Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-08-04

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part OF the enemy. and again dispersed
them widely over the field. With detailed
maps of the country on his knee, he knew
it's natural advantages and dangers He
manipulated the great army like piece
Of machinery.
GERMANY'S FORCES
The frontier forces OF the Germans
were divided into three great armies
numbering In all $4,000 infantry, $500
cavalry, and 1,ii0 guns. At the head
Of the army vas the Crown Prince
Frederick. who had already won fame
in the Denmark and Austrian cam
paigns. All the little details had been
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 each soldier. so
that he could be identified II he were
killed
Against this magnificent array the
frontier forces OF the French were al
most pitlable They consisted OF l65,f0o
infantry 1870 cavalry. and ass guns.
Its reserve corps only numbered 6l.500
infantry 1850 cavalry. and l93 guns.
This was a fine force 20 pit against
million and a quarter of the best-drilled
soldiers in the world II is no wonder
that when the slaughter was all over
the French people were ready TO tear
the Empero apart. limb by limb.
The French forces were distributed
along the frontier. so that they had in
their rear the fortified towns Of Mtez,
Strasburg. Btschc. Phalsburg. Thion-
Vile. Toul, and a number of smaller
places.
TIE WAR BEGINS.
on July 2sd the Prussians began by
blowing up the abutment Of the bridge
Of Kchl, connecting that town with
strasburg Tn, next day some Prus-
sian lancers made the first entry on
FRENCH territory. and blew up the rail-
road between Sa-rcguemines and
Haguenan. on this day, the 2ith. the
French and Prusoians had n slight
scrimmage at Saarbruck. one week
later twenty Baden troopers pushed into
France as far as Niederbronn, cutting
teegraph-wires as they went along on
their way back they met some French
Nroopers. and In the scrimmage an Eng
nshman named Winslow. in the Prussian
service. was killed. He was the first Of
ncer TO be killed in the war.
THE CAPTURE Or SAARBRUCK.
About the only victory Of the French
in the war was the capture of Saar-
bruck. on the Rhenish-Prussan from
| tier near the ancient city of Treves.
on July 30th the French began the at
tack, but were repulsed. On August %
the battle was renewed. with the En-
| peror and little Prince Imperial on the
| battlefield. Here for the first time the
| mitraileuse was used by the French.
| This cannon was a crude form OF the
| Calling gun. IT had twenty-five bar
! rels. loaded at the breech with cart
ridges, and could be operated with
great rapidly. Great damage was done
by these guns. and the French earned
a comparatively easy victory, gaining pos
session Of the town.
| August 4th began the series or great
| victories of the Prrssians. on that day
| General Douay was stationed win loop
| men near !Welssenburg. on the RIVER
| I.auter. within the French boundary. The
| German Crown Prince, with force va
| riously estimated at from 5000 to 1ooev
| 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 resistance. and,
with only three guns, kept up the fight
| until 1900 of the 10000 had been killed
| and wounded Then, under the pressure
| OF the terrible onslaught. they became
| panic-strcken. When General Douay
| saw that all was over, he did an act typi-
cal of the French. Dismountlns. he
shot his horse dead. and then. with re-
volver In hand. walked toward the on
| ward-rushing enemy until he fell pierced
by a dozen bullets.
Weissenburg IL the battle the Ger
| mans are now celebrating.
THE BATTLE OF WORTH.
On August 9Th, MacMahon. with a force
| variousiy estimated at from 5000 to
5000 men. took up position at Reichs
hofen, at the foot Of the Vosges noun
tains. The Crown Prince, with
from 10000 TO 1900 men. had been
pushing steadily on since the victory
Of Weissenburg, and on the evening Of
the 9th had reached point near the
French lines. At a. NJ, on the 9Th the
battle began. First the Prussians tried
to break the French left. but We're re-
pulsed. Then they tried the middle. with
the same result, so well had MacMahon
chosen his position. At noon II looked
ae if he might hold his own But I'm the
early afternoon Of the 18th, the Prussians
planted a battery of sixty guns upon the
| opposite heights of Gunstett, and began
fierce attack upon the French. At p.
| NJ. MacMahon saw that he was hopelessiy
| beaten and gave the order 10 retire In
Guiding 5000 prisoners, the French suffer
ed a loss OF 1900 men in this battle. more
| than half of MacNahon'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 9th. General Frossard.
| with 5000 men, who had been stationed
| Mt Saarbruck, was ordered to fall back
upon the stil greater heights OF Spich-
| eren, 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
! Prusslans under General Won Ramke
and General Cohen. began thes attack
early in the morning Of the 9Th. They
| hurled themselves against the almost
| solid wall of SpicheTen only TO be re-
| pulsed. The Prussian losses were heavy,
but tho attacks were kept up. and finally
| the French left was turned by a stimuli
taneous assault on the right. That night
the French retreated, and. by circuitous
route. reached Metz. where Marshal Ba-
! zaine had been placed in command Of the
main army by the Emperor His forces
consisted Of 10000 in fantry, ll,0o0 cavalry,
| go 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 MacMahon was
heading, there TO join his shattered forces
with those of De Faily and Canrobert.
which was finally effected August 10th.
All the cities on the way were taken
by the Prusslans. on the 18th, Nancy.
the ancient capital Of Lorraine, was taken