The Sun.
London, England, 1870-11-17 00:00:00

THE MILITARY SITUATION.

What is the Army of the Loire about ? was the question
asked in all the papers yesterday. On the 9th and 10th
it defeated the Germans, who withdrew to Toury, only
21 miles off, and yet for nearly a week the French
general has done nothing, though he might
have attacked Von der Tann with superior
numbers, though his soldiers were flushed with victory,
and though, if he delays, he will surely be assailed by
two armies. Von der Tann's army has been strengthened,
and now numbers 60,000 men, under the com-
mand of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg.
This army is stationed at Toury, or thereabouts,
a position well-nigh midway between Orleans and Paris.
Prince Frederick Charles is, meanwhile, advancing from
the east with some 75,000 men, and threatens the right
wing of the Loire army. The advices of yesterday
report • the Prince as very near. His army
has occupied the line of the Yonne at Sens,
about fifty miles from Gien on the Loire,
and but thirty from Montargis, whence any French posi-
tion to the north of Orleans could be taken in flank by
one good day's march. A total force of nearly 150,000
men, then, menace General D'Aurelles de Paladine, and,
whatever may be his strength, he cannot hope to cope
with this host of experienced troops. His inaction
while he had the opportunity of assailing Der Tann
alone, is the cause of much surprise. Some
military writers urge that he is not strong enough for a
forward movement. A more plausible explanation is to
be found in a telegram from the Times' correspondent at
Berlin. This message says that the Army of the Loire, after
occupying Orleans, turned towards Chartres, as though with
the intention .of attacking the western flank of the army '
before Paris. It seems hardly probable that D'Aurelles
would move towards Paris, leaving the Grand Duke of
Mecklenberg's army on his right ; but it is likely that he
intends to attack that army on the right, beat it back to-
wards the east, and then go straight forward to the capital.
He must be very quick indeed, however,if this movement
is to prosper. Whether he try such an experiment or not,
news of operations may be expected every hour, for if the
French do not attack the Germans, the Germans will
attack the French, unless the latter retreat, and leave
Paris altogether to its fate.

It was rumoured at Boulogne yesterday that Trochu
had made a grand sortie in the direction of Versailles.
On the 10th there were in sight of Heligoland seven
French frigates and three corvettes, which proceeded
towards the Weser.
At Marseilles the municipal elections have resulted in a
Republican triumph. The results, as far as known, are
21,000 votes for the Republican list, and 7,000 for the
Revolutionary list.
From the 16th, the day on which Queen Augusta's
Guards retook Le Bourget; an almost constant fire has
been kept up in the direction of that village by the French
forts.

The top price of horsemeat in Paris, officially fixed
from the 7th of November to the 14th by the Minister of
Agriculture, is 9d. per lb. ; that of butter, which is not
interfered with officially, 365. a pound.
The charge against a French officer at Le Bourget of
treacherously killing the Prussian colonel, Count
Waldersee, whilst feigning to surrender, is unfounded.
The Colonel was killed by a piece of shell.
Von der Tann is blamed at the German headquarters
for his tardiness in withdrawing his forces from Orleans.
Dr. Russell says the 9th of November will ever be a
memorable day in the history of the war. It is the date
of the first serious German reverse.
The French prisoners captured in Metz suffer much
during the transport into Germany. The journey is a
very tedious one, and they seem to have, many of them,
no great coats, but scanty underclothing, and their cloth,
or rather frieze, is of a flimsy substance.
It is said that General de Failly during last week passed
through Bellegarde (Ain) proceeding to Switzerland. He
was not arrested, and, in consequence of their not having
seen fit to make a prisoner of the General, the specia
commissary and two inspectors of police haveibeen, by
superior orders, arrested and sent to Lyons.
At Strasburg and in the neighbourhood several offices
for the enrolment of Franc-tireurs have been discovered,
and it appears that already 280 have been enrolled and
sent out. " Several of the enrollers have been handed
over to a court-martial, which can only pronounce a
sentence of death or acquittal."
Of late the Paris National Guard, which absolutely
refuses to undertake any active operations in the field,
has been compelled to go through its spell of duty in the
forts, as well as the Moblots. The fort guns, however,
are all manned by the sailors. Torpedoes have been laid
down all round the forts and outside the ramparts.
The French Government is treating the crews of cap-
tured German merchantmen as prisoners of war. Count
Bismarck has demanded the extradition of their captains,
40 in number. France refusing this demand, unless an
equal number of French military officers were given up,
Count Bismarck ordered 40 French notables to be arrested.
and sent o to a German fortress.
A Foreign Legion, bearing the name of " Les Amis de
la France," has been formed, some 1,500 strong. It is
composed of Americans, Hanoverians, Belgians, and, I
deeply regret to say, a few Englishmen—one of whom,
Lieutenant Drake, was buried on Friday last. Their
uniform is brown and black, brown tunic, black facings
and braid, black cap with tricolour cockade, and black
trousers. They are armed with Snider rifles.—Telegraph
Correspondent.

