Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1870-07-23

HISS u
Prussia ooncious ofths jealousy
with which France viewed her
progress, and anticipating . war.
has for some time paid the great.
est attention 10 the forthcstlOns
Of the cities on the Rhine, and on
the Baltic Sea. She has on the
latter the fortified ports Of VIII.
helmshafen, Kiel, Dantzic, Sunde.
witt, and Alsen. The last named
IS perhaps next to Ehrenbnestein.
the strongest position which
Prussia has. The forts and bat.
teries at Alsen are prodigious.
These works comprise three star.
shaped forts, with double tiers of
guns, and fine coast batteries com
handing the passage Of the Little
Belt. All these are faced with
chilled iron, from the Krupp Iron
Works Of Essen, and armed with
the heaviest ordinance. They
command the Straits, and protect
the canal Of Alsenund and its com.
munication with the port, and with
the fortified camp Of Sonderberg
on the same island. Doppel, the
scene Of the conflict with the
Danes in 1853, is close on Sender.
berg, and both are garrisoned by
the Ninth Corps d'Armee.
Stettin is garrisoned by troops
from the Second Corps, and is
governed by Lieutenant General
Freyhold.
Dantzic is commanded by Gen.
Won Brocker.
kiel, which is on the mainland
OF the province of Schleswig, is
most strongly fortified, is heavily
garrlsoned, and commanded by
Gen. Won Platz, an artillery Off
Ger Of great skill and experience.
Memel has only a small garri-
son.
Konigsberg is a very important
city, and has a large garrison.
Or the ~fortresses on the Rhine
and its vicinity, the most impor-
tant are Mayence, Rastadt, Ehren-
breitsteln, and Cologne.
MAYENCE
was formerly a city of the Ger
man Confederation, the old Zoll.
verein, and and was g~arrisoned by
and Prussian troops
Its peculiarly dangerous position,
being on the left bank of the
Rhine, led to its Notifications be-
ing OF the strongest character
It was originally g~arrisoned by
5000 men, but after the decisive
defeat Of Austria in the late con-
test 1t was agreed by the treaty Of
Prague that its Notifications
should be dismantled and its gar
rison withdrawn. This stipulation
was insisted on by Austria, but
the Prussians have never carried
cut the conditions, and Mayence
is at this moment one of the
strongest cities in the world
The four lines Of works are great
y strengthened BY outworks, and
~ detached forts and by Fort
Neiseneau, which is on the upper
bank of the Main. The city Of
is opposite the mouth Of
his river, which here falls into the
about 20 miles west of
to which it is connected
~ a railway. A bridge some 1000
'eet long connects it with the for
.ified suburb of Castel. It has
low a very large garrison, and is
commanded by Prince Waldemar
If Schleswig- Holstein.
RAsTADT
s on the right bank Of the Rhine,
md is very strongly fortified. II
s in the territory of Baden. Baden,
md formerly held a garrison of
he German Confederation, but
'ince Sadowa its garrison has
been Prussian. 1t is situated some
'ourteen miles south of Carlsruhe,
md some thirty from Strasbourg,
md will unquestionable be q point
capital importance during the
coming struggle. Its fortifca-
are on the Vauban system,
md declared to be the perfection
engineering, but experience has
proved that earthWorks are
than stone walls. There
IRE three large forts on the little
liver which runs past Rastadt,
which have many bastions, wet
litches, curtains, glacis and lu-
but the chief strength will
probably be in the fortified camps =,
which the Prussians are about to
orm there. Should it be necessary {
o withdraw its garrison, it could {
e easily replaced by Baden SOL
iers, the Grand Duke having
the most unmistakable SYM. J
athy for the Prussian cause !
EHRENBREITsTEM |,
the fortress par excellence of
russia, and is regarded as the !
of the Rhine. It is on
lie right bank of the Rhine oppo- :
to to Coblentz. 1t is connected j
it'll the town by q bridge of /
bats. Part of the Notifications I
Q at the foot of the hill, 46S feet