The Franco-German War of 1870-71
by Graf von Helmuth Moltke · English · Gutenberg #36209 · 873,652 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: The Franco-German War of 1870-71
Author: Graf von Helmuth Moltke
Translator: Archibald Forbes
Release date: May 24, 2011 [eBook #36209]
Language: English
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Credits: Produced by Adrian Mastronardi, Moti Ben-Ari and the Online
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THE
FRANCO-GERMAN WAR
OF
1870--71
BY
FIELD-MARSHAL
COUNT HELMUTH VON MOLTKE
TRANSLATION REVISED BY
ARCHIBALD FORBES
_WITH A MAP, NOTES, AND ORDERS OF BATTLE_
LONDON
JAMES R. OSGOOD, McILVAINE & CO.
45, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.
1893
[_All rights reserved_]
NOTE.
The translation has been thoroughly revised for the sense as well as in
regard to technical military terms and expressions. To the name of every
German general officer mentioned in the text has been affixed, within
brackets, his specific command, a liberty which the reader will perhaps
not resent, since the interpolation is intended to facilitate his
clearer understanding of a narrative condensed by the author with
extreme severity.
In further aid of elucidation there has been occasionally inserted, also
within brackets, a date, a figure, or a word.
A few footnotes will be found, which may perhaps be excused as not
wholly irrelevant. In the Appendix have been inserted the "Orders of
Battle" of both sides, as in the first period of the war.
A. F.
PREFACE.
Field-Marshal von Moltke began this history of the War of 1870--1 in the
spring of the year 1887, and during his residence at Creisau he worked
at it for about three hours every morning. On his return to Berlin in
the autumn of that year, the work was not quite finished, but he
completed it by January, 1888, at Berlin, placed it in my hands, and
never again alluded to the subject.
The origin of the book was as follows. I had several times entreated
him, but in vain, to make use of his leisure hours at Creisau in noting
down some of his rich store of reminiscences. He always objected, in the
same words: "Everything official that I have had occasion to write, or
that is worth remembering, is to be seen in the Archives of the Staff
Corps. My personal experiences had better be buried with me." He had a
dislike to memoirs in general, which he was at no pains to conceal,
saying that they only served to gratify the writer's vanity, and often
contributed to distort important historical events by the subjective
views of an individual, and the intrusion of trivial details. It might
easily happen that a particular character which in history stood forth
in noble simplicity should be hideously disfigured by the narrative of
some personal experiences, and the ideal halo which had surrounded it be
destroyed. And highly characteristic of Moltke's magnanimity are the
words he once uttered on such an occasion, and which I noted at the
time: "Whatever is published in a military history is always dressed for
effect: yet it is a duty of piety and patriotism never to impair the
prestige which identifies the glory of our Army with personages of lofty
position."
Not long after our arrival at Creisau, early in 1887, I repeated my
suggestion. In reply to my request that he would write an account of the
Campaign of 1870--1, he said: "You have the official history of the war.
That contains everything. I admit," he added, "that it is too full of
detail for the general type of readers, and far too technical. An
abridgment must be made some day." I asked him whether he would allow me
to lay the work on his table, and next morning he began the narrative
contained in this volume, and comparing it as he went on with the
official history, carried it through to the end.
His purpose was to give a concise account of the war. But, while keeping
this in view, he involuntarily--as was unavoidable in his
position--regarded the undertaking from his own standpoint as Chief of
the General Staff, and marshalled results so as to agree as a whole with
the plan of campaign which was known only to the higher military
authorities. Thus this work, which was undertaken in all simplicity of
purpose, as a popular history, is practically from beginning to end the
expression of a private opinion of the war by the Field-Marshal himself.
The Appendix: "On a pretended Council of War in the Wars of William I.
of Prussia," was written in 1881. In a book by Fedor von Koppen, "Maenner
und Thaten, vaterlaendische Balladen" (_Men and Deeds: Patriotic Songs_),
which the poet presented to the Field-Marshal, there is a poem entitled,
"_A German Council of War at Versailles_" (with a historical note
appended), describing an incident which never occurred, and which, under
the conditions by which the relations of the Chief of the Staff to his
Majesty were regulated, never could have occurred. To preclude any such
mistakes for the future, and to settle once and for all the truth as to
the much-discussed question of the Council of War, the Field-Marshal
wrote this paper, to which he added a description of his personal
experience of the battle of Koeniggraetz. It is this narrative which,
shortly after the writer's death, was published in the _Allgemeine
Zeitung_ of Munich, in the somewhat abridged and altered form in which
the Field-Marshal had placed it at the disposal of Professor von
Treitscke, the well-known historian.
COUNT HELMUTH VON MOLTKE,
Major and Adjutant to his
Imperial Majesty.
Berlin, June 25th, 1891.
CONTENTS.
PART I.
PAGE
Preparations for War 2
Combat of Weissenburg (4th August) 12
Battle of Woerth (6th August) 14
Battle of Spicheren (6th August) 19
Right-wheel of the German Army 26
Battle of Colombey-Nouilly (14th August) 29
Battle of Vionville--Mars la Tour (16th August) 34
Battle of Gravelotte--St. Privat (18th August) 49
New Distribution of the Army 64
The Army of Chalons 66
Battle of Beaumont (30th August) 76
Battle of Sedan (1st September) 87
PART II.
Sortie from Metz (26th August) 102
Battle of Noisseville (31st August) 106
Change of Government in Paris 114
Retreat of General Vinoy 116
March on Paris of IIIrd Army and the Army of the Meuse 119
Investment of Paris (19th September) 124
First Negotiations for Peace 129
Reduction of Toul (23rd September) 130
Reduction of Strasburg (28th September) 131
Operations round Paris to 15th October 139
Action of Artenay (10th October) 145
Engagement at Orleans (11th October) 146
Reduction of Soissons (15th October) 149
Storming of Chateaudun (18th October) 151
Sortie against Malmaison (21st October) 153
Storming of Le Bourget (30th October) 156
Sortie from Metz against Bellevue (7th October) 162
Capitulation of Metz (27th October) 165
New Distribution of the Army 166
Operations of the XIVth Corps in the South-East (October) 166
Reduction of Schlettstadt (24th October) 172
Reduction of Breisach (10th November) 174
Reduction of Verdun (9th November) 175
Advance of Ist and IInd Armies (up to mid-November) 177
Engagement at Coulmiers (9th November) 181
Operations of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg 187
Situation of IInd Army (second half of November) 189
Battle of Beaune la Rolande (28th November) 192
Advance of the Army of the Loire to the relief of Paris 197
Battle of Loigny--Poupry (2nd December) 199
Paris in November 204
Attempt of the Army of Paris to break out (30th November and
2nd December) 207
Advance of the Ist Army in November 216
Battle of Amiens (17th November) 217
Reduction of La Fere (27th November) 221
Reduction of Thionville (24th November) 222
Investment of Belfort in November 223
Battle of Orleans (3rd and 4th December) 224
Offensive Operations South, East, and West 233
Fighting of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg (7th--10th December) 235
Interruption of important offensive operations in December 245
The XIVth Corps in December 250
The Ist Army in December 252
Reduction of Mezieres (1st January, 1871) 257
Paris in December 259
Combat of Le Bourget (21st December) 261
Bombardment of Mont-Avron (27th December) 264
The Army of the East under General Bourbaki 266
Advance of the IInd Army to Le Mans 269
Battle in front of Le Mans (10th--12th January) 284
Occurrences northward of Paris during January 303
Battle of Bapaume (3rd January) 305
Fighting on the Lower Seine (4th January) 308
Reduction of Peronne (9th January) 310
Battle of St. Quentin (19th January) 316
Occurrences in the South-Eastern Seat of War up to 17th January 324
Siege of Belfort 324
Transfer of the French Army of the East to the South-Eastern
Seat of War (end of December) 328
Action of Villersexel (9th January) 331
Battle on the Lisaine (15th--17th January) 338
The Artillery Attack on Paris (January, 1871) 349
Battle of Mont Valerien (19th January) 355
Prosecution of the Artillery Attack on Paris to the Armistice 361
Operations of the Army of the South under General von
Manteuffel 366
General Hann von Weyhern's March on Dijon 390
Occupation of the Departments of the Doubs, Jura, and Cote
d'Or 391
Prosecution of the Siege of Belfort 393
The Armistice 399
The Homeward March of the German Army 406
APPENDIX.
On the pretended Council of War in the Wars of King
William I. 413
"Orders of Battle" of the French and German Armies in the
first period of the war 419
THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR.
PART I.
The days are gone by when, for dynastical ends, small armies of
professional soldiers went to war to conquer a city, or a province, and
then sought winter quarters or made peace. The wars of the present day
call whole nations to arms; there is scarcely a family that has not had
to bewail lost ones. The entire financial resources of the State are
appropriated to military purposes, and the seasons of the year have no
influence on the unceasing progress of hostilities. As long as nations
exist distinct one from the other there will be quarrels that can only
be settled by force of arms; but, in the interests of humanity, it is to
be hoped that wars will become the less frequent, as they become the
more terrible.
Generally speaking, it is no longer the ambition of monarchs which
endangers peace; but the impulses of a nation, its dissatisfaction with
its internal conditions, the strife of parties and the intrigues of
their leaders. A declaration of war, so serious in its consequences, is
more easily carried by a large assembly, of which no one of the members
bears the sole responsibility, than by a single individual, however
lofty his position; and a peace-loving sovereign is less rare than a
parliament composed of wise men. The great wars of recent times have
been declared against the wish and will of the reigning powers.
Now-a-days the Bourse possesses so great influence that it is able to
have armies called into the field merely to protect its interests.
Mexico and Egypt have had European armies of occupation inflicted upon
them simply to satisfy the demands of the _haute finance_. To-day the
question is not so much whether a nation is strong enough to make war,
as whether its Government is powerful enough to prevent war. For
example, united Germany has hitherto used her strength only to maintain
European peace; while the weakness of a neighbouring Government
continues to involve the gravest risk of war.
It was, indeed, from such a condition of relations that the war of
1870--71 originated. A Napoleon on the throne of France was bound to
justify his pretensions by political and military successes. Only
temporarily was the French nation contented by the victories of its arms
in remote fields of war; the triumphs of the Prussian armies excited
jealousy, they were regarded as arrogant, as a challenge; and the French
demanded revenge for Sadowa. The liberal spirit of the epoch set itself
against the autocratic Government of the Emperor; he was forced to make
concessions, his internal authority was weakened, and one day the nation
was informed by its representatives that it desired war with Germany.
PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.
The wars carried on by France beyond seas, essentially on behalf of
financial interests, had consumed immense sums and had undermined the
discipline of the army. Her army was by no means in thorough
preparedness for a great war, but, in the temper of the nation, the
Spanish succession question furnished an opportune pretext on which to
go to war. The French Reserves were called out on July 15th, and, as if
the opportunity for a rupture was on no account to be let slip, only
four days later the French declaration of war was presented at Berlin.
One Division of the French Army was ordered to the Spanish frontier as a
corps of observation; only such troops as were absolutely necessary were
left in Algiers and in Civita Vecchia; Paris and Lyons were sufficiently
garrisoned. The entire remainder of the army: 332 battalions, 220
squadrons, 924 guns, in all about 300,000 men, formed the Army of the
Rhine, which, divided into eight Corps, was, at any rate in the first
instance, to be under the sole direction of a central head. The Emperor
himself was the fitting person to undertake this weighty duty, pending
whose arrival Marshal Bazaine was to command the gathering forces.
It is very probable that the French reckoned on the old dissensions of
the German races. Not that they dared to look forward to the South
Germans as allies, but they hoped to paralyze their offensive by an
early victory, perhaps even to win them over to their side. It was true
that Prussia by herself was still a mighty antagonist, and that her
armed forces were of superior strength; but peradventure this advantage
might be counterbalanced by rapidity of action.
The French plan of campaign was indeed based on the delivery of sudden
unexpected attacks. The powerful fleet of war-ships and transports was
to be utilized to land a considerable force in Northern Prussia, which
should there engage a part of the Prussian troops, while the main body
of the German army, it was assumed, would await the first French attack
behind the strong defensive line of the Rhine. A French force was to
cross the Rhine promptly, at and below Strasburg, thus avoiding the
great German fortresses; its function being, at the very outset of the
campaign, to cut off the South-German army charged with the defence of
the Black Forest, and prevent it from effecting a junction with the
North Germans. In the execution of this plan it was imperative that
the main body of the French army should be massed in Alsace. Railway
accommodation, however, was so inadequate that in the first instance it
was only possible to transport 100,000 men to Strasburg; 150,000 had to
leave the railway at Metz, and remain there till they could be moved
forward. Fifty thousand men in the Chalons camp were intended to serve
as supports, and 115 battalions were destined for field service as soon
as the National Guard should relieve them in the interior. The various
Corps were distributed as follows:--
Imperial Guard, General Bourbaki--Nancy.
Ist Corps, Marshal MacMahon--Strasburg.
IInd Corps, General Frossard--St. Avold.
IIIrd Corps, Marshal Bazaine--Metz.
IVth Corps, General Ladmirault--Thionville.
Vth Corps, General Failly--Bitsch.
VIth Corps, Marshal Canrobert--Chalons.
VIIth Corps, General Felix Douay--Belfort.
Thus while there were but two Corps in Alsace, there were five on the
Moselle; and, so early as the day of the declaration of war, one of the
latter, the IInd Corps, had been pushed forward close to the German
frontier, about St. Avold and Forbach. General Frossard, its commander,
was, however, under strict injunctions to commit himself to no serious
undertaking.
The regiments had been hurried away from their peace stations before the
arrival of their complement of men, and without waiting for their
equipments. Meanwhile the called-out reservists accumulated in the
depots, overflowed the railway stations and choked the traffic. Their
transmission to their destinations was at a standstill, for it was often
unknown at the depots where the regiments to which the reservists were
to be sent were for the time encamped. When at length they joined they
were destitute of the most necessary articles of equipment. The Corps
and Divisions lacked trains, hospitals and nearly the whole of the
_personnel_ of their administration. No magazines had been established
in advance, and the troops were to depend on the stores in the
fortresses. These were in a neglected state, for in the assured
expectation that the armies would be almost immediately launched into
the enemy's country they had received little attention. It was of a
piece with this that the French Staff-officers had been provided with
maps of Germany, but not of their own country. The Ministry of War in
Paris was overwhelmed with claims, protestations, and expostulations,
till finally it was left to the troops to help themselves as best they
could. "_On se debrouillera_," was the hope of the authorities.
When the Emperor arrived at Metz eight days after the declaration of
war, the forces were not yet up to their strength, and even the precise
whereabouts of whole bodies of troops was for the time unknown. He
ordered the advance of the army, but his Marshals protested that its
internal plight was so unsatisfactory as to make this impossible for the
time. The general conviction was gradually impressing itself on the
French, that instead of continuing to aim at invasion of the enemy's
country, their exertions would have to be confined to the defence of
their own territory. A strong German army was reported to be assembling
between Mayence and Coblentz; and instead of reinforcements being sent
forward from Metz to Strasburg, much heavier ones would have to be
ordered from the Rhine to the Saar. The determination to invade South
Germany was already abandoned; the fleet sailed, but without carrying a
force to be landed on the north German coast.
Germany had been surprised by the declaration of war, but she was not
unprepared. That was a possibility which had been foreseen.
After the withdrawal of Austria from the German connection, Prussia had
taken upon itself the sole leadership, and had gradually formed closer
relations with the South-German States. The idea of national
unification had been revived, and found an echo in the patriotic
sentiments of the entire people.
The mobilization machinery of the North-German army had been elaborated
from year to year, in accord with the changing conditions, by the
combined exertions of the War Ministry and the General Staff. Every
branch of the administration throughout the country had been kept
informed of all it needed to know in this relation. The Berlin
authorities had also come to a confidential understanding with the
Chiefs of the General Staffs of the South-German States on all important
points. The principle was established that Prussian assistance was not
to be reckoned on for the defence of any particular point, such as the
Black Forest; and that South Germany would be best protected by an
offensive movement into Alsace from the middle Rhine, to be effectively
supported by a large army massed there. That the Governments of Bavaria,
Wuertemberg, Baden and Hesse, to all appearance uncovering their own
territories, were ready to place their contingents under the command of
King William, proved their entire confidence in the Prussian leadership.
This understanding enabled the preparations which it entailed to be
proceeded with. The train and march tables were worked out for each body
of troops, with the most minute directions as to the respective
starting-points, the day and hour of departure, the duration of the
journey, the refreshment stations, and points of detrainment. In the
locality of concentration cantonments were assigned to each Corps and
Division, and magazines were established with due regard to the most
convenient sites; and thus, when the stroke of war inevitably impended,
there was required only the Royal signature to start the whole mighty
movement in its smooth, swift course. Nothing needed to be changed in
the directions originally given; it sufficed to follow the plans
previously thought out and prepared.
The aggregated mobile forces were formed into three separate Armies, on
the basis of an elaborate tabular statement drawn up by the Chief of the
Prussian General Staff.
The Ist Army, under the command of General von Steinmetz, consisted of,
in the first instance, only the VIIth and VIIIth Corps, with one
Division of cavalry; 60,000 men all told. It was ordered to assemble at
Wittlich and form the right wing.
The IInd Army, under the command of Prince Frederick Charles, consisted
of the IIIrd, IVth, Xth, and Guard Corps, with two Divisions of cavalry.
Assembling in the vicinity of Homburg and Neunkirchen, it was to form
the centre, with a strength of 134,000 men.
The IIIrd Army, under the command of the Crown Prince of Prussia,
consisted of the Vth and XIth Prussian, and the Ist and IInd Bavarian
Corps, the Wuertemberg and Baden Field Divisions, with one Division of
cavalry. Its approximate strength was 130,000 men; it was to constitute
the left wing, and to concentrate about Landau and Rastatt.
The IXth Corps, consisting of the 18th and the Hesse Divisions, was
along with the XIIth Royal Saxon Corps to form a reserve of 60,000 men
in front of Mayence, for the reinforcement of the IInd Army to a
strength of 194,000 men.
The three Armies numbered together 384,000 men.
There still remained the Ist, IInd, and VIth Corps, numbering 100,000
men; but they were not at first included, as railway transport for them
was not available for three weeks to come. The 17th Division and certain
bodies of Landwehr troops were detailed to defend the coasts.
It is apparent that numerically the German armies were considerably
superior to the French. Inclusive of the garrisons and reserves about
one million of men and over 200,000 horses were on the ration list.
On the night of July 16th the Royal order for mobilization was issued,
and when his Majesty arrived in Mayence fourteen days later, he found
300,000 men assembled on the Rhine and beyond.
The plan of campaign submitted by the Chief of the General Staff, and
accepted by the King, proves that officer to have had his eye fixed,
from the first, upon the capture of the enemy's capital, the possession
of which is of more importance in France than in other countries. On the
way thither the hostile forces were to be driven as persistently as
possible back from the fertile southern provinces into the more confined
background to the north. But beyond everything the plan of campaign was
based on the resolve to attack the enemy at once, wherever found, and
keep the German forces always so compact that this could be done with
the advantage of superior numbers. The specific dispositions for the
accomplishment of those objects were left to be adopted on the spot; the
advance to the frontier was alone pre-arranged in every detail.
It is a delusion to imagine that a plan of campaign can be laid down far
ahead and fulfilled with exactitude. The first collision with the enemy
creates a new situation in accordance with its result. Some things
intended will have become impracticable; others, which originally seemed
impossible, become feasible. All that the leader of an army can do is to
form a correct estimate of the circumstances, to decide for the best for
the moment, and carry out his purpose unflinchingly.
The advance of the French troops to the frontier, while as yet
imperfectly mobilized, which was an extremely hazardous measure in
itself, was evidently with the intent of utilizing the temporary
advantage of having a superior force at immediate disposition by taking
at unawares the German armies in the act of developing their
advance-movements. But, notwithstanding, the German commanders did not
deviate from their purpose of promptly effecting this first advance in
front of the Rhine. The railway transport of the Corps of the IInd and
IIIrd Armies, however, ended at the Rhine; thence the troops marched on
foot into the cantonments prepared on the left bank of the river. They
moved in echelon, advancing only so many at a time as would make room
for the body in rear, in the first instance to the line
Bingen-Duerkheim-Landau. The farther advance towards the frontier was not
to be undertaken until the Divisions and Corps were all assembled, and
provided with the necessary trains; and then they were to march forward
in a state of readiness to confront the enemy at any moment.
