Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-08-20
THE SEAT OF WAR.

fought that Is to check the advance of
the victorious Prussians and roll back
the tide of war, is the merest cODjee-
ture. But events seem % point TO the
plains of Champagne ss the battle
field on which the nco-Prussian
war is TO be decided.
The present position is very simple.
The two armies are on the two roads
to Paris. The ordinary mail road
(chaussee) from Metz to Chalons by
way OF Nerdun, and the railroad from
Nancy to Chalons by way OF Toul,
COmmercy, Bar lie Due and Nitny.
The present position is an irregular
squafe-nort beast corner, Metz; south
east corner, Nancy; northwest corner,
YerdHn; southwest corner, CONNER
cy--from Metz TO Nancy, the railroad
and river Moselle, from Nancy 70 Com
mercy the railroad and the river
Meuse. from COmmercy to Nerdun
the river Meuse and the high road,
from Verdun to Metz open country
and the high road Napoleon is at
Verdun; Mcmahon is at Toul or
Commercy. The King of Prussia, |
when last hesrd from, was at
village of Iongeviile. The French |
army are crossing the square to get to |
the west side of the Meuse; the Prus- !
SLAMS are crossing the MOselle to get |
after the French, and the advanced |
guard has got to place called Wig |
neulies. The high-rOads of France |
are usually paved with trap blocks |
or cobble stones, and are mostly pTac- /
ticable for heavy guns. In the French |
rear between the line of the Meuse |
and Paris the country is mostly un |
dulating, and it is traversed by three |
important rivers, the Aisne, the
Marne and the Ornaine; but there are |
numerous bridges. Once these rivers !
are crossed all Paris, from. its fOrtifca- |
tons and belfries, can see the PruS
sian helmets and hear the Prussian
drums. Duke Palikao announces that
there are $50 guns in position on the
enceinte and the outside forts, with |
10000 soldiers to work them and to |
resist the enemy. But old Won Room, |
the Prussian. laughs at the fOrtifica- |
tiOns, and pOinted out their weak
places lsng ago; and the larger the |
city the more difficult to hold. How |
are the two millions of people in !
Paris to be fed when a beleaguering |
army has cut the railroad e0mmunica- |
tions? |
Refore the Prussians can dominate |
the chaussees, however, and control |
there will have to be some fighting |
done, to which what has been done |
viii be only as the opening movement |
70 tremendous symphony of war. |
vERDUN,
at which the Emperor is supposed to |
be, is place Of no great importance
In itself, but il may be made a very
strong point in a line of defense. II
Ia 81 = z,
English prisoners in the old Napo- |
ieOnic wars, from which now and then |
incredible escapes were made, amongst
Others that of Sidney Smith, the hero
of Acre, who made his way from the |
interior of France to the seashOre.
Nerdun has population of 10000. 1t |
is fortified and has a citadel.
VIGNUELLEs,
the point which the Prussian outposts |
are said to have reached, is only a |
small town, having no railroad COM
municatiOns, midway between Yer
dun and COmmercy, and about thirty |
miles east of the Meuse. ra-..
IONGEVILLE,
the town from which the Emperor
writes to the Empress, is about 220 /
miles from Paris, and has about 1900 /
inhabitants. 1t was once a place Of
some importance, and has the ruins of /
fortifeatiOns.
Toul, at which Marshal Mcmahon |
had his headquarters, but from which
il would seem that he has already
fallen back, is place of some histOri-
cal importance, on the direct Paris
and StrasbOurg railroad. 1t is one of
the Oldest cities of Europe, and is
IL - TyaIs d. 1
name of Tullum. 1t sustained, from
the earliest ages, a military reputa-
ton, and was attacked by all invaders.
Goths, Burgundians, Franks and
Huns, ravaged and devastated il in
turn. After the barbarians came the
feudal lords of the middle ages, with /
whom there was constant war, and /
lastly the bishops and the burgesse5 /
Quarrelled fer two hundred years until |
the seventeenth century, when it was |
transferred from the Count of Cham |
payne to the French crown. In all |
these ages it has been considered a |
military post of great value, and it |
was finally fortified by Vauban; but |
latterly it has been much Overshad- |
owed by the great strength of Metz, |
and has lost its value as a point of de- |
tense. The cathedral, with its two |
towers and its magnificent grand en-
trance and oriel window, is one of the |
architectural wonders of France.
Going west from Toul and following |
the direct line Of rail to Paris, we come |
to
... CO1fNERCY,
a small city Of 1000 inhabitants. 1t |
Is not now Of great interest, but it was
worthy of siege in 1854 by Charles
V. Subsequently it became the resi-
dence of Stanislaus, King of Poland, |
who built a magnificent residence |
worthy OF king, and remarkable for |
its grand gardens and fountains. |
Amid the places of present and past /
significance in this battlefield of en-
pires, perhaps the most important is
METZ.
This has become a place almost as
familiar as one Of our own cities. /
Being the point of strength nearest to |
the frontier it naturally attracted all |
thoughts as the rallying place Of the |
French left, and the objective point Of |
attack of the Prussian right. But its |
iniUlense strength, its garrison and |
aecuruulatiOns of war material here |
enabled the French as yet to bid de- |
fanee f1Om behind its ramparts to |
their powerful foes, who have conse-
queufly been compelled to turn the !
Dosition and leave it untouched. 1t
was the boast Of Metz in the old wars
that Il had not been taken, and even
after the treaties of 1915, and the oc-
cupation of Paris by the foreigner,
Metz was enabled to preserve her un-
stained reputation, and by the capitu-
lation the retreating armies of Ger
many and Russia were precluded from
entering the city. 1t is situated on
the river Moselle, which divides
here, and leaves an island; and the
fortifcations include not only the city
proper, but extend TO considerable
distance beyond the opposite bank Of
the river. 1t is strongly garrisOned,
and though the Prussian plan of
campaigns seems to be to leave all
fortresses and strong places in their
rear, and to march forward; this plan
so valuable in success, viii lead to
some terrible consequences should
fortune turn against them. Then
Metz and the other French fOrtresses
would vomit forth their defenders
on the retreating foe, and extermi-
nate them utterly. IL may be part
Of Napoleon's scheme to draw them
on into the interior, where lost bat
tie would be fatal and Overwhelm-
ing, especially as their presence would
rouse the spirit OF the whole French
people at the outrage Of foreign in
ayaoiOn Of the sacred soil