The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-08-04

pdlSuS. All lIle llGllG QCldl4o AldO OCC4i
attended to by the Germans down TO
the force OF grave-diggers, which fol-
lowed each army, and the label worn
around the neck by every soldier, so
that he could be identified if he were
killed.
Against this magnificent army the
frontier forces of the French were al
most pitiable. They consisted of 165, 400
infantry, 1S400 cavalry and 1873 guns.
This was a fine force to pit against
million and a quarter of the best
drilled soldiers in the world. 1t is no
wonder that when the slaughter was
all over the French people were ready
to tear the emperor apart limb by limb
The French forces were distributed
along the frontier, so that they mad
in their rear the fortified towns of
Metz, Strasburg, Bitsche, Phalsburg,
Thionville, Toul and a number of
smaller places.
The War Begins.
On July % the Prussians began by
blowing up the abutment of the bridge
of Kehl. connecting that town with
Strasburg. The next day some Prus-
sian lancers made the first entry on
French territory and blew up the rail
road between SarreguemineS and
Hagueenan. On this day, the oath, the
French and Prussians had slight
scrimmage at Saarbruck. A week
1 Id Ter twenty DddCn AlOOlCAo PNN''NN
into France as far as NiederbrOnn, cut
ting telegraph wires as they went
along On their way back they met
some French troopers, and IN the
scrimmage an Englishman named
Winslow in the Prussian service was
killed. He was the first officer TO be
killed in the war.
The Capture of saarbrucI<.
About the only victory of the French
of r.
bruck, on the Rhenish-Prussian 'front.'
Ter near the ancient city Of TreVes.
On July 80 the French began the at
tack, but were repulsed. On August
the battle was renewed, with the en-
peror and little prince imperial in the
battlefield. Here for the first time the
mitrailleuse was used by the French
This cannon was a crude form OF the
Calling gun. 1t had twenty-five bar
rels, loaded at the breach with cart
ridges, and could be operated with
great rapidity. Great damage was done
by these guns, and the French earned
a comparatively easy victory, gaming
possession of the town.
August began the series of great
victories of the PruSsianS. On that
day General Douay was stationed with
10, 600 men near Weissenburg, on the
river Lauter. within the French boun-
Diary. The German crown prince, with
a force VariOusly estimated at from
900 to 100000 men, planted guns on
the heights of Schweigen, in Bavaria,
on the other side of the river, before
the French knew the enemy was at
hand. The French made bold re-
siStance, and with only three guns
kept up the fight until 5000 out of the
10000 had been killed and wounded.
Then, under the pressure of the terri
BILE onslaught, they became panic
stricken. When General Douay saw
that all was over he did an act typi-
cal of the French. Dismounting, he
shot his horse dead. and then, with
revolver in hand. walked toward the
onward-rushing enemy until he fell
pierced by a dozen bullets.
Weissenburg is the battle the Ger
mans are now celebrating.
The Battle of Worth.
On August MacMahon, with
force variously estimated at from
$4,000 to $1,000 men, took up a position
at Reichshofen. at the foot of the
with from 10000 to 100000 men, had
been pushing steadily on since the
victory of Weissenburg, and on the
evening of the 9Th had reached a point
near the French lines. At am. on
the 9Th the battle began. First the
Prussians tried to break the French
left, but were repulSed. Then they
tried the middle, with the same re-
suit, SO we'll had MacMahon chosen
his position. At noon it looked as if
he might hold his own. But in the
early afternoon the Eleventh PruSsians
planted a battery of sixty guns upon
the opposite heights of Gunstett and
began a fierce attack upon the French.
AT 4 pm MacMahon saw that he was
hopeleSsly beaten and gave the order
to retire. Including 5000 prisoners, the
French suffered a loss Of $4,000 men in
this battle, more than half of Mac
Mahon'S original force.
On Tuesday next this battle will be
royalty celebrated by the Germans.
On the same day of the battle of
Worth, August 6, General Frossard.
with $4,000 men, who had been sta
toned at Saarbruck, was ordered to
fall back upon the still greater heights
of Spicheren, which looked down upon
an open plain, which an attacking
force would have to pass over This
has been called the battle of Forbach
The Prussians, under General Won
Ramke and General Cohen, began the
attack early in the morning of the
9Th. They hurled themselves against
the almost solid wall of Spicheren only
to be repulsed. The Prussian losses
were heavy, but the attacks were kept
up, and finally the French left was
turned by a simultaneous assault on
the right. That night the French re-
lIcdl6Q, anu by a route
reached Metz, where Marshal Bazaine
had been placed in command of the
main army by the emperor. His forces
consisted of 100000 infantry IL 90 cav
airy and $50 guns
All this time the crown prince was
driving MacMahon back, and so close
was the chase that at one time his
forces almost got between the French
and ChalonS, for which point Mac
Mahon was heading there to Join his
shattered forces with those of De
Failly and Canrobert, which was fin
ally effected August Is.
All the cities on the way were taken
by the Prussians On the 18th. Nancy
the ancient capital of Lorraine, was
taken by four Prussians. Strassburg
was invested the same day; Lichten-
berg ON the 18TH Marsal, Toul, Phals-
burg and La Petite Pierre all fought
and resisted with great heroism, but
finally had to give in.
The Great battle.
On the 18th King William, Won
Moltke and Bismarck were at Henry
fourteen miles southeast of Metz, with