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

STRATEGY OF THE CAMPAIGN.

Telegrams dated from Metz early on Saturday inform
us that the French troops have abandoned Nancy. The
significance of this statement can scarcely be exaggerated.
At Nancy, or at Frouard, some four or five miles to the
north, the railways uniting Stiasburg on the one hand
and Metz on the other join—continuing by Toul
and Bar-le-Duc towards Paris. If the French
have given up the railroad leading from Nancy
northward to Metz, it can only be because they have given
up Metz itself. To allow an enemy's cavalry to occupy a
vital line of such communication, such as that which
unites Nancy with Metz, would be simply suicidal, unless
it had been determined that the line of the Moselle should
be altogether abandoned. We are. therefore, perfectly
prepared to accept the statement—although not yet
made upon official authority—that the French
army has been entirely withdrawn from Metz and Nancy,
towards the line of the Meuse, and the Forest of Argonne,
in the passes of which Dumouriez, in 1792, baffled a
German army much less resolute and worse prepared for
war than that which now invades France. Behind the Ar-
gonne the imperial generals have all the chances which Bene-
dek threw away in Bohemia in 1866. They command the
debouches of the passes ; they stand at a central point from
which they can act rapidly and effectively against
hostile forces advancing from any portion of the frontier ;
while their communications with the capital, and
through the capital, with the great southern and south-
western provinces which really constitute France, are
perfectly secure. The good front which the Imperial
forces have shown around Metz inclines us to believe that
they will obstinately contest the line of the Meuse and
the passes of the Argonne. Dumouriez, with an army
wretchedly organised and perilously enthusiastic,
there held his ground successfully against the
German invaders in 1792 ; it would go hard with Napoleon
111. if he could not maintain the passes against a twofold,
or even a threefold, hostile force. But there is one great
danger. From Luneville to Chaumoat is but
four days' march ; and an army advancing on that line
turns not merely the Argonne, but also the lines of
all the rivers which flow north-westward through
Champagne, and constitute the natural defence of Paris
against an enemy approaching from the east. Mean-
while, it is evident that the French retreat upon Chalons
signifies simply the surrender to the enemy of one-fourth
of the soil of France, and that nothing but the most over-
whelming military necessity could explain such a step.—
Telegraph.

The official telegrams show that it would be practically
impossible for the French to hold their position in front
of Metz in the present position of the Prussian troops.
In the first place, we have an official telegram from
the chief Prussian headquarters at Herny, a small rail-
way station on the line from Metz to Bening Merbach,
about 26 kilometres, or 16 miles, from Metz. This
telegram says that a battalion of French troops, who had
been moved by rail from Metz to Pont h Mousson, the
town just half-way between Metz and Nancy, hastily
withdrew, with the loss of its baggage, on the Prussian
troops taking possession of that place on Saturday
morning. The same telegram says that the French
have evacuated Nancy, and that the Prussian
cavalry has destroyed the railway line to the
north of Nancy leading to Frouard. Frouard, it will be
observed, is the junction of the railways from Metz and
Strasbourg to Paris. Nor is this all. Other bodies of
Prussian cavalry have seized a provision column " within
the advanced lines of those French troops who are
still in position on the glacis of Metz." To a certain
extent this is confirmed by the French telegram.
One official despatch announces that Nancy has
been occupied by a detachment of Prussian cavalry;
while another asserts that a body of Prussians, who for a
time occupied Pont h Mousson, were dislodged after a
short fight by the " Marguerite" cavalry brigade, with a
loss of thirty prisoners. It is to be noticed that this
telegram is dated Metz, as is another also of
yesterday's date, saying that reinforcements have arrived,
and that volunteers are coming in in great num-
bers. If we add to these telegrams an earlier Prussian
despatch of Saturday's date, which states that the French
army had taken up a position on the river Nied, which it
was prepared to defend, but had notwithstanding retired
over the Moselle to Metz, and that the Prussian cavalry
were before Metz, Pont h Mousson, and Nancy, we have
tolerably convincing proof that the French do not intend
to take up a deliberate chosen position in front of
Metz, but have elected to seek safety behind the Moselle.
—Standard.

The German army is passing Metz, and still we have
no news of a battle. The line of the Moselle, as
a telegram from Metz informs us, was reached
by the Prussians on Friday morning, and on
Saturday morning, as we learn from Berlin, the
Prussian infantry appeared in force and took pos-
session of Pont-d-Mousson, the largest town on the Mo-
selle between Nancy and Metz. Thereupon the French
evacuated Nancy. Such much is clear, but
did Marshal Bazaine's army also fall back
from Metz ? We strongly suspect it, and the
world believes it, for telegrams to that effect
are coming in from Frankfort and various points
on the Rhine. On the other hand, there are telegrams
from Metz, dated Sunday, which are silent on the
subject. But it is to be remembered that the
French authorities did not see fit to report the
evacuation of Nancy until it had been pub-
lished all over Europe, or the taking of Pont-h-
Mousson—this last town having been named by them
only for the sake of mentioning a repulse of Prussian
scouts. One of two things is certain, either the French
army is staying at Metz to be enveloped, if it is not
already enveloped, or it has fallen back en Chalons.—
/ _pay News.

As to Speichern, it is wrong to say that the French
were in that engages, snt crushed by for numbers.
We have now a tolerably full report of u als Stein-
metz and Alvensleben, which shews pretty clearly what
troops were engaged on the German side. The
attack was made by the 14th Division, supported
by our old friends the 40th Regiment in all
fifteen battalions. They alone, of infantry, fought for
six hours against the three divisions, or thirty-nine bat-
talions, which Frossard brought up successively. When
they were nearly crushed, but still held the heights of
Speichern, which they had stormed in the beginning of
the fight, the sth Division of the' 3rd or Brandenburg
Corps came up, and at least three out of its four regi-
ments took part in the fight—all in all, either twenty-four
or twenty-seven battalions of Germans. They drove the
French from their position, andit was only after the retreat
had commenced that the head of the 13th Division,which had
turned the French right by the valley of the Rossel,
reached the field of battle, fell upon Forbach, and turned
an orderly retreat into a rout by cutting off the direct road
to Metz. The Germans at the close of the fight had
another division (the 6th) ready to engage, and, indeed,
sli;htly engaged ; but at the same time two French
divisions. Montaudon's and Caatagny's (both of BazaineV,

nau eume up, ULM tie outs xtegiment, wmcn corms pun,
of the latter, had suffered severely. Thus, if at Wissem-
bourg and Woerth the French were crushed by superior
masses, they were beaten by inferior numbers at
Speichern. As to their common report that they
were outnumbered, it is not to be forgotten that
individual soldiers in a battle cannot possibly judge of
numbers, and that it is the common assertion of all
beaten armies. Besides, it should not be forgotten that
the solid qualities of the German army are only now be-
ginning to be recognised. We have it officially from the
French head-quarters that the German fire is much supe-
rior in steadiness and precision to the French, and
MacMahon insists that the French have no chance against
the Germans in woods, because these latter know so
much better how to take advantage of shelter,—PallMcall
Gazette.