The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-14 00:00:00

THE EXPECTED ATTACK ON HAVRE.

The Daily News correspondent at Havre, under date
December 12, writes as follows :—The enemy has not yet
arrived at Harfleur. Sunday has passed, and we have
not yet heard the booming of cannon, as had been pre-
dicted by certain French journals. Havre is at-present
prepared to meet the attack. The number of
troops in garrison is set clown at 50,000—
some say. 70,000 ; but we must allow for exagge-
'ration.. There has been some skirmishing going
on for the past few days in the neighbourhood of Bolbec
and Montivilliers between advanced bodies of Prussians
and General Mucquart's corps, Thirty IThlans were
taken on Saturday and brought into Havre. The Prus-
sians are greatly harassed by this general. He is a tall,
well-built, energetic, determined-looking man, of 45
years of age. He wears a plain uniform, bearing the
Cross of the Legion of Honour on his breast. He is
most popular with his men, who number about 1,000,
principally Francs-tireurs. A portion of the Irish ambu-
lance is attached to his corps, and a chaplain, who, it is
said, fights like a soldier. Captain Manchez, of the navy,
has been appointed commander-in-chief of the defence
of Havre. People shrug their shoulders, and
speak with hesitation as to his capabilities to
fill so responsible a position ; let us hope that the gal-
lant captain would prove himself worthy 05 the
task thrown. on him. General Briant, who had been
commander-in-chief, left for Cherbourg at an early hour
on Saturday morning, with four 'squadrons of Hussars.
He had given orders for 2,000 Mobiles to accompany him,
but the population revolted, besieged the hotel, and
protested against any troops leaving Havre at pre-
sent. There was quite a scene for some hours.
The general was ultimately obliged to leave quietly
with only the Hussars. We- have still, in the way
of cavalry, some squadrons of Chasseurs d'Afrique and
Eclaireurs. It was stated as a positive fact here, Yester-
day, that the Prussians had entered Honfleur, a town
opposite Havre on the other side of the Seine, which is
seven miles wide at this point. They are moving on towards
Lisieux and Caen. No doubt they will find plenty of pro-
visions in the towns, which are rather numerous along
their line of march to Cherbourg. The object of the
Prussians-in thus marching on Havre and Cherbourg, two
strongly fortified towns, particularly the latter, would
appear to be to cause a diiision of the armies of France,
and to prevent a concentration of her troops. It will,
however, go ill with the invaders should the French
armies in their rear operate successfully against them.
Yesterday I visited Harfleur, where the principal
fortifications of Havre are situated. The road
was crowded with traffic of every description. Long
lines of vehicles were passing along, loaded with the
furniture and effects of the families flying from their
homes before the advancing TJhlans. Harfleur and
Montvilliers; five miles from each other, are connected
by a deep valley, along which runs the river Lezarde.
Along the brow of this valley extends the forts and
trenches, on which 200 breech-loading cannons are Mounted.
The viaduct which formed the road has been cut away,
and a temporary'bridge thrown across. Thus it would
seem almost impossible for the enemy to gain an entrance
to Havre on the east side. Should these defences
be stormed, there are then the fortifications in the
immediate vicinity of the town, which are strong, because
of their natural position, being situated on the top of a
hill which forms a semicircle stretching almost from tte
Seine on the one hand to the sea on the other. If, how-
ever, the Prussians, with their superior guns and good
generalship, succeed in entering the town, a large
number of prisoners will fall into their hands ;
for there can be no retreat for the French except by sea,
and we have not a sufficient number of war vessels in port
to receive such an army. The English residents feel
somewhat relieved at the arrival of two gunboats ; the
Hercules, which has been here before, and the Dasher.
We have now vessels of all nations hero, each to protect
the interests of its own nationality.

The special correspondent of the Telegraph writing, from
the French outposts near Honfleur, December 12, says :
By this time the Prussians must be very close to Havre ;
and many hours, I am sure, will not elapse before we have
some fighting. Already the precursors of the main body
are en eviVence. Not 600 yards from a French sentry, I
saw six Prussian dragoons. They were dismounted, ap-
parently intent solely on feeding their horses.
The invader, I am afraid, has a Avholesome con-
tempt for the poor Gerdes Mobiles. Would it were less
justified f The officers confessed to us that they knew
nothing of outpost duty. The admission was not neces-
sary to any military man, the manner in which the sen-
tries had been posted at once revealed the ignorance of the
leaders of the Garde Mobile. The Colonel calmly in-
formed me that, in his opinion, the post occupied by his
regiment was untenable ; and that, whether ordered
or not, it was his intention to retire behind the for-
tifications at the first shot. Indeed, among all the
officers with whom I spoke, the prevalent tone
was that of despondency. They all appeared to think that
France had had enough of fighting ; that the time had
come to accept the best terms of peace which could be