The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1870-08-24
Metz as all Obstacle to q Prussian Ad.
vance.

1 NuHtUs
Should the French army now con
ceutra,ed in front of Metz be defeat
ed in Il general engagement, and fal
back upon the Y Vosges Mountains, o,
should it voluntarily retire to th.
mountains, the road to Paris woult
be open to the Prussians. Before al
advance could bo made, it would bt
necessary to reduce Metz. And jus
here tho Germans would encounter
their first difficulty. Metz is the
strongest fortress in France, and il
regarded as iinpreguable to anything
bur starvation or voluntary surrender
In 1862, the Constable Moutmurenc y
gained possession of it by stratagem
Charles V, Emperor Of Gen many, i'm
mediately after besieged it with al
army of 100000 mon. At the end OF
ten months, he raised the siege and
| retired, having lost 10000 of his
force in fruitlesa contest.
The present Notifications Of Meta
we're planned by Vaubau. 1t may be
we'll to say here that the CITY ia seated
on the Mosclle River, at the junction
If small stream called LA Seille
The population is nearly 10000. The
city is entirely surrounded by fortili-
cations, so constructed that they can
be defended by 10000 meu or by
100000. Several forts, crossing each
others fire and sweeping the sur
rounding country for miles. are situa-
ted at intervals around tho place. One
of the most important of these is
called Belle Croix, and is regarded as
a chef ;d9aurc Of military construc-
ton. Next in strength comes La
Double Couronne, an immense work,
surrounded by a triple ditch filed
with water. In addition there is the
great redoubt of LIE Patio, which can
bo converted into an island by closing
the sluices on tho Seille. About three
hundred guus of heavy calibro are
mounted on these works. There are,
besides, bastions and redans for light
artillery. A fourth great fort is said
to have been constructed quite rccont-
ly, which, if true, adds greatly to the
strength of the city. In fact, when
~ 10 Doiu III tithu tldt w lcdCh Iilo
Notifications it will be necessary for
an assailing force to cross two bitches,
fifty feet wiee by eighty deep, the
impossibility of carrying Metz by
storm will be porcoivcd. Further.
moro, the waters of the SeilIe can be
raised tweuty-four feet,, flooding the
surrounding country SO as to form q
lake six miles in extent.
Ordinarily the garrison Of Metz
numbers about $4,000 mon. Should
the French army uncover Paris, we
suppose chat force of $4,000 or 80
600 mon, without including the Garde
Mobile Of the city. would be left to
defend it. And here, as we said
, above, tho troubles of tho Prussians
begin. Nothing short of treachery,
cowardice or starvation is likely to
reduce Metz. Twenty thousand men
can defend it against any force that
can possibly be brought on to Paris,
leaving it behind, and are defeated in
n general engagement, they could only
retreat back to Germany by cutting
their way through the garrison which
would by this time have sailed out to
oppose them. 1t is true that they
could leave corps to watch the oity,
but this would weaken the main army
aud expose this corps of observation
to Sudden and disastrous defea,
from tho French.