Centre Hall reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1868-1871, 1871-01-06
The Fighting Outside Paris,

/ A&r Et&uAAHE VMNNtAG N@NkNs
The dreadful aspect OF the battlefield
outside Paris, after the great s0rtie, 1
thus described by correspondent O
the London Times
4" There ID park just ut the extremi
end of the village Yilliers, ON the Pari
side. Before and all around IL raget
the battle. The chateau in officers quar-
terra How ii suffered ! There IN scarce
iy wiDdow-sash left in one side Of H.
and TO approach il there ia no necessity
to make use of the entrance gate. The
wall IN smashed from top 30 bottom In 4
dozen places. entered near the gate
and the first sight | saw was 10 dead
saAons IN row. Their faces were
covered, and three OF their comrades
watching over them. Passing through
the park I'm the direction of Paris. l
walked out through an embrnsnre In the
Wall and came upon raising ground IL
was one OF the hottest parts OF the battle
held, aud almost the center Of the scene
OF hghiing. Heavens, what a sight !
TO see the men advancing under fire Of
the forts, and falling mt every step TO
see the French and the Saxons. amid
that horrid din OF artillery shooting one
another down with Ghassepot and needle
gun; 10 hear the 'hurrahs' followed by
a volley, and as the smoke cleared away
90 find the lines thinned and living men
advancing over the PROSTATE bodies of
dead and dying was horrible. but moth
ing like 80 horrible ms the sight OF this
battlefield, with hundreds on dead living
there In the cold air, the sun shining on
their ghastly features and stiff forms.
while the cannon on Avron and Nogent
we're lthundering with sounds which
shook the earth for miles around.
Zone OF the great grqnps I came MP
ON was composed Of CO French soldiers.
A few saxons and Whtembergers Law
around them but thqlKsermans had al
ready removed and laid in their last
sleeping-place most of their dead. The
center OF the group was formed OF n
close hne Of tG. You could not have
placed body between any two. The,
fell shoulder 10 shoulder, Just IN they
had stood to fire BY fAr the greater
number OF them were ON their backs,
with their feet ~ Paris and their heads
20 Yilliers. Alas, il vas painfully evil
dent that many Of then, and Of others
whom saw subsequently,, had not died
instantaneonsly, but had lived probably
many hours without a hand 10 lend
them succor. and in piercing snow and
frost. One Eoor fellow lay IN his face.
He had two rife-wounds in his back.
He had partly stripped himself. and' he
.TsMI wv~rAL Amwa1 aAsmA A.agma A n
Several had taken off their lnapsacks
and placed them under their heads, and
so pillowed had breathed thair last
breath. Others clenched theis water
bottlesin one hand. but had been 1rnllle
to remove the cork, and died without
being able TO wet their lips in then az
ony. Some, in their saiferings, had
burrowed their faces in the thick day
on which they Lay, and turned th.ir
blood and earth-stained faces upwaAi
before they expired. Two ] saw wh,
had their arms fixed and their fists
clinched. as il, while dying, they were
engaged in pugilistic encounter. OnlS
very few were on their sides. These
had their knapsacks under their heads.
There were men on whose faces beamed
the smile of an infant, and whose conn
tenances were like handsome wax-work.
The expression OF others was that OF
terrible agony. Every feature was con-
torted their legs had been conyulsively
jerked mp until their knees stuck into
their stomachs, and their finger and
thumb nails had been squeezed until
they became riveted into the palms OF
their hands. Behind. before, and at the
corners Of this line of 46 dead men were
others, Saxon, and French. One had a
frightful wound in the face. He had
pllled bis hands up into his sleeves TO
warm them, but his cap had fallen of,
and the blood clotted on his hair till il
was ali in bloody mats Near him was
another who had taken biscuit from his
knapsack and the bottle from his side,
and had partaken OF little of both
More than one Of the slain had died with
the hands clasped in prayer; and near
one / found little plaster medallion of
the Blessed Virgin. A portion OF the
edge had been shot of il. The Chase
pots and needle-guns were still in many
a dead mans hand, and lying between
his arm and his body.
Similar were the sights all over the
plateau between Villiers and Brie, and
Villiers and Champigny and among
the corpses were knapsacks, helments,
shAkoes, bayonets, and many letter
sealed and directed to relatives and
friends in Germany and France. Near
a cemetery situated ON the battlefield
itself, I saw between 200 and 800 dead
French soldiers collected closely togeth-
her +; they had been removed from where
they had fallen and collected in that
spot for burial. All we're regulars, and
q considerable proportion of them were
men ut least Is TO 80 years of age.
There were dead nearer to Paris than
any spot | visited. though the fortit-
cations were much too close to be at all
agreeable, and Neuilly y-stlr- Marne and
Fontcnay -sous-Bois seemed to be within
few minutes distance on my right and
left | hope there were no wounded.
No armissioe for the removal Of the dead
and wounded had been agreed to but
both sides had been removing them by
night. So late as last night some OF the
German wounded were found among
the dead, and are now in hospital.
Whnt must have been their sufferings
in snow and frost since the I'd inst, for
they had been lying out day and night
since then, if not since the Both y