The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-08-15
THE VAR.
LAST NIGHTS DEsPArOnRs,

ue ueciares mlllbaty conBcrlPtlOn aDonSneu
in all French territory occupied by German
troops.
He adds that Frenchmen in Germany need
not be uneasy. They shall, in common with
all mankind, be convinced that Germany
move at the head of civilization.
. LONDON, Aug. 14.--Advioes from Metz state
that the French army had been withdrawn TO
the west bank of the Moselle. McMahon is
at Trout, twelve miles west of Nancy.
The evacuation of Metz is considered
certain.
The Prussians count on starving out the
defenders of Strasburg without recourse to
bombardment.
A despatch from Nancy, via Berlin, dated
last night, says French battalion moving
toward Metz was encountered in the morning,
on the railway near Pont-a-Mousson, and re-
treated, leaving its baggage train in the hands.
of the Prussians.
The Prussians have occupied Nancy, which
bad been evacuated by the French. The
Prussian cavalry has destroyed portion of
the railway between Frouard and Paris, cut
ting off supplies and forage for the French
troops sheltered under the glacis of Metz.
LONDON, Aug 14.-The Emperor Napoleons
retreat from Metz is fully confirmed
LONDON, August IA special despatch
from Haguenau, dated to-day, says that Mac
Mahon's army evacuated Nancy yesterday on
the approach of the Grown Princes army and
retreated across the Moselle to the fortress of
Toul. The French destroyed fine bridge
of seven arches, which spanned the river
The forces of the Crown Prince now OCCUPY
Nancy and Frouard, at the junction of the
Paris and Strasburg Railroad with the road to
Metz. The Prussians attacked POnt-a-Mous-
son, driving out the French, but subsequently
fell back to the main body. The headquar-
ters of the united armies of Frederick Charles
and General Steinmetz are at Herry, on a
direct line with Saarbruck, and within twenty
miles of Metz. Large quantities of stores
were captured in the environs of Metz. Gene
raj froussards s division lost all its supplies
A special despatch from Carlsruhe 'o-days
says that Strasburg was bombarded w4th hot
shot and shell on Friday and Saturday. Inc
besieged asked for parley and were given
forty-eight hours to decide whether they
would surrender.
A correspondent writes from Metz on
| Thursday; Ton my arrival from Nancy the
Prussians were everywhere accommodating
and overrunning the country without him
drance. The peasants are obliged to bring
provisions and supplies for their horses. The
! French division sent yesterday on recon-
noisance returned without effecting anything.
! The French lines extend about six miles, and
! three Prussian armies are concentrating in
! their front"
| Our special correspondent writes from Ber-
lin on Tuesday, ''Seven thousand more pri-
soners are on their way hither. Many of the
French officers taken at Woerth are not
wounded. Prussian soldiers say that the
hardest fighting at all was at Weissenburg.
| There was much hand to hand work, but the
! French, though brave, did not know how to
; use the bayonet, and no Prussians received
| bayonet wounds"
LONDON, Aug. II. - correspon-
dent at Metz writes, ON Thurs
| day, that dissatisfaction is increasing
among the soldiers. Disorganization is
! spreading in the service, and CONSERVATION is
! gaining possession of the people. Yesterday
more than one thousand families Of the
4! neighboring peasantry entered Metz, flying
from the Prussians. The streets are filed
with carts, bedding, furniture and military
! trains, all in ineXtricable confusion.
! The prefect of the department publishes a
I notice that no stranger will be allowed to
remain in Metz without forty days provi-
| sions.
| The Prussian advance guard, 40, 600 strong,
! is approaching the city.
| The enemys movements are completely
, covered by the woods which the French
| failed to destroy.
The administrations are all in woful confu-
! sion and disorganizatiOn. Cash payments are
virtually stopped, and the people surround
the Bank of France, waiting to obtain specie
The silver brokers ask three per cent. for
changing silver for gold.
A correspondent telegraphs from Dublin
to-day that mob of 600, headed by band
playing French airs, attacked Prussian ves-
sci lying at Kingston, on Friday evening, and
pelted stones at her. They failed in trying
to board the vessel and left, threatening to
| return at night and ''cut the throats of the
bloody Prussians." The pelice now guard
the vessel. Bands of people paraded the
streets tonight with the French flag, and
were stopped by the police. A riot is
threatened.
correspondent, describing the battles
at Weissenberg and Woerth, says:-Both
struggles were stubborn. The French sol.
diers stood their ground well. and their rifles
proved terribly destructive. 10 was downright
hard fighting which enabled the Germans to
claim the honors of the day.
A wounded French prisoner avowed in my
hearing that his countrymeu could not with
stand the weight of the German attack, the
fight being not of bullets only, but of bayo
nets also. 1t was decided by the actual
strength of the combatants. Physically, the
average of the German soldiers is heavier
than the ordinary French.
1t was supposed that the introduction oi
the new weapons would alter the mode OF
warfare, and render the old style of hand tC
hand combat obsolete. This engagement
proved otherwise The Zouaves did wha
they could to check the advance of a German
regiment by pouring in volley of fire from
a concealed position
They had posted themselves in pits dug fo
that purpose, and not until the advancing
regiment had suffered from this concealed fir,
did the German soldiers know that their pro
gress was to be contested. They saw "A,
sign of troops IN their front. Such an ordea