The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-08-18

The following dispatch from correspondent
at the Prusslan headquarters, on Monday, Au
gust s, gives some interesting details Of Nc
Mahon's recent defeat:
The engagements on Saturday were both fal
| In our front There are few details besides the
| official summary already seat. All letters and
messengers are delayed. What has really
| happened is in perfect accord with what
have foreshadowed more than once. The de.
sign OF the German authorities. as gathered
| from Prussian officers of high position. was
first to prevent Germany from being made the
theatre of slaughter, and second, to attack the
| French army in three places simultaneously.
The programme has been carried out so far as
the right and left fianks of the French are con-
cerned, but it remains for the German centre
| TO advance against that OF the enemy. This
advance is necessarily delayed until the result
of the flank movements can be learned. Now
that Mcmahon and Froissard have both suffered
severe defeat, general engagement Is immi-
nent. During the whole Of to-day the arrl-
val of dispatches announcing that great bat
tie Is in progress. or has ended, have been
looked forward to with feverish impatience.
1t is evening. yet no tdings have come.
Though the combats ut Weissenburg and
Woerth are regarded as minor engagements.
vet they are In reality Of the highest impor-
lance. The earliest official dispatches under
estimated the magnitude and extent of the VIC
| tory. Instead OF few hundred prisoners hav-
lnr been captured at WeissenbuTg, their num-
ber amounts to nearly 1000. Both struggles
were stubborn. The French soldiers stood
their ground well. Their rifles proved terri
bly destructive. - was downright hard fight
ing which enabled the Germans to claim the
honors of the day. wounded French prison.
er avowed in my hearing that his countrymen
could not withstand the weight of the German
attack. The fighting being one not of bullets
only. but Of bayonets also, 1t was decided at
last By the actual strength Of the respective
combatants. Physically the German soldiers,
on the average, are heaVler men eI than oraina
ry The French supposed that the new Weap-
ons would alter warfare-that the old style
hand-to-hand combats were obsolete. This
engagement proved otherwise.
The Zouaves did what they could to check
the advance OF regiments by pouring in vol.
leys from concealed position. They had
posted themselves In pits dug 1or the purpose;
from this concealed fire did the German SOL
diers know that their progress was to be con-
tested. They saw no signs of troops in their
front. Such an ordeal as this tested the stuff
of which these men were made. They bore
themselves with extraordinary valor: Men
were struck down by hundreds. yet the regl-
menrs never wavered. The ZouaVes were
driven IrOm luelI pslCcs Va SOLSOoIniCuIi GIlu
the ground they had occupied was won by
their opponents.
The exact details are not forthcoming. 1t Is
impossible to learn, even approximately, how
many fell but 1t is quite certain that the German
loss has been proportionately enormous By
day and night the wounded have been arriving
here. This afternoon oil the beds In the hos
pitals are occupied; these contain about 1000
men. The field hospitals are also full. Hun
drads of wounded men were sent on to Frank
fort. where there is accommodation for 5000.
Long series OF stretchers, on which lie wound
ed soldiers and officers, are passing through
the streets to-day. So great Is the number OF
the wounded that the arrangements made
proved insufficient, and there were instances
where men laid twenty-iour hours on the 1eld
before being discovered. i private dispatch
from n military surgeon confirms this infOrtna-
ton.
The latest statements from the field where
McNIahon's army was so thoroughly beaten.
say that while the victory was complete. and
the number OF prisoners taken amounts to GOO0.
the losses on both sides were enormous. These
losses can De III afforded by the French. For
them 10 replace those who are killed, wound
ed or missing. Is hardly possible. The Ger
mans, on the other hand, can nil mp all their
blanks in the course Of few hours. They
have a surerabundance OF trained soldiers
ready TO ioin their regiments al a moments
notice. Should the Germans be defeated In
general engagement they would be ready In
The course Of a week TO fight again. move
ment is in progress which will greatly strength
en- the army now encamped on French soil.
An addition of900, 900 men will soon be ready.