Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1870-08-18
From Nancy TO ohaIons.

A military writer of some distinction, In
IN article describing the military features
Of u country through which the Prus-
slams will advance if they follow the di-
rect route from Saarbruok to Chalons, on
the Marne-that il, if they mask Metz,
and follow the more southerly line OF the |
Prussian advance in 1792-makes some
interesting historical illusions and COM
parisous, from which, as tho territory de-
seribei il likely to be fought over again
pretty thoroughly within the next few
DAYS and become familiar to our readers,
we make few extracts:
As in the campaign Of 1902, so in 1914,
Metz, thirty miles north of Nancy, was
lef. on one side, and the main army
passed On beyond. In 1914 Butcher sent
d'Yock. his most "iDhsxible" fighter
.shnrphitter,' as he styled him-with
ono corps 10000 meu) to invest Metz, and
pressed on with his other two corps under
Sacken. together 10000 or $4,000 mon.
Bstweeu Nancy, on the Meurthe, and
Cbnlons. on the Marine, the line of the
,,rnat railroad which connects Paris with
tho Rhine, are three towns OF note.
/. Toul, eighteen miles west of Nancy,
,,ear the capital of one of the bishoprics
robbed from the Germans in 1909. 1t If
irregularly Fashioned and was in bad con-
dition few years since, although Its
Qualifications were intended to close the
roads from Nancy to Bar. =. Ihls dis
trjct ia the centre of defense of France
between the Meuse and the Rhine"
Bar lie Duc lies twenty-five miles west
Of TouI, on the Ornain, an atiuent of the
Marine. The old town is on hight, and
very curious; the new town on HAT.
uud devoid of interest,
3. Vitry le Francois, twenty-five miles
southwest by west of Bar, and twenty
,niles south-southw west of Chalons. This
il very important point. at is the key
of the interior of La Champagne" the
easternmost county of Old France proper,
which was bounded by the limits of Bar.
"Tts possession secures the fine road from
Paris to Strasbourg, and compels an enemy
TO throw himself into the difficult coun-
try between the Seine and the Marine"
At Chalons this road and the one from
Saarbruck direct unite. Here it was
that Butcher drew together his forces
after those five defeats through which
Napo,eon supposed that he had annihl-
ated him. Here the old indomitable Ger
man reorganized them and advanced
again with that invincible pertinacity,
that Butchers energy, which eventually
carried him and dragged the main allied
army To Paris. -
tt WAS to avoid strategic difficulties
which attend an advance upon the direct
road from Nancy to Chalons that threw
Blncher off towards the south and brought
him to Brienne lie Chateau, where Napo-
loon first struck him and was roughly
bardled by the old Prussian. This con-
aict was and may be considered drawn
battle. on January 20, 1914. Another
oreat hattie took place on the lst OF rep
80, in the midst of tremendous snow
storm, at La Rotbiere, about ten miles
,itL oo,theast of Brienne. In this ter
rible engagement, which lasted from MID
A., It'll eleven o'clock at night, Naro
I icy, l,at tremendously licked. Both sides
io4 @ 20 aoyerely, and had from five tt
,a,,o,, thousand killed and wounded, bu
pIncher took from two thousand five hun
dro5 ~ three thousand prisoners, TIVE
I,e,,araIs and from ffty-four to seventy
three pieces of artillery. IL was sei.
sed defeat to the French army, Tor II wa
lost in sight of their own countrymen, Oh
the sacred soil of France, and under
snsed invincible. Here they could la
no blame on revolted Germans or broke
bridges, nor salve their wounded pat
bv any palliatives. They had been drive
out of the position they had selecte
at leisure by force and bravery create
than thew could evnce for its defense
and the allies from this time forward ha
more confidence and resolution in the
encounters with the enemy.
A great deal of fighting took place
this region, which is "the strategic are
for the invasion of Paris" 1t embraces
territory between Lette (rivulet) mort
and Troyes, south, on the Seine, ninet
miles wide, the base of a triangle,
which Paris is the apex, eighty mil
from that base
At Laon occurred the Gettysburg
hiacampaign, Sth, 9th and 10th of Marc
1914. Napoleon, like Lee, risked ever
thing on single thread, and lost ever
thing. Like Gettysburg, it was seri
of dislocated attacks and combats. n
poleon, like Lee, reiterated without beil
properly pursued. This slackness W
owing to the fact that Butcher was almC
sick unto death, and nothing further
necessary to demonstrate the influence
this wonderful old Prussian over co
glomerate host than the fact, beyond co
tradiotion, that with his failing heal
aud strength or his recovery sank or re
in an equal degree the energy and pote
tial fight of the army which he alo
could make to forget its almost unbe,
able sufferings, privations, labors a
losses.
Nevertheless, after all, the Allies s
vanced upon the main road from Chalo,
along the Marine to the French capital.
Brienne is only six days march FRI
Paris, yet, although Butcher was at Il
point on the 9th Of January, 1914, it v
not until the 31st Of March following IL
the Allies entered Paris.