The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1870-08-26
BATTLEFIELD SCENES.

OF how tho fight had gone by til
ghastly evidence which remained
M0erth is ut the bottom Of q ftrtil,
valley, between two ridges Of cultiva
ted ground. There is much Of wood
ell land III the ncimhborhood; and cs
N2c!a'ly behind the French position OF
the wr.tcrn side Of the valley. there l.
Il strip or forest which forms y cover
70 rctrcatiEy troops.
The little river Erudcr, not III.
enough in summcr time TO float :
shi;%': Sos through Ike village, and :
high road comes winding down to
wards the VILLAGE on tho eastern sid,
Of tho valley, n,t,;oA hy trees. Her;
; WAS Tie i'ru>s::;': position. S;r.:c!
in; fl. 70 t..c r;=s:'j ;,n;l !cit ;ioi::; t,;:
road were heap, OF spiked hH!iAcl5 t,
; he scc!:: ;lni ;.art-loa,:s OF >,!e-3r::s
we're collected under Tie trees. At =
,i.,;:;:t:'r ti." french r;:>h:;rv lire ,.a.,
LV,i ,Hp"3 heavily th:!, the German
~! heard Chat t':H E.cHc!, artillery
had EcCn v<iJ well served.
I!E:::; CT TIE BEAD.
But though the burying parties
were busy with the German dead on
the castc'n side Of Wocrth, there WAS
more than al exchange Of Slaughter
ouS work on tho Western side. Here
The Russians and Buvarians had
pushed forward in Strong force, and
their I:'c had told ftarinIly upon the
French. Tho high spirit and rigid
discipline oi the one army had been
more than u match for the desperate
resistance Of the other. Whole COM
pan;"s OF Frcnchmcn had been now
cd down in their Wild attempts to
c'icc!; the cncmy's advance. 1t had
been tolcrabiy equal fight in somo
places, for the ground was strcwcd
with German dead; bnt moro and
more Frcnchmcn had fallen in pro-
portion. Black Turcos and wide
trowscrcd Zouavcs lay thick at many
points, and the cuiraissicrs had suffer
cd much. There were steel breast
plates and brass hclmlcts scattered
thickly on the line Of retreat, while
the dead horses in all directions isht
be counted by hundreds. :.
And-so westward through tho wood
went the traces of increasing disaster;
officers and men lying grimly where
they had fallen. Some in quiet, sha-
dy spots, rs though upon q picnic,
seemed asleep. Pools Of blood. re-
maneI where the wounded had boon
found. There were knapsac.is, rifles
and ovcrco:...s, either thrown away in
flight or left by the wounded on the
field. Then l. came Upon spot where
the French had rallied, and where tho
dead Of both sides lay thick. Turaos
were those who had evidently fought
to tic last, and had tried to fire the;.
pieces rs they lay. F'rcnchmcn of the
line regiments had hero and there f,,l
len in numbers: us though they had
halted and faced about in regular or
der.
But the aspect Of the fields beyond
the wood seemed to Indicate a hasty
retreat. Wagons were overturned
baggac was thrown out upon the road
side; many knapsacl;s were to bo seen
No one who had passed over tha
battle-ground Of Wocrth when / did
could have failed to realize that
great disaster had bcf.llcn the Frencl
arms, though my observations wer,
made when most OF the wounded bat
been removed.
"HE LOSSES or BoTu SIDES -
On large scene Of action it woule
have been impossible to Judge Of th
EcSact loss sustained. ! see no reason
however, to doubt the official return
on German. side, which gives abou
10000 Frcnchmen and 1000 German
lA"rsde combat, and about 1000 prisoner.
taken blythe victors-40GO in the bat
tic and 30G0 in tho pursuit. Thcs
losses, with the further loss Of canno
and co!ors, made the battle Of Woertl
81 evil day for France. We'll nligl,
tthe. wounhcl Germans raise thcinsely
to cheer the Crown Prince as lie paa:
iea, and cry that Germany was kEt
1t will oiLca be told how the ar.aic
met On the 9th Of August, and ho,
/ McMahon made his unsuccessful c,Yoy
to rcpcl the invasion Of h!sacc; lo,
the Prussians held the left OF i!io lin,
and the Bavarians and WG.tcmbu,
tgers the right, and how a'icw Badc
troops held in reserve by tho Grow
Prince were brought up just in timo {
tshare the honors Of thoAday. The1
was a fierce attack on. both sides,
being difiicalt to- say which party p,
gan tho fight. Gradually, as the Ge
man troops pressed ronnd upon the
lepponents' line of retreat, the Frene
were forced to so hasty retrosrat
ia6yepent that Tho retreat { becAn
4 very nenrly;a a rout. az '-,ny,i
; frhE NEEDLE Gun AND THE rnE cuAssEpo pc,
.sI,he; needle gun proved itself to /
Efnl!yI the equal Of the chassepot, "a, OF
] perhaps more ;than that-at lcast1,
say the GermaA soldiers, -withGhRn
y rently good reason. ,Moreoyer. Il
Prussihns knew their weapon bette
0 aHavipg t5bg <baeen actas} }omtd o'l fo
1 sss tsa y &aas te eA}a!se as!R aae
n deadly fire of his infantry. The cav,
not used, for an irnit aittaGk tk in I;
: Ard insQacs,S Sbasa SssS VIZ, i1,pals, su
When the enemy began, dis rskreut.
! [ie Il a3dor mrss q e aKts;'
Is tsesi 4 s94sh|gg Ms sAsif sssIsajg|IRs
,.fsAs penf showed Aiicr iikS9h;i )!
1 the keals Mas fhfnsd for tfhB Gefhia
: ot yHSSaET4Sa YlTsE az xgai:SS ATlS.