A letter from Versailles in the Allegemeine Zeitung
written during M. Thiers's negotiations, mentions the
home sickness of the German soldiers, who would gladly
celebrate New Year's Day with their families. They are
carrying on war, novas hirelings for the sake of war, but
because they are conscious it was a necessity for their

country, though in itself an evil.
It would appear that the German leaders do not enter-
tain great fears of any achievements by the French army
of the Loire. It appears that whereas both the Fourth
and the Seventeenth Divisions were at first ordered
southward, with the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-
Schwerin, to reinforce Von der Tann's Bavarians, the
Pomeranians were countermanded, and only the Seven-
teenth were sent.

The Franc-tireurs of Tours are said by the Opinion
Liberale to have lately returned to that town, bringing
with them 1,500 prisoners of war. They had for two
days, amid torrents of rain, scoured all the woods from
Beaugency to Orleans ; but, nevertheless, their military
appearance was remarkable. The ladies of the town
greeted them with cordial cheers, and with a profuse dis-
tribution of flowers.

The Voss Gazette of Berlin acknowledges that Germany
would have derived some strategic advantages from the
armistice, because she would have been able to bring the
army before Metz to Paris, and allowed it some weeks to
recruit itself. The chief good of the armistice would
have been the possibility of reconstructing the railway up
to the gates of Paris, which would have secured the
transport of provisions and the revictualling of the army.
Tuesday's Echo du Nord says :—" Nothing has yet been
seen of the enemy's army corps which threatened the
North. Our scouts, who are spread over the whole
Ardennes region, have found no traces of him, and our
communications with Mdzieres remain free. The infor-

mation which reaches us from the various northern towns
enables us to state, without entering into further details,
that the respite given us by the enemy has been utilised,
and they will find before them fortresses perfectly pre-
pared for resistance."

A German correspondent says that the whole of the
district occupied with Von Werder's corps is quiet, and
from Vesoul to Colmar there are nowhere any bodies of
armed men who could withstand the attack of a single
battalion. In fact, the inhabitants of this part of the
country seem to be thoroughly averse from taking an active
part in military operations, being of most peaceable dispo-
sition generally, and this is especially the case with those

who may be possessed of any trifling plot of land, or who
keep a shop even of the smallest dimensions.
Great difficulties attended the exodus of the 120 British
subjects, who have just succeeded in getting out of Paris.
Mr. Washburne, the American Minister who is
accredited to the Government at Paris, did
much to assist Mr. Wodehouse in overcoming
them in Paris. Colonel Claremont's personal influence

with General Trochu was also most useful,

The

preparation of lists of names, the organisation of all

the preliminaries, were not the least troublesome Part
of the business. Mr. Wodehouse had no instructions
rom the Foreign Office, and had to act on his °//11
responsibility in contracting debts and procuring moneY,
for the necessary expenses. The persons who wish;
to come out out, most of whom ought to have left
long ago, had to promise they would not take out PaPe"
or letters.
RUIN AT METz.—A letter in the Cologne Gazette,
describing the plain before Metz in which Alarshw
Bazaine's troops were encamped during the siege, 831
" The whole broad plain, devoid of every hlade;
eras a, was a muddy surface. Between the spots where the
tents and huts had stood, bodies and remnants of fallen
and slaughtered horses were scattered about, on which here
and there dogs were feeding. There were also saddles, bar
ness, and other military articles. Most of the horses latr
on their side, their legs extended, but some had drawn
their last breath lying on their bellies, and their head!
MOP' were still erect on their rigid necks, as if they were
to spring to their feet. The appearance of this encamp'
meat shews the miserable position of the French ar°39
and though Bazaine not improbably occupied hinleteho
during the siege with political and selfish plans; a
opinion prevalent in Metz that he sold himself anu
lurch
army can only proceed from a foolish blindness W,
sees only disaster and treachery everywhere, inst""uni.
perceiving the enemy's superiority. Near Fort
Quentin, were heaps of Chassepots, sabres, cartridge"
boxes, &c. Scattered around were the smaller aPPef
dages of the Chassepots, vestiges of uniforms and b°°"
and field flasks, also fragments of musical instruments,
and even pages of notes, which the wind blew ah°,.us._ll2"
c
All this gave an impression of the most complete '".
tegration."

