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

WAR NOTES.

THE Two SOLDIERS.—The Prussians are certainly
model soldiers. Their discipline and perfection of drill
far exceed even our men. I saw at Cologne yesterday a
regiment going through the manual and platoon exer-
cise in a manner that would put our Guards
to shame ; and those were men of the Landwehr,
only just called out. Taking man for man, the
German soldier is vastly superior to the French ; and,
if it is true that the needle-gun is not inferior to the
Chassepot, I am not in the least surprised that the Prus-
sians have had the best of it. The officers express great
contempt for the mitrailleuse. They say it may be use-
ful for clearing a street in a riot, but it is of very little
use in the field. Our train reached this place at eight
o'clock this evening.—Correspondent of Tgegraph.

THEREBY HANGS A TALE.—Weissenburg, the first
German prize in this war, has an ominous sound in French
ears. It was on account chiefly of his having lost it
against the German army under Wurmser and the Prince
of Waldeck, in 1793, that Beauharnais, was guillotined
by order of the Convention—Beauharnais, the grandfather
of the third Napoleon. Having been raised to the rank
of one of the ten Reichsstadte of Alsace in 1247,
Weissenburg was first conquered by Louis XIV.,
in 1673, and handed over to France at the peace of
Ryswick. Twice it was reconquered by Germany, in
1744 and 1793 ; but France laying immense stress upon
its fortifications, which guarded Alsace from the north,
each time recovered it by immense efforts. These fortifi-
cations date chiefly from the beginning of the eighteenth
century, when Marshal Villars constructed the formidable
lignes de la Latter, which run along nearly the whole
length of the river Lauter.—Pall Mall Gazette.

AN ENGLISHMAN FIGHTING.—At Forbach, in the
hottest of the action, an English tourist, happening
to be there, fought on the French side. When
Frossard's division retreated, that gentleman fought
like a lion. British proverbial courage and
energy, was there shewn as a glorious example
even amongst those brave columns of Frossard's
divisions, retreating with regret before an overwhelming
number, and when their freres d'armes were nearly exter-
minated,not only the English gentleman fought gallantly,
but he saved the life of a wounded soldier, and he is now
in Metz, modestly stopping in his hotel, where I intend
to go and ascertain his name.—Metz Correspondent of the
Standard.

THE LOSSES AT WOERTH.—Froeschwiller will
be, I believe, the name given to that battle, so fatal to
the French opening of the campaign; for it is useless
to disguise it, the defeat has been complete;
encampments, material, treasury, a great deal
of artillery, including four mitrailleuses, have
fallen into the hands of the Prussians, the wounded
have been left behind, and, without exaggeration, 12,000
French, including several generals and officers, are killed
wounded, or missing ; 24,000 Prussians have been killed
or put hors de combatt. I have these details from a
brigadier general, and can vouch for their unfortunate
veracity. We have just begun the contest, and about
60,000 men, French and Prussians, have already
gloriously fallen, killed, or hors de combat.—Metz Corre-
spondent of Standard.
THE FRENCH ROOT.—The utter rout and demo-
ralisation of MacMahon's army exceed all previous antici-
pation. The number of killed and wounded is now set
down at 10,000. Prisoners continue to be brought in, the
number up to the present time being computed at
8,000. Among these are many officers of distinction, who
appear greatly dejected. The Spahis suffered severe
losses. The Prussian corps, chiefly Polish and
Silesian, whom I saw en route at Mayence a
week ago, are greatly cut up, having three times been
driven back. The latest telegrams from Paris report that
MacMahon has rallied some 18,000 of his shattered
army, which is to be reformed at Nancy. One of the
captured French officers, on the way to Frankfort,
remarked to his guard, " Our losses are beyond all descrip-
tion. The entire Army Corps of MacMahon are almost
as good as destroyed. It was a fight of which I never
saw the like. As often as we repulsed the enemy, so often
fresh troops appeared, as if they sprung out of the ground.
It is incomprehensible to me where you Germans can
have
.found such a horde. All our baggage is lost."—
Times Correspondent at the head-quarters of the Crown
Prince.

