The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1870-09-02

four miles square. Owing to having
come on foot rather than along the
blocked road, l arrived just as the
battle waxed warm. That is about
noon of the 18th. At that time tn,
headquarters of the King of Prussis
were at the spot 1 have described
The great representative men and
soldiers of Prussia were standing OF
the ground watching the conflict just
begun. Arriving there 1 recognized
the King, perhaps Bismark, Gen. vor
Moltke, Prince Frederick Charles
Prince Carl, Prince Adelbert, anG
Adjutant Krauski, Lieut.. Gen. Sher
idan of the United States army, was
also present. At this moment the
French were making a most desper
ate effort to hold on to the last BIT
of the Verdun road, that between
Rezonville and Gravellotte, or thai
part of GraVellotte which in some
maps is called st. MARCEL, was des
perate but unavailing for everyone
A man in the French ranks had two
to cope with and their line was al
ready beginning to waver. Soon II
was plain to this wing that th'
French right was withdrawing to {
new position. This was swiftly tax
en- up under cover of a continuous
fire of their artillery from the nights
beyond the village. The movement
was made in good order, and the po,
sition reached at 1:3O, I believe
that nine out of ten military men
would have pronounced the position
impregnable. When once this move,
ment had been effected, the French
were retreating from the pressure oil
the Prussian fire and the latter were
as rapidly advancing.
The battlefield wasnow no longer
at Rezonvllle, but had been trans,
ferred and pushed toward Greve-
lotte' the junction of two branching
roads to Verdun. The battle fields
in front of that village were COM
pletely covered by the Prussian re-
serves and over it interminable lines
of soldiers were perpetually march
ing onward disappearing into the
village and emerging on the other
side of it. This second battle field
was less extensive then the first and
brought the opposing forces into
fearfully close quarters. The CHIEF
popularity is that it consists of two
heights, intersected by deep rayine.
This woody ravine is over 100 feet
deep, and at the top some 800 yards
wide. The side of the chasm next
to Gravellotte, where the Prussians
stood, is much lower than the other
side, which gradually assembled to
great hight. From their command
ing eminence the French held their
enemies fairly beneath them and
poured upon them a searching fire.
The French guns were in position
far up by the Metz road, hidden and
covered among the trees. There
was not an instant's cessation of the
roar. Easily distinguishable amid
all, was the curious grunting roll Of
the mitrailleurse. The Prussian ar
tillery was posted to the north and
south of the village, the guns on the
latter side being necessarily raised
for an awkard, half vertical fire. The
French stood their ground and died.
The Prussians stood their ground
and died by hundreds had almost
said by thousands. This for an
hour or two, that seemed ages, so
constant was the slaughter. The
hill where I stood commanded chief
ly the conflict behind the village and
to the south of it. The Prussian
reinforcements, coming up on their
right, filed out of Bois de Agnous,
and it was at that point, as they
marched on to the field, that one
could perhaps get the best idea of
the magnitude Of this invading army
now in the heart of France. There
was no break whatever for four
hours in the march of men out of
that wood. 1t seemed almost as if
all the killed and wounded were re-
vived and had come back and
fourth again. Birnam
Wood advancing to Dunsinane was
not a moSe ominous sight to Mac
beth than were these men of Gen.
Goeben's army, shielded as they
were by the wood until they were
fairly within range and reach of their
So the French must have
felt, for between 4 and5 o'clock they
upon that spot their
heaviest fire, massing all their avail
able guns and shelled the woods
covering the Prussians unremitting
". Their shot reached the Prussi-
an lines and tore through them, and
though the men were steady, it was
a test to which no General cared
long to subject his troops. They
swerved a little from that
line of advance, and there was no
longer a continuous column, of in
fantry pouring out of those woods.
The attack of the Prussians on the
center was clearly checked. About
five O'Clock, however, another bri-
gade of fresh infantry was again
formed in the woods and emerged
from its cover. Once out from IN
der the trees they advanced at q
double quick, / watched their move
ments, for the French guns had not
lost the range of the wood nor of
the ground in front, Seen at a dis
tance through a powerful glass, the
brigade was a huge street bending
with the undulation of the fields, but
it left a dark track behind it, and the