The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-23 00:00:00

TUESDAY'S BATTLE-VIONVILLE.

The correspondent of the Standard, writing from Dan
wilier, gives so me details of the great battle fought or

Tuesday, no account of which, so tardy is the march of
news, has previously appeared. Of course this corres-
pondent writes in ignorance of the still more terrible fight
which took place on Thursday :—On Monday night a
great part of the French army was placed in battle line at
Gravelotte, at the intersection of the two roads leading to
Verdun; no engagement took place on that evening.
I left at five o'clock p.m., and at seven I
was in the neighbourhood with the Chas-
seurs d'Afrique, hunting _ the Uhlans. I
know well the position of the two armies, and send you a
sketch of the battle-field. At nine on Tuesday morning
the Prussian line had advanced as far as Doncourt, and
their tirailleurs began the attack on the French positions,
occupying Rezonville and Vionville. Those villages are
situate on a plateau, known as La Plaine de la Warfe, at
a distance of 14 kilometres from Met; and commanding
in the eastern direction a full view of Metz, and the
Valley of the Moselle. The battle-field is situate
between the two roads leading to Verdun near Grave-
lotte. From nine o'clock, when the Prussians began the
first attack, up to eight in the evening, the tremendous
struggle has been lasting, and from the different reports
I have been able to gather, no engagement since the be-
ginning of the war has been so serious in losses on beth
sides ; two hundred thousand men appear to have been en-
gaged, during the day, on one side, part of the united army
of Prince Frederick Charles and Count Steinmetz ; on
the French side the three corps of Marshal Bazaine and
the Imperial Guard. The 2d Corps of General Frossard,
and the cavalry of General de Forton, accomplished
prodigies of valour, but at a very dear cost ; they lost a
great many men, and were successfully reinforced by the
3rd Corps and the divisions occupying Rezonville : in one
of these furious engagements General Bataille, com-
manding the 2nd division, 2nd Corps, has been seriously
wounded. The Prussians have successively advanced
with new and strong colums. Their forces
were considerable, and by far superior to the
French. The greatest part of the day they
maintained the offensive with a certain success,
and according to their custom towards the evening brought
an immense corps d'armde of entirely fresh troops,
attacking vigorously the left wing of the French and
trying to break it. After several attempts, more or less
successful, they were definitely repulsed on the line, and
by the evening Marshal Bazaine was occupying the head
points of Prussian lines. The losses are considerable on
both sides, and until I have full details and true num-
bers I shall repeat the words of Mashal Bazaine—
The losses of the enemy are great ; ours are serious.
As usual, the Uhlans have played an important
part in the battle ; they are to be found in every spot
where daring is wanted. It is no doubt a marvellous
cavalry, composed of some of the elite of the German
nation. I have seen them as eclaireurs, I have seen them
everywhere in the country I have crossed, and I hear that
at this battle near Gravelotte a regiment of them
attacked the staff of Marshal Bazaine, killing twenty
men of the escort, and retiring after the death
of their commander. Seldom has such a brilliant coup de
main, attacking the staff of the commander in chief, been
witnessed, and it is well worth mentioning. Sunday was
a victory for the French, Tuesday a more important one;
it remains to be seen if it will alter the movements of the ,
French army; but the departure of Napoleon for Chalons
during the contest would seem to infer that the French
will continue their retreating tactics.

OFFICIAL GERMAN REVIEW OF THE

CAMPAIGN.

The latest German official details of the campaign are
important, as containing information respecting the move-
ments during the period which elapsed between the battles

Forbach and Woerth and the combats round Metz.

The document observes :—" The advance of the German
armies towards the Moselle could not on all points of our
extended line be equally rapid. After invading
France and making good their stand in the coup•
try, our armies were disposed between Forbach

and Haguenau, forming a line which stretched east-
south-east. The Moselle between Metz aed Nancy flow-
ing straight south and north, it follows that a portion
of our troops found themselves considerably nearer the
river than the rest. Our first, or northernmost army,
under General Steinmetz, was in closer proximity to the
stream than our second army, under Prince Frederick
Charles; that under the Crown Prince, the third, being
the most distant of all, and, moreover, separated from the
Moselle by the most difficult ground. It being expected
that the enemy would try to concentrate his forces as soon
as possible, and make another stand in the favourable posi-

tion on the banks of the Nied between Metz and Marsal,
orders were given to our different armies so to time their
advance as to remain in close contact with each other, and
form gradually into a straight continuous line. While the
whole of our cavalry were keeping on the heels of the
enemy the three armies followed in forced marches, in
spite of the rain and the uneven nature of the ground
they had to traverse. This quick pursuit did not allow

the French to form again. One after the other, they
first abandoned the line of the Nied, and subsequently,
when our van had reached Metz, Pont-k-Mousson, and
Nancy, the line of the Moselle. The Emperor Napoleon
likewise withdrew from Metz to Verdun, there to defend

the country, as he announced, against the invasion of the
German forces. At the moment we are writing Nancy
has been evacuated, and Frossard, where the railways
from Nancy to Metz and Toul join, occupied by our
men. Prince Frederick Charles's van has left Pont-h-
Mousson, and is rapidly pushing on towards Verdun ; the
Vosges fortresses havo been deserted before our arrival, or
have surrendered with all their numerous guns and stores;
and the Metz army of the French is in the act of draw-
ing off, leaving the Moselle for the Meuse. Just as their
rear was departing General Steinmetz's van came up, and,
engaging them under the very guns of the fortress, forced
them to seek shelter behind the ramparts they had just
intended to quit. Our van, however, was not strong
enough to prevent their crossing the river under cover of
the fortress. Hence it would almost appear that the whole
French army is retreating towards the Meuse, and does
not intend making any decisive stand until reaching
Chalons. One motive may possibly be to give time for
their reinforcements to come up, another to weaken us by
forcing our generals to garrison the country they conquer
as they advance. But it may be confidently anticipated
that any reinforcements of troops, Garde Mobile, and
general levy the French are likely to collect will not
materially alter the present numerical proportion between
the two contending armies. Care, moreover, has been
taken to fill up the gaps in our forces by throwing in a
sufficient supply of reserves. We shall occupy the con-
quered provinces and besiege Strasburg and Metz without
reducing our available force in the field."