The massing of the Ist Army appeared to be less threatened, because its
route was protected by neutral territory, and was covered by the
garrisons of Treves, Saarlouis and Saarbruecken, the German outposts on
the Saar.
The Ist Army, 50,000 strong, was concentrated at Wadern, in the first
days of August. The IInd Army, which meanwhile had been increased to a
strength of 194,000 men, had pushed forward its cantonments to
Alsenz-Guennstadt, at the farther base of the Haardt Mountains, a
position which had been thoroughly inspected by an officer of the
General Staff, and where the troops might confidently await an attack.
The 5th and 6th cavalry Divisions were reconnoitring the country in
front. The IIIrd Army was still assembling on both banks of the Rhine.
The French so far had made no serious attempt at Saarbruecken;
Lieutenant-Colonel Pestel, with one battalion and three squadrons, was
able successfully to withstand their petty attacks. It had meanwhile
been observed that the hostile forces were moving farther to the right,
towards Forbach and Bitsch. This seemed to indicate that the two French
Corps known to be about Belfort and Strasburg, might purpose crossing
the Rhine and marching through the Black Forest. It seemed therefore all
the more important that the IIIrd Army should be set in motion as early
as possible, for one thing to protect the right bank of the Upper Rhine
by an advance on the left; for another, to cover the left flank of the
IInd Army during its advance.
A telegraphic order to that effect was despatched on the evening of July
30th, but the Head-quarters of the IIIrd Army wished to wait for the
arrival of the VIth Corps and of the trains. Whereupon, regardless of
this delay, the IInd Army was put in march towards the Saar, where the
French were beginning to be active.
The time had gone by when they might have taken advantage of their
over-hasty mobilization; the inefficient condition of the troops had
paralyzed every attempt at activity. France had been long waiting for
the news of a victory, and something had to be done to appease public
impatience. So, in order to do something, it was resolved (as is usual
in such circumstances) to undertake a reconnoissance in force, and, it
may be added, with the usual result.
On August 2nd three entire Army Corps were set in motion against three
battalions, four squadrons, and one battery in Saarbruecken. The Emperor
himself and the Prince Imperial shared in the enterprise. The IIIrd
Corps advanced on Voelklingen, the Vth through Saargemuend, the IInd on
Saarbruecken.
Saarbruecken was evacuated after a gallant defence and repeated
counter-strokes, but the French did not press across the Saar;
convinced, possibly, that they had wasted their strength in a stroke in
the air, and had nowhere gained any insight into the dispositions of the
enemy.
The French military chiefs now hesitated for a long while between
conflicting resolutions. Orders were given and recalled on the strength
of mere rumours. The left wing was reinforced because 40,000 Prussians
were supposed to have marched through Treves, the Guard received
contradictory orders, and the bare apparition of a small German force
about Loerrach in the Black Forest occasioned the order that the VIIth
Corps must remain in Alsace. Thus the French forces were straggled over
the wide area between the Nied and the Upper Rhine, while the Germans
were advancing in compact masses towards the Saar.
This scattered state of their forces finally induced the French leaders
to divide them into two separate Armies. Marshal MacMahon took command,
but only provisionally, of the Ist, VIIth, and Vth Corps, of which the
latter had therefore to draw in to him from Bitsch. The other Corps
remained under Marshal Bazaine, with the exception of the Imperial
Guard, the command of which the Emperor reserved to himself.
It had now become a pressing necessity to protect the left wing of the
advancing IInd German Army against the French forces in Alsace, and the
IIIrd Army was therefore ordered to cross the frontier on August 4th,
without waiting any longer for its trains. The Ist Army, forming the
right wing, was in complete readiness near Wadern and Losheim, three or
four days' march nearer to the Saar than the IInd Army in the centre. It
received the order to concentrate in the neighbourhood of Tholey and
there halt for the present. For one thing, this army, the weakest of the
three, could not be exposed single-handed to an encounter with the
enemy's main force; and for another, it was available to serve as an
offensive flank in case the IInd Army should meet the enemy on emerging
from the forest zone of the Palatinate.
In the execution of this order, the Ist Army had so extended its
cantonments southward that they trenched on the line of march of the
IInd Army, and it had to evacuate the quarters about Ottweiler in favour
of the latter. This involved a difficulty, as all the villages to the
north were full, and as room had also to be found for the Ist Corps, now
advancing by Birkenfeld. General von Steinmetz therefore decided to
march his whole army in the direction of Saarlouis and Saarbruecken. The
IInd Army, on August 4th, stood assembled ready for action, and received
orders to deploy on the farther side of the forest zone of
Kaiserslautern.
COMBAT OF WEISSENBURG.
(August 4th.)
On this day the Corps of the IIIrd Army, consisting of 128 battalions,
102 squadrons, and 80 batteries, which had been assembled in bivouac
behind the Klingsbach, crossed the French frontier, marching on a broad
front to reach the Lauter between Weissenburg and Lauterburg. This
stream affords an exceptionally strong defensive position, but on August
4th only one weak Division and a cavalry brigade of the Ist French Corps
covered this point, the main body of that Corps being still on the march
towards the Palatinate.
Early in the morning the Bavarians forming the right wing encountered a
lively resistance before the walls of Weissenburg, which were too strong
to be stormed. But very soon after the two Prussian Corps crossed the
Lauter lower down. General von Bose led forward the XIth Corps (which he
commanded) with intent to turn the French right flank on the Geisberg,
while General von Kirchbach, with the Vth Corps (which he commanded)
advanced against the enemy's front. Thirty field-guns were meanwhile
massed against the railway station of Weissenburg. It and subsequently
the town were taken, after a bloody struggle.
So early as ten o'clock General Douay had ordered a retreat, which was
seriously threatened by the movement against the Geisburg; and the
chateau of that name, a very defensible building, was most obstinately
defended to enable the French to retire. The Grenadiers of the King's
Regiment No. 7 in vain assailed it by storm, suffering heavy loss; nor
did its defenders surrender until, with the greatest difficulty,
artillery had been dragged up on to the height.
The French Division, which had been attacked by three German Corps,
effected a retreat after an obstinate struggle, though in great
disorder, having suffered much loss. Its gallant Commander had been
killed. The Germans had to bewail a proportionately considerable loss;
their casualties were 91 officers and 1460 men. General von Kirchbach
had been wounded while fighting in the foremost rank.
The 4th Division of cavalry had met with much delay in the course of a
nineteen miles' march by the crossing of the columns of infantry. It did
not reach the scene of combat, and all touch of the enemy, now retiring
to the westward, was lost.
Uncertain as to the direction whence fresh hostile forces might be
approaching, the IIIrd Army advanced on the 5th of August by diverging
roads in the direction of Hagenau and Reichshofen; yet not so far apart
but that it should be possible for the Corps to reconcentrate in one
short march. The Crown Prince intended to allow his troops a rest on the
following day, so as to have them fresh for a renewed attack as soon as
the situation was made clear.
But already, that same evening, the Bavarians on the right flank and the
Vth Corps in the front had a sharp encounter with the enemy, who showed
behind the Sauer in considerable strength. It was to be assumed that
Marshal MacMahon had brought up the VIIth Corps from Strasburg, but it
remained a question whether he intended to join Marshal Bazaine by way
of Bitsch, or whether, having secured his line of retreat thither, he
meant to accept battle at Woerth. Yet again there was the possibility
that he might himself initiate the offensive. The Crown Prince, to make
sure in any case of a preponderance of force, determined to concentrate
his army in the neighbourhood of Sulz on August 6th. The IInd Bavarian
Corps received separate instructions to watch the road from Bitsch with
one Division; the other Division was to strike the hostile attack in
flank on the western bank of the Sauer, in the event of artillery fire
about Woerth being heard.
Marshal MacMahon was endeavouring with all his might to concentrate his
three Corps, and he really had the intention to make an immediate attack
on his invading foe. A Division of the VIIth Corps, which had but just
been sent to Muelhausen to strengthen the defence of Alsace, was at once
recalled to Hagenau, and early on the 6th formed the right wing of the
strong position which the Ist Corps had taken up behind the Sauer, and
in front of Froeschwiller, Elsasshausen, and Eberbach. On the left,
Lespart's Division of the Vth Corps was expected from Bitsch, of which
the other Divisions were only now on march from Saargemuend by way of
Rohrbach. Meanwhile Ducrot's Division formed a refused flank on the
French left.
Neither the German nor the French leaders expected the collision before
the following day, but when, as in this case, the adversaries are in so
close proximity, the conflict may break out at any moment, even against
the wish of the higher commanders.
BATTLE OF WOeRTH.
(August 6th.)
After a good deal of skirmishing between the respective outposts during
the night, the Commander of the 20th German Brigade[1] thought it
expedient to seize a passage over the Sauer, which flowed just in his
front and constituted a serious obstacle. The bridge leading to Woerth
had been destroyed, but the sharp-shooters waded through the river, and
at seven o'clock pressed into the town, which the French had left
unoccupied.
Soon enough they realized that before them was a numerous enemy in a
strong position.
The broad meadows of the Sauer all lie within effective range of the
commanding slopes on the right bank; and the long-ranging chassepot fire
could not but tell heavily. On the French side of the river the terrain
was dotted with vineyards and hop-gardens, which afforded great
advantages for defensive purposes.
The combat which had begun at Woerth was broken off after lasting half an
hour, but the artillery of both sides had taken part in it, and the
sound of cannon-fire had been the signal prescribed to Hartmann's IInd
Bavarian Corps, acting on which it now advanced from Langensulzbach, and
was soon engaged in a brisk fight with the left flank of the French. The
latter on their side had advanced on their right to the attack of
Gunstett, where they came in contact with the advancing XIth Prussian
Corps.
The din of battle, rolling from the north and south alike, was heard by
the Vth Corps in its position opposite to Woerth; and it seemed
imperative that it should engage with vigour the enemy's centre in order
to hinder him from throwing himself with all his strength on one or
other of the German flanks.
The artillery was brought up, and by ten o'clock 108 guns were in action
on the eastern slope of the Sauer valley.
Some infantry detachments waded breast-high through the river, but this
dashing attempt, undertaken in inadequate strength, miscarried, and it
was only by strenuous efforts that a foothold was maintained on the
other side.
The Crown Prince sent orders that nothing was to be undertaken that
would bring on a battle on that day. But by this time the Vth Corps was
so seriously engaged that the fight could not be broken off without
obvious disadvantage. General von Kirchbach therefore determined to
continue the contest on his own responsibility.
