The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-05 00:00:00

L!. SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY

briick, on the Prussian frontier, has been attacked, the
Germans defeated, and the place itself taken. Naturally
we are en fête. The bulletins are glowing, and though
there is obvious reason to believe that the joy
is somewhat in excess of the measure that the
facts would justify, people are not disposed to
ask questions at present. Yesterday, it appears,
An attack upon Saarbruck was resolved on, and the
Emperor sallied out of Metz with his son, in order to give
that interesting, but very delicate youth, a first taste of
powder. There was a move forward on the part of one of
General Frossard's divisions, the frontier was crossed,
and for the first time the French, in any great force,
stood upon Prussian soil. The capture of the heights at
Saarbruck, and the subsequent driving of the Prussians
from the town, lasted about two hours. It began
at eleven, and finished at one, and the Emperor
with his son, who behaved well, was back in time for an
early dinner. On account of the great " élan" of the
French, their loss, we are given to understand, was
extremely light—only ten men and one officer. We are
told nothing about the loss of the Prussians. The
artillery played a great part in the fight, and the mitrail-
leuses, so runs a telegram in the Figaro, did unheard of
mischief. One of these instruments was placed on the top
of a hill—one of those round the town which the troops
carried ; the Emperor came up, and a favourable oppor-
tunity was watched for, in order to try the machine for
the first time on living men.
So it appears from this that the mitrailleuse is likely to
do for the Prussians what the needle gun did for the
Austrians. As to what became or the town we are in
doubt, for whilst one story relates that it was reduced to
ashes, another states that no attempt was made to occupy it.
The Prussian force is given in the bulletin at from 10,000
to 20,000 men. All that we can say is that if such a force
as this has been beaten, and Saarbruck made a heap of
ashes, with the loss of only eleven men on the French side,
and by the agency of a few battalions, the battle has been
one-sided indeed, and the enemy may conclude a peace as
soon as they like.
The Paris correspondent of the Standard, Writing on
Wednesday, an account of the fight at Saarbruck. He
says :—lt would appear that yesterday morning the corps
of Gene al Froissard, quartered at St. Avoid, with its
outposts 'at Stiring and Spicheren, received orders to ad-
vance, and occupy the heights which command Saar-
bruck on the left bank of the river Saar. The infantry
force was to be supported by several batteries of ar-
tillery, including one of 12-pounder howitzers. The
ground slopes down from the French fr( ntier rather
abruptly, and is nearly flat for about three-quarters
of a mile, when it gradually rises and forms a plateau
which commands the whole of that pretty little manu-
facturing town. Either the Prussians were not numerous
enough to oppose the advance of the French in the open,
or had orders not to do so. The former hypothesis is the
more likely of the two, especially if it be true
that it was garrisoned only by the 40th Regiment
of the line and two squadrons of "Miens. However
that may be, the French advanced with their usual
dash and intrepidity, and very soon dislodged the
enemy from the plateau. When the troops were half-
way across the plain, the Emperor and the Prince Im-
perial arrived on horseback, accompanied by Marshal
Lebceuf, and were enthusiastically cheered by the troops.
Had the enemy offered a serious resistance they would
have been in a very dangerous position, as they were im-
mediately in the rear of the first line which kept firing as
they moved. When the plateau was gained thel2pounder
battery was brought into action on the plateau against the
town in which the Prussians had sought a refuge, and
began shelling it. It was set on fire in several places,
and the Prussians finding it untenable crossed the Saar
and evacuated the suburb of St. Johnann on the right
bank, which was also set on fire by the French shells. As
they retreated to the heights that rise above St. Johann
(on the right bank of the river) mitrailleuses were brought
against them, and are reported to have done tremendous
execution. The Prussians are said to have had a battery
of artillery in position above St. Johann, but it does not
appear to have been any good ; probably the distance was
too great. The long and short of the matter is, that the
French occupy the heights commanding the Saar on the
left bank ; whilst the Prussians occupy the heights on the
right bank, the river and the town of Saarbruck are between
the two forces. The town and suburb are, if not destroyeds
utterly damaged by the French shells. The Prussians
have evacuated it : but the French have not occupied it.
Of course war has stern necessities, which at this distance
it. would be impertinent to criticise ; but as the town was
untenable the moment the French occupied the heights
commanding it on the left hand of the river it seems a
pity that it should have been deemed indispensable to
bombard and destroy it. One account says it is now but
a heap of ashes. Bombarding an open town, after a
successful attack which has cost the assailants only one
man killed and ten wounded, does not appear in har-
mony with the principles of modern warfare, which
eschews the old rule to " kill, burn, and destroy" all tha'
belongs to the enemy.

