The Sun.
London, England, 1870-11-23 00:00:00

TIIE ARMY OF THE LOIRE.

The Tours correspondent of the Daily New writes on
the 19th instant as follows :—The decisive battle of the
campaign must be fought within a week at the very
latest; and, indeed, it is altogether improbable that it can
be delayed for so long a period. Outpost skirmishes are
of daily occurrence, and I cannot think that the decisive
action can be postponed more than another three or four
days. In the event of the defeat of the Army of the Loire
the entrenched camp which Keratry is forming must be
their rallying place, for if defeated they will probably
be utterly routed. It needs all the sang feoicl and dis-
cipline of old and tried soldiers to retreat in good order;
and I should scarcely think it possible that in the event
of a serious reverse the Army of the Loire can be again
collected and placed in a pOsition to make i stand upon
the north of Tours. Indeed, according to the indices
which one can at present gain, it is evident that D'Aurelles
is throwing forward the left flank of his army along
the road towards Paris. Arthenay and Toury are in
French hands, and the line of the army faces the north-
east. In case of defeat, therefore, it is probable that in
place of retreating south towards Tours, the French would
fall back in the direction by which they advanced on the
9th; that the best troops would be stationed to hold the
Forest of Marchenoir and the other woods which
abound in that part of the country, and so keep the
enemy at bay while the line of the army retreats
through Vendome and Le Mans into Brittany. Then
supposing that the retreat was a rout, they would be re-
organised in the entrenched camp ; if it was merely a
retreat conducted in good order, they would join the
army of Keratry, and become reinforced, an 1
greatly stronger than before, and they would be
in a position once again to move for ward
to Paris, acting in concert with a simulta-
neous movement which Bourbaki would by that
time be probably in a position to make. Thus, in the
event of an orderly retreat it would be still possible for
France to make a serious effort to relieve Paris before the
complete exhaustion of the supplies of the besieged city.
In the event of a complete rout I fear that Paris will have
only herself to rely upon.

From a source upon which I can depend, says the corre-
spondent of the Telegraph at Tours, I have obtained the
following figures as the present actual strength of the
Army of the Loire, and I have been, I confess, not a little
surprised both as to the quantity and the quality of the
troops. It would seem that near Le Mans
there are not fewer than 25,000 men ; at Ven-
dome, more than 35,000; at Bour,ges, ' 30,000;
and between Orleans and Toury, 150,000—making alto-
gether close upon 200,000 destined to march to the
relief of Paris, and at present able to meet Von der
Tann and Prince Frederick Charles. This does not
include 50,000 encamped in and near Nevers, and about
40,000 that are between Autun and Chagny. Of
these troops not fewer than 150,000 belong to
the line, and most of them are old soldiers
who have served before, and are now called out again.
The most advanced post of the Army of the Loire to-
wards Paris was to-day near Angerville (Seine-et-Oise),
about fifteen leagues from the capital. I see people at
home have an idea that General de Paladine intends re-
maining on the defensive ; but this a mistake. The
present state of the country prevents his moving the
immense artillery at his disposal ; but, should the rain be
succeeded by frost, he will be able to make a forward
movement at once. His guns are heavier than those of
the enemy, and require more horses to transport them ;
but, in order to take advantage of an improvement in the
weather, he has been furnished with 150 light guns, which
can be taken to pieces and carried upon horses or mules
when required, When I tell you that he has 10 batteries
of mitrailleuses, each of 10 pieces, making altogether 100
of those destructive engines of war—and that he has in
various parts nearly 15,000 well mounted cavalry—you
will see that the prospects of France are not so desperate
as many persons believe.