The frontal attack was an undertaking of great difficulty, and could
scarcely succeed unless with the co-operation of another on the flank.
But at this juncture the Bavarians, who, in position as they were on the
right, could have afforded this co-operation, obeyed the breaking off
command, which had also reached them in the course of the fighting, and
withdrew to Langensulzbach. There was, however, the XIth Corps in
position on the left, eager to strike in. It seized the Albrechts-haeuser
farm, and pressed forward into the Niederwald.
In front of Woerth the battle hung, consisting of a succession of attacks
renewed again and again on either side; each assailant in turn getting
worsted, in consequence of the nature of the country. By degrees,
however, the collective battalions, and finally the artillery of the Vth
Corps, were brought over to the west bank of the Sauer; while the XIth
Corps had already won there a firm point of support for further advance.
Just then, near Morsbronn, notwithstanding the evident unfavourable
nature of the ground, two Cuirassier and one Lancer regiments of
Michel's brigade hurled themselves with reckless daring on a body of
German infantry taken in the act of wheeling to the right. But the 32nd
Regiment, far from seeking cover, received in open order the charging
mass of over 1000 horse with a steady fire which did great execution.
The Cuirassiers especially suffered immense loss. Only a few horsemen
broke through the firing line and gained the open ground; many were
taken prisoners in the village, the remainder rode in wild gallop as
far as Walburg. There they encountered the Prussian 13th Hussars,
suffered further loss, and disappeared from the field.
It is true that the infantry of the French right wing succeeded in
driving back the foremost detachments of the Germans about
Albrechts-haeuser farm, but the further advance of the former was
shattered by the fire of newly-unmasked artillery.
When finally the last battalions had crossed the Sauer, the XIth Corps
made its way through the Niederwald, fighting its way step by step. The
northern edge of the forest was reached by 2.30, and there a junction
was formed with the left flank of the Vth Corps. The burning village of
Elsasshausen was carried by storm, and the little copse south of
Froeschwiller was also won after a gallant defence.
Thus crowded together in a limited space, the French army was in a
situation of imminent danger. Its left flank, it is true, still held out
against the renewed attack of the Bavarians, who had re-entered the
action, but its front and right flank were terribly hard pressed, and
even its retreat was seriously threatened. Marshal MacMahon therefore
tried to obtain a breathing space by a heavy counter-stroke to the
south. The weak German detachments standing to the east of Elsasshausen,
thrown into confusion by the vehement attack, were in part driven back
into the Niederwald, but were quickly rallied and brought up again. Here
the French cavalry strove once more to change the fortunes of the day.
Bonnemain's Division, notwithstanding the unfavourable nature of the
ground, threw itself on the dishevelled front of the enemy, suffered
terrible losses, and was shattered without having been able effectively
to charge home.
The Wuertembergers now came up from the south, and the Bavarians from the
north. General von Bose, though twice wounded, led what of his troops
he could collect to the storm of the burning Froeschwiller, the enemy's
last stronghold. The artillery moved up within case-shot range, and thus
cleared the road for the infantry which was pushing forward from all
sides. After maintaining to the utmost a resolute and gallant resistance
until five o'clock, the French retreated in great disorder towards
Reichshofen and Niederbronn.
At the Falkenstein stream, Lespart's Division, just arrived on the
field, made a short stand, but these fresh troops offered only brief
resistance, and were swept away in the general rout.
This victory of the IIIrd Army had been dearly paid for with the loss of
489 officers and 10,000 men. The loss on the French side is not exactly
known, but of prisoners alone they left 200 officers and 9000 men, and
in the German hands there remained 33 guns and 2000 horses.
The disintegration of the French army must have been so complete as to
throw it altogether out of hand. Only one brigade of Lespart's Division
took the road by Bitsch to join the French main army at St. Avold; all
the rest of the army, following an infectious impulse, rolled
unhaltingly in a south-western direction towards Saverne.
As in the Head-quarter of the IIIrd Army it had not been intended to
fight on August 6th, the 4th Division of cavalry had not left its
quarters in the rear, and was therefore not available to take up the
pursuit; it did not reach Gunstett until nine o'clock in the evening.
But, in order to be at hand at any rate for the next day, Prince Albert
marched his command on during the night as far as Eberbach; after three
hours' rest he started again, and after covering thirty-six miles,[2]
came up in the evening with the rearguard of the enemy near Steinberg,
at the foot of the Vosges. Without infantry it would have been
impossible for the Division to push farther, but the sight of it gave
the enemy a fresh impulse of flight. The Ist Corps stampeded again in
the night and reached Saarburg, where it joined the Vth Corps. Thus the
French had a start of twenty-three and a half miles, and continued their
retreat on Luneville, unmolested by the Germans.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] General Walther von Montbary. It is Molkte's custom throughout this
work, except in regard to his prime aversion, Prince Frederick Charles,
to refrain from naming an officer whom by implication he is censuring,
but this is simply a _nuance_, since he specifies the culprit's military
position.
[2] Throughout the miles are English miles.
BATTLE OF SPICHEREN.
(August 6th.)
Let us now turn to the events which occurred, on this same 6th of
August, in another part of the theatre of war.
The IInd Army, its southern (left) flank covered by the IIIrd Army, had
been moving to the westward, while the Corps it still lacked were being
brought up by railway. Its leading Corps, having traversed unmolested
the long defiles of the forest-belt of Kaiserslautern, reached on the
5th the line Neunkirchen-Zweibruecken. The cavalry, scouting into French
territory, reported that the enemy was retreating. Everything seemed to
indicate that the French would await the attack of the Germans in a
strong defensive position. The nearest position of the kind that offered
was that on the farther bank of the Moselle, of which Metz protected one
flank, Thionville the other. It was decided that if the French were
found in that position, the Ist Army should hold the enemy in front,
while the IInd made a circuit south of Metz, and so the enemy be forced
either to retire or to fight. In case of disaster the IInd Army was to
fall back on the IIIrd, now advancing over the Vosges.
The protrusion to the south-westward[3] of the Ist Army towards the
Saar, which had not been intended by the supreme Command, had brought
its left wing in upon the line of march laid down for the IInd, and
detachments of the two armies had to cross each other at Saarbruecken on
the 6th. Thus there was indeed no lack of strength at that point; but as
a battle on that day was neither expected nor probable, the synchronous
arrival of troops had not been pre-arranged, and so detachments could
only come up by quite unprescribed routes and arrive one after the other
at different hours.
The 14th Division of the VIIth Corps was the first to reach Saarbruecken,
towards noon on the 6th.
General Frossard, considering his position there very hazardous, had
left the night before, without waiting for permission, and had fallen
back with the IInd Corps on Spicheren, where it had entrenched itself.
The IIIrd, IVth, and Vth Corps were behind, at distances of from nine to
nineteen miles, and the Imperial Guard was about twenty-three miles
rearward. The Emperor, therefore, had it in his power to collect five
Corps for a battle in the vicinity of Cocheren, or, on the other hand,
to support Frossard with at least four Divisions, if that General were
confident that his position was strong enough to hold.
The range of heights which upheaves itself immediately behind
Saarbruecken is capable of affording a serious obstacle to a hostile
passage of the Saar. It was known that the French had evacuated those
heights, but General von Kameke thought it prudent to seize them at
once, in order to secure the debouche of the columns following him.
When, in the forenoon, two squadrons of the 5th Cavalry Division showed
themselves on the drill-ground on the ridge above the farther bank, they
were greeted with a hot fire from the Spicheren heights. But as it
seemed highly probable, from the previous behaviour of the French, that
the force seen there was only the rear-guard of the retiring enemy,
General von Kameke (commanding 14th Infantry Division) ordered an
immediate attack, since he had the promise of reinforcements. General
von Zastrow (commanding VIIth Corps), as soon as he recognized that the
14th Division had involved itself in a serious engagement, allowed the
13th to go forward. General von Alvensleben (its commander) also ordered
up to Saarbruecken all the available troops of the IIIrd Corps, and with
equal promptitude General von Goeben (commanding VIIIth Corps) hurried
thither the entire 16th Division. Generals von Doering (commanding 9th
Infantry Brigade) and von Barnekow (commanding 16th Infantry Division),
belonging respectively to these two Corps (IIIrd and VIIIth), had
besides already struck forward from Tudweiler and Fischbach in the
direction of the cannon-thunder, even before receiving orders to that
effect.
The position occupied by the French was one of exceptional advantage. In
the centre projected the Red Hill (der Rothe Berg), a precipitous and
almost inaccessible cliff; and the steep slopes on either side were
densely wooded. On the left the massive buildings of the Stiering-Wendel
ironworks furnished a separate defensive position.
Had the strength of the enemy been fully known the attack would
certainly have been delayed until the whole of the 14th Division had
arrived. As a matter of fact, at the beginning of the fight, about noon,
only von Francois' Brigade (27th) had come up, and this force, in the
effort to facilitate an attack on the naturally strong position held by
the enemy's front, assailed in the first instance both his flanks.
At first it succeeded in making progress. On the left the 39th Regiment
drove the swarms of hostile skirmishers out of the wood of Gifert, but
then became exposed to the bitter fire of a French battalion lining the
farther side of a deep hollow. On the right flank its 3rd Battalion,
together with the 74th Regiment, seized the wood of Stiering. But the
enemy's superior strength soon displayed itself in violent
counter-attacks, and when Von Woyna's[4] Brigade (28th) reached the
field it had to furnish reinforcements to both flanks. Thus, at an early
stage, intermingling of battalions and companies began, which increased
with every subsequent rush, and made the control of the combat a matter
of extraordinary difficulty. Added to this was the circumstance that
three Commanding Generals in succession came up to the scene of the
conflict, and one after the other took the chief control.
At about one o'clock, simultaneously with the flanks, the Fusilier
Battalion of the 74th Regiment pushed forward in front, under a severe
fire across the open ground towards the Red Hill, and, under such
trivial cover as offered, established itself at the foot of the cliff.
When at about three o'clock the Prussian artillery compelled the foe to
move his guns farther up the hill, the Fusiliers, with General von
Francois at their head, began to climb the cliff. The French Chasseurs,
evidently taken by surprise, were driven from the most advanced
entrenchments with clubbed rifles and at the point of the bayonet. The
9th company of the 39th Regiment followed close, and the gallant
General, charging farther forward along with it, fell pierced by five
bullets. Nothing daunted, the small body of Fusiliers made good its grip
of the narrow spur of the cliff.
