The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-09-03

lleved that in one or two days at most after
taking the field they would be in the valley of
the RhiLe or that Of the Moselle, and have all
the crops and stores at their disposition. But
what If I tell you what have myself seen in
a document which admits of no possible doubt,
that so long ago as the 23d Of July, the exact
day upon which the Prussians would cross
the frontier in force, and the very places where
they were to cross were already settled
and named by the initiated few who
directed affairs What If tell you that the
advance upon Wiessenburg, the subsequent
following Of the French troops, the breaking
of their line by attacking them somewhere In
the valley Of the Saar and the forcing of them
back upon Metz or Nancy, II they were not
utterly beaten before, was all mapped out by
master hand in the great art Of war twenty
days ago. 1t is impossible for me to state
where or how got the information; but what
l say is the fact, and one hardly knows which
to admire most, the head that planned this
attack upon the enemy that expected to be the
invader. or the marvellous secrecy with which
the Intentions Of the Prussian leaders were
concealed go long as there was any reason tor
doing so.
The Horrors of the War.
From the London Times.l
Those who can detach their minds from par
ticular incidents of war to contemplate Its
progress as whole must acknowledge the
strange and, we may almost say, terrible iacln,
alton of the spectacle. Take the map Of
France and mark upon it the course OF the ad-
yancing army during the past week. Steadlly
and surely the dark blue columns have stolen
onward. covering, piece by piece, the eastern
departments, and pushing their way into the
heart OF France. The whole army has moved
with the unity Of o single being. Wv, Witnout inc !
noise, without haste, but without hating for
moment, it has appeared resolute to accom-
plish preconceived design. We see In the
character of the advance evidence oil the
attack. attested TO US by many other proofs,
that the plan OF the campaign was
settled before q hostile column had en-
tered upon French territory. for 1t bears in
single mind The effect is enhanced by the
contrast presented by the armies OF the de-
fence. Ever since the beginning Of the war
their movements have been distracted, their
attempts purposeless, and their efforts conse-
ouentiy Intellectual. Other nations may show
their lines of blue and red moving with more
than machine-like regularity and force. The
organization of the German army gees iar oe-
yond this. "Infantry to periorate the zoe, ar
tillery to smash him. cavalry to lacerate him,
and at the same time the Brethren of Help,
bearing the red and white cross Of neutrality,
to drag him from the field of death; Sisters OF
Mercy to tend him, doctors to cure, priests to
comfort his soul, all follow, each In its appro-
pirate order. There is even corps OF grave
diggers, who are under command, and serve
in their appointed functions, burying what
were friends and foes, but have become recon-
ciled in DEATH and-so runs the inscription on
the heights of Forbach, as in the orchards Of
Sadowa-.Rulle71 zltSdfnnlen in G0n.'"
No more awful implement of destruction
than the German army has ever done Its des-
tined work. It has the physical force OF ma
ton brought together and driven against the
foe after much training and discipline, and with
such ready concurrence oil every man 10 tlle
army, that it acts as O single man would act
under the voltion Of his heart and brain. The
result is seen at large in the advance from the
Rhine to the Saar, from the Saar to the Mo-
sele, from the Moselle to The Meuse; it may be
studied in detail on the heights Of Spicheren
and among the vineyards of Woerth. Two
regiments had exhausted themselves In as
saultlng the Speckler Berg, when the 10th ad-
ranced and scaled 1t at cost OF 600 men and
l6 officers. while the G7th sacrificed 600 men
and % officers, in breaking in upon the en-
trenchments at Forbach.
The work had to be done. and 1t was done at
no greater sacrifice than was necessary, but
at any sacrifice that was necessary. The
ghastly spectacle after the battle of Woerth is
described BY q well-knoWn correspondent.
who, not unused In the annals OF war, says: ~
have seen many fields, and the more see OF
them the less like them" Along two miles OF
roali iuy the trophies of death, and though the
service of burial was continuously kept up by
the companies ofgrave diggers, the harvest had
proved too heavy for the reapers. "There
will, fear" writes our correspondent, with
two prophetic accuracy "se many IAN more OF
of 1870 comes to close, how quick soeVer the
approach Of the enemy may be, the great de-
stroyer will have laid low thousands more OF
his victims
The Battle Of Woerth-Incidents of the
FIght-How M NJ a on. Lost the
Battle.
Correspondence Of the London Telegraph
Whatever could have made Mcmahon ac-
cept a battle under the circumstances, am
utterly at loss to conceive. A glance at the
two armies seemed to show how utterly i'm
possible it would have been for the French to
do more than hold their own. and even to do
this must have cost them dear. But truth
compeIs me to state that the vast superiority
in numbers was not the only reason Why they
lost the fight.
The Prussian troops are. without exception,
in the highest state OF discipline; the French
are the very reverse. They are brave to
fault. l never knew men light better or de-
spise death more. ! saw one regiment OF
Zouaves, which was 1000 strong when 1t went
into battle. 1t lest an immense number OF
men. and the survivors were finally surround
ell by the Prussians.
They fought like devils; and don't think
there could have been two hundred men LETT
when they held upa white handkerchief and
were made prisoners. The Prussian officers
themselves admit the reason why they took
so many prisoners to be that the French were
ali detached. were here and there In small bo-
dies, and were all cut of In detail; the Prus'
SLAMS seemed to me never to lose tnelr lorma-
ton: The French seemed really never to have
had any. Their system, or want OF system,
might answer very well against undisciplined
tribes In Algeria but as they are they never will
be able to face regular disciplined, European
even to fault, there can be no doubt what
ever. But in these days courage is not the
only requisite for Q soldier:
IN saying that MeMahpns M information was
what every French officer have seen since
the light told me. 1t is hardly to be believed,