both sides.
The telegrams and tidings from the field said that the vic-
tories had been bloody. Even yet the exact details are
not forthcoming: It is impossible to learn even approxi-
mately how many fell. But it is quite certain that the
German loss has been proportionately enormous, and
it is unlikely that the loss on the other side has been
smaller. Day and night the wounded have been arriving
at Mannheim. This afternoon all the beds in the hos-
pitals were occupied. These contain about one thousand
men. The field hospitals are also full. In consequence
of this hundreds of wounded men have to be sent on to
Frankfort, where there is said to be accommodation for
five thousand. Long strings of stretchers on which lay
wounded soldiers and officers have been passing through
the streets. So great is the slaughter in excess of what
had been anticipated that the arrangements made have
proved insufficient. Men have lain for twenty-four
hours on the field of battle before they were discovered
and cared for.—Daity News Correspondent.
FRENCH PRISONERS,—The German soldiers who
ascompanied the prisoners were enthusiastic with regard
to the bravery with which the French had fought, after
the Gaisberg had been stormed. They pointed out four-
teen men, belonging to the 74th Regiment of the Line,
who were the whole remainder of the regiment left stand-
ing on the battlefield, but who refused to surrender, and
who, deprived of ammunition, kept on fighting at the
point of the bayonet. As the Prussians did not
like to kill them, they rushed at last in a body
upon them, and threw them down wrestling. " Nous
aeons cherche la mort," said one of them to me, " Comme
notrc colonel, conme noire genfral, dont voilti le cheval." The
train had brought the horse of General Douay. " Ask
him," said a Prussian private, " why he thinks they were
overpowered." That was a sagacious question, and the
reply of the intelligent and well-bred Frenchman told the
tale of the whole war. It was—" We were too weak in
number. , We had (on an advanced post) neither cavalry
nor sufficient artillery with Us,' and finally we had no more
munition." " That is the thing," said the Prussian, " ask
him how many cartridges he had got." " Eighty" was the
Frenchman's reply. " Now tell him that I, who had only
sixty, had forty-five left when I took him ; and tell him
that the strength di an army consists of men and of car-
tridges, and that firing away cartridges it just the same as
losing a man. They did very serious damage to us at the
beginning—our regiment lost 600 men ; but at the ex-
pense of such a number of shots that we knew they were
more weakened than we were." When this was explained
to the Frenchman he said: " I.knew it too, but too late.
We never before have fought against such troops as yours.
We must not any longer sldrraish,_ as we have been aeons.
timed to."—Cl9rrmatideno of the PON New at.Serlirt.

OUR COTEMPORARIES---This Morning.