Nevertheless, a crisis was imminent. The 14th Division was extended over
a distance of about three and a half miles, its left wing had been
repulsed by greatly superior forces in the wood of Gifert, its right
wing was hard pressed at Stiering. But now, at four o'clock, the heads
of the 5th and 16th Divisions simultaneously struck in, shortly after
their batteries, which had been sent on ahead, had come into action.
The left wing, strongly reinforced, now again pressed forward. General
von Barnekow[5] led trusty succours up on to the Red Hill, where the
Fusiliers had almost entirely exhausted their ammunition, and drove the
French out from all their entrenchments. As the result of a fierce
struggle the Germans also succeeded in taking possession of the western
part of the wood of Gifert. The right wing with sharp fighting had
pressed on to Alt Stiering and was approaching the enemy's line of
retreat, the Forbach highway. General Frossard had, however, recognized
the danger threatened at this point, and reinforced his left wing to the
strength of a Division and a half. This force advanced to the attack at
five o'clock. On the German side there was no formed force to oppose to
it, so all the previously gained advantages were lost.
If the 13th Division[6] had here struck in with a resolute attack, the
battle would have ended. This Division after, indeed, a march of nearly
nineteen miles had reached Puttlingen at one o'clock, where it was
little more than four miles distant from Stiering. When the fighting
about Saarbruecken was heard it is true that at four p.m. the advanced
guard moved forward to Rossel. It would seem that the roar of the cannon
was not audible in that wooded region; the impression was that the
combat was over, and the Division bivouacked at Voelkingen, which place
had been previously named as the end of its march by the Corps Commander
at a time when he was, of course, unable to foresee the change in the
situation.
The French offensive movement had meanwhile been brought to a stand by
the seven batteries in position on the Folster height; the infantry then
succeeded in making fresh progress, under the personal leadership of
General von Zastrow.
The nature of the ground entirely prohibited the twenty-nine squadrons
of cavalry which had arrived from all directions and were drawn up out
of the range of fire, from taking part in the action. The Hussars tried
in vain to ride up the Red Hill, but in spite of incredible
difficulties Major von Lyncker finally gained the summit with eight
guns, amid the loud cheering of the hard-pressed infantry. The guns, as
each one came up, at once came into action against three French
batteries; but quite half of the gunners were shot down by sheltered
French tirailleurs, at a range of about 800 paces. A small strip of
ground in front was indeed won, but the narrow space allowed of no
deployment against the wide front of the enemy.
But effective assistance was coming from the right. General von Goeben
had despatched all the battalions of the 16th Division not yet engaged,
in the decisive direction toward Stiering. While one part of these
troops made a frontal attack on the village, the rest climbed from the
high-road up the defiles of the Spicheren woods, in a hand-to-hand
encounter drove the French from the saddle leading to the Red Hill, and
pushed them farther and farther back towards the Forbach height.
Even as late as seven o'clock on the French right wing Laveaucoupet's
Division, supported by part of Bataille's, advanced to the attack and
once more penetrated into the oft-contested Gifert wood, but the danger
threatening the French left wing from the Spicheren wood paralyzed this
effort. By nightfall the French were falling back over the whole
plateau.
At nine o'clock, when their "Retreat" call was sounding from the
heights, General von Schwerin (commanding 10th Infantry Brigade) made
sure of night quarters by occupying Stiering, where resistance was only
quelled, at many points, after a hand-to-hand fight. The advanced guard
of the 13th Division advanced on Forbach, but did not occupy it, having
allowed itself to be hoodwinked by some French Dragoons in possession.
Apart from this, General Frossard had abandoned the line of retreat by
the so seriously threatened Forbach-St. Avold road, and fell back with
all his three divisions on Oetingen. The darkness, and the impossibility
of handling large bodies of cavalry in such a country, saved him from
further pursuit.
General von Steinmetz ordered the reorganization of the dislocated
bodies of troops that same night. Some of them had marched more than
twenty-eight miles; two batteries, arriving from Koenigsberg by rail, had
immediately set out for the battle-field. But it remains that the
Germans at no time of the day attained the numerical strength of the
enemy in this engagement, which had been begun with insufficient forces.
Only thirteen batteries could be brought into action in the limited
space, and the cavalry remained excluded from all participation. It was
only natural, under the circumstances, that the losses of the assailants
were greater than those of the defence. The Prussians lost 4871, the
French 4078 men. The fact was significant that a considerable number of
unwounded French prisoners were taken in this early action.
In strong contrast to the comradeship and mutual helpfulness displayed
by the Prussian Generals, and the eagerness of their troops to hurry
into the fight, was the strange vacillation of the Divisions in General
Frossard's rear; of which three, indeed, were sent forward to his
support, but only two came up, and that when the fight was already
ended.
It has been vehemently asserted that the battle of Spicheren was fought
in an ill-judged locality, and that it interfered with more important
plans. It certainly had not been anticipated. But, generally speaking, a
tactical victory rarely fails to fit in with a strategic design. Success
in battle has always been thankfully accepted, and turned to account. By
the battle of Spicheren the IInd French Corps was prevented from
withdrawing unharmed; touch of the enemy's main force was obtained, and
to the supreme Direction of the armies was afforded a basis for further
resolutions.
FOOTNOTES:
[3] South-eastward.
[4] There were two Major-Generals of this name, both commanding
Brigades; one the 28th, VIIth Corps, the other 39th, Xth Corps.
[5] Commanding 16th Division, VIIIth Corps.
[6] Commanded by General Gluemen.
RIGHT WHEEL OF THE GERMAN ARMY.
Marshal MacMahon in his retreat had taken a direction which entirely
severed his touch with Marshal Bazaine.
As he was not pursued, he could have used the Luneville-Metz railway to
effect his union with the French main army; for up to the 9th it was
still open. But rumour had it that the Prussians had already appeared in
Pont a Mousson, and the state of his troops did not permit him thus
early to risk another engagement.
His Ist Corps, therefore, marched southwards on Neufchateau, whence
Chalons could be reached by railway. The Vth Corps was being shifted to
and fro by contradictory orders from the Emperor's head-quarters. First
it was to proceed to Nancy, then to take an opposite direction towards
Langres. On arriving at Charmes it was ordered to Toul, but from
Chaumont it was finally directed to proceed to Chalons. General Trochu
had there located the newly-formed XIIth Corps, and behind this
gathering point the VIIth Corps also managed to get away from Alsace and
reach Rheims by rail by way of Bar sur Aube and Paris.
Thus by August 22nd a Reserve Army was formed, consisting of four Corps
and two Cavalry Divisions, under the command of Marshal MacMahon, who,
however, at a distance, as he was, of about 120 miles, was unable to
render timely assistance to Marshal Bazaine, who stood directly in the
line of the advancing enemy.
When the news of the double disaster of August 6th reached the Imperial
Head-quarter, the first impression there was that it would be necessary
to retreat immediately on Chalons with Bazaine's army; and the VIth
Corps, a portion of which was already being transported thence to Metz,
was ordered to retrace its steps. But this resolution was presently
retracted. The Emperor had not merely to consider the foreign enemy,
but public opinion within his own realm. The sacrifice of entire
provinces at the very beginning of a war which had been undertaken with
such high anticipations, would have provoked the unbounded indignation
of the French people. There were still 200,000 men who could be brought
together in front of the Moselle, supported by a large fortress, and
though the enemy would still have the superiority in numbers, his army
was holding a line nearly sixty miles long. It had yet to cross the
Moselle, and this would necessitate a dislocation which might create a
weakness at the critical moment.
In the IIIrd German Army the disorderly condition of the defeated enemy
was not known, nor even the direction of his retreat. It was expected
that MacMahon's Army would be found rallied on the farther side of the
Vosges for renewed resistance; and as it was impossible to cross the
mountains except in detached columns, the German advance was very
cautious, and by short marches only. Though the distance between
Reichshofen and the Saar is not more than about twenty-eight miles in a
straight line, that river was only reached in five days. Nothing was
seen of the enemy, except in the fortified places, small indeed, but too
strong to be taken by storm, which command the highways in the
mountains. Bitsch had to be avoided by a fatiguing circuit, Lichtenberg
was captured by surprise, Luetzelstein had been abandoned by its
garrison, the investment of Pfalzburg was handed over to the approaching
VIth Corps, and Marsal capitulated after a short resistance.
The German left wing had no enemy before it, and could be brought into
closer connection with the centre. To bring the three armies abreast of
each other a wheel to the right was requisite. The advance of the Ist
and IInd Armies had, however, to be delayed, as the IIIrd did not reach
the Saar until August 12th. The whole movement was so arranged that the
IIIrd Army was to use the roads by Saarunion and Dieuze, and to
southward; the IInd those by St. Avold and Nomeny and to southward; the
Ist those by Saarlouis and Les Etangs, the last also taking the
direction of Metz.
The cavalry Divisions which were reconnoitring far to the front,
reported the enemy as retreating all along the line. They ranged close
up to Metz, and across the Moselle both above and below the place,
forcing the detachments of Canrobert's Corps, which had again been
ordered up from Chalons, to return thither. All their information
indicated that very large masses were encamped in front of Metz. From
this it might equally be inferred that the enemy intended to retreat
further, or, with his whole force concentrated, to strike hard at the
right wing of the German Army, at the moment when the impending crossing
of the Moselle should make its severance from the left wing unavoidable.
The chief Head-quarter restricted itself in ordinary course to issuing
general directions, the execution of which was left in detail to the
army commanders; but in this instance it was deemed necessary in the
momentary circumstances to regulate the movements of each separate corps
by specific orders. On August 11th the Head-quarter of his Majesty was
therefore transferred to St. Avold, in the front line, and midway
between the Ist and IInd Armies, so as, by being in the immediate
vicinity, to be able to exercise timely authority to either hand. The
three Corps of the Ist Army advanced towards the German Nied on August
12th, only to find that the French had evacuated that position. Three
Corps of the IInd Army on the left of the Ist also moved forward in
prolongation of the same front by Faulquemont and Morhange, while two
others followed.
On the next day the IInd Army reached the Seille, without encountering
the enemy, and occupied Pont a Mousson with infantry.
