The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-08-15
THE PRUSSLAN ADVANCE

The French army continues to fall back be-
fore the victorious Prussians without daring
to risk another battle. The dispatches of
yesterday and to-day indicate that they have
abandoned Metz and Nancy. and have fallen
back from the line of the Moselle to that of
the Meuse. 1t is not unlikely that if the
Prussians continue to follow up their sue
cess with as much vigor as they have done
hitherto, the French will next be compelled
to retreat upon Paris and make a final and
desperate stand for the defense of that city.
If they are heavily reinforced, however,
or if they are able to reunite their now
divided army, they may be able
to check the victorious Prussians
and to push back the tide of war towards the
frontiers again. The Prussians. although
they have the prestige of victory, are now
operating in a hostile country, and are ope-
rating at a certain disadvantage. That the
Prussians have been able to drive their an
tagonists before them as they have is a
striking proof not only of the demoraliza-
ton of the French army and the incapacity
of the Emperor as military leader, but of
the unprepared condition of France to in
sugurate a war with the strongest military
power Of Europe. For years past the world
mas been informed that the French army was
not only the bravest but the most per-
fectly drilled and thoroughly organized
in Europe. The ability of some
of its generals has been proved upon we'll
fought battle-felds, and with all the advan-
tages that they had as the aggressive party, it
was confidently expected that the beginning
of the war would be marked by Prussian re-
verses. The French army was the first to
take the field, but it lost a week in inactivity,
instead of striking a prompt and decisive
blow at the outset, and the Prussans were
thereby given all the time they wanted to
bring their army to the frontier and to gain
the tremendous advantage of the first vic
tory.
One supreme reason for the success of the
Prussians thus far is superior generalship;
but the defeat of the French appears to be
due in no small measure to their want of pre-
paration. At the battle of Woerth they were
without a commissariat, SO that the men were
compelled to fight upon empty stomachs, and
they also appear to have been unprovided
with a proper supply of ammunition. Such
a state of affairs reminds us of the way things
were managed for the Union army in the Bull
Run days of our civil war; but while there
was every excuse for us, there is none what
ever for the French.
The Emperor has been preparing for this
very contest for the last four years: he knew
that it must come some time and was merely
waiting for pretext to commence hostilities.
Under these circumstances, for the French
army to be obliged to go into battle without
provisions or ammunition is enough to make
us doubt all the wonderful reports that have
been spread abroad as to the perfection of
its organization, and that something is radi-
cally wrong is shown no less by the victory
achieved by the Prussians than by the utter
inability of the French to rally so as to offer
them battle with some prospect of success.
Since the above was written reports have
been received of great battle at Metz, in
which the Prussians were again victorious.
II this is true the retreat of the French to the
line of the Meuse probably partakes of the
nature of a rout and the dethronement of the
Emperor by a terrified and infuriated nation
is likely to be the next news Of Importance
We will receive.