The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-15 00:00:00

DISORGANIZATION OF THE FRENCH

ARI\IY.

A letter in the Daily News, dated Chalons, Wednesday
and Thursday, gives some important information respecting
the state of the French army :—lt was dark as we entered
the station of Chalons, and the roll of a drum was heard,
accompanied by the hoarse shouts of drunken conscripts.
Everything was confusion in the half light inside the
station, and the almost total darkness outside. After
groping about in the mud and slush I found an omnibus
which takes travellers to an hotel. I found in the omni-
bus two serious and thoughtful-looking men, who had just
returned from the camp. They tell me the road is lined
with stragglers and drunken Gardes Mobile. The Garde
Mobile are being trained here in the roughest manner,
with the greatest despatch. Only a small proportion are
armed ; the remainder are supplied with sticks. The
camp is full of wounded who have been brought there
from the front. This gives one an idea of the carnage that
has already taken place. There is no news from the front
whatever. This is thought strange, and I have heard
people exclaim in an undertone " Quel gachis." The
wounds inflicted by the Prussian guns are not very severe,
but the effects of their mitrailleuse are said to be fear-
ful. There are many men with both legs off,
still more with one.. The drunken conscripts and
Gardes Mobile roar the " Marseillaise," but to my
mind, in the drizzling rain and darkness to-night, it has
a fearfully dismal effect. The disorder here
in every thing is so great, that it influences one's mind.
I cannot collect or class my ideas. English papers speak
of the mismanagement in England, but if they saw the
state of things here, they would think English
management perfect. It appears now that they
are calling every one to arms, there are no arms
to give them, and it is actually thought of issuing
old flint muskets to some of the Garde Mobile !
There are only fifteen Chassepots per company at
the camp, and the others are told to look on while the
fifteen are drilled in that arm. The corps of Marshal
Canrobert has been sent to Metz. He himself will no
doubt be there to-day or to-morrow, although he went to
Paris yesterday evening. I have seen at the table d'hôte
some people from Nancy who have retreated before the
approach of the Germans. The day before yesterday they
were at Vic, a few miles from Nancy. Thence they will
pass by Toul, and probably join their other army behind
Chalons, perhaps in Paris. As for the French army, it
is now concentrated before Metz, to what purpose nobody
can understand. I send you a telegram stating what I
have learnt of the German advances. I do not know
whether you will get it. As for the Germans being at
Nancy, I have it on good authority. The Mayor
of the town had issued orders to all the inhabi-
tants to keep perfectly quiet, and offer no re-
sistance. It now is apparent that the Empire is
being rolled up like a scroll. As for France, she is now
an old nation, and must be satisfied to be classed among
the senile. Prussia is young, and of course will advance.
It is hard for a Frenchman to acknowledge this, but it
is impossible to blind oneself to what one sees. As a
French writer of high position was saying this morning
at breakfast, "Nobody in France for the last twenty
years has studied or thought." The French have done
everything in a superficial and trivial manner, and
have lived for pleasure. The Prussians, on the contrary,
are now first in all the sciences, and they have just proved
that they are first in war. Notwithstanding all these
great levies, and all the shouting and Marseillaising,
France will not find fresh legions, as in '93. The French
are now sceptical and cynical. In a few days the army
of the Crown Prince and that of Frederick Charles will
unite, very likely near or at Chalons, and " la piece sera
joule."

WITHIN THE PRUSSIAN LINES.—A. correspon-
dent of the Pall Mall Gazette at Saarbrtick writes on the
10th as follows :--" The King, General von Moltke,
Count Bismarck, and the staff arrived here by road last
night. The road to Metz as far as St. Avoid was
held last night by the Prussians. The damage
done to St. Johann and Saarbriicken itself
by the French bombardment is very slight, and
I doubt if anyone would see any signs of it unless he
were on the look out. The station itself, which is a cas-
tellated building, has received a shot or two, as well as a
house near the bridge ; the heap of ruins which we were
led to expect is a fiction. The Prussian loss
in the taking of Spicheren, a village between
this and Forbach, is allowed to have been very
heavy ; and I suspect that the position was taken by
sheer pushing on of troops regardless of loss. The French
maintained themselves until nightfall, and then retreated.
It is believed that the Prussian forces all along the line;
from Sierk to Strasburg, outnumber the French by
upwards of 100,000 men. So far the Prussian organisa-
tion seems to have worked well, as I have heard no com-
plaints from the men of the want of food. Bacon and
black bread form the men's main diet ; that is,
they are sure of getting that and wine or beer ; if they can
obtain anything else so much the better for them. The
knowledge of the country shewn by the staffis wonderful.
Not only do they know where every village lies, but they
can tell at once the amount of stabling to be found in it,
whether there is a large church or schoolroom in which
men or horses can be quartered. They are well informed
as to the accommodation to be got in France, and the
staff can say at once how many horses can be stabled in
every village from here to Paris."