The Sun.
London, England, 1870-11-23 00:00:00

TIIE BATTLE AT COULSITERS.

The official Bavarian report concerning the battle near
Coulidera is as follows :

Royal Headquarters, Versailles,
November 13,

To Lieutenant-General von Hanenfeldt, Chief of the
Staff.—l have the honour report on the battle in which
the Ist Bavarian Corps was engaged near Coulmiers, as
follows :--General von der Tann had received informa-
tion in the beginning of this month that the enemy
had occupied .the district from Mer to Moree, and
especiallythe forest of Marcheheir, in force, with Mobiles
and Francs-tireurs, and that a brigade had been pushed
forward as advanced guard to Mer, on both sides of the
Loire. The reconnaissances undertaken in consequence
by the 2nd division of cavalry, as well as the intel-
ligence brought by spies, proved up to the Bth
that the Army of the Loire was about to ad-
vance rig Coulmiers. General von der Tann,
therefore, on the evening of the Bth, marched
westwards, leaving an infantry regiment iu Orleans,
and concentrated his troops in a position between Coul-
miers and Huisseau. The advanced guard pushed forward
from this position on the 9th, fell in with the enemy at
seven in the morning on the other side of Coulmiers,
coming from the direction from Vendome and Moree, ac-
cording to thestatement of some prisoners. This was the
vanguard of the Army of the Loire under General
Polhbs, which was known through the newspapers
to have been set in motion 60,000 strong in the
direction of Le Mans, twelve miles north-west of Tours,
and fourteen miles west of Chateaudun. The enemy
attacked the position of the Bavarian Corps with six bat-
talions of infantry, of six companies each—all troops of
the line—followed by powerful and numerous columns in
the course of the morning. Seven French cavalry
regiments protected the attacking wings, 120
French guns were gradually brought into
action against the Bavarian position. Notwith-
standing their great numerical superiority, the
advance of the French troops was checked by the
admirable attitude of the Bavarian battalions. Four
onslaughts which the enemy made against the right
wing were successively repulsed with great bravery,
and inflicting considerable. loss on the French infantry,
so that General Von der Tann - succeeded in
completely holding his position up to the evening.
It was only at dusk, when the attacking columns
of the enemy had retired, that General
Von der Tann decided to move nearer to the
reinforcements which were being sent him from Chartres
and Versailles. The retr3at on St. Peravy was accom-
plished in admirable attitude, and with the proud convic-
tion that, notwithstanding great numerical inferiority, the
attack of the enemy had been completely baulked, and
that the retrograde movement had been caused only by the
free will of the General. The enemy did not follow up the
Ist Bavarian Corps, but occupied Orleans the same
night, where about 1,000 sick, that could not be trans-
ported, had unfortunately to be left behind in the
hospitals. On the 10th the retrograde movement was con-
tinued to Toury, where the Ist Bavarian Corps was re-
inforced by Prussian troops. His Royal Highness the
Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin has taken com-
mand of this newly-formed division of the army. The
loss of the Ist Bavarian Corps on the 9th amounts to 42
efficers and 650 rank and file killed and wounded. On
the 10th an ammunition train, with a warrant
officer and 80 men, fell into the hands of the
enemy. A French report, which has been intercepted,
computes the loss of the enemy as 2,000 killed and
wounded. It is conceded that the enemy was unable to
force our centre, and has even suffered defeat on his right
wing. Complaints ,are likewise made about bad rations
and deficient care for the wounded. The 1,000 prisoners
alluded to in this report must be those left behind in the
hospitals of Orleans.
(Signed) KAUNATZ,
Captain of the General Staff.