The correspondent of the Opinion- Nationale, of Paris,
thus winds up a lively accoinit of the Saarbruck affair
The effect of the mitrailleu se was terrific. Battalions
were mown down. After each discharge the Prussians
broke and disbanded on all sides. The parade-ground was
occupied by our troops. The 23d of the Line entered the
first, driving the Prussians before them. The artillery was
immediately established there. It was directed upon the
railway station and the intrenched points of Saarbruck,
which extended before us with its factories in flames to
the banks of the Sarre. After a few minutes fire broke
out in three or four different places, and the Prussians
evacuated Saarbruck. Our Mitrailleuses pursued them
with their terrible fire. They took their course along the
paths which run along the heights on the other side of the
Sarre. By one o'clock the action may be considered
as at an end. Our division encamped upon the
parade-ground and upon the slopes. General Froissard,
with General Bataille. with their field glasses, observed
the retreat of the enemy, and directed a battery
to open upon the railway-bridge to the left, between
Saarbruck and Forbach. The bridge was defended
by bags of earth and barrels of petroleum. Our fire dis-
lodged the Prussians, the last enemies, who took to flight
under the fire of our tirailleurs, The Chassepots are
terrible. They earry 1,000 or 1,200 metres, while the
Prussian bullets are only effective at 800. Upon the
parade-ground everybody was talking gaily. The dead
and wounded were few in number—two officers killed, one
sergeant•major, and four soldiers. lam ignorant of the
number of victims in the Prussian army, but it must be
considerable, having regard to the superiority and ra-
pidity of our fire. The 3/litrailleuses have pt oved master-
pieces in respect of death and carnage. From our espla-
nade we saw the showers of balls strike down bat-
talions as a waterspout ravages and uproots a field of
corn. The cannon still was heard, but the affair was
ended. It was not a battle properly so called, for the
Prussians never waited for us. They beat a retreat before
us at racing pace. But a considerable advantage has
been gained. The first engagement is a victory, and the
moral effect is immense. Our soldiers jest freely upon
the precipitate flight of the Prussians. Their pride did
not prevent them from letting us see their backs at the
first encounter.

The Times Paris correspondent speaks of the affair some-
what differently from any other writer :—Nobody will
doubt French dash, but it is manifest the Prussians would
not have seriously defended the position, even if had been
twice as strong. The little combat is probably
only the first of a series of similar ones which
will be fought before the Prussians make a determined
stand in front of their fortresses. The important feature
of the affair is that it seems to show a superiority of the
Chassepot over the needle-gun. The French had only 180
killed and wounded ; the Prussian loss is estimated at 300.
Although the Figaro professes to know, by a private tele-
gram; that there was a great artillery fight, and that the
mitrailleuses did wonders, the accounts received in
official quarters up to noon this day did not confirm this,
and it seems to have been chiefly an infantry combat.
Details, however, are still wanting. The important fact
is that the campaign is opened ; that the French army has
advanced in force into the enemy's country ; and that at
this time of writing it is pretty certain that five corps,
which may be estimated at 250,000 men, have crossed the
frontier.

SA ARBRUCK.
Saarbruck is the chief town of one of the thirteen divi-
sions of the district of Treves, in the Grand Duchy of the
Lower Rhine. It is an industrial town, containing from
nine to ten thousand inhabitants, divided into two
parts by the river Saare. The town is situated
on the left bank, on the right bank is
the St. Jean faubourg. Without. being a military posi-
tion at the present time, Saarbruck is well situated at the
entrance of the forest of Forbach, two kilometres from
the French frontier. It is surrounded by low hills, which
command it on all sides. Its possession, says a French
paper (which, however, there is reason to question) gives
the key to the principal tributary of the Moselle, and to
the strong Prussian positions which are near it. The
campaign of 1794 put the French iu possession of Saar-
briick, but it was lost to them in 1815. The
Pruosiana had made IWO of: ,it a,i wotcli-tolver,

to observe the French frontier, and some surprise I
has been expressed that they did not surround it with
fortifications. Saarbriick is celebrated for its collieries.
It is situated in a valley which is near
the Vosges, and at the head of the valley of
Subzbach, which joins the Hartz Mountains in
Rhenish Bavaria. An idea may be formed of the
richness of the coal produce, when it is said that last year
it reached fifty million hundred weight. From thirteen
to fourteen thousand workmen are employed. Three rail-
way lines run from Saarbruck—one to Mannheim,
another to Treves, and a third to France by Forbach.