The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-27 00:00:00

THE WAR.

THE TWO FRENCH ARMIES.
NROM OUR OWN CORRESPONOENEI

PARIS, THURSDAY.

This has been a day of reports and rumours. We were
assured that Marshal Bazaine had had a serious engage-
ment withthe combined troops under the orders of Prince
Frederick Charles and General Steinmetz, and that he
had driven a portion of the enemy across the Belgian
frontier. It was also said that Marshal MacMahon had
effected a junction with Marshal Bazaine. All that I
am enabled to confirm is that Marshal Mac-
Mahon, having received a dispatch at Rheims from
the Minister of War, immediately quitted that city, his
destination unknown. The Marshal was in high spirits
when he left Rheims, and the army shouted "En avant !
en avant!" The army of Marshal MacMahon is composed
of the Ist Corps, completely reorganised; the sth, com-
manded by General De Failly; the 7th, by General Fdlix
Douay ; and the 12th, composed of an imposing division
of marine infantry, a division of infantry of the line, and
of several squadrons of cavalry.
I have received the following paragraph of news as

giving an authentic account of Bazaine's movements. I
give it under all reserve :—" Marshal Bazaine on
the 20th took up a strong • position between
Mezieres and Montmedy. This certainly seems
very strange, after the official Berlin dispatches, which
announced that the Marshal, after the battle of the 1811,
was compelled to seek refuge in the fortress of Metz. The
Berlin dispatches inform us that, at this same battle of th
18th, the Prussian force, which attacked the 100,000 men

commanded by Bazaine, was composed of the Guards, the

2nd, 7th, Bth, 9th, and 12th corps d'armde, and some
small divisions of the 3rd and 10th corps, who were placed
-as a reserve, and that nearly the whole of the artillery
took part in the action. From information received
here, it would appear that after having suc-
cessfully defendedhis positions on the 18th, the
Marshal, in the course of the night, carried out
the movement he had been preparing for some days prd-
viously. Trusting to the garrison of Metz to defend
that fortress, he marched his troops on the
road to Montmedy, and arrived without interruption
in the neighbourhood of Audin-le-Rouman. This move-
ment is in some measure confirmed by a Prussian dispatch
dated the 21st, stating that no French troops had been
seen before Metz since the morning of the 19th."
I cannot, however, guarantee this view of the position,
though I give it as showing the confident opinions which
prevail here. By some means or other the people have
been persuaded that great triumphs await them ; indeed,
they will not believe that they suffered any reverse at
Metz. This statement about Bazaine's escape is not new.
It has been already contradicted; nevertheless it is
revived as freshly and vigorously as ever.
A 14th corps is now being organised in Paris for the
defence of the environs. It is stated that the head-quar-
rers of the commander will be in the fort of St. Denis.
The Free Corps are beginning to shew themselves not
only in the environs of Paris but on the line of Nancy and
Toni, and they have already done some good service. A
day or two back some Uhlans entered a small city near
Nancy. They were allowed to advance as far as the
townhall, where they demanded of the Mayor, a certain
quantity of rations and a heavy contribution. Whilst dis-
puting with the Mayor a body of free corps surrounded
the Uhlans. A desperate fight took place, and ultimately
the Prussians were compelled to retreat into the fields,
leaving a great number of their dead and wounded in the
hands of their victors.

Three hundred medical students left Paris yesterday
and to-day for the army. They will be incorporated in
the different ambulances.

Four hundred Prussian prisoners arrived at Soissons
yesterday. Others are expected to reach that city on
Saturday.

