The New York herald., 1870-09-26
The French Navy and Its Failure In the
Baltic

| Baltic.
The French naval vessels lately operating
as blockading squadron in the Baltic against
Prussia have been withdrawn to the defence
| of the seaporls and naval depots Of France
| The reasons assigned for this movement are
, that the draught Of the French iron-plated
ships, from twenty TO thirty feet, is too heavy
for the shallow waters along the southern
Baltic coast that the guiding lights to the
| channels and against the shoals of that coast
are extinguished and false lights substituted,
rendering 1t difficult, if not impossible 10 dis
| tinguish between channels and shoals; that
the Prussian inlets and river entrances are
| Infested with torpedoes, which must be
avoided, and by troublesome light draught
gunboats. or aojS0S, which cannot be pursued
by heavy draught ships, and that the regular
Prussian war vessels, under the shelter Of
forts and the protection of torpedoes, cannot
be reached.
These reasons are sufficient in accounting
for the failure of the French navy to accom-
plsh anything in this var beyond the blockade
of the Prussian ports. But had Napoleon, in his
preparations for this war, studied more closely
the peculiarities of the southern Baltic coast,
its river mouths, its inlets shoals, islands,
&C., and studied less the strength of the
Pr1ssan navy in heavy iron-clads, the French
naval operations against Prussia 10 this contest,
instead of being useless, might have been
made equal to an army in the field
OF hundred thousand men. In the
Crimean war England sent up In the Baltic
formidable fleet of heavy draught ships only
to find that for aggressive purposes against
Russia in that quarter they were useless Eng
land, however, proceeded at once to repair
the blunder in building large number Of light
| draught gunboats, each armed with gun of
| heavy calibre for the Baltic service, and but
for the fall of SebastopoI, which brought
peace, those gunboats would doubtless have
tried the strength, to some purpose, even Of
the powerful Notifications of Cronstadt. At
all events, well appointed and numerous
fleet of swift and light draught gunboats would
have enabled France in this war to give con-
slant employment to a Prusslan army on the
Baltic coast of hundred thousand men.
Napoleon, in falling to make this special pro-
vision for this war with Prussia, has simply
left the French navy in condition in which it
has not been able to give any valuable assist
ance to the French army. This too, when the
navy of France numbers nearly five hundred
vessels Of all descriptions, being very nearly
on paper equal to the navy of England, even
ia ir2n-elads, and yhse ths money expended
ppon single useless but ornamental iron
plated ship would have supplied feet Of
gunboats equal to land force of one hundred
thousand men. We know that Prussia had
expected some formidable diversions by the
FRENCH navy on her Baltic coast, and had
accordingly placed an army Of = hundred
thousand men under Won Falkenstein to guard
that line against the landing at any point of a
French army under cover of a supporting feet
Of ships or gunboats. Won Moltke, compre-
hending the DANGER Of such an attack upon
the rear Of the Prussan army and its commu-
nications, had thus amply provided for it but
the French, In failing to make any such diver
sion by their navy, and in Withdrawing at
length from their profitless blockade, have
released Falkenstein's army and added its
important support to the German columns
operating in the heart Of France.
Thus, while the developments of this war
have shown that the army of France was
never so badly prepared for aggressive or
defensive operations, it is confessed by her
Admiral commanding in the Baltic that his
costly and formidable feet of iron-clads in
those waters are worse than useless against
the Prussian feet which is locked up, and
against the Prussan seaboard towns, which,
on account of flats, bars, torpedoes, false
lights and light-footed Goisos, cannot be
approached. The whole civilized world is
astonished at these revelations, in regard both
to the inefficiency of the army and the navy
of France, which, under the liberal expendi-
lures of Napoleon the Third, it was supposed,
would prove equal to any possible emer sency
by land and sea. The facts are before us,
however, that the empire, with all its pomp
and glitter, and all its luxurious parades of
aboundng military strength and resources,
has still, with its fearful demoralizations,
brought France to the verge of ruin; that
while her standing army, but yesterday the
terror Of Europe, is destroyed, her immense
navy, pronounced useless in this conflict is
withdrawn from the field of active operations
Surely from these imperial humiliations France
must now be prepared for the wholesome
reforms of republic.