The New York herald., 1870-09-14
GERMAN ARMY Losses.


Prussiau OGicinI Report Of Losses in the
Great EattIcs-Thc Regiments which were
Particularly Observation-Disclosures Killed
and Womnded-Mcn who Fell by the Chassc-
not and iIitrnlleuse.
Berlin August 49, correspondence OF London
Times.
At length the first Official list OF losses In the field
have been made public. They only fulfil too COM
petely the melancholy antlclpations with which we
saw the troops going out to the war. Although re-
strcted 10 officers, and referring only to few intro
ductory engagements they contain figures which
viii not easily be erased from the minds Of men.
Will lust give you a few examples
AS you may be aware Prussian regiment on
war footing has 3Oo3 men with w officers. or these
81 officers The Seenty-fourlh regiment tHanoverians)
lost no less than 80 in killed and wounded at Wels
senburg. The Seventy-seventh lalso Hanoverians)
on the same occasion lost 25 onicers the Thirty
sians. 10; the Nineiy.nltn (Thurinsiansl. le; the
E,ghty ythlra |Hessians, NJ the ltfty-th,rd
the hssen me meysaaas
Still worse was 1t at Woerih, where the PrussIans
were for five mortal hours opposed to the French,
dislodged unu taken in nank by Wdrtemburgers
and Bavarians. There the FiftyeIghth regiment
he Fifty-nlnth (Poseners) rs; the Seventh (King's
Grenadiers)-L0wer Silesians ana German Posen.
ers), IS; the Forty-seventn Lower silesiansl, 20;
the FOrtysiXth Lower Sllesians), SO; the Fifty
seventh tI,ower Siecsians), 80; the Sixth West
phallans), rs; the Thlrtyseventh, (Westphaians),
What terrible conclusions must be derived from
these statistics In respect OF the higher grades as
to the number OF casualties among rank and file
need say. But the most frightful carnage Of all
in the earlier part OF the campaign was at Spiche
ren, whose steep ana preclpltous heights,
tI mtraiIIeuse and chnssepos were thrice assaulted
| in vain and at last carried at the point Of the
bayonet On this spot 10000 Prussians, gradu-
| ally increased to 27,00o, struggled against 10000
French. Though thesO1icia list does not yet extend
to this sangunary encounter there can be no doubt
the correctness Of the private intelligence for
Wardpd m which the total 81
| 1927, OF whom Sll are dead and l,4S6 wounded.
| Accordingly every twelfth man was killed or
wounded. Some companies left nearly one half OF
their men the spot az, for instance, the Fifth
company Of the Forty.eghth lRhinelanders), which
went with $50 INTO the fire and came out with
i29, and the First company OF the Eighth (Kng's
Own-Brandenburgersb which, on the evening OF
the battle consigned 107 comrades either to the
grave or the hospital
Passing ON TO the tremendous three days battle
near Metz, we lave but private intelligence, and
this only referring TO individual detacnments; yet
VIC know already enough to imagine the rest. On
the l4th, In the action named after Pange or COur-
celles the ortyeighth Rhineanders) LOST 32 officers
and SOL rank and file; in other words, about b.
third It's complement. rife battalion In the same
locality was by the enemy's fire deprived oi nine Of
It's officers and 30 rank and he-that Is, OF third
| Of the officers and fourth OF the men.
On the l4th, as well as on the l6th-the latter
being the battle OF Marsha Tour or Vionville-tne
losses or the Prusslans were comparatively greater
than those OF the French, the former being on both
occasions greatly Outnumbered. yet holding fast the
enemy with a bulldogs tenaclty. 10 give their main
-o'NN w S~'~-~ ~>--
| earnest.
At Mars.la.Tour the best blood OF the country was
split Ike water. within few moments by the un-
expected unmaskng or mitrailleuse battery Count
Westrap, Count Wesdeien, Baron Rleist Henry W.,
| Prince OF Reuss Baron Grimm, Baron WitZleben,
and many other nobemen OF high rank and position
| were killed. The grand flnaie at RezOnville, or
Graveote, on the 18th, where the Prussian hosts az
last assembled In strength, are SAID to have suffered
loss Of IS 900 combatants, was worthy fthe begin
ning Nor did the French suffer less. In the three
actions near Metz they had nearly 5000 dead
and 600 dead. wounded and prisoners tOQptner.
Well may it be asked what has made these
battles so unusually bloody Different circumstances
have combined 10 work out the awful result. rhe
val0r or the German and French sOldiery and the
| extreme exasperation OF the German race Tor the
hands of their i Western nelghbors are among the the
primary reasons Of the extreme bitterness or the
strife SO rarely nave the Germans been sufficiently
united to be able TO cope with France, and so long
| have they accordingly had To pocket invasion and
| affront that now, when the time for paying of has
last arrived every man IN the army Is incited by
| the work In hand Not to dwell upon other more
serious injuries, the speeches OF NJ. Thiers and his
associates the imprudent articles OF French news
paper writer's and the whole tone OF French liter
Attire since 1slo have Kndled the lre which is now
oaern weapcns and tSe peculiar strategy employed
annimosiiyY an mo Of tHse ScomSatanH. " wv
Scarcely ever IN the course Of the entire cam.
| pagn have the French met the Germans in the open
\ field. They were either posted on hills high ana
dicult Of ascent or concealed In rte pits OF enor
| ~.
| always on the defensive they were at liberty to
choose their battle grounds ana the use they made
OF this privilege mas been deadly to their adveraa
RES At splcheren they were on an Isolated rock
rising abruptly out OF the valley W0erth found
| them on the top OF semicrcuar ridge, and con
| cealed In the vineyards and hop gardens OF ths
| adjoining slopes. AT Weissenburg they Tough
| partly behind ramparts. partly on the summit O
the Gaisherg. At Pange or Courcelles they had dug
themselves INTO the earth. Marshal Tour was In tn
| Spicheren style: and on Rezonvnie or Gravelott
| the official telegram says that the entire army o
| the enemy was stationed IN fortress-hke position
! being disposed In woods and on hills The Prus
SLAMS having 70 charge an enemy SO advantageousl,
| posted, naturally always lost large number o.
| men before getting at him. In many
| instances they were the more easily pelted
witE every description of MISSILE ~ the ground
IRON winch tney had 10 attack had been designediy
cleared OF trees ana all o,ner cover ~ the french
were formidable on the defensive the Germans
| proved none he less so IN the attack. The Gerniaf
tactics Ia the present DO not seem 10 admit d
| stunning anv difficulty however EMBARRASSING j