The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-19 00:00:00

their accuracy.

When Marshal Bazaine took the command of the army
of the Rhine, he soon saw that the only tactics to be
adopted to struggle successfully with the enemy was to
draw them away from the strong positions they held into the
plains of Chalons. It was for this reason that he decided
on quitting the neighbourhood of Metz, crossing the
Moselle, and concentrating his troops at Verdun. Prince
Frederick Charles saw that it was important that the
greatest efforts should be made not to permit Bazaine to
retreat on Verdun. He, therefore, endeavoured to
get hold of Pont-h-Mousson, but not having sent a
sufficient force, he was obliged to retreat, leaving in the
hands of his enemy some thirty prisoners. The prince
returned to the wood which lies between Metz and St.
Avoid, about six miles in length, and waited for another
opportunity. This opportunity presented itself on Sun-
day last. From information brought to the prince,
he learnt that the French were crossing the Moselle.
He allowed about one half of them to get to the right
bank and advanced with a division of 16,000 men. Finding
that the two generals, L'admirault and Decaen, were
still before Metz, he sent for a second division of 16,000
men ; and ultimately another division of 16,000
came up. The Prince, Ending himself at the
head of nearly 50,000 troops, attacked General Ladmirault
and compelled him to retreat. The Prussians then
advanced towards Metz. At this particular moment the
King of Prussia, who was on the heights, sent a telegram
to Berlin claiming the victory.

The Prussians continued advancing, and approached
within gunshot of Metz, before which fort they
found stationed a portion of the division of
General Decaen. At a signal given Decaen's division
marched from the right and from the left, and the Prus-
sians found themselves in front of a well-armed advanced
fort belonging to Metz, called St. Quentin. The mur-
derous attack made by this fort was so disastrous for the
Prussians that they were compelled to retreat, harassed
by the division of General Ladmirault. The Prussian
General now sent a flag of truce to General Ladmirault,
requesting an armistice of twelve hours to bury t'leir dead.
Ladmirault refused, and opened a strong cannonade. The
Prussians, believing that the whole of the French army
had re-crossed the Moselle, retired into the woods.
Since the battle of Sunday the French have continued
their retreat, but not without several severe skirmishes
with the Prussians, who were obliged to fall back as far
as Commercy, which lies between the fortress of Toul and
Bar-le-Duc. Marshal Bazaine continued his retreat with-
out being further molested, and will probably arrive
to-day or to-morrow at Chilions, where the Emperor has
now established his head-quarters.
We now heir of heavy fighting as mentioned above,
but you will probably learn the details of that before we
do. The Prussians must of necessity consent to a decisive
battle, and that on the ground chosen by the French ;
fol. the Prussian army is in this position—if it does not
fight it will have before it the army of MacMahon, which
covers Chalons, about 70,000 men in numbers, and Mar-
shal Bazaine, in the rear, with a very powerful force:

The Paris papers state that the leaders of the Prussian

army asked for an armistice of twenty-four hours in order
to bury the dead, and that the French Commander in-
Chief refused. The same journals add that the German
chiefs wanted the armistice, not to bury the dead, but to
bring up the living. They wanted more troops to the
front !

General Coffinieres, who commands at Metz, has issued

a proclamation, stating twat as the fortress already con-
tains more inhabitants than the supplies of food, in case
of siege, can support, no more of the families who are
flying from the country can be received. They must
either return to their homes, or go further into the in-
terior.

Specimens of the style in which the French supply
service has been managed are not wanting. At the battle
of Weissenburg an artillery battery awaited, with
feverish impatience, a supply of ammunition. At length
some caissons arrived. They were found to contain boots
and shoes !

The Liberte says that Strasbourg is invested, but the
siege has not commenced. The enemy is in want of proper
material, and all it can do is to blockade the place.
General de Barrel has been sent thither by the French to
direct the artillery of the stronghold. He passed through
the German lines in disguise, and arrived safely at his
post.

The Metz correspondent of the IncUpendance Beige says
that some of the soldiers who fought at Weissenburg en-
tered Metz a few days ago in a deplorable condition.
Weissenburg was the first serious encounter of the war,
and it took place on August 4th. For about a week after
that date, a number of men belonging to the 10th Chas-
seurs and the 23rd Regiment of the Line, had been wan-
dering about in an almost destitute plight. They entered
Metz without their knapsacks, and almost without
clothes, and were constrained to beg of more fortunate
regiments. All the fault of the Intendance.

The Liberte states on good authority that Marshal
Bazaine has stopped all telegraphic communication
between the head-quarters and Paris. The commander-
in-chief is positively informed that all the intelligence
respecting the movements of the army is immediately
transmitted to London, and from thence to the Prussian
head-quarters.
Amongst evidences of a patriotic spirit in France, it
may be mentioned that all the pupils of the Normal
School of Lons-le-Saulnier spontaneously offered them-
selves as a corps of volunteers. They have engaged to
serve as long as the war lasts. As they know the use of
arms they are likely to bb useful, and they number in all
above 600 men. One of the local magnates at Boulogne
is organising a corps of Frenchmen who have come over
from England to do battle for their country.
The capture of four German vessels off Malaga by a
French gunboat is announced. The names of two of
them are unknown ; the other two are the Brillante, from
Taganrog to Queenstown, and the Pearl, to Amsterdam.
Six North German vessels have taken refuge at Harwich ;
one of them was a barque, from West Africa, with a
cargo of palm oil ; another, from New York, had also a
cargo of oil ; a third, from Russia, was laden with flax ;
and a fourth, from the West Indies, had a general cargo.
The other two were grain ships. There are now more
than thirty German merchant ships anchored in Falmouth
harbour.

