The New York herald., 1870-09-24

tremendous fire from them and the guns which
saa never ~ Ss saSsos ha" PUSHED
battery haf way up the hill but the mralilenses
fired SO quickly and 80 wen tnat the Inirty-tnirI
were driven out or the hardiy-won trenches, anu
mltraiieuses followed their retreat, ana lnnicted
terrible losses them. The halfbattery tried to re-
ply, but was oyerp0wcred and unable 10 retreat De-
cause all It's horses were killed. Then the Prussans.
according to their system OF sacrificing masses OF
men gam their purpose, sent cavalry ~ tue NH 70
IA ke II. In vain-"Inen and horses rolled over In
the hollow road and they were In turn c0mpelied W
ward from the sixty-seventn regiment Of the line;
1be men, well taught ''crept rom bush 20 bush ahI
from rock TO rock, taking advantage oi the sgmtess
inequality OF the ground to shelter themselves" A
tremendous" tire OF artillery supported their ad-
vance, and once more columns OF troops were driven
up the road at the position The brave soldiers
The works but the French fire was SO terrible that
they had ~ retire again. Az halfpast llve tne rus
Slams seem to have run short OF ammunition, for
they deslstcd from the attack, ana more cartridges
and artillery were brought up. 1arm mousse, IA
vtette, had been made INTO strong postliSh Ss Ss
heavy hre OF Prussian guns was brought 70 Dear on
H till their ammunition also was exhausted, ana ~
OF an hour spent In relng the empty boxes ana
once more the cannOnade began. La Villette caught
ire, but the French still hold the garden. AT
twenty minutes past seven the ana attack began the
Seventy-second regiment charged ~ tne SLOPE, sUs
Lowed soon sy gSn9 ~ e 9 darx she
French began to retire, the mitranieuses ploteCnx
their rctreatn The letter OF our Berlin c0rrespon'
dent shows that carnage In this action had Desn
frightlul In some cases nearly half the attacking
regiments had been killed or wounded.
Il was either on this day or the day afer that an
event occurred narrated m letter from P9sSiaa M
Ofdcer IN these words:-"The First regiment OF Dra'
goOn Guards went rst into fire, and were 80 slaugh-
tered that only 100 men were lelt the Second ORA
gOOns were taken up TO make up the number 0l tne
FIRST and were In their turn cut down. The very
flower OF the Prusslan nobility has per1shed. Our
friends and familiar races thai we met every year
in society all Dead and there s the saddest DESC
laLIon.n Vienna paper explains that tniS Slaugh-
ter had been caused by line OF mltrallieuses
masked by infantry until the approach Of the dfa-
goons when the foot soldiers retired and inc deadly
work began II appears from the letters OF our Ber-
lin correspondent that the broken cavalry were
charged by French horse and almost annlhilated.
In one regiment Of the guards rty-two 0hcers are
killed OF wounded. But have forgotten the first
battle before Metz, when the French were attacked
before crossing the river. The VgU National, a
Metz paper, speaks or an artillery IRE whcn
created great In the Prussian ranks and say
that two batteries OF mltraiileuseS planned IN the
orchards of the farm OF Beeoroix swept away whole
ranks at each discharge 1t Is diiicut 10 say what
was done by mItraileuses during the battle be-
fore Sedan. A French correspondent writes 70 q
cOntempOrary:-'l have seen the destruction or Q
lull regiment OF Prussian dragons by powerful
battery of mtrailleuses;" but his head appeared 10
he rather too excited for accuracy OF intelligence,
and our special correspondent with the Prussian
army had not heard OF any specially good work done
by the mitraieuSeS. This Is somewhat surprising,
their value ought to be shown III defence OF posi-
tOns But on The other hand, the French nad neg
lected to occupy hill only three-quafters or mile
distant and on their dank. The Prusslans brought
batteries up under OF the fOgs OF the morning.
and the Inferior OF the French lntrenchments was at
their mercy. 1t Is curious fact that ON every occa
sion when French intrenchmenfs nave been carried
there mas been Prusslan force numerous enough 10
Outfank and take them in enllade or reverse.
Such lire few OF tne details we have picked up 10
illustrate the action OF the mtrailleuses IN The war;