The strangely inactive attitude of the French made it seem quite
probable that they might not make any stand in front of Metz, a
probability strengthened by the reports of the German cavalry, which was
scouting as far as Toul and on to the Verdun road. But there always
loomed the possibility that the enemy would throw himself with 200
battalions on the Ist Army, now in his immediate front. The two Corps
forming the right wing of the IInd Army were therefore ordered to halt
for the present, a little to the south of Metz, ready to deliver a
shattering blow on the flank of any such attack. If the enemy preferred
to assail these Corps, then would devolve on the Ist Army on its part
the prompt assumption of the offensive.
Meanwhile the other Corps of the IInd Army were pursuing the march
towards the Moselle farther to the southward; if the enemy should attack
them with superior forces after they had crossed the river, it would be
possible for them, in case of need, to fall back on the IIIrd Army.
So much caution was not universally deemed essential; it was argued that
the French seemed already committed to full retreat, they ought not to
be allowed to get away without punishment, and it followed that the
German Army should strike without delay. The French had, indeed, already
committed themselves to a further retreat; but when in the afternoon (of
the 14th) the VIIth Corps discerned their retrograde movement, a fight
began on the hither side of the Moselle, which, by the voluntary
intervention of the nearest bodies of troops, developed into a battle in
the course of the evening.
BATTLE OF COLOMBEY--NOUILLY.
(August 14th.)
The Commandant of Metz had declared his inability to hold that place for
a fortnight, if left to his own resources; but the chosen and intrenched
position on the Nied, taken up to cover the fortress, had been found
locally defective, and the French Head-quarter hoped to find a more
favourable defensive position in the vicinity of Verdun.
Military necessity outweighed even a politic regard for public opinion,
and the Emperor, although he had transferred the command-in-chief to
Marshal Bazaine, still remained with the army, for it would have been
impossible for him to return to Paris in existing circumstances.
Very early in the morning of the 14th August the multitudinous trains
were being withdrawn through the city, and towards noon the IInd, IVth,
and VIth Corps got in motion, while the IIIrd Corps remained in position
behind the deep valley of the Colombey brook, to cover the retirement.
When, at four in the afternoon, the break-up of the enemy was perceived,
General von der Goltz (commanding 26th Infantry Brigade) with the
advanced guard of the VIIth Corps struck him in the act, and wrenched
from him Colombey and the Chateau d'Aubigny on his right flank. But, at
the first cannon sound, the French columns immediately turned about,
fully equipped for fighting, and eager, after their many previous
disasters, to break the spell by a desperate effort. Castagny's Division
threw itself in greatly superior force upon the weak German detachment
in the isolated position of Colombey, which held its own only by the
utmost exertion.
Already the advanced guard of the Ist Army Corps was approaching by both
the high-roads from Saarbruecken and Saarlouis; and its batteries having
pushed on ahead, at once took part in the engagement. Passing through
Lauvallier, the infantry followed close, climbed the eastern slope of
the plateau of Bellecroix, and farther to the right drove the enemy out
of the wood east of Mey. But the presence at this point of the main body
of the French IIIrd Corps gave pause to the German offensive for the
time.
The 13th, 1st, and 2nd Divisions had meanwhile followed their respective
advanced guards, the two latter having been held in full readiness by
General von Manteuffel ever since his outposts had reported that the
enemy was moving. General von Zastrow, too, arrived on the field, and
took over the command of the left wing. Soon sixty field-pieces were in
action against the enemy. General von Osten-Sacken hurried forward the
25th Brigade through the hollow of Coincy, and climbed on to the edge of
the upland. The clump of fir-trees on the road to Bellecroix was taken
by storm, was surrounded on three sides, was lost again in a bloody
conflict, and was once more recaptured. Soon afterwards two batteries
succeeded in establishing themselves above Planchette, whose fire drove
the French back as far as Borny; yet still the conflict raged on both
sides with the utmost fury.
But now there threatened the German right the danger of being
out-flanked. General Ladmirault, on learning that Grenier's Division had
been driven out of Mey, immediately set out to its support with his
other two Divisions, retook the village, and pressed farther forward by
the Bouzonville road. General von Manteuffel had meanwhile given the
necessary orders for holding, at all hazards, the deep-cut trough of the
Vallieres brook which covered the flank. The 1st Brigade was posted
behind Noisseville as general reserve, the 4th, and part of the
artillery of the Ist Corps, marched by the Bouzonville road to confront
General Ladmirault near Poix, while the remaining batteries from the
southern slopes to the eastward of Nouilly enfiladed his advance. On the
left, Gluemer's Division (13th) had all this time been holding its ground
at Colombey, and now, at seven o'clock in the evening, Woyna's Brigade
came to its assistance, and took possession of the copses westward of
Colombey. A very welcome reinforcement now arrived from the IInd Army
remaining halted on the Seille.
The 18th Infantry Division, after a heavy march, had bivouacked near
Buchy in the afternoon, but when General von Wrangel (its commander) was
informed that fighting was audible from the locality of the Ist Army, he
promptly set his Division in motion in that direction. He drove the
enemy out of Peltre, and then in conjunction with Woyna's Brigade
occupied Grigy, somewhat in rear of the French position in front of
Borny.
On the right wing of the fighting line, the 2nd Division had also pushed
on towards Mey, by way of Nouilly and through the adjacent vineyards;
and, as darkness was setting in, that village and the adjoining woods
were wrenched from the enemy. The French had not advanced beyond Villers
L'Orme, and they now withdrew all along their line from that village to
Grigy. The Prussians, as they followed up after dark, were molested only
by the fire of the heavy guns of the forts, more especially Fort St.
Julien.
The engagement of August 14th cost them the heavy loss of 5000 men,
inclusive of 200 officers; while the French lost only 3600 men, their
IIIrd Corps being the heaviest sufferer. The vicinity of a great
fortress of course prevented the reaping of the fruits of victory by an
immediate pursuit. It was for the same reason that a battle on the part
of the Ist Army on that day had not been included in the concerted plan
of action, though the possibility of such an occurrence had been
foreseen. Although it was true that but one Division of the IInd Army
(the 18th) had been able to hasten to the aid of the Ist, and that after
the late opening of the fight, its assault on the left[7] flank of the
enemy had not failed of its effect.
The manner in which the battle originated rendered unity of direction
impossible.
It was but the advanced-guards of four Divisions which were the troops
principally engaged; and the daring attacks made on greatly superior
hostile forces by small bodies unfollowed by immediate supports
occasioned many critical moments, which might have been dangerous if the
enemy had pushed forward more energetically in closely concentrated
strength. But while, for instance, his IIIrd Corps received no support
from the Imperial Guard standing close behind it, the contrast presented
itself that on the Prussian side, in this as in the previous battles,
there shone forth, along with their ready acceptance of personal
responsibility, the eager mutual helpfulness of all the commanders
within reach of the battle-field.
An essential share of the success of the day must be attributed to the
artillery. Hurrying along in front, leaving the responsibility of
covering it to the advanced guards which reached forward before the main
bodies of the Divisions had time to come up, it drove the French
completely out of their positions before Metz, and back under the guns
of the defences of the place.
The protection so afforded to the enemy rendered it impossible that the
victory of Colombey-Nouilly should yield any trophies, but the supreme
Command was quite content with the results obtained. The retreat of the
enemy had been arrested, and a day had been gained for the crossing of
the Moselle by the IInd and IIIrd Armies.
_August 15th._--In the early morning of the 15th the cavalry had ridden
forward to the outworks of Metz, but found none of the enemy on this
side of the fortress. A few shells scared away the Imperial Head-quarter
from Longeville on the further side of the Moselle.
As King William was riding over to visit the Ist Army, immense clouds of
dust were observed rising on the further side of the fortress; and it
was no longer doubtful that the French had begun their retreat, and that
the IInd Army was henceforth free to follow across the Moselle with all
its Corps.
The Ist Corps of the Ist Army was necessarily left at Courcelles, south
of Metz, to protect the railway, the other two were brought up leftward
towards the Seille; and they were also by-and-by to cross the Moselle
higher up, so as to avoid interference from the fortress.
The French had started again on the retreat interrupted on the previous
day, but proceeded little more than four miles[8] beyond Metz on August
15th. Their cavalry only went somewhat farther ahead, by both the roads
to Verdun.
The IIIrd Corps of the German IInd Army crossed the Moselle at Noveant,
by the bridge which was found intact, and by a flying pontoon bridge;
its artillery, however, was forced to make a detour by Pont a Mousson.
It was not until late at night that the troops were all across and in
bivouac close to the left bank. One Division of the Xth Corps remained
at Pont a Mousson and the other advanced to Thiaucourt. The cavalry
scouted farther forward towards the Metz-Verdun road, and struck in on
the French cavalry near Mars la Tour. Several small engagements took
place, but when early in the afternoon twenty-four Prussian squadrons
had assembled, the French retired on Vionville. The Guard Corps and the
IVth Corps crossed at Dieulouard and Marbache, higher up the river.
The IIIrd Army advanced to the line Nancy-Bayon. On this day an attempt
to seize the fortress of Thionville by surprise proved a failure.
FOOTNOTES:
[7] Clearly should be "right."
[8] On the night of 15th, four of Bazaine's five Corps (less one
Division) bivouacked at distances of from eight to ten miles westward of
Metz; viz., from beyond Rezonville rearward to Gravelotte.
BATTLE OF VIONVILLE--MARS LA TOUR.
(August 16th.)
In the Head-quarter of the IInd Army there was the belief that serious
fighting with the French was no more to be anticipated on the Moselle,
and therefore two Corps, the IIIrd and the Xth, were ordered to march on
August 16th, northwards toward the road to Verdun by way of Gorze and
Thiaucourt, while the other Corps were directed to advance by forced
marches westwards towards the Meuse.
The French retreat from Metz was, however, not completely effected on
this day. The trains blocked every road, and in the forenoon three
Divisions still remained behind in the Moselle valley. The Emperor,
however, escorted by two brigades of cavalry, had departed at an early
hour by the road through Etain, which was still comparatively safe. As
the right wing of the army could not yet follow, the prosecution of the
retreat was postponed until the afternoon, and the left wing, which had
already begun the march, was sent back again into its bivouacs. But so
early as nine o'clock Prussian shells startled the troops from their
rest.
Major Koerber had advanced with four batteries close up to Vionville
under cover of the cavalry, and the French troopers, surprised by their
fire, fled in utter confusion through the camp of the infantry. The
latter, however, briskly got under arms in good order, and the artillery
opened a heavy fire. Destitute at first of infantry supports, the
Prussian guns were withdrawn. Matters soon became serious.