The Figaro has a joke with respect to the unpopularity
in which the late Minister of War, General Le Bceuf,
is held. It declares that the French soldiers have set a
noble example of moderation to the nations of Europe, for
they have professed their willingness, for the future, to
take their soup without beef—sans Le Bcruf.
The Presse of Vienna announces that Cardinal Auto-
nelli has officially presented to the King of Prussia his
congratulations on the success of the German armies. The
special corespondent of the Paris Constitutionnel tele-
graphs from Carlsbad that the Pope has asked. Prussia
for a formal guarantee of the Pontifical territory. The
King has sent through Herr Von Arnim a consolatory,
but evasive, reply.

The French continue their retreat upon Chalons. The
line taken by Marshal Bazaine is not, as some have sup-
posed, south-west towards the line of the Upper Marne,
at Bar-le-Duc, but due westward to Verdun. A despatch,
dated yesterday, states that the bulk of the army was
on the day before concentrated at Etain or Estain,
in the department of the Meuse. The road by
Etain is not the best and most direct one to
Verdun, which lies more to the south, and leads
through Mars.la-Tour and Manheulles. Marshal
Bazaine was probably induced to take this circuitous
course in order to place his columns as far as possible
from the Prussians. The latter, however, have not let
him off. It is from French despatches we learn that on
Monday they harassed his march. It is probably
some Corps of the army of Prince Frederick Charles
—the same, we presume, which passed the Mo-
selle at Pont-k-Mousson, and which, operating on the
right of the Crown Prince, is nearest the French
line of march—that was thus engaged. No very consi-
derable German force, however, appears to have been able
to get so near Bazaine's corps as to dispute its progress.
The problem was, to a great extent, one of marching, and
the French seem to have got the start. The French Minis-
ter of War says that only two divisions of Prussians ap-
proached Bazaine to harass him, and were repulsed. This
is the explanation of the firing which so shook the nerves of
the Sub-Prefect of Verdun, and led him to report, " under
reserve," that a great battle had been going on all day.
The statement of Count Palikao in the Legislative Body
that the Germans had relinquished their intention of cut-
ting off the retreat of the French army refers simply to
their attempt to hinder the retreat to Verdun, an
attempt which the French Minister of War considers to
have failed and to have been abandoned, and not to the
general operations of the Germans beyond the
Moselle. The latter are still pressing forward.
in order to be able to force the French to an enga;ement
before reaching Chalons. The Germans are advancing by
a route rather more direct than that taken by the French
but the latter have the advantage which beMngs to an
army operating in its own country of being served and
aided by the whole existing local and public organisations
on its line of march. The German army, however, is said
to b 3 better supplied in France than the French army
itself is, owing to the admirable arrangements of the
military administration.—Daily News.

DISPUTE AMONG PONTIFICAL TROOPS.-011 the
twelfth of August a dispute arose between the different
members of the Pontifical troops at Rome. The French,
who were about to leave, commenced a discussion with
some German Catholics of the division with respect to the
military advantages of their respective nations. From
insults and contradictions they proceeded to draw their
daggers and come to blows. The struggle passed into a
regtgar strife, being reinforced on both sides by the
countrymen of the differing parties, and it was not until
the close of the day that they were induced to disperse.
ARREST OF PRUSSIANS AT BORDEAUX.—A
curious scene took place on Saturday afternoon in the cafe
of Bordeaux., When the newsvendors announced that
Nancy had been occupied by a detachment of Prus,ian
cavalry, three young men, who were of Prussian origin
and connected with the trade of Bordeaux, were playing
at dominoes in the salle. When they heard the news they
began to talk in an excited manner of the grand successes
of the Prussians, and declared that they would soon be
there to drink the wine of Bordeaux. They concluded
their offensive remarks by drinking to the success
of the Prussian arms. The other visitors at the
cafe would not submit to Luch an affront, and
some of them seized hold of the Prussians in order to give
them in charge of the authorities. The commissary of
police, accompanied by some sergents de vine, appeared
on the scene, and conducted the offenders to the prefec-
ture, whence they were removed to the prison of Uh.
The crowd was greatly incensed, and clamoured at the
gates of the police establishment, calling out, " Down
with the Prussians ; give them up to us!" The police had
the greatest difficulty in protecting the prisoners from the
attacks of the mob ; and although the comn'fissary took
the precaution of ordering the driver of the fiacre which
contained them to proceed by the most unfrequented
route, the news spread abroad, and the prisofi was reached
with great difficulty.

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 infantry; or 91,000 horse, 439,000 foot, and the
rest artillerists; but the real fighting strength
of the German hosts occupying the line between
Bouzonville and Luneville this day is, as stated above,
about 500,000 men of all arms. This force comprehends
the whole system of army corps organised in 1866 by
Prussia as the military head of the North German Cou-
federation,and the entire contingent furnished by Southern
Germany three weeks ago, viz., 140,000 men—the
latter constituting more than half of the Crown
Prince's command. His old army corps, curiously
enough, is attached 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 fierce Poles, the stout Rheinlanders, and the stubborn