The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1870-09-30
The Flight of MacMahOn's Army.

The Flight OF AacalallOn's Army.
A correspondent OF the Vienna Wehl
; &sStung gives some most graphic picturei
a The flight of MacMahon's army. IL,
Sqt tes: 81 could now (Aug. 6, q P. N.
st1y In Haguenau no longer. Despite the
} warning of my host, turned out OF thC
20 thern gate aud took the direction of tht
, la ,uenaH forest toward NIederbronn.
Tho roar Of cannon wGs loud, Columns O
Srs Se rose IN The northwest and even In
, The Erection of Saarburg. judged the
iilA 10 be near Niederhronn, and did not
or At 1 O'Clock, in .galloped horse with
en- p faddlo slipping under its belly,
th iakh the town gate. Directly after, Q
setapd, then third; then followed Q
cT'F F{ssier, his horse covered with blood
au.' ioam, without cuirass, without arms.
NJ en artiilerist, on an unsaddled horse,
hts iace distorted with inexpressibIe
fright Some minutes later, q moh
vi FFsme twenty horsemen hurried
pasf rmoDg whom two ZOuaves olinging
upon one horse were conspicuous; the 9TH
ers were cuiraSsIers in every STAGE of right
ard terror, some swinging wildly their sa-
bres; others, as If out Of their wits, fog.
ging tl,eir poor exhausted horses, several
of them without saddles, most of them
! without arms. One cuIraSsier halted his
horse Just before me, lOOsened his cuirass,
threw off his helmet, next his heavy sword,
Lastly bis weighly breast-plate, and then
laughing contentedly, rode leisureIy on.
A pause Of some five minutes followed
The townsInen had all fled inside the gates
| The field watch and L stood alone at the
! point where the NiedeTbronn branch rail
way intersects the high road Presently I'D
gallOps field geRddT1Re, halts his half-dead
| horse, and calls out Shut the gates in
stautly; the Prussians are ut my heels. >
] The fieli-watch turned white. exclaim.
ed, What madness. Haguenau is an open
town. There could be no defense, and if
| the PTussiens really were there the best
thing for the town was 90 open the gates
as wide ms possible His face Frightened
up. The tumult became greater. Among
a crowd of cuiraSSiers some laucers were
mixed up; then came hussar uniforms
The roads arethronged; unmounted horses
| gallop past rs if driven on by panic; on all
sides are Swarms-a rtillerymen IN SHIRT
sleeves, many of their horses with the
traces cut. ridden by infantry-men or ar
tiileTy. So far l have not remarked one
officer. As the mob was thickest rail-
way train came screaming along from
the north. At the moment a num-
an-es entangled III the throng, were close
u~nn the rails. They cannot move for
ward or backward; thev seem lost. The
field-watch and myself, seizing tho barrier
tree, forced back the distracted wenches.
shut the barrier, helped them over, and
the train rushes past without a mishap.-
The train ought to have saved the nldferiel
accumulated at Niederbronn; it ought 10
have transported the wounded; it was en-
tirely' devoted to flight. They were the
first infantry soldiers who saved them
selves. ALI the wagons over-filled, en- the
roofs, hanging on by the handles, with
half their bodies in the air, on the
gIngwsy boards, some fully accout-
rcd, some hali-naked, no wounded
So flashed past us this novel picture of dis
traction crossing the current of misfortune
in the high road. We let the barrier baIk
drop, and sprung aside Like wild hunt
the horsemen gallOped into the town and
clatterod through it without drawing bride.
By O'Clock the torrent gradually ceased.
After pause came the conveyances. saw
four or five carriages, all completely hzr
messed, yet without their guns Then
iolted and ratified past p broken ammuni
ton wagon cTammed with TurcOs; next a
peasants wagon filed with bedding and
household gear, but no owner; Zouavc led
the horses, two frightiully wounded Turcos
lay ON the top, n cluster of unarmed sol
diers of all arms clung around it. Now
followed infantry on foot. 1t was about 81:
still no officers. In dense sWnrms, ths
chancery cars, the carriages of three gene
ral brigldes, the archives OF q division,
four or five empty ammunition trucks,
every kind of ambulance wagon, all pack
ed with uninjurcd soldiers On one car
lay three eorpses, a few piiifully draggIed
GureCs following III the crowd IL dumb re-
sigDatiOn. Then came lot of suffers and
camp followers. The infantry had ali dung
away their packs, many their gums, somo
were ii their shirt sleeves. most of them
had leaves stuck ON their swords aud hung
ON their shoulders BY far the greater
part were 'Uieur SOldItS,' for whose ysIor
TrocLu hal so lately vouched. shall not
soon forget n poor perspiring infantry
soldier of the Fiiifelh, smartIy accoutred, I
with knapsack on his back, with broad,
red face, who came up TO 1ne and anxiously
asked where his regiment was. told him
10 go right on to StrasbOnrg, and perhap
he would find il there. lie marched brave
ly along as had directed him. He was an
Alsatian. About 9l an orderly troop OF
cuirassierS, under command of a Captain
aud two suhalterns, about forty men
strong, rode past. They were almost all
properly aceoutred, and kept step. Be
tween and o'clock disorderly rabble
hurried by, absorbed in themselves and
in their miserable existence; in the whole
body not more tisau forty ia marching or
der; altogether some 8 600 to 10. 600 men;
very few wounded. some three or
four cavalry officers, two ar
tillery and about eight infantry officers IN
the entire swarm; such rotlt as neither
1859 or 1866 ever witnessed. But back 1
must go to Haguenau. 1t was Z o'clock;
the stream Of fugitives was less swollen.
As IN the fading twilight hastened toward
the town to learn if any trains were going.
/ came across five or six soldiers of various
armB, leading i'll their midst one Prussian
prisoner, as proud as it they had got with
them the entire PrussIan army. The Door
man was trembling. In such dsbdeIe TO
parade one prisoner The public-houses
were . scene of animation. Soldiers were
busy eating and drinking, and what sur
prised me they quietly paid their shot. In
an upper room four infantry officers drank
their wine in silence. Five cuirassiers sat
before roast goose. cracking mad iOlk, S.
Early next morning at l was lucky
enough TO reach Strasb0urg in a wagon"
A Saratoga Sensation,