MORE ABOUT METZ.—The Independance Pigs
receives every day numerous letters from officers of the
army of Metz, now prisoners in Germany, in which they
protest against the capitulation, and accuse their forme!
General in no measured terms of having betrayed his
army and France. One of these denies the alleged lack °f
discipline in the army. There might have been 031
tumultuous acts on the part of soldiers who wanted Pro'
visions and went in search of them, but these were al
exceptional instances. There was but one culprit, write°
this officer, and that is the Commander-in-Chief. The
heads of the corps were misled. The Marshal told them (4
the troubles of France, of civil war, of towns calling for
Prussian garrisons and convinced them that the interest
of France required the immediate re-establishment of a
monarchical government to reduce the chaos into order.
Thus these officers agreed to Boyer's mission, and mealy
while the army eat its last horses, and was reduced to ex'
haustion. Thus the whole army was deceived, and the
journals of Metz, without news from France, could not
enlighten them. When the real state of the case
known there was but one voice, We are betrayed ! Another
letter denies that Bazaine shared the responsibility with
any one, and declaies that the whole army of Metz is '3l
onerated from any share in the capitulation.

GARIBALDI. —The correspondent of a German
paper is responsible for the following :—" The French
peasant, especially in the Vosges and Jura districts, can
seldom read, never reads a newspaper, does not know et
the existence of Gambetta and the other leaders of the
Revolution, and only follows in political matters the teach-
ing of the cure of the parish, and all these clericals enter-
tain a bitter enmity towards Garibaldi. As a rule,. I
always seek the company of the French clergy, and sere
every opportunity of conversing with them ; and being
the other day with some of them, I ventured to ask them
how it was they could tolerate the presence of a foreign
adventurer like Garibaldi. The answer I received from
one of them was, that as a good Frenchman, he hated the
Prussians, but his hatred towards Garibaldi was more
intense, and he assured me he had refused absolution to
all who may have dared to render him any assistance, or
had offered to serve under him. As lam informed upon
reliable authority. Garibaldi is in great straits, His corps
in the Jura district consists only of 8,000 men, badly armed
and clad, and thoroughly without discipline, among whom
there are about 3,000 Italians and 1,500 of other nations,
leaving only 3,000 Frenchmen, principally young men
from Lyons and other large towns, who, it is true, may
not not be deficient in ardour and enthusiasm, but who
have no idea of discipline, and every one of whom thinks
he is entitled to rank as an officer. The artillery of tile
Garibaldian corps is said to consist of 12 guns, not well
appointed, the cavalry consisting of only 300 men mounted
on rough farm horses."
THE CONDUCT OF THE SIEGE.—The correspond.
dent of the Daily News writes from Versailles under date
Nevember 18th :—There has only been just firing enough
during the last twenty-four hours to confirm our impres'
sion that the siege is being actively pressed on some parts
of the line. An occasional discharge of heavy guns has
rumbled among the woods of Meudon, or come more
sharply down upon the breeze from Mont Valerien. The
Prussians are strengtheniug their works here and
there, and are bringing up ammunition in a steady strewn-
They are not quite prepared to begin the bombardment of
the forts, but they are getting to be terribly strong for
the repulse of a sortie. First and foremost they have
more men in hand to mass upon any threatened point
this is a simple result of reinforcement. Then there
are sundry finishing touches which the Prussian
positions have received, a levelling of walls hi
one place, a cutting down of bushes in another,
that would help the defenders of the siege works. View-
ing what has been done since we rode along
the dusty chaussee, from ChAtillon to Versailles,
on the Alma anniversary, and remembering how many
more chances there were of breaking out of Pang
that evening than there are at present, I fancy that
the attack has developed its strength quite in
proportion to the defence. Whilst General Troche
has been raising - regiments and casting guns
within her walls, King William has been bringing uP
guns and regiments, ready made, without the wall&
Whilst the forts have been strengthened, the
batteries on this side have sprung into existence.
" General November" has arrived upon the scene,
and makes trench work sufficiently dismal, but
the supply of food in Paris is so much the less by
all that the two million of prisoners in Moltke's
cage have eaten during these seven weeks. Large soft
snow flakes are falling as I write. The streets of Ver-
sailles are very cheerless for strangers coming
into them from a damp journey, and our countrymen
who are expected to arrive this afternoon will be dis-
appointed, I fear, with the first stage of their escape from
Paris.