The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1870-10-15
The Battle of Gravelotte near Metz.

A special correspondent of the Tribune gives a
detailed account of the great battle of Gravelotte,
on Thursday, August Is, from which We make
the following extracts
The first realization we had at Pont-a-Mous-
son-where l found myself ON the 17th-of the
extent to which fighting had been going on al
the front, on Sunday and Tuesday, was from the
coming in Of wounded men. At first it was
surmised that these had been wounded in Skin
mishes. But on the 10th, late In the evening,
there were signs that the work was becoming
warm. On that evening soldiers with CHASTITY
wounds walked about the market place in Pont-
a-Mousson, surrounded by eager groups of their
newly-arrived comrades, and told a story of dis
aster. Poor fellows 1t surely was disaster to
them, borne away as they had been from the
field without having heard of any result. !
stood among these groups, and the narratives OF
the men all amounted to this that they had
been sent TO confront a much larger force than
their own, and that their division had been cut up.
On the 18th the wounded of the preceding
day began TO pour into Pont-a-Mousson. They
were brought In in long, uncovered grain carts.
lying upon hay. From my window, which over
looked the main street, and also commanded a
view OF the market place, | counted more than
ninety of these long carts, each holding on an
average about ten men. At midnight of the
18th, or a little after. all the trumpets for a mile
around began To sound. This was the first time
we had been startled by such wild music. Trum-
pet answered to trumpet through all the bivouacs
around the little city.
The troops had been passing through almost
continually for several days previously but now
the tramp through every street and by-way made
midnight and dawn, a perpetual roar. Hastily
dressing, | ran out into the darkness, and man
aged TO get IA seat on a wagon that was going in
the direction of the front, now understood to be
a mile or two beyond the village of Gore, some
twelve miles from Pont-a-Mousson. At Mouvient
on the Moselle, about half way to Metz, l found
vast bodies of ~cavalry-Uhlans and Hussars-
crossing the river by a pontoon bridge, and bur-
rying at the top of their speed towards Gore.
QuickenlBg my own steps, L first heard the
thunder of the cannonade, seemingly coming
from the heart of a range of hills on the right.
Passing through the village and ascending the
high plain beyond, | found myself suddenly in a
battle field, strewn thickly, as far as my eye
could reach, with dead bodies.
AS l hurried on, a splendid regiment Of caval-
ry came up from behind me, and when they
reached the brow of the bill they all broke out
with a wild hurrah and dashed forward. A few
more steps and L gained the summit, and saw
the scene which had evoked their cry, and seemed
to thrill even their horses.
1t would be difficult to imagine a grander bat
tie field. From the hill to which | had been
directed by good authority to come, the entire
sweep of the Prussian and French centres could
be seen, and a considerable part of their wings.
The spot where / stood was fearful. 1t was amid
CHASTITY corpses, and the air was burdened with
the stencil of dead horses, of which their were
great numbers. | was standing on the battle
field of the l6th-the Prussiah side thereof. On
the left stretched like a silver thread the road to
Verdun-to Paris, also-for the possession of
which this series of battles had begun. 1t was
between the lines of poplars which stood against
the horizon on my left; and on, as far as the eye
could reach, towards Metz, with military regu-
larity, strung on this road like beads, were the
pretty little villages, each with its church tower,
all Of which are really only a hundred yards
apart, although they have separate names-Mars-
La-Tour, Flavigny, Il little South of the road,
Viodville, Rezonville, and Gravelotte, which is
divided into Great and Little Gravelotte. On
nv right were the thickly wooded hills behind
which lies the most important village of the
neighborhood, which l had just left-Gorze. So
envirnned was the foreground of the battle of
Gravelotte, for it was mainly over and around
that devoted little town that it ragged. The area
/ have indicated Is perhaps four miles square.
[ arrived lust as the battle waxed warm. 1t
was about noon of the 18th. The headquarters of
the King Of Prussia were then at the spot which
| have described. At the moment the French
were making a most desperate effort TO hold on to
the last bit of the Verdun road-that between
Rezonville and Gravelotte, or that part of Grave
lotte which in some maps is called st. Marcel.
The struggle was desperate but unavailing, for
every one man in the French army had two to
cope with, and their line was already beginning
to wayer. Soon 1t was plain that this wing, the
French right, was withdrawing to a new position.
This was swiftly taken up under cover of a con-
tinuous fire of their artillery from the heights
beyond the village. The movement was made in
good order, and the position, which was reached
at ~half-past l o'clock, would, Ibelieve, have been
pronounced impregnable by nine out of ten mill
tary men. When once this movement had been
effected. the French retreating from the pressure
of the Prussian artillery fire, and the Prussians as
rapidly advancing, the battle field was no longer
about Rezonviile, but had been transferred and
pushed forward to Gravelotte, the junction of the
two branching roads to Verdun. The fields in
front of that village were completely covered by
the Prussiau reserves, and interminable lines of
soldiers were steadily marching onward, disap-
pearing into the village, and emerging on the
other side of it with flaming volleys. This second
battle field was less extensive than the first, and
brought the opposing forces into f~earfully close
quarters.
The French stood their ground and died-the
Prussians stood their ground and died-both by
hundreds, l bad almost said thousands. This, for
hour or two that seemed ages, so constant was
the slaughter. The Prussian endorsements,
coming up ON their right, filed out of the Rois des
Oghons and it was at that point as they marched
on to the field that one could perhaps get the best
idea of the magnitude of this invading army now
in the heart of France. There was no break
whatever for four hours in the march of men out
of that wood. 1t seemed almost as if all the killed
and wounded revived and came back and marched
forth again.
The attack of the Prussians in the centre was
checked. About 3 O'Clock, however, a brigade of
fresh infantry was again formed in the wood and
emerged from its cover. Once out from under the
trees. they advanced at double-quick.
l do not know whether, after the vain effort of
that brigade, another movement was attempted
from within the wood. But half an hour after
ward great numbers of troops began to march
over the hill where l was standing, and moved
forward toward the field where SO hard a struggle
had been so long protracted. These also where, 1
think, a portion of Gen. Goeben's troops, who
had been directed upon a less dangerous route.
The battle from this point on the Prussian left