The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-09-16

the public health was feared Now there is
certainty about the matter of fresh meat. Yes
terday forty thousand held Of sheep were
brought in, and have been placed for the time
in the unfinished buildings OF the new college
OF Roin, Boulevard Rochechonart. Several
speeulations have been given as to the amount
OF wheat, rice and grain now on hand, aud,
striking m san between them We get com
mlssariat supply for four months. Going
little under the Invest of these calculations we
get enough for two months, quite long enough
for all practical purposes.
Miles OF Corpses-Gravelotte After the
Battle-Acres Of Dead and Dying-The
Slain OF Both Armies Piled in Bloody
Heaps-A Scene OF Horror Described
by Murat Halstead.
From the Cincinnati Commercially
PoNT.A-MoussoN, August 20.
There were for instance, four or five thou
sand dead men in sight. Here, there, every
where, the poor fellows had been tumbled
over. We came upon Frenchman whose
head had been knocked of by q cannon shot.
There remained OF it two scraps Of skin, each
as large as your hand, and on one was his
moustache and the end of his nose, and on the
other patch of the hair o" his head. Another
had been struck In the centre OF his body and
almost cut in two. The shoulders and head
were lett, the hairy knapsack and red cap still
clInging to them, and below the bloody
mass his coarse shoes and white gaiters
were visible; his face was in the dust.
Another French soldier had been dis
embowelled by a fragment of shell, and the
fatal missile had torn open his pantaloons
pocket, showing large piece of hard bread
and bit of meat. lall Prussian, dead, was
at full length on his back. his helmet half hid
ing his swollen face-the eagle that adorned
1t with the legend "For King and Fatherland."
and the buckle of his hilt showing In conspcu-
Gus letters ''God with u.s." On the north side
of the road was slender little French sell
dier lying on his face, his gun In his hands. He
had been killed as he was making ready to
fire, and had crouched in the collapse Of death
like pitiful little animal. triangular rent
In In the band a., Of his sol red cap tola that he
his side was larger man, through
whose naked head o ghastly furrow had
been ploughed, and from it the torn brains
Issued. His chassepot was clutched in his
stiff hands. In the same neighborhood was
French colonel, not dlsfgured at all by his
death wound. I think he had not met his
thigh, and died from loss Of blood. He had,
1t seemed, attempted to do something to
staunch the flow Of blood, and finding it in
vain, had composed himself for death. He
was as neat corpse aS you ever saw. His
spurs were still on his heels; his kepl on his
head; his hands by his side. His clothes had
been opened about his breast by some one in
articles scattered about showing that he had
been careful In camp to be neat. Among them
were toothbrush and o box of tooth-powder
The dust from the Paris road had powdered
him. His features were not swollen or dis
torted, but clear and colorless, and his friends
would have recognized him quickly as In llfe
How it happened that in the same groups Of
dead some were hideously affected by the sun,
black and monstrous, with details Of horror in
their appearance that | must not mention,
while others were pale and waXen, every facial
outline dellcately preserved, do not under
stand. Some of the most terrible of the pic
lures of death were among the fallen horses.
There were expressions Of unutterable fear and
suffering In their dead faces. The Wild eyes,
the expanded nostrils, the open lips displaying
the full length OF the teeth. In some of the
faces OF these noble animals every hair seemed
to tell tale Of terror. The attitudes of the
horses in death were as various and fascinating
in their interest as those of the men.
The little town OF Vionville was heaped
with corpses. The garden walls were over
thrown, the houses shiVered with shots, and
one that had been fired in the battle still bur1-
ing. Every house had been slaughter-house.
The Prussians had removed nearly all their
dead, but the French corpses were SO thick
that one could but think the battle had been
for them at this point massacre. Extending
across the Paris road from Vionville south
ward was line on which the French had
stood, their faces toward Paris. How many
miles of corpses there were here. in a row
revealing the ground on which the French had
made their last stand on the second day, do
not know, but I certainly saw Two miles OF
them.
Traces of the ierocious energy with which
thelFrench had sought to hurl back the over
bearing leglons OF Germany were still to be
seen in their dead faces. A few had the look
of neekness and resignation, as If death had
not come before visions of peace; but the
many had q fixed ferceness quite tiger-like.
It was remarkable that this wld-animal aspect
was not noticeable among the fallen Germans.
Their attitudes in death seldom expressed In
tensity OF action, while the French, in very
many instances, had evidently received their
mortal hurts when every nerve and muscle
was strained with the excitement Of some
furious endeavor.
We presently passed field where q large
burial party were At work. They had dug
very few inches, and TWO or three feet in
depth, (IloeraI measurement, and had gather
ed the dead from the vicinity. While some
we're digging, others were picking up the
dead. .The way they do that is, four mel using
shovel-handies or muskets, as may be con-
.nient, as hand.spikes, put them under the
shoulders and knees Of the corpse, and carry IL
to the side OF the grave; then each corpse is
lifted by two men one at the head and the
other at the heels, and place in the trench,
where the face being covered By some article
of clothing (cap or coat ususlly,l the dirt Is
Loosely shoveIlod on. Gener lily about one
hundred men are laid away il this style in q
row, though where the carnage has been ex-
,raordinary they make The graves 20 accom-
mo late more.
The Prussians have been smaTt-as in near
ly all things IN this war tthe ESPECIAL excep-
tion is in RAILROAD mansSeU aEt, in the mat
1. er OF removing their dead. AS 3 rule, they
.ear the ground Of their Own dead and wound
ed with surprising ceierity, sud are not so en-
ergetic in tile disposition Of the French who
are slaughtered and thrown upon their hands.
1t would not have ca eItllala.ing efec. upon
Prussian troops TO march in the thoughtful
mood that comes after the ex:itsmen. Of battle
among their mutated comrades; and 1t I'M
parts to them lofty ideas Of the: own sangui-
nary power to have stregn along their path
immense numbers Of deld Frenchmen.