The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-31 00:00:00

THE PRUSSIAN UHLANS.

Whoever else may figure in the telegrams which supply
the public with what may be called " the war in short
hand," the Uhlan is sure to be found there. We encoun-
tered him first at the very opening of the campaign,
when the French main army lay at Forbach, and the
advanced guard of the Prussians was holding
Saarbruck. Too lightly underrating the character and
future services of this übiquitous personage, correspondents
from the headquarters of the Emperor related how they
used often to see a wisp of horse-soldiers, clad in blue
turned up with yellow, wheeling and dodging about
in the corn-fields between the two forces. Since that
period the storm of war has rolled all one way;
but those " Mother Carey's chickens" of the tem-
pest, those " vaunt-couriers of every advance and
every attack, have still been the same flying eclaireurs
of Prussia, with the blue and yellow uniform, like so
many members of the " Edinburgh Review" on horseback.
" Uhlan " is, we believe, a Polish word signifying a
light horseman ; but the wonderful vedettes of Prussia
will now make the name familiar in all languages

Not a batch of news arrives from either side but
these ainutresent cavalry have the lion's share in
it ; the important communicatians of Monday
and to-day Vie, as usual full of their doings. Was the
Emperor seantat Sedan and Mezieres ? The Uhlans were
close at Mouzon ! Had MacMahon, according to the
.Minister of the Interior, got so far as Rethel ? In the
same breath, that functionary adds, the enemy's light
horse had also been observed in the neighbourhood. The
Uhlans, in effect, havebecome, to the absorbed and watchful
world, apparitions which may mean nothing or everything.
It is quite certain that no great battle or surprising march
will happen-till these dragon-fly-like cavaliers have led the
way and given us all a hint;' but, on the other hand, they
often " come like shadows, so depart," when nothing
particular is about to befall: The Parisians, with their
usual instinct for the picturesque, have selected the
hlans cut of all Count Bismarck's terrible apparatus of
politics, as the one artistic element of the war.—Daily
Telegraph.

TOUL AND PHALSB URG.—It cannot be denied that
the smaller French fortresses are making a gallant resist-
ance. Phalsburg has already become a great name in the
war, on account of its holding out so obstinately ; and Toul,
the old cathedral town, the quietest, most unwarlike of
bygone strongholds, has just been successfully repelling a
somewhat serious attack. Toul lies westward of Nancy;
and the Third Army, which is charged with clearing the
country in that direction, has run foul of its ramparts.
There seems to have been a mistake as to the
condition of the place for defence, and yesterday
morning's attack was met with great vigour by the
French garrison. They did not venture on a sortie to follow
up their advantage, but they inflicted a certain loss on the
assailants, with, as far as we know, very little logs to
themselves. The news has caused great joy in Nancy,
where the people are disgusted by a military occupation,
and burn to hear of French successes. I saw dozens
of well-dressed young men crowding the road to
Toul to gather any fresh scrap of information,
and the peasants in the wayside cottages were all
curiosity to see the wounded pass. If a proper system of
wholesale conscription had put all these city youths and
curious peasants in the army or the Landwehr, France
need not have been in this state of anxious despondency.
She has men enough, and to spare, but only three or
four hundred thousand soldiers. Her National Guard
is but a half-trained militia, whilst the Prussian
Landwehr is as good as the Line. Even now the
Landwehr is advancing in force to support the active
army. It will besiege the fortresses, fill up the gaps in
the line of defence, and hold the conquered provinces
while the army goes on to Paris.—Correspondent of the
Daily News, Aug. 19.
THE PRUSSIANS IN FRANCE.—In no single in-
stance have the French, upon being attacked, had reserves
upon which to fall back, or fresh troops to make good any
numerical losses. They have foukht until their ammuni-
tion failed them, and have been the admiration even of their
adversaries. Not so the Prussians. Their cheap army has
done more than was ever expected of it. Badly fed,
worse housed, and indifferently clad, but splendidly
armed; with excellent officers and first-rate generals, it
has accomplished what no modern army has ever
yet been known to do. Its rank and file have lost
cruelly in every action as yet; they have en-
dured fatigue, hunger, and want of shelter, and
yet, under all these trying circumstances, there
has been no murmuring, the discipline has been most per-
fect, and the campaigning beyond praise. One thing is,
however, clear, that unless Prussia is prepared to feed its
enormous army in the coming struggle, this region cannot.
The Moselle country is devastated—gutted, and it is now
a race against time. Should winter overtake the Prussian
armies, woe betide them, for I cannot see how
they are to exist. Already the rib-marks upon
Prussian cavalry shew the want of forage, and the three
or four miles they have to go for water twice a day here
does not improve the condition of their horses. It is true
that most of the regiments are on outpost duty, but they
are gradually eating thei way, forwards and leaving
nothing behind them. he artillery is suffering even
more than the cavalry, inasmuch as it is forced to remain
with the divisions of infantry.—Correspondent of the
Telegraph.