General von Alvensleben, fearing lest he should fail to overtake the
enemy, had started again with the IIIrd Corps after a short night's
rest. The 6th Division marched on the left, by Onville; the 5th, on the
right, followed the long forest valley on the way to Gorze. This valley
so capable of defence was found unoccupied by the enemy, who indeed had
taken very few precautions. The advanced-guard presently encountered
Berges' French Division on the open plateau south of Flavigny, and
General von Stuelpnagel (commanding 5th Infantry Division) soon
discovered that he had before him an enemy whom it would take all his
strength to beat. At ten o'clock he began operations by sending forward
the 10th Brigade (commanded by General von Schwerin); and opened fire
with twenty-four guns.
Both sides now assumed the offensive. The Prussians, on the right,
fought their way with varying fortunes through the wood, often in
hand-to-hand encounter, and, towards eleven o'clock, succeeded in
reaching the spur of the wood of St. Arnould projecting in the direction
of Flavigny. Their left wing, on the contrary, was repulsed; even the
artillery was in danger; but the 52nd Regiment hurried forward and
re-established the fight at the cost of bloody sacrifices. Its 1st
Battalion lost every one of its officers, the colours passed from hand
to hand as its bearers were successively shot down, and the commander of
the 9th Brigade, General von Doering, fell mortally wounded. General von
Stuelpnagel rode up into the foremost line of fire, inspiriting the men
with brave words, while General von Schwerin collected the remnants of
troops bereft of their leaders, and, reinforced by a detachment of the
Xth Corps from Noveant, carried the height in front of Flavigny, whence
the French presently retired.
On the assumption that the French were already prosecuting the retreat,
the 6th Division had been ordered forward towards Etain by way of Mars
la Tour, to bar the enemy also from the northern road to Verdun. When it
reached the height of Tronville, whence could be seen how things really
stood, the brigades wheeled to the right in the direction of Vionville
and Flavigny. The artillery going on in advance, formed a formidable
line of batteries, the fire of which prepared the way for a farther
advance, and by half-past eleven the 11th Brigade had taken possession
of Vionville in spite of heavy losses. From thence, and from the south,
in conjunction with the 10th Brigade, an attack was then directed on
Flavigny, which had been set on fire by shell-fire. The different
detachments were hereabouts very much mixed, but by skilfully taking
advantage of every fold of the ground, the individual regimental
officers succeeded in getting their men steadily forward, in spite of
the heavy fire of the hostile infantry and artillery. Flavigny was taken
by assault, and one cannon and a number of prisoners fell into the hands
of the brave Brandenburgers.
Vionville, Flavigny and the northern end of the forest of St. Arnould
constituted the points of support of the Prussian front now facing to
the east; but this front was more than four miles long, and the whole
infantry and artillery were engaged up to the hilt all in one line. The
second line consisted only of the 5th and 6th Cavalry Divisions and half
of the 37th Brigade near Tronville.
The position of the French was one of great advantage. Their left flank
leaned on Metz, their right was protected by formidable batteries on the
old Roman road and a strong force of cavalry; and so they could await
with confidence a frontal attack on the part of a venturesome enemy.
The possibility of continuing the march to Verdun on this day, under the
protection of a strong covering rearguard, was, no doubt, out of the
question. Supposing the Marshal earnest above everything to effect his
retreat, he could do so only by fighting hard for his right of way, and
by so freeing himself from the enemy blocking his path.
It is not easy to discern, from a purely military standpoint, why this
course was not resorted to. There was the full certainty that only part,
and probably only a small part, of the German host could as yet have
reached the left side of the Moselle, and when in the course of the day
the Divisions detained about Metz arrived, the French had greatly the
superiority in strength. But it seems that the Marshal's chief
solicitude was lest he should be forced to relinquish his touch of
Metz; and he gave almost his whole attention to his left wing.
Constantly sending fresh reinforcements thither, he massed the whole
Guard Corps and part of the VIth Corps opposite the Bois des Ognons,
whence an attack was exceptionally improbable. One is tempted to assume
that political reasons alone thus early actuated Bazaine in his resolve
to cling to Metz.
Meanwhile the Prussians slowly but surely made their way beyond Flavigny
and Vionville, and, assisted by a heavy fire from the artillery,
compelled the right wing of the IInd French Corps to retire on
Rezonville, a movement which became a flight when the French Generals
Bataille and Valaze were killed.
To regain the lost ground the French Guard Cuirassier Regiment threw
itself resolutely on the pursuers. But its attack was cut short by the
rapid fire of two companies of the 52nd Regiment drawn up in line, which
reserved their fire till the enemy were within 250 paces. The horsemen
sweeping right and left rushed into the fire of more infantry behind;
243 horses strewed the field, and only the remnants of the regiment
wheeled about in swift flight, pursued by two Hussar regiments which had
dashed forward from Flavigny. A French battery in front of Rezonville
had hardly time to discharge a few shots before it was surrounded. For
want of teams the Prussians could not, indeed, carry off the captured
guns; but the Commander-in-Chief of the French army, who had himself
brought them up, was for several minutes in imminent danger of being
taken prisoner.
The 6th Prussian Cavalry Division had also been ordered to the front.
After passing through the line of artillery and deploying as well as the
limited space permitted, it found itself face to face with fresh and
completely formed troops. Marshal Bazaine had taken the precaution of
substituting for the routed bodies of the IInd Corps the Guard Grenadier
Division, which he had at last prevailed on himself to bring up from
his unengaged left wing, but not without filling the vacancy by a
Division of the IIIrd Corps. Thus the Prussian cavalry was received with
such an overwhelming musketry and artillery fire that it halted, and
deliberately retired, its retreat being covered by two squadrons of
Uhlans, which time after time showed a front against the enemy. The
cavalry had not actually engaged, but its advance had gained time and
opportunity for the artillery to move further forward in one line from
the spur of the wood to Flavigny.
It was now two o'clock. So far General von Alvensleben had deceived the
enemy with regard to the slenderness of his force by acting incessantly
on the offensive. But the battle was now at a standstill, the battalions
were visibly thinned, their strength was sapped by four hours of hard
fighting, and the ammunition of the infantry was almost exhausted. Not a
battalion, not a battery remained in reserve behind the fighting line
standing there in the fire. It was now required to conserve the success
won with so much blood by acting thenceforth on the defensive.
The left wing was in especial danger, being under the fire of the
powerful artillery deployed on the Roman road. Their greatly superior
numbers enabled the French to extend farther and farther to the right,
threatening thus completely to envelop the Prussian flank.
Marshal Canrobert, in the French centre, had discerned the right moment
to press forward against Vionville with all his might. At this critical
instant there was on the German side only a small detachment of the 5th
Cavalry Division available to check this effort. Two brigades had
necessarily been sent to strengthen the left flank, and of the 12th
Brigade remaining in rear of Vionville two squadrons had been detached
to the Tronville copses. The two regiments ordered to undertake the task
of charging the advancing enemy--the Magdeburg Cuirassiers and the
Altmark Uhlans--were consequently each but three squadrons strong, in
all 800 horses.
General von Bredow, commanding the 12th Cavalry Brigade, first traversed
in column the shallow hollow sinking down from Vionville, then wheeled
to the right and mounted the slope to the eastward, both his regiments
on one front. Received immediately with heavy artillery and infantry
fire, he threw himself on the hostile ranks. The first line is ridden
over, the line of guns is broken through, gunners and teams are put to
the sword. The second French line is powerless to resist this vigorous
onslaught, and even the more distant batteries limbered up to drive
away.
But the rapture of victory and the impetuosity of the charge carried the
handful of troopers too far, and after a gallop of 3000 paces they found
themselves surrounded by the French cavalry, which attacked them from
all sides. There was no scope for a second charge, and so after several
encounters with the French horse the brigade was forced to cut its way
back through the French infantry, whose bullets accompanied it home.
Only one-half of the command returned to Flavigny, where it was
reorganized into two squadrons. The devoted self-sacrifice of the two
heroic regiments effected the result, that the French entirely
discontinued their attack on Vionville.
At three o'clock four of their Divisions advanced towards the Tronville
copses. Barby's cavalry brigade (11th), watching the western verge, had
to retire before the enemy's fire, and the German infantry occupying the
wood also had to yield to a strength so superior; the batteries which
were in action between Vionville and the copses were assailed in rear
from the west through the glades of the copses, and were likewise forced
to retire. But not until the lapse of an hour did the French succeed in
overcoming the obstinate resistance of four staunch battalions.
At the subsequent roll-call near Tronville, it was ascertained that the
24th Regiment had lost 1000 men and 52 officers, and that the 2nd
Battalion of the 20th Regiment had lost all its officers. The 37th
demi-Brigade, which of its own accord had been fighting valiantly in
support since noon, took possession of the village of Tronville and
prepared it for an obstinate defence.
It was not till after three that the IIIrd Corps, which had been
fighting for seven[9] hours almost single-handed, received effective
assistance.
While the Xth Corps was on the march through Thiaucourt, its advanced
guard heard cannon-fire from the direction of Vionville. The Corps
Commander, General von Voigts-Rhetz, immediately set out for the
battle-field, and having personally ascertained how matters stood, he
sent back the requisite orders to his approaching troops.
In this instance again it was the artillery which, hurrying on in
advance, masterfully struck into the conflict. Its fire, in conjunction
with that of the promptly further advancing batteries of the IIIrd
Corps, checked the French rush made on both sides of the Tronville
copses simultaneously. At half-past three the head of von Woyna's
Brigade (39th) fell on, drove the enemy back into the wood, and finally,
supported by Diringshofen's Brigade (40th), took possession of its
northern outskirts.
The right wing of the IIIrd Corps had also received some reinforcement.
The 32nd Brigade of the VIIIth Corps, on being called upon to assist the
5th Division, fatigued though it was by a long march, immediately
advanced from the Moselle by Arry. The 11th Regiment joined it, and
three batteries were sent ahead to commence operations; this force
emerged at five o'clock from the forest of St. Arnould. It at once made
an assault on the heights in front of Maison Blanche, but, though it
made three strenuous efforts in succession, failed to carry them, since
Marshal Bazaine had greatly strengthened his position in front of
Rezonville. Then the French, in their turn, took the offensive there;
but were equally unable to establish themselves firmly on the heights,
swept as they were by the well-directed fire of the Prussian artillery;
and they had to withdraw from the attempt. Petty struggles for this
position were renewed later on both sides, but those spurts came to
nothing because of the fire of the respective artillery; and the
fighting on the German right became in the main stationary.
