The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1870-08-16
The War-rhe Germans Advancing and the
French Failing Back Upon Paris.

French Failing Back Upon Paris.
| We have some reports Of an indecisive en-
gagement between the French and Germans
on the Moselle, at or near Metz, as the former
were retreating over the Moselle. From the
facts given it does not appear TO have arrested
the general advance of the Germans, nor to
have changed the evident purpose Of the
French to fall back fighting upon Paris, as
Lee fell back fighting, from point to point, till
each time turned by his left flank. from the
Wilderness to Richmond. We have at length
before us, in broken fragments, sufficient de-
tails Of the recent battles between the Rhine
and the Moselle to establish these important
facts-that In generalship and in discipline, In
strategy and tactics, as well as in numbers, In
every collision the Germans have been su-
perior to the French; that the available active
German army in the field Is larger than that
of the French, and that the advantages
achieved by King William from these battles
with the French right wing have been equiva-
lent to the advantages of a great success from
general engagement.
This last important fact is established by the
the loss since the beginning of the war not
only of large numbers Of men, killed, wounded
and prisoners of vast amounts of artillery,
small arms, munitions and supplies; horses,
wagons, railways and railway trains, and of
all the country betw an the Rhine and Moselle,
with its cities, towns and strong places, includ
ing the apparently inevitable loss of the forti-
fed frontier city ofStrasbourg, with its eighty
two thousand inhabitants but with the loss,
too, of that military prestige of the empire and
the Emperor, and Of that confidence, devotion
and enthusiasm Of the French army which are
indispensable to its success. Hence we may
safely assume that the original French pro-
gramme Of forward movement to Berlin has
been changed into deliberate retrograde
movement upon Paris, in view of the necessi-
ties of achievements, reorganization and con-
centration against the superior forces, organi-
cation, order and generalship of the Ger
mans, advancing under the inspiration of great
successes.
There is yet another reason why the French
army should fall back upon Paris. 1t lies in
the facts that Paris is in state of incipient
revolution, threatening the proclamation of
republic, and that the presence OF the Emperor
is needed in Paris at the head Of his
army to suppress, by.a moral reaction, this
revolutionary ferment. 1t would be folly on
his part now to return to Paris without his
army, and the danger to the empire increases
with every day Of his absence from the city
In the absence of any great victory. His
policy, then, is to make the defence of Paris
the cause of the empire, and to suppress the
the invader. From HERALD correspondent
in Paris we learn that more than six hundred
cannon are already mounted on the walls of
those forts of the city likely to be first at
tackled; that the work Of placing other pieces
in positions goes on day and night; that the
day before yesterday seven thousand five
hundred workmen were engaged in cutting off
the streets leading into Paris, and that thou
sands of laborers outside the walls are en-
gagged on earthworks, mines, bitches, &C.,
which are to complete the network of the
city's defences; and, lastly, that an army of
one hundred and thirty thousand men is already
organized as the reserved force for the defence
of the capital.
All these preparations under the instruc-
tons Of the Emperor and his government indi-
cate that his plan of operations in the field is
that of careful but expeditions retreat to
Paris, in order to suppress the republican
faction with his presence and the presence OF
his army and the call to meet the common
danger to France. After the defeats he
has suffered, with the resulting demoraliza-
ton to his army he has, perhaps, wisely
concluded not to risk o general engage
ment until within striking distance of Paris.
Suppose that on the west bank of the Mosele,
for instance, Napoleon has resolved upon the
hazards of general engagement, and that his
army is again defeated, is it not morally GER
tain that the next things will be the over
throw Of the empire, the proclamation Of
''the republic" in Paris, under a provisional
committee of safety and general call to arms
in the name of ''the republic?" And in
this event will not the army in the field fra
ternize with the revolution in the capital? 1t
is, then, these overshadowing dangers In the
rear as much as the advancing Prussians in
bis 'front.' that suggest to Napoleon the neces-
sity of falling back with his army upon Paris
Moreover, the defensive positions from which
his army has been driven, or which 1t has
abandoned, are stronger than any defensive
line in the open country between the Moselle
and Paris, and it is evident that while the
Germans have been seeking decisive general
engagement the French have been carefully
avoiding it, retreating at every point APP
preached, or only pauslng for reconnaissance
or to check the enemy.