THE BATTLE OF THE 18TH.—This morning I
went up from Gravelotte to look at the field of battle of
yesterday, and to inspect the French position. Bazaine
had strengthened himself along the road between
Metz and Vionville by a succession of rifle pits,
and had also thrown up small works to protect
his guns. The walls of the gardens and the
houses of the hamlet were also made as defensible as pos-
sible,'and had evidently been lined with tirallieurs, who
could pour an incessant cross-fire upon our troops advanc-

ing up the road from Gravelotte, the distance of this

village from the French position being about an
English mile. Exactly half way between Gravelotte and
the French ground a deep ravine, lined on either side
by a thick undergrowth of hazel and oak, made the
advance of troops still more difficult, whilst upon emerg-
ing beyond this sunken coppice the soil made a gentle
ascent up to the French rifle pits. The peculiarity of the
situation, which the French had taken up with extreme
judgment, was that almost every movement the Prussian
troops made was distinctly visible, even to the shifting of
the position of a single man, and this accounts for the
fearful slaughter the French were able to inflict, and the

comparatively small loss they suffered, their killed and
wounded being about 600 or 700. For the first
time since the commencement of hostilities, I
saw not a single French body ; but in the ruins
of Malmaison some twenty or thirty of the more severely
wounded French lay. From them I learn how fear-
fully they had punished the Prussians ; and if more
evidence was wanting, the houses, stables, and barns of
the village of Gravelotte are quite sufficient evidence.—
Correspondent of the Telegraph.
THE ANGLO-AMERICAN AMBULANCE CORPS.—
A correspondent, writing from Paris on Saturday,
says :—" The Anglo-American Ambulance Corps left
the Palais de l'lndustrie this afternoon, at half-past
four, and, if not the showiest, it was certainly
the most amply " found " of any which had
preceded it. The medical men attached to the
American colony of Paris are numerous, and their
experience of battle - fields renders them valuable
auxiliaries at the present moment. The surgeon-in-chief,
Dr. Syms, is a man of world-wide reputation, and he
has around him an efficient staff of young surgeons
anxious to take the field, but some agency hidden to the
outside world seemed to paralyse all their efforts until
the arrival of Dr. Frank, the delegate of the London So-
ciety, who went to work with his usual energy. Select-
ing as surgeon-in-chief of the English Society Dr.
M'Cormac, of Belfast, who has been waiting since
his return from Metz the formation of the American Corps
he at once decided that English alone, and Anglo-
Americans should belong to it, and that they should start
at once. I examined the stores with interest, and the
unpacking of the numerous packages of Dr Frank
created amazement, even in the vast hospital magazine
of the Champs Elyges. Instruments of every kind, ether,
carbolic acid, lint dressings, oil cloths, sufficient
in quantity to make a dearth in the market. The
start was accomplished with a certain amount of
solemnity. Old Doctor Chenu assured the bystanders
that it was with tears in his eyes he saw the representa-
tives of the great English and American nations go out
hand in hand to accompli'h their mission of mercy;
while Count Flavigny, the president of the French So-
ciety, thanked them warmly in a few suitable words,
adding that France would ever be grateful for the effi-
cient aid thus rendered her at the moment of need. Then
amidst the cheers of all, the cortege left the Palace.
The procession was headed by some of- the office-bearers,
preceded for a time by the president, who for the first
time identified himself with a public demonstration.
Then the twenty Infirmiers ' and three lalies, each
carrying a flag, viz., that of France, England, and
America, followed. The surgeons in chief, Drs.
Syms, M'Cormac, and Frank, with assistant-surgeon
dressers, waggons, saddle-horses and led horses came after,
everything being turned out in the very best style. Their
reception along the line of Bouievards was enthusiastic,
and the dense crowds often stopped the.r_-It

and, cheering, threw in their mite, so that tLe 3;:viety
will not have made a bad day of it. Dr. Syms, detained
by indispensable business, delegated his authority to Dr.
M'Cormac, and thus the Anglo-American Ambulance
Corps left for M6zieres, cheered at the railway station not
only by the good wishes of their friends, but the railway
officials."

A PARTY OF M.P.s.—We have a section of the
British House of Commons here to-day, Sir C. Dilke, Mr.
Auberon Herbert, and Mr. Winterbotham, who have
joined the Juanitas, and whom I have just seen with their
badges on their arms preparing for their work as brothers
of charity. They travel with a train of hospital supplies
under Count Golz, and along with them are eleven Sisters
of Charity and Deaconesses. They have had, they tell
me, some amusing adventures on their way, have been
arrested by both sides, have had odd lodgings and adven-
tures, and have passed over the recent battlefields in the
Crown Prince's track. These gentlemen are attached to
the hospital establishments of the Crown Prince's army,
and will follow head-quarters, one day's march in the

rear.—Tines' correspondent with Prussian Army.