The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-08-08
The News From Europe.

i NV"O AVSAA A@"S
The news from the seat of war is TIL
morning OF tho most momcntops and cleo
rifyipg character A series Of battles wcr
fought Friday and Saturday, in which
I,rgr part Of both armies were engaged
decisive in their. .rcsuIts. and SO dissIs
,Tors to France that the Whole Frcncl
army bus fallen back towards the inte
rior, and is apparently now more inten
On preventing Prussian advance t
Paris tlnn on any aggressive move
meul The Empress has issued
Drclamation declaring Paris i'll
,nty of serge This Is surprising STATE
of facts, II we consider how lately Ma
,Dle0n advanced to attack Germany, how
eager he was for tho war, and how up
mrcntly confident be was thns l'rusSi'
could O!Eer no adequate resistance to l'i'
victorious marCh. -
The most important engagement up
pears 10 have been the first, fought be
tween the renowned Marshal McMahon
commanding the iIOwer Of tho French
army, and the Crown Prince, FredericE
william, commanding some 100000 men
Mcmahon, It appears, was heavily rein
forced during tllU engagement, which
lusted two days, but he was dcCisively
beaten, ind retreated, leaving 4,OOO
prisoners, two standards aud half dozen
of tue boasted mIraiiFnr%i McMahon
himself is reported wounded. There
is nothing To Indicate certainly the
numbers engaged, but the Princes
conlmanilllas been stated at 200, 600,
aud dispatch indicates the conccn'
tration Of 10000 troops under Mcmahon
In the neighborhond Of WcisSenburg
where the engagement appears to have
been fought. We say "appcurs' because
the name Of the town nearswhich It was
Gmrht.is moi 10 be- found on the maps OF
gazrttrCrS. ..a..
The advance ot the GcrmHn army seems
to. have been general. Al least it extend,
ed as Gar north as Snarlruck, which was
abandoned, the town burned hy the
French, and NgNin occupied by the Prus'
SLAMS. The details are not vet sufficient
To Indicate why tho entire French army
retreatcd. 1t may lave been because II
was so SOrcly pressed all along the front
or It may have been the defeat on tht
right made flank movement by tht
Crown Prince pGrilous to the centre and
IeN; md trying to. make II stand at Hage
nall, the French were again routed will
the bnyOnet and suffered enormous
losses" If the lines Of Napolcon's army
us reported, are now between Nancy ant
Metz, he has fallen back some tiltJ
miles. These are reasons enough fol
his serious dispatch to Eugcnic, but tht
fear of rising In Paris probably had
more to do with placing Paris in statt
Of selge (and under rigid martial law
than any apprehension Of immediate
danger. Still the Prussian army is very
powerful; 1t is flushed with victory; ant
it Is fully possessed Of II resolution not tt
stop short OF Paris and the dcthronemcn
ofNApoLEox; and unless the French army
Is really free from dcmoralization AM
filled with elan Ms represented. 1t is posi-
bic ten or fifteen days might find BIS
uARCK before Paris.
Agrcat deal depends on The effect d
these reverses upon the French people. !
the latcut feeling against the empire is a!
strong as many believe, NAPOLEON isnoN
very near his overthrow; but there is
traditional hatred between the Franz
and the Pruss; and itmay be theprescncl
Of this invading army on tho soil Of France
will arouse in both people and army such
heroic resolution to protect the honor ant
glory Of France, that in the presence c
an:oyerWhClming emergency and peril al
considerations reterahlc to her prcscn
rulers will be forgotten. In such M even
tue road to Paris would still he long an
difficult. @