. GERMAN PEACE SENTIMENTS.
COLOGNE, WEDNESDAY.
The successes of the Germans have been so considerable
that it seems scarcely too soon for them to estimate the
price of victory. It is hardly belie] ed that the war will
come to an immediate end; but people here are sanguine
enough to think that the final issue cannot be far off,
Derhan_q yeax.-e, M
war, although so successful, is most disastrous
to German industry. Hence the terms of peace
are a common topic of talk. Signs are not
wanting that the Germans, if their success continues,
are disposed to serve out very hard measure to France.
The press is unanimous in writing in a very severe strain,
and as the Prussian press especially is very careful to say
nothing which might embarrass the Government, this
attitude is worthy of note. The King, in the proclama-
tion which he issued when entering German territory,
said that he came to make war, not upon the French
people, but against the Government which embarked in
an iniquitous enterprise. This style of moderation
seems to be forgotten now. The Cologne
Gazetts, for instance, has just appeared with an
article in which it takes a very different tone. "It is
neither against a person, nor a dynasty, nor a form of
Government, that Germany makes war, but against
France, whose people is filled with ideas of false grandeur

—against France, who for three centuries, and under
every imaginable constitution, has upheld pretensions to
reign in Europe at the expense of other peoples." A
durable peace, observes this journal, is what Germany
must have, a peace on such terms that the States
and the Exchanges of Europe will not be con-
strained to trouble themselves about the frame of
mind in which the inhabitants of Paris and the
residents at the Tuileries may find themselves. In short,
France must be so crippled as to be incapable for some
time to come of active exertion. Several peace schemes,
which have been advocated in difierent parts of Europe as
pretty favourable to Germany, are ridiculed here. It has
been suggested, for instance, that the dethronement of
Napoleon (with payment of costs) would be an adequate
security for peace. But the French are quite able to
manage a change of Government for themselves, and it is
by no means improbable that they will do so. Moreover,
what could the Germans gain by interfering in
the internal affairs of France? If they banished
Napoleon to the remotest corner of the earth there would
be no security that France, under a succeeding form of
Government, would be less aggressive, especially if that
form were a Republic. No ; the papers express them-
selves indifferent respecting the Napoleonic dynasty.
What they want (they indicate plainly enough) is terri-
tory. Some recommend the retention of Alsace and
Lorraine ; others would be content with Alsace only ;
others, and this seems an increasing party, urge the an-
nexation of Alsace and the disarming of the strong places
in Lorraine.

There can be little doubt that the Prussian diplomatists
have found great difficulty in keeping Italy quiet during
this contest. But it would now appear certain that the
German representative at Florence has succeeded, and
there can be equally little question as to the price. Italy
wants Rome, and by helping France she would get it.
It, therefore, became necessary for Prussia to assure Italy
that she should gain the coveted territory without incur-
ring any danger or expense.

An order of the King decides that the three battles on
the 14th, 16th, and 18th, shall be called respectively
Courcelles, Vionville, and Gravelotte. Different names
are given to these great fights. The French generally call
the first Borny, the second Mars-la-Tour, and the third
Rezonville. In fact the theatr' of the combat was so
extensive in all cases, and especially on the 16th and
18th, that half-a-dozen titles might be found for each
conflict. The losses of the German forces in these
encounters were enormous. No attempt is made
to conceal the fearful price at which the
Fatherland has bought its advantages. There is
lamentatation and mourning everywhere. The battle
of the 18th consisted of little more than a numerous
series of attempts to seize a commanding position on a
hill reached by only one road, so enflanked and defended
that, as a letter in one of the papers said, it needed abso-
lute contempt of death on the part of the troops to induce
them to face the position. Time after time did they try
and fail. Heaps of dead strewed the hill. Regiment
after regiment was decimated. The French artillery was
well served, and the mitrailleuse did much execution. At
length, after nine hours obstinate fighting, the French
retired from their position, and one of the bloodiest days'
work on record terminated. Nothing but the most impor-
tant strategical objects could justify such an outlay of
life. The advantage, however, is believed to be sufficient
to compensate the loss.

The blockade has commenced on the Baltic coast, but
the French vessels find no little difficulty in maintaining
it. The mail steamer Holland got into Stettin on the
18th, and the Alexander, laden with corn, followed the
next day. The equinoctial gales will make the surveil-
lance all but impossible.