IMPERIAL PREPARATIONS AT PARlS.—Prepara-
tions are, it is much more than whispered, being there-
fore made to carry off national treasures of !every des-
cription. A siege, people say, is absolutely nscessary to
cover the retreat of the Imperial family into state of
private opulence which Lucellus or any Pro-Consul
retired from business might envy where he alive. The
blouses and the bourgeois, when they see the covered
waggons of the Garde Mobile taking " mattresses for the
wounded soldiers " from the Tuileries, growl significantly,
and with bitter irony wonder how many pictures of the
Louvre Collection will remain toFrance ; where the crown
jewels, the bronze, the tapestries, the malachite tables,
the rare porcelains, and other valuables belonging to the
nation, will be against the treaty of peace comes to be
signed between Prussia and the French Republic.—Paris
Correspondent of Daily News.
WRY THE GARDE MOBILE WERE BADLY
DRILLED.—It will hardly seem credible that the different
detachments of Moblos (a nickname for Mobile), sent to
fill gaps in the army of the Rhine have not had any ball
practice whatever. They were drilled to handle broom
sticks instead of Chassepots, though destined to oppose
an army which the Emperor himself admitted is one
of the finest in Europe. " Why was this so?"
Englishmen may ask. Because the Emperor saw France
through the eyes of M. Pietri. He fears his young
Mobiles, who are too well educated and independent to
stand the treatment the clod puts up with. M. Pietri's
spies covered reams of paper with reports of odds and
ends of seditious conversations which they overheard
between Moblos in cafts, on parade grounds, at the dinner
tables of private families, at soirees, and in the Bullier
Dancing Gardens—tending to shew that, if by arming
the flower of French youth, the Empire escaped the
Scylla of Prussian conquest, it would be wrecked on
the Charybdis of Revolution.—Daily News Paris Cor-
respondent.

A PRELUDE TO THE WAR.—It was shortly after
the battle of Sadowa, when Bonaparte's demand for a
rectification of the Rhenish frontier had just been re-
jected. The Luxemburg question then came on the
tapir. But here, too, unexpected difficulties arose.
Under these circumstancess the influence of the mili-
tary party at Paris increased ; the Emperor entered
into confidential deliberations with Niel ; at last
the question of an immediate commencement of
hostilities against Prussia was brought before the
Council of Ministers. The arguments of the war
party gained the upper hand ; Marshal Niel saw himself
on the eve of accomplishing his cherished plan. Various
measures, preparatory to war, were fixed upon in the
Council. It was decided, for instance to throw an army
of 80,000 men into Luxemburg. When the Council
separated the Marshal and one of the Ministers were
radient. The others, even those who had given
their assent, felt impressed with the sad importance
of the situation, and were depressed. The fol-
lowing morning, according to previous stipulation, one
of the Ministers had an audience of the Emperor on the
subject of the grave resolution which had been taken on
the previous evening. Special orders were expected, and
the Minister presented himself in a state of considerable
excitement. On being admitted he was struck by the
even more than usual phlegmatic and impassable attitude
of the Emperor. His astonishment increased when
he found Louis Napoleon studiously avoided
even the slightest allusion to the proceedings of
the evening before. At last the Minister took heart to ex-
press his astonishment. The reply of the Emperor was,
"It is impossible ! We are not sufficiently prepared; we
have neither men nor means enough for the present 1"
On hearing this quiet reversal of a resolution to which he
himself, together with Niel, had mainly contributed, the
Minister could not repress his astonishment, and reminded
Louis Napoleon of the discussion which had taken place on
all these objections, and how, in the end, they had beets
overruled. "It is impossible !" the Emperor once more
quietly repeated, and the Minister had to make his bow.
Great was the revulsion of feeling and the uproar which
followed in the circle of the initiated. " The Emperor is
very ill !" some said sneeringly. Others broke out in the
exclamation " That man dishonours us !" But there was
no appeal from Ciesar sobered down; the war party had
for the nonce to subside.—Letter from Carl Blind in the
Rh einsch,e Zeituna.