The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-29 00:00:00

(From the Times' Military Correspondent)
gEAD-QUARTERS OF THE FIRST ARMY,
HIRSCHFELD, June 22.
The Southern boundary of Saxon Lusatia runs
forward for a distance of about 15 English miles
within the general line of the Bohemian frontier of
Austria. In the salient angle of Saxony formed by
this peculiar tracing of the border line stands within
Saxon territory the frontier town of Zittau. This
town covers the issue of the passes which lead from
Reichenberg and Friedland, in Bohemia, through the
mountains into Lusatia, and commands the railway
which by the pass of Reichenberg runs from Pardu-
bitz to Bautzen. About six miles to the north-east
of Zittau and about 17 south-west of Gorlitz the
village of Hirschfeld is situated on the Neisse, at a
point where this river receives a small affluent called
the Kipper. In this village the headquarters of the
First Army have to-day been established. Directly
to the south are clearly seen the bold swelling masses
of the Bohemian mountains, which here rise higher
than in any part of the chain except where the
into
Silesia. looms over the passes which lead
Silesia. The break in the mountain line which
shows the defile through which passes the road to
Reichenberg can be distinctly seen from here.
Many eyes are often turned towards the gap in the
clear relief of the hills against the sky, and many
seek to know whether Prince Frederick Charles has
come south to force that pass, or expects the Aus-
trians to issue from it. But those who have to-day
marched along the 17 miles of dusty road from
Gorlitz can have little doubt with what object the
First Army is here; the amount of transport, which
stretched in almost a continuous line for 12 miles of
the way, told clearly that it was attached to an
army destined for more than the mere defence of a
frontier.

Prince Frederick Charles to-day broke up his
quarters at Gorlitz, drew a great part of the first
army together, and launched it by the two roads
which lead through Zittau and Seidenberg respec-
tively towards the Austrian frontier. The head-
quarter staff left Gorlitz about 3 this afternoon, and
pushed along a road crowded with marching troops
and military carriages to this village. The roadfrom
Gorlitz to this place was covered with an almost
unbroken stream of infantry regiments, batteries of
artillery, cavalry detachments, military carriages,
and a long line of country waggons as supplemen-
tary transport, while the thick cloud of dust which
rose about a mile and a half to the left showed that
an equally strong column was pushing forward by
the Seidenberg road. The heat was great, and the
dust, rising in dense clouds from beneath the feet of
the men and horses, or wheels of the carriages, hung
heavily upon the marching columns; but the men
stepped out cheerily, for they were anxious to ad-
vance, and they did not seem to suffer from fatigue.
One regiment, the 9th, has just marched in here,
with its drums and fifes playing, ranks closed up,
no stragglers, and the men keeping step so well that,
but for the dust on their clothes and appointments,
they might be imagined to be going for instead of
returning from a march.
The chaussee leading from Gorlitz to Zittau is
broad enough to allow four carriages to pass. The
march was excellently arranged ; there was no con-
fusion, and no halts had to be made except those
which were necessary to allow the men to rest. The
carriages of the Military Train were scrupulously
kept to one side of the road, so as to leave the rest
clear for the troops. Its own baggage marched in
the rear of each battalion, but it was not much—
only one waggon with the reserve ammunition, a
cart for the officers' baggage, and three or four
packhorses to carry the paymasters' books and
the doctors' medicines. The soldiers marched
strongly ; their faces were lit up with excite-
ment, for they knew that every pace brought
them nearer to the enemy, and they long for
battle. The country people on the road or work-
ing by the wayside exchanged kind words with
the men, and expressed many good wishes for
their success, and did so with sincerity, for the
Prussian soldiers who have been billeted in the
Saxon hamlets have made themselves greatfavourites
with the villagers.
Never was a march better conducted. The stand-
ing crops which fringe the road for almost its entire
length were in no single place either trampled down
or passed through. The road was crowded and dusty,
but the men never left it, and, if there was a halt
where corn grew by the wayside, no soldier went
further from the line of march than to sit on the
narrow fringe of grass which separates the chaussee
from the cultivated ground, and in no case were the
fields intruded upon. The staff officers, too, with a
wise provision for the comfort of the troops, and
with a careful regard for the farmers, had arranged
that halts of long duration should be made by alter-
nate regiments at places where the hay had been cut
and carried home, and the short grass could, with-
out itself suffering any harm, afford relief to the
heated feet of the soldiers.
The road about a mile south of Gorlitz de-
scends a steep hill, formed by the spur of the
Landeskrone, which runs down to the edge of the
Neisse, and on which the town of Gorlitz is built.
It then runs along the valley as far as Ostritz ; on
the right are wide unenclosed fields covered with
rich crops, which terminate on the low line of hills
that fringes the valley towards the west ; on the left
runs the slow stream of the Neisse, shrouded in
willows ; beyond the river a chain of gentle eleva-
tions separates its valley from that formed by the
Rolte rivulet, up which runs the road from Gorlitz
by Seidenberg to Friedland. A mile south of
Ostritz a chain of hills, standing directly across
the road, forms a defile through which the river
winds with a narrowed stream, the road bends to
the right, and goes over a hill thickly covered with
fir-trees, but soon descends again, and at Hirsch-
feld rejoins the course of the river. Two good mili-
tary positions for an army retreating on Gorlitz are
afforded on this road—that behind Hirschfeld,
where in front of the hill a rivulet crosses the way ;
and a second where, in front of Gorlitz, the road
dips down into the valley.
The Prussian troops are to-night in force in Zittau
and Friedland, and troops are placed all along the
road which connects those two towns. Headquar-
ters are established here in a very picturesque but
not overclean Saxon village. Prince Frederick
Charles and his Staff occupy the village inn ; the
square in front, half market-place half green, is
crowded with the carriages of the
a military train.
Soldiers are billeted in every eottage,
and
is chargers
stand in every stable. The little hamlet
con-
tinual scene of busy turmoil, horses are being
attended to, arms are being cleaned, and the men
are making ready for to-morrow's march, while now
and then a distant trumpet on the left tells that the
evening watches are being set by the troops that
lie towards Friedland. To-morrow the advance is
to be continued.
The resources of this little village are sorely taxed
by the sudden inroad of hungry men ; the common
room of the inn is filled with a multitude of soldiers
hungry with a long day's march. Each man buys
a large piece of bread and a junk of meat, and re-
tiring to a side table, or bench, cuts it up with his
pocket-knife, and makes a hearty meal. The regi-
mental officers fare no better than their men. The
campaign has already begun, and a great deal of
the outward distinctions of ranks has been, as is
always the case, shaken off, but the real discipline
is unimpaired.
The health of the army is excellent; the sick
only average 21 per cent., Which would be a re-
markably small number even in a period of pro-
found peace. The sanitary arrangements are so
good that there seems to be every
chance of this
small proportion of illness being maintained.
The surgeons, hospital attendants, and sick_
bearers wear on their left arm a white band with a
red cross as a mark of their profession and their
neutrality.

CASTLE OF GRAFENSTEIN, June 23.

The troops which advanced yesterday towards
Bohemia were not allowed last night to cross the
frontier ; they were halted just before reaching the
boundary line, and there spent the night. Thus
they did not yesterday evening quite reach Fried-
land, but bivouacked at a little distance short of
that town. This morning at daybreak Prince Fre-
derick Charles sent one of his aides-de-camp, Major