New-York tribune., 1870-12-21

for about ten minutes without seeing or hearing anything
Of the enemy whom came to place where tne roao
IN Don turns TO the right Five hundred yards furhsr
on the Generals carriage drew up on the nght
hand side Of the road, and the advance guar"
was sent forward 1t was now quite dark 'no
sky Was black COAL but not far ahead on the e VIC
saw the light which from DUon, and ilulhha'oo
the sky above. The advanced guard had Deeh son'
ubout Ave minutes. other troops had followed, when
suddenly the reports OF two neede-gnns Were hear"
These were followed by several others, and we theh
knew that our advanced guard had reached the Prus
sian oupost The order given to the troops had Deen
"Do not fire; your bayonets and we shall
sleep at Dion Tonight" Hardly two or three
minutes after the first discharge, there came
regular shower Of bullets, which whisted about
our cara in a most unpleasant fashion. The Genera,
carriage was beside the high road, surrounded p '0
officers Of his stan. Not one was killed. or even NUT
when there came a second shower OF lead' anu -, "
third, all leaned over our horses necks t,
for us, the PriSsian fire was very hlGh' anu y
almost all the balls passed over our H'""o' e,'a
NV compani0ns however, had their caps s'".'u "Nu
g. Oioats rood Our troops continued to advance
IN eort er the Italians the Cbasseurs des Apes anu
,Aa,al o,,ar companIes of Francs-treuIs. presently
,se tonud ourselves almost alone beSioe 'he roa''
Ahaas We sfin heard the burr OF the mtrahleuses'
hut noue OF the balls reached uS- III WAS c''uo'"
rrn ths that the enomy's batteries had re'reatcu I'M
od,aelv behind us were our two batteries OF artillery
and bobIud them the remainder OF our troops An al't
deaup was sent to bring them up and as after TWO
three minutes appeared on The scene oi "V'oh
second was dispatched. accompanied the thlu 10 see
what was the On arriving ut the end OF our no
of artillery we found the Garde Mobile many of who
pretended that the road encumbered by the 0hon
aud ammunition wagons. "Whero are the omeers' eA.
c,a,nad the aidde-camp No answered. Several on
them had hidden their heads in the hoods OF theH
rloaks After q deal Of difficulty few officers
were found, and the Gardes Mobiles were SET III
motion advancing toward the front on either SIDE OF the
artillery The staff officers moved on considerable ds-
Arnce with them, and did all they could TO encourage
them There were singing Of the "Marscillaise" and
cries OF Yiye Ia ReJmblique - and whom we drew UP
our horses beside road FOR the second time we thought
that all was right Then there came a second shower OF
lead which, like those which we had already expert
rneed, passed either our heads OF beside
u.s. The Gardos Mobiles were so terror
stricken that some threw themselves fat on the
ground while others leaped into the bitches on either
sde of the road. This last fire followed by deadly
silence which only broken by few muSketry shots
far ahead The Gardcs Mobiles in throwing themselves
the ground had wounded each other with their DayO
nets This naturally produced considerable confusion in
the ranks. In getting up again they continued thelr
cunsncss. Some wounded in the feet, others in
the logs others in the hands and and others in the
back have siUee seen many Of the wounded, and am
Therefore able to guarantee this statement
When the Gardes Mobiles had risen from the ground
they brought their rifles to their shoulders and although
they had been expressly ordered 60 their bayonets
Uny fred large portion OF our troops were consid
rrabe distance ahead and they Of course received the
voley You can easily form an idea of the confusion
that ensuod The Italians and Francs treus, who mp 10
The present sustained the German fire with admra-
bic coouess gined that they were attacked by the
enemy In the rear. Many Of them evidently thought
that they were cut from the other portion Of the army
and did their best reach it, The Gardes Mobiles seeing
these coming toward them, turned tail and He'd Per-
Au3s0n and menaCes were alike powerless 10
lping them back When kind words had failed
the officers OF the staff drew their swords and struck
om the back with the fiat part, but the cOwardly
mass dodged them and fed into the fields. Then GER
tain number Of adsde-camp galloped to the head Of
the column and implored the 10 return; but they
obsbatey FASTENED along the road with their backs
turned 10 the The retreat now became general
Garibadi and his staff left almost alone, sur
rounded only 10y the 18th Chasseurs dAfrique and the
Iaan II at this moment the enemy had sent 500 horse
after us, half Of army would have been either
made prisoners cut 10 pieces Fortunately for us the
Ge:IIans seemed TO he COntented with having driven
beck and did not TO have any idea of the Vantage
dad gained.