must be plentiful
in London, and a glance at one will make the topography of to-day's
proceedings far clearer than any description. The opening of the loop is
hilly, and the hills run along the St. Cloud side of the loop as far as
Mont Valerien, and on the other side as far as Rueil. About half a mile
from Mont Valerien following the river is St. Cloud; and between St.
Cloud and the Park of the same name is Montretout, a redoubt which was
commenced by the French, but which, since the siege began, has been held
by the Prussians. The enemy's line extends across the loop from
Montretout through Garches to La Malmaison. The latter lies just below
Rueil, which is a species of neutral village. The troops passed the
night in the upper part of the loop. In numbers they were about 90,000,
as far as I can ascertain, and they had with them a formidable field
artillery. The object of the sortie was a vague idea to push forward, if
possible, to Versailles. Most of the generals were opposed to it, and
thought that it would be wiser to make frequent sudden attacks on the
enemy's lines; but General Public Opinion insisted upon a grand
operation; and this anonymous but all powerful General, as usual,
carried the day. The plan appears to have been this: one half the army
was under General Vinoy, the other half under General Ducrot. The former
was to attack Montretout and Garches, the latter was to push forward
through Rueil and La Malmaison, carry the heights of La Jonchere, and
then unite with Vinoy at Garches. General Trochu, from an observatory in
Mont Valerien, commanded the whole movement. At 7 o'clock troops were
pushed forward against Montretout. This redoubt was held by about 200
Poles from Posen; and they made so determined a resistance that the
place was not taken until 9.30. No guns were found in the redoubt. At
the same time General Bellemare, who commands one of Vinoy's divisions,
advanced on Garches, and occupied the wood and park of Buzenval, driving
in the Prussian outposts. Here several battalions of the National Guards
were engaged. Although their further advance was arrested by a stone
wall, from behind which the Prussians fired, they maintained themselves
in the wood and the park. The Prussians now opened a heavy fire along
the line. At Montretout it was impossible to get a single gun into
position. This went on until a little after three o'clock. By this time
reinforcements had come up from Versailles, and were pushed