Southern shield., 1870-07-30
HELENA ARKANSAS, SATURDAY, JULY 3O ls7O


 20 miles west of Frankfort, to which it is connected by railway. A bridge some 1,600 feet long connects 1t with the fortified suburb of Castel. It has now very large garrison, and is com manded by Prince Walderlnar of Schleswig- Holstein.
 RASTADT
 is or the right bank of the Rhine, and is very strongly fortified. It is in the territory of Baden Baden, and former ly held a garrison for the German Con federation, but since Sadowa its garri- son has been Pussian. It is situated some fourteen miles south of CarlSruhe, and some thirty from Strash0urg, and will unquestiorably be point of cap ital importance during the coming Vauban system, ana uetiJfCd U Ut tif1e perfection of engineering, but eEperi- encece has proved that earthWOrks are stronger than stone walls. There are three large forts on the litrle river which runs past Rastadt, which have many bastions, wet ditches, curtains, glaeis and lunettes, but the chief strength will probably be in the forti- fled camp which the Prussians are about to form there. Should it be ne cessary to withdraw it's garrison, it could easily be replaced by Baden soldiers, the Grand Duke having shown the most uumiStakable sym patby for the PruSsian cause.
 EHRENBRE1TSTEIN
 is the fortress pdy ercel'enee of Prus sia. and is regarded as the Gibraltar of the Rhine. It is on the rght bank of the Rhine opposite to CoDlentz. It is connected with this town by bridge of boats. Part of the Notifications lie at the foot of the hill. 4GS feet i'll height, and almost perpendicular but since it was taken by the French Ill 1796, and again in 1199, its fortifica- tions have been trebled and qnadrupled in strength, and the entire hill has been turned into fortress. It has been thought unnecessary to Scarp the steep sides. though 1t is on record that a British tourist accompanied ay ter rier made the ascent to the intense as tonisllment of a sentry. The garrison amounts to 14,000 men, and has been hitherto under the command of Gov ernor Prendzynski, who belongs to thc Eighth Army Corps, commanded by Gen. Herwarth, whose headquarters are in COblentz, on the opposite side q the river. .Thc troops aIe furnished niS=~- bls~.s r,o--..c@..ha. is matiii with WaTer hy an alteslIn well, ana the fortress contains a steam cooking apparatus of uneXampled magnitude. Provisions for three years are contjuu- ally kept in store, and the greatest precautions are taken to prevent a knowledge of the Notifications falling into the hands of strangers. Ehren- breitstein has been beseiged many times by the French. and was taken only on one occasion, in 1799, when the garrison was forced to surrender from lack of supplies. The chief dan ger now is from the hills ill the rear, which command the lower ranges Of Notifications from the increased power of modern proiectiles, but though much of the citadel might be laid in ruins, il would seem impossible to take 1t by regular assault, or by coup de main. Ehrenbreitstein is mounted with 600 pieces of artillery, and its lines cost S375o,000. COblenz may be consider ed under the same head. It Is sitlIat- ed on the confluence Of the Moselle and Rhine, and it's Notifications were built by the famous Vaubun, being i'm proved aftervard by Montatembeck. Its garrison is very large, and is ehief ly from the Eighth corps. In time oi war Coblenz and Ehrsnbreitstein will accommodate 100000 men. Coblenz was taken by the French Directory in 1794, after very fierce struggle. Tie French built a stone bridge over the Mosselle here, and fortified if with a tete da point, bristling with cannon.
 COLOGNE
 is on the lett bank nt Ia-n th1 L. ; I:I4 [ close upon the river, in the form of a crescent, and is connected with the l.a,,ds1,s1G' a''tz E. aB the other side by q 1 1860. It is surrounded by walls of very ancient date, which form cir cult of several miles. Outside of these, which are not considered of any strength, are houses and gardens and a considerable suburb. But there are strong Notifications in the river in front of the bridges, and there is an army corps, under Lieutenant General Frankenberg, and this nucleus of an army will probably be increased very considerably, for Cologne is strategic point of importance, since it commands the approaches into HesSe- Cassel, and Hanover. It will probably be the station of a corps d'annee.
 Besides these f0rtresSes on the Rhine and the fortified towns of the Baltic, there are many others of secondary i'm portance.
 Population.
 The total population of France is 3S, 192, ,064, with all area of 210, 0,462 square miles. The population of Plus- sia is 29,905, ,O?2, of whom 21,314,Ooo are Lutheran and S,131 ,000 Catholic,