The defeat of the Army before Orleans and occupation of
Orleans, bad as it was, was certainly not what the Prussians said,—whose telegraphic accounts of military proceedings are less and less to be trusted, —a defeat of the whole Army of the Loire. It appears from the report of General de la Motto Rouge that, having plenty of guns, but no gunners, he thought it would be pure madness to give battle, and therefore ordered forward a force of 3,500 men to support the force already under General Reyan, and cover the retreat of his main body across the Loire. The regulars in this force behaved exceed- ingly badly, throwing. away their weapons and running away as if in panic ; the Mobiles, the Foreign Legion, and the Ponti- fical Zouaves fought splendidly, the latter, however, not having lost quite the immense proportion of their numbers which was at first given out. In the meantime, the General in command had got his whole army to the south side of the Loire without the loss of a single gun ; and the latest accounts of that army from English correspondents show that it is growing in force, and especially in the strength of its artillery, every day. It was sup- posed to be stationed between Ferte St. Aubyn and Vierzon, covering Bourges, and probably numbers at least 80,000 men. The Prussians do not at present seem inclined to attack it, or to descend on Bourges. They still occupy Orleans ; but most of their troops are on the north bank of the Loire, and were engaged in the capture of Chateaudun, on the direct road be-. tween Tours and Versailles (say, 70 miles from Tours and 100 miles from Versailles), on the 18th (Tuesday). Tours is fortu- nately on the south bank of the Loire, or the Government would probably again be compelled to fly.
