The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-08-22
The Defeat of McMahOn..
TIE FRENCH UTTERLY oUTdENERA1ED+4
M'MAHoN ATTACKS LARGELY SUPERIOR
EUMBERs-DE FAuiLEY's CORPS AR
RTVES too TATTSy 'a,f H
LONDON, Friday, August 10; 1870.

RIVES TOO LATE. u fi ?. l az 4.
LONDON, Friday, August19;T 1870.
The special correspondent of the Ini-
bun, AT the headquarters OF Ithe Crown
Prince writes on the 18th inst: "The
moro. we gather Of the details ofthc battle
of Worth, the more clearly does It appear
that there was no miracle about the nf-'
fair--no sudden surprise as though new
weapon had been discovered. From the
Villages In the rear Of the field / gather far
more ot the French movements than can Z
be learned from thel prisoners orlthe vii
layers on the field itself. IN gaf,l17jl
ut would seem that the Imperial COM
mandcrs in this quarter were altogether
outmancuvered by the Crown Prince, and
thatWhatever themerits Of theIrespe ectiYe.
small-arms, the tactics Of the two armies
viii not bcar comparison. Some say
even now that tho chassepot is'a Better
rife than the ncedle.gun; but be. that as It
may, the French allowed themselves 10 10
so placed as to have required no common
amount Of fighting. to save them at ALL
First, we hear Of their blind. confidence,
and Of their cries Of a L6rlin,' while they
were really IN desperate danger. THEN
came the ncws ofthe surprise ut W cissen.
burg, and Of the death Of Gen. 1Douay.
He was posted in o corner of the French
territory, with q mass OF German troops
collected on both Ills flanks, and wis =
much further from his supports thanIpru-.-
dcnce warranted in the, face OF such an
enemy. 1t can never be known whether,
the French commander would hive eXtri-
Gated his men with less loss than they ac.'
tually sustained had he lived to direct
them, for he fell by one Of the first dis
charges Of artillery. h., ...,,.,,.. IT,.
"Thus was a step gained by the Ger.
mans. They had gallantly stormed the
position at Weissenburg and had begun 10
shatter the enemy Id detail. Me8tah0n
sGRd4 d4Ds Failly.were. unR. called on to act, .
Tho former marched against the Crown
Prince with his whole corps d'Rrmce, and,
as was believed among tho French sol:
dicrs, expected De F0iIly to support his
left in case of q check. Hero again was
tho impetuous overrconfdcnce, which
Frenchmen arc apt to show. The
second opportunity Of meeting them In
detail was given to the Germans, and
bloody battle was the result jiil uliD =.
!, "Tle Prussiaps and Bayarians together
far outnumber the corps OF Mcmahon,
We may estimate that the Crown Prince
had at least half as many again ofdispos!
able troops on August 0 as his opponents!
| have heard twelve to seven mentioned
as the odds in tue fight at Worth, and be-
fore McAlahon had been long engaged, liz
was sending dides.de.caGhp to beg help
from De Failly. Tho distance was not
great TO Bitche, and the messengers must
have arrived in time TO bring tho needed
help, IL only everything had been in readi.
hess. But here again over confidence had
prevailed. Ono French corps was do
stroyed before anotheEcame tOits support
l have heard that on Sunday, the day tol-
lowing tho battle, q large forc0 was about
In the rear Of where McALahon had fought
People who saw It tell with wonder ofthc
rush Of the beaten army Westward, and
tho advance ofangry and almost Incredu-
lous troops to the front, 1t was too late
10 renew the battle, too late to sNve the
five regiments which lay strewn over the
field at Worth. Tho moro desperate their
resis tance, tho moro they had been
slaughtered; and at last there had been q
sort OF 0 panic.
"Freuchmen arc bad hands at retreat
ing after defeat 1t seems certain that
the fugitives from Worth were In great
disorder, even when passing through vii,
lagos ten miles In the rear, Tho CORPS Of
Dc Failly could only have sacrificed itself
uselessly when once MCMahOn'S soldiers
had been demoralized. To have fought
second battle at Worth would have been
70 play into the hands ofthc Crown Prince,
who would have liked nothing better than
to O'Ongage the whole French army in de-
tail and beat them cOnSecutivcly. He Is
tho better general who has the larger
force present In the nick Of time"