The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-22 00:00:00

THE SIEGE OF STRASBURG.

The oorrespondent of the Telegraph, writing from Ober*
hausbergen on the 14th instant, saydi "—The western awl
south-western outworks of Strasburg are literally
in ruins. Of the trim green turf facings td
the long dtirved line of bastions and cur-
tains, there remain but a few blotches here and there of
verdure, standing out in bright contrast to the rough,
dark br -wn surface of the shattered and crumb-
ling works. Some ragged edged shapeless frag-
ments of brickwork represent the gabled and roofed
houses that, three weeks ago, fringed the inner side of the
chief defence. The cathedral, seen from afar, appears to
be intact; but examined from such point de mire, as
say, 'Eckbolsheim granary, and war a good glass,
its various hurts are but too plainly perceptible. The
tower and spire have suffered, as well as the roof
—fortunately not to any irreparable extent. 0;
the citadel, of course, nothing can be seen from this side
the Rhine ; but the latest reports from Kehl state that
it has been terribly knocked about and is reduced to a
mere wreck of masonry and earth. The town has been
consistently spared, as mush possible, ever since
the reception of the King's merciful orders, and
bnt little additional injury has therefore been done to the
houses and public buildings in the central portion of the
city ; the whole of the fire for more than a fortnight has
been directed upon the fortifications, barracks, and
military storehouses, which have suffered very heavily—
many of the latter, in fact, are completely destroyed.
As to the siege works, the third parallel, as you
are aware, is finished ; it has been driven right
through the glacis, and in several places is quite
close to the walls. The two monster mortars, of
which so much has been said in the German

papers, are established well in front of this village
between it and Schiltigheim ; they have produced a
tremendous effect on the French works, and are kept
at work with considerable regularity. As the projec-
tiles they throw weigh nearly two hundred pounds,
you may well conceive that each discharge is followed
by ruin and devastation. 'Ulrich has exhibited signs
of yielding more than once since the capitulation
of Sedan. He has, it is said, with the permission of the
General in command of the German army, sent two officers
to the Emperor at Wilhelmshohe, to' solicit his Majesty's
orders with regard to the defence of the fortress. As he
is a staunch Imperialist, I should not wonder if he has
declined to recognise the Republic, and decided upon taking
his instructions from the imprisoned gentleman whom he
still considers to be his sovereign. For several days he
has not been seen by his soldiers, having shut himself up
in his quarters and discontinued his:daily visits to the
works. Parlementaires have been backwards and for-
wards between the hostile forces, and the French
fire has been exceptionally tame, sometimes ceasing alto-
gether for several hours, and then breaking out in a spasm
of salvos all along the line, which continue for a few minutes
and then suddenly cease, to be followed by another long
interval of silence. The guns are, in reality, insuffici-
ently manned, General Ulrich being principally dependent
for the working of his artillery upon some two or three
hundred marine artillerists, who were intended for the
equipment of the celebrated Rhine gunboats that never
came to anything. Of course a good many of
the liners and Gardes Mobiles have been trained,
since the commencement of the siege, to serve the guns ;
but they are useless for all the more professional branches
of the work—sighting, elevation, &c. The whole force at
Ulrich's command, not counting volunteers from among the
younger citizens, whose numbers are small and utility
doubful, is, comparatively speaking, insignificant.
With so small a garrison the defence he has
hitherto made is more than creditable—it is heroic ; and
the superior German officers do not hesitate to admit it,
saying freely of him, "He is a splendid soldier and
gallant man—the only FrenCh general throughout the
present war who has really deserved well of his country."
But the moment has now arrived at which what has
aitherto been admirable heroism is fast becoming inex-
cusable obstinacy and hopeless folly. The network of
approaches is drawn tightly round the doomed fortress,
and the Germans can at any moment concen-
trate so tremendous a fire upon any part of the
western defences that any opening of a practicable
breach would only be the work of a few hours ; and an
assault in overwhelming force would not only annihilate
the garrison, but expose the town and its inhabitants to
many horrors,the commission of which it is the interest of
humanity at large to avert.