Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1870-08-17
LEAVING FOR THE WAR.
Going "Where the Poor Men Die Always,
and Kings are Never Killed.
From Murat Hastends third Paris letter to the Gin
cuuuti Commercial.


From Murat IIalstcnds third Paris letter to the Gin
ciuunti Commercially
The departure of the Eighty-first regi-
ment of the line, recently i'm one of the
forts about the city, occurred on Saturday.
The regiment was composed OF hardy, lit
tie men, who stood a. if accustomed To IL
under ponderous knapsacks Each man
had his gun, cartridge box, canteen, cook
ing utensils, sticks for field tent piece of
canvas for tent, some clothing, a blanket
and two loavee of bread. Fortunately the
gun is quite light. The hassepot-breech-
loader-is made for rapid handling. it
looks quite light for reliable fire-arm.
The seasoned appearance of the soldiers
! saw leaving Paris for Berlin $50 they said)
was striking. They looHed almost as sun
burned and grim as Sherman's veterans ns
they marched through Washington, hav-
ing tramped from the Ohio to the Potomac,
by way of n hundred battle-delds and Sa-
vannah and Richmond capturing the lat
ter city during their PASSAGE from old
Halleck. | did not see much of the gayety
of the French soldier at the depot The
most reckless levity is somewhat subdued
by the sensibilities touched i'm separating
from families.
On all sides were the fearful, heart
breaking parting scenes that need not de-
scribe to Americans. Here were officers
saying farewell to wives, and hestating
painfully to give up the hands of their lit
dren with all the sweet brightness of their
years, that should be unclouded, faded out
OF their faces-perhapS, alas foreVer--tur
| their fathers Were going to fight the Prus-
| slams, going into the dreadful work where
the poor men die always and the kings arc
| never killed. One scene that | witnessed
| was particularly touching. ga young Wo-
man with a child in her arms, whose hon
! esty was attested by the humility of her
dress, staggered from the throng gathered
about one of the companies that was Just
| moving to take their place in the ears.
! Her eyes were swollen and red and filled
| with tears. There never was n paler cheek
and II mouth and brow that told of greater
agony ut Il funeral. And close after her was
! an elderly woman. who seemed to think
! that she must care for the poor crushed
| creature in front. This was the mother.
! Here We're the three generations-the
mother, the wife, the baby. | could not
tell which of the little men with glazed
caps, red pants, short hair, tanned cheeks,
dusty shoes, light guns and mules loads on
| their backs was the son and the husband
and the father, for none looked back-and
| they marched swiftly and silently away.
/ think this scene would have reduced the
| enthusiasm of the goddess of liberty whom
| saw shriekng " Hurrah for war; on the
Rue de Rivoli few hours before. And
| there are tens of thousands of such scenes
all over France and Germany. The thought
! of IL il enough to make one conservative
and peace man, even where he hears the
bugles aud the drums?
| "a GREAT MANY MEN WILL BE KILLED"
This occasion Is one that is unusually,
perhaps beyond example dreadful. Meth
er of the great powers engaged undertakes
| the adversary. The poor boys who are
going from Paris say sadly enough, "A
great many men will be killed" There
is no doubt of it, boys; none whatever.
The Prussians may be beaten but it will
cost France her best blood-the blood es-
! pecally, | mean, Of her poor young men.
| met this evening, II lady just from Ger
man city, who describes the state of feeling
among the young Germans They took
their inevitable places in the army, sadly
enough, saying, ~ they say here, "a great
many men will be killed.