Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-10-09

Austrian was about 1000. At the head Of
the French army was General Moreau,
and the Austrians were commanded by
Archduke John. There was remark
able coincidence in the decision OF both
commanders to surprise the other by a
night attack, and at the same hour of
! the night. Preparations were secretly
made for starting each army out on this
perilous venture, and every precaution
was taken on both sides to consummata
| the arrangements with the utmost quiet
The signal for beginning the march,
| on the part of each commander, was the
ringing of the midnight bells in the tower
| of Munich, not great distance away.
The night was one Of the worst in that
| latitude. The snow lay several feet deep
| on the ground, and mantled heavily the
treetops of fir and pine in the dense
woods The wind was blowing and cut
like a knife, and the slightest exposure
would chill one to the bones. Orders were
secretly given in each army to take up
the line Of march just as the bells OF
Munich should begin to ring. Into the
impenetrable darkness the invisible ccN-
umns moved. In the depth of the freezing
forests the armies met, and the battle
began.
Rank plunged into rank without know
ing what It meant. The most horrible
conditions followed. Confusion, conflict,
fell faster, the wind rose to howl.
Mingled with this was the fusillade of
the musketry, the thunder Of the artil-
lery, the awful blazing and flashing of
guns small and large the shrieking COM
mands of officers the nelghing of horses,
the cries of the wounded and dying, the
crashing of falling timbers under the
indiscriminate firing of cannon, the burst
of martial music-all these and more
added to the din and confusion OF that
horrible night at Hohenlinden. Each
commander in seeking to surprise his
antagonist was himself surprised. Each
wondered at the onset Of the other, says
a writer in the birmingham Age-Herald.
The men of each army became mixed
and confused inextricably. Men fought
whatever was within reach. Muskets,
bayonets, swords, daggers-anything and
everything was used to deal death, men
not knowing whether they were striking
friend or foe The utmost desperation
prevailed on all hands. Men fought be-
cause there was nothing else to do.
Wherever a flash could be seen, guns
were fred In the pitchy darkness, as the
light produced by the guns afforded the
only means Of aim. Thousands were
trampled in the snow which was Grim
soned for leagues with the blood of
victims. For five long, horrible hours
the battle thus surged. During all this
time 10000 men were graphing In deadly
fight in the dense darkness.
The dim twilight of the morning quietly
stole into the recesses of the tangled
wood. A ghastly spectacle was every
where witnessed. Nearly 10000 men lay
stiff in death, wounded or dying in the
deep snow of winter in the shiVered
woods between the frozen rivers-the Iser
and the Inn. The appearance of the
light was the signal for fiercer fighting
than ever. Troops were now more reg
,Ia- la ,,.l tNl, H.
ton OF ferocity men fought The French
were less demoralized than the Austrians,
and drove them back at every point with
heavy loss. panic seized the Austrian
army, and swelled into a rout The
French pressed the advantage, and the
battle was a most decisive one to Mo-
reaus forces. The Austrians lost 25,O00
men killed, wounded and prisoners, 100
pieces of artillery and an immense num-
ber of wagons and stores of war The
loss of the French was 5000 The French
were unable to follow up the victory by
reason of the miserable roads, the deep
snow and the short winter day. The re-
suit of this battle was the peace of Lune-
vile.
In the battle of Hohenlinder Archduke
John was completely outmatched in gen.
eralship by General Moreau. who, next
to Napoleon. was the greatest of French
strategists, and a man for emergency.
In the early morning the pattle was
viewed from tower by Thomas Camp
bell, the Scotch poet, and he has given
vivid picture OF the scene in his poem,
Battle of Hohenlinder," beginning, ION
Linden when the sun was low
1t was one of the sad features of the
Napoleonic regime that a mutual dis
trustfulness arose between Napoleon and
Moreau, the hero of Hohenlinder, and
easily his ablest general. AS result of
the severe disagreement arising from suS-
pcion, Napoleon sought to reduce Moreau
to disgrace. For the history OF this un-
fortunate rupture one must resort to the
proper sources, as 1t cannot be gone into
here, and does not properly belong to a
connection like this. This much, how
ever, may be said. that It was one of the !
greatest blunders of Napoleon to have |
Moreau, who stands vindi- |
Gated before the tribunal OF history.