The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-09 00:00:00

W A R

M A P

ISSENBURG, AUG. t

the men, leaking from the carriages, prepared their
weapons, and at once rushed into the strife. This
struggle of one against ten lasted until about two
o'clock, when the French retired by the woods and
vineyards, all the time pursued by the terrible fire of
the enemy. The Turcos had captured eight guns, which
were retaken from 'them after a desperate conflict, -in
which they suffered severely, but in which they half
destroyed a regiment of Prussian Hussars. There was
no time to collect the arms or tents, and the wounded
were left on the field. I reached Hagenau at eight in
the evening. The streets were thronged with people
discussing the events of the day. Then came a melancholy
spectacle—long files of carts, drawn by horses or oxen, laden
with articles of household furniture and bedding, and ao-
companied by men, women, and weeping children. These
were the inhabitants of Riedseltz and Schaevenburg, two
villages which lay in the route of the enemys troops, be-
fore whom they were fleeing. They were in despair, as
they believed that their villages were in flames. Soon after
there entered by the Wissembourg gate the soldiers of our
regiments which had been engaged in this unequal contest.
They arrived fatigued, exhausted, not having eaten for 24
hours, and lamenting a chief, a comrade. I spoke to 40or 50
of them, and they all said that the contest was an impos-
sible one, but they declared that had they been 20,000 in
number only they would have repulsed the enemy for even
their small columns had several times checked them. A
sergeant-major of the line gave me the account of the
battle as I have related it. Some wounded men then came
in leaning upon their muskets. One Turco shewed us the
arm, pierced through by a bayonet, and another carried his
sword of his captain, who had been killed by his side. He
kissed the arm that hal belonged to his unfortunate
chief. At 11 o'clock two cartloads of wounded arrived,
who were taken to the ambulances. At one o'clock in the
morning the drums were beaten in the streets of Hagenau.
The pompiers were assembled, and sent off to pick up the
wounded and bury the dead."
The Patric describes Wissembourg as being only
partially fortified, being surrounded only by some works
which are connected with the lines of the Lauter.
Wissembourg is situate rather more than half-a-mile from
the frontier, on the road to Landan, and about 27 miles
north-east of Strasburg, and forms a gorge which opens
into the Rhenish plains to the south, and to the Vosges
to the west. About 2 miles to the west, upen
the road to Bitsche, is the hill called du Pigeonnier,
which rises about 800 metres above the level of the sea,
and about 700 above the valley of the Lauter, upon the
banks of which Wissembourg is built. The ground from
Wissembourg to this peak for about half a mile
rises gently, and then suddenly, at the bend to
the right which the road from Bitsche makes, the
ascent becomes more steep, so that the road is necessarily
winding. The road from the Col du Pigeonnier to Chim-
bach runs through a woody country easily defended, crosses
the forest of Mundat, and after running rather more
than a mile beyond reaches the little village of Chimbach,
which lies about 360 metres above the sea level. The
road then descends for upwards of a mile to Lembach,
where the elevation does not exceed 200 metres. It passes
through the forest of Katzenthal, running in a small
valley, and terminating at Bitsche, about 40
kilometres distant from Wissembourg.—The fol-
lowing is a French officer's account of the
attack on Weissembourg :—" The Prussians had massed
their troops in the small forest which runs near the
course of the Lauter, at the foot of the Vosges moan-
tains. They had numerous regiments echelonhes between
Landau 4a,nd Belligheim. For several days previously
spies employed is reconnoitre had entered Wissembourg.
It was in front of that town that the action was fought.
The three- regiments of the division of General Douay,
although very inferior in numbers (being about 1. to 12),
, offered a protracted and heroic resistance to the bulk of the
Prussian army, whose battalions, decimated by our bullets,
were constantly replaced by fresh troops. Not being in
sufficient force to repulse them completely it became neces-
sary, after a most fierce conflict, to return gradually towards
the Col du Pigeonnier, in order to prel'rent the enemy from
seizing the only passage of the Vosges which leads to Bitsche
uponstands
theo
upontherslo a rock which commandspeofthosemountains. the townimpregnable
citadel of
Bitsche. The Prussians besieged it in vain in 1797.
I have not sustained even a scratch. I do not yet know
the exact number of the killed and wounded. It is there-
fore better to say nothing on that subject at present, that
I may not exaggerate or diminish the true figures. But
we have to deplore the loss of our brave General Douay
(Abel), which was well avenged, I can assure you, by
the heavy losses which the range and accuracy of our
Chassepots , inflicted upon the enemy. It is a curious,
but sad coincidence, that the sth of August was the fête
day of our General—St. Abel. We are told that a cannon
was captured by the enemy. The following are the circum.
stances ;—The French artillerymen serving that piece

Showing present positions of French and Prussian Armies, with the localities of recent engagements.

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