The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-01-19
THE LAST GREAT BATTLE.

The details of the battle under the walls
of Ls Mans have been received by the
cable, and although rather meagre, they
are full enough to justify us in saying that
it has been, by all odds, the most desper-
ate, determined and colossal which has
distinguished the war since the fail Of
Sedan. The French have fought with
dash and intrepidity which belong to their
old traditions and recall to mind the days
OF the " Little Corporal" while tho Ger
mans upon their part have displayed the
same unfinching persistence and tenacty
which have become so inseparably asseci-
ated with their name. This severe con-
fict. running through at least two days, is
the nearest approach to an equal, we'll
fought contest that we have had since the
earlier stages of the war,--if, indeed, it
does not surpass any of them for down
right hard fighting and solderly fortitude
and endurance.
The success of the Germans is pro-
nounced and decided, aud the glory of
their achievement is made all the greater
by reason of the intrepidity and gal
lsntry shown by their antagonists. The
French fought With spirit and heroism
that reflect lustre on their arms, to which
they have latterly been well-nigh stran-
gers. Defeated upon the first day, after a
prolonged and desperate encounter, they
renewed the struggle upon the second with
undated ardor. Through the long hours
the tide of battle surged back and forth !;
but the superb skill of the German leader
ship, and the indomitable pluck of the
German soldiers, were 10 the end triumph
ant. The dispatches represent them as
inferior in numbers to the French. Proba-
bly, the estimate upon neither side is accu-
rate; but accepting the testimony of the
correspondents who witnessed 1t, as to the
conflict, no battle of the war rebounds
more to the honor of either party, for
none has been more stubbornly fought or
more skillfully directed.
Tbs French seem to have struggled
with full consciousness of tho hopes and
results hanging upon their efforts. They
knew that the eyes of France were upon
them, and that millions were watching
the giant struggle as the promise of a
brighter prospect, or as the doom of new
and fast-coning disaster. 1t was the
most formidable of all efforts since the
r,rropdor of Nanoloo, q, obo,ro tho t;d,
of war and we'll might their hearts be
stilled by anxiety while the battle hung
in doubt, and sink into despair when the
sad tidings of the lost field were borne to
the unhappy people of Paris.
Every other attempt to relieve them had
failed. To break through the lines around
the city had been proved impossible. To
force them from the outside was the only
remaining chance; and this movement of
. General Chanzy seemed the only remaining
hope of success. He had skill, numbers
and preparation, and his crushing defeat
serves to seal with still more certainty TIE
fate of France.
And now what of poor Paris? The
batteries of the Germans are raining sire
of hell" right into the heart of the city,
killing women, children and wounded, and
laying in ruins the most magnificent of her
ediices, public and private. The suffering
is intense and the horrors the most terrible
the mind can conceive.
The fatal explosives scatter death where.
ever they go, and do their mission with
dreadful impartiality Little children,
says writer in the New York Times
"playing in the streets, women sDatching
their bosoms, and wounded men on some
of the thousand pallets of the Val de
Grace, hear hiss or crash, then dread |
full roar, and the next moment are 10 |
eternity" The same writer goes on to tell |
us of the havoc, other than destruction |
to life, caused by the German missiles. |
"The Luxembourg, with its pleasant gar
dens, its gorgeous Senate Chamber, and |
its accumulated art treasures, has been |
made a mark for tho terrible artillery |
against which Montrouge and Vanvres
have proved impotent. RIcHELIEU's fine
structure, that used to house The famous
doctors of the Sorbcnne, but has lately
been consecrated to studies less grave
than theology, the venerable fame of st.
Sulpice, and the lofty dome with its shin
ing gilt cross of the great military hospital
of Val de Grace, have served also as
prominent marks for the Pfussian gnn-
ners. And yet, there is no sign of finch-
ing Paris sees some of her proudest
historical monuments being leveled into
dust, pictures that some of the greatest Of
her modern artists have painted, brushed
out by the she'll bursting through panel
or plaster she hears the death cry of the
innocent and the defenceess, and the
wall of mothers weeping for the little ones
for whom they would fain have died, but
still with a resolution that is grand, even
amid its despairing recklepsness, she