Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1870-08-16
WHAT THE GERMAN VICTORIES
Row

leaguesI had to declare the capital Of
the French Empire In a state Of siege,
announce to his c%ountrymen that the
Government Is placing the city In a
state ofdefensein "all possible haste"
and appeal to them to rise up to save
the country. This IS a marvellous
change in the aspect Of the war In so
short Il space of time. AL this has
been brought about by the wonderful
of the Prussian leaders under
the new regime. The first Napoleon
was the great modern apostle of rapid
military movements and sudden and
vital blows. 1t was he that wa the
great economizer of Z" minutes " In the
operations of war, and 1t was suppos-
able that a military government, ex-
i'ting exclusively upon the strength Of
his traditions-''the Napoleonic ideas"
would have been at least as wise a
c%onservator of time, especially In n
premeditated war. But 1t Is the Ger
mans now, under their Prussian lead
ership, who fully understand and util-
ize the precious value Of time. While
the present Napoleon was engaged In
Il leisurely way at Saarbrucken In the
melo-dramatic spectacle. apparently
got up to amuse the young Prince
Louis. and to amuse the Parisians as
well by announcing to them. in n bull
letin, the important intelligence of
Louis baptism of fire." the Crown
Prince, earnestly engaged in the real
business Of the war, was maSsing his
army of q hundred and sixty thousand
men under the shades Of the Black
Forest, from which he suddenly
launched it upon the angle of the
French lines at weissenburg. While
the Western World, including Eng
land aid, perhaps, France itself, were
looking for n great battle OH Pru'sian
soil, ut Saarlouis, or even further Oh,
their attention was brought suddenly
to n remote part Of the field, and the
names Of Weissenburg and a few OBJ
scure French villages spring into I'M
portance. just as "Pittsburg Landing"
=. Antietam." Gettysburg" Five
Forks" and "Appomattox did In
orr own war. Worth and Nleder-
broun. two villages In a valley Of the
vosges Mountains, hitherto almost un-
known. will hereafter live In history
as the places in French territory where
the army of Napoleon ILL.,. on Its
march for the invasion Of Germany.
was suddenly defeated and driven back
into the interior Of France for the pro-
lection of Paris. Won Moltke seems
TO have foreseen that the French oper-
.itions OH the river Saar we're merely
diversions. that the presence Of the
Emperor at Metz and st. Avoid and
Saarbrucken was n blind, and that the
real attempt to penetrate into Ger
many would be made oil the Rhine be-
tween Kehl and Carisruhe, where Mar
shall McMahon was with his African
Zouaves and Turcos, and the choice
battalions from Algeria. 1t was no
further back than last Wednesday
week that Mcmahon surveyed the
Rhine from Kehl bridge northward
for twenty-siX miles, seeking, rs
we may now suppose, for the
crossing which was to start his army
Oh its march to Heidelberg, Darmstadt
and Frankfort. But In this Won Moltke
had prepared a complete ~cheekmate,
for, as If in prophetic foresight OF Nc
Mahon's intended move, the army OF
the Crown Prince was OIL that very
day in motion for Weissenburg, and OH
the next commenced a series Of opera
tions which crushed the whole line Of
the French Marshal's intended aggre1-
sive advance, aud drove him back upon
Il line of defence in tho interior OF
France. as the dispatches have already
told. This is utilizing " minutes " ac-
cortHng to the tactics of the first Napo-
leon. The war Is now transferred
from German to French territory. 1t
l. France that Is OH the defensive, and
not Germany-aud the proclamations,
printed In German, which ore to have
been distributed by the invading army
Ia DarmStadt, will have to be laid b.
for the present. AS Is usual In such
c,ses. there will be a great deal said In
mitigation of this defeat, by showing
that all entire German army Of one
hundred and sixty thousand men was
thrown upon n single French corps,
reinforced bya few divisions from an
other. But 1t Is in doing just this
thing, viz: in launching n powerful
force upon a comparatively weak point
In the enemy's line, that the art Of
handling great armies mainly consists
The strength of an extended military
line Il 10 greater than the weakest
point. in that line, and to break 1t al
the weakest point is usually rs much
advantage as to pierce it at the strong
est. 1t Is in this rapid concentration
Of a powerful force at the right
point, 20 as to command success,
that the military genius Of Won
Moltke is developing Its superb
ority now, as it did in 1855 at Sadowa'
The French troops, Of course, fought
like lionS but both they and tlieil
great Marshals e out-generaled ant
overwhelmed. 1t Is clear that the Ger
man armies are under the leadership
Of men of supreme military sa'
gacity aud ability. The manner Il
which the French plan Of campaign
was foreseen, and met precisely u
the right time, requiring as 1t did, tn,
rapid movement of heavy masses o
troops over considerable distances, de
monstrates this more completely than
tl,e victories at WiSsenbourp ant