That on the German left two French Divisions had retired before a few
newly-arrived battalions, and had evacuated the Tronville copses, can
only be explained by a report having reached Bazaine's head-quarters
that the enemy was coming in upon his right flank in the vicinity of
Hannonville.
The enemy referred to was Wedell's Brigade (38th), which, while on the
march in the direction of Etain according to its original orders, had
received counter-instructions while halted at St. Hilaire at noon, to
hurry to the field of battle. General von Schwartzkoppen (commanding
19th Infantry Division) decided to march by the highway to Mars la Tour,
in the hope of falling on the enemy either in flank or in rear. But the
French meanwhile had extended their reinforced right wing to the sunken
valley west of Bruville, where three Divisions of their cavalry were
massed in position.
Thus when General von Wedell advanced to the attack on both sides of
Tronville, which the French themselves had fired, his brigade--only five
battalions strong--found itself in face of the long deployed front of
the 4th French Corps. The two Westphalian regiments advanced steadily
under the storm of shell and mitrailleuse fire till they suddenly
reached the edge of a deep ravine hitherto unseen. This, however, they
soon traversed, and were climbing the farther ascent, when they were met
by a murderous shower of bullets from the French infantry which hemmed
them in closely on every side. After almost every one of the commanders
and regimental officers had fallen, the wreck of the battalions fell
back into the ravine; 300 men were taken prisoners, having no strength
left to ascend the steep southern rise after the fatigue of a
twenty-eight miles march. The remainder rallied at Tronville under the
shot-torn colours which Colonel von Cranach, the only officer who still
had a horse under him, had brought back in his own hand. Seventy-two
officers and 2542 men were missing out of 95 officers and 4546 men--more
than half. The French followed up their success, but were checked on the
right by the headlong charge of the 1st Guard Dragoons, which cost that
regiment 250 horses and nearly all its officers; and on the left by the
4th squadron of the 2nd Guard Dragoons, which attacked three times its
strength of Chasseurs d'Afrique.
But there now imminently threatened the charge of a great mass of French
cavalry, which disclosed itself on the open plateau of Ville sur Yron.
This consisted of Legrand's Division and de France's Guard Brigade in
four compact echelons, overlapping each other to the right. On the
German side, all the still disposable cavalry joined Barby's brigade,
and the body thus made up, consisting only of sixteen squadrons, was
formed for action in two lines west of Mars la Tour. Farther in advance
stood the 13th Dragoons, halted to receive the Guard-squadron on its
return from its recent charge. The 13th galloped forward to meet the
charge of Montaigu's Hussar Brigade, which constituted the first line of
the French cavalry mass, and which broke through the (over-wide)
intervals of the Prussian squadrons. But General von Barby promptly
appeared with the other regiments on the upland of Ville sur Yron, where
at a quarter to seven the cavalry masses came into collision.
A mighty cloud of dust concealed the varying phases of the hand-to-hand
encounter of 5000 horsemen which gradually declared itself in favour of
the Prussians. General Montaigu, severely wounded, was taken prisoner,
and General Legrand fell while leading his Dragoons to the assistance of
the Hussars.
De France's Brigade allowed the enemy to approach within 150 paces, and
then its Lancer regiment rushed impetuously upon the Hanoverian Uhlans;
but the latter outflanked it, and received unexpected assistance from
the 5th squadron of the 2nd Guard Dragoons, which, returning from a
reconnaissance, plunged forward over fences and ditches and fell upon
the enemy in flank, while the Westphalian Cuirassiers at the same time
broke his front. The Chasseurs d'Afrique strove in vain to hinder the
enveloping tactics of the Hanoverian Dragoons; the clouds of dust
drifted farther and farther northward, and the whole mass of French
horse drew away towards the wooded slopes of Bruville, behind which
there were still five regiments of Clerembault's Cavalry Division.
Clerembault permitted one of his brigades to cross the valley, but the
fleeing Hussars and some misunderstood signals threw it into confusion.
It was borne back, and not until the French infantry confronted the
Prussian pursuers in the covering valley did the latter desist from the
pursuit.
The Prussian regiments quietly re-formed and then withdrew at a walk to
Mars la Tour, followed at a great distance by part of Clerembault's
Division.
This, the greatest cavalry combat of the war, had the effect of making
the French right wing give up all further attempts to act on the
offensive. The Germans mourned the loss of many superior officers, who
always, at the head of their men, had set them a glorious example.
Prince Frederick Charles had hastened to the field of battle. The day
was nearly at an end, darkness approaching, and the battle won. The
Prussians in the evening stood on the ground which in the morning had
been occupied by the French. Though General von Alvensleben had in the
first instance been under the impression that he would have only the
French rear-guard to deal with, he did not hesitate for a moment to
become the assailant when he found the entire French Army before him.
With his single Corps he maintained the fight till the afternoon, and
drove back the enemy from Flavigny to Rezonville, a distance of more
than two miles. This was one of the most brilliant achievements of all
the war.
Thanks to the valuable assistance of the Xth Corps it was possible to
carry on the battle through the afternoon on the defensive, but only by
most resolute counter-attacks by the cavalry, and by the unflinching
tenacity of the artillery.
It was clearly most unadvisable to challenge by renewed attacks an enemy
who still outnumbered the Germans; which action, since no further
reinforcements could be hoped for, could not but jeopardize the success
so dearly bought. The troops were exhausted, most of their ammunition
was spent, the horses had been under the saddle for fifteen hours
without fodder; some of the batteries could only move at a walk, and the
nearest Army Corps on the left bank of the Moselle, the XIIth,[10] was
distant more than a day's march.
Notwithstanding all these considerations, an order from Prince Frederick
Charles's Head-quarter issued at seven o'clock, commanded a renewed and
general attack on the enemy's positions. The Xth Corps was quite
incapable of answering this demand; and only part of the artillery went
forward on the right followed by some infantry. The batteries indeed
reached the much-disputed plateau south of Rezonville, but only to be
exposed on two sides to the fire of infantry and artillery. Fifty-four
guns of the French Guard alone, in position on the farther side of the
valley, were taking them in flank. The Prussian batteries were compelled
to retreat to their previous position, but two brigades of the 6th
Cavalry Division still pressed forward. Scarcely able to discern in the
increasing darkness where lay their proper line of attack, they came
under very sharp infantry fire, and withdrew with great loss.
Fighting did not entirely cease until ten o'clock. On either side 16,000
men had fallen. On either side pursuit was out of the question. The
Germans reaped the fruits of this victory solely in its results. The
troops, worn out by a twelve hours' struggle, bivouacked on the
victorious but bloody field, immediately opposite the French position.
Those Corps of the IInd Army which had not taken part in the battle,
were on that day on march towards the Meuse. The advanced guard of the
IVth Corps on the left wing was heading towards Toul. This fortress,
commanding a railway-line of importance to the further progress of the
German Army, was reported to be but feebly held, and it was resolved to
attempt its capture by a _coup de main_. But the bombardment of it by
field-artillery proved quite ineffective. Bastions of masonry and wide
wet ditches made a storm impossible. An attempt to batter down the gates
by shot and thus gain an entrance proved a failure. Finally the
undertaking was given up, and not without some loss on the part of the
Germans.
At the Royal Head-quarter in Pont a Mousson it had become known by about
noon on the 16th that the IIIrd Corps was engaged in serious conflict,
and that the Xth and IXth were hastening up to its support. The
far-reaching consequences of this information were recognized at once.
The French were arrested in their withdrawal from Metz, but it was to be
presumed as a certainty that they would again make strenuous efforts to
force open their interrupted line of retreat. The XIIth Corps was
therefore ordered to set out for Mars la Tour as early as three o'clock
next morning; the VIIth and VIIIth Corps to stand in readiness at Corny
and Arry. The bridging operations were to be pushed with the utmost
vigour during the night. The Head-quarter of the IInd Army sent from
Gorze the order to the Guard Corps to make a forced march to Mars la
Tour, and there take up a position on the left of the XIIth Corps. The
execution of these orders was facilitated by the foresight of the
Commanders, who had in the course of the day received news of the battle
which was being fought. Prince George of Saxony at once placed his
Division on the march to Thiaucourt, and the Prince of Wuertemberg
assembled the Infantry of the Guard in its cantonments farther northward
in readiness for an early march.
_August 17th._--On this morning, at sunrise, the French outposts were
observed still occupying the sweep of front from Bruville to Rezonville.
Behind them were noticed a stir and much noise of signalling, which
might be the indications equally of an attack or of a retirement.
The King arrived from Pont a Mousson at Flavigny as early as six
o'clock. The reports sent in to headquarters until noon by the
reconnoitring cavalry were somewhat contradictory; they left it
uncertain whether the French were concentrating towards Metz, or were
pursuing their retreat by the two still open roads through Etain and
Briey. Preparations for the offensive were nowhere observed. By one
o'clock, after a skirmish on the way, the head of the VIIth Corps had
reached the northern skirt of the Bois des Ognons, over against which
the French subsequently abandoned Gravelotte. The VIIIth Corps stood
ready at Gorze, the IXth, IIIrd, and Xth remained in their positions,
the XIIth and the Guard Corps were on the march. Seven Corps and three
Cavalry Divisions could be counted on for the following day; for to-day
all attacks were forbidden.
In making the dispositions for the impending battle of August 18th, two
possible contingencies were foreseen and had to be provided for. To meet
both the left wing was to be sent forward in a northerly direction
through Doncourt towards the nearest of the routes still open for the
retreat of the French. If the enemy were already retiring, he was to be
at once attacked and detained while the right wing was hurrying up in
support.
In case the enemy should be remaining about Metz, the German left wing
was to swing eastwards and out-flank his farthest north position, while
the right was to hold his left closely engaged until this movement was
accomplished. The battle, under these circumstances, probably could not
be decided until late in the day, owing to the wide-sweeping movement of
a portion of the army. A peculiar feature of the situation was that both
parties had to fight with inverted front, and sacrifice for the time
their respective lines of communication. The consequences of victory or
defeat would thus be greatly enhanced or aggravated, but the French had
the advantage of having as their base a large place of arms with its
resources.
A decision having been arrived at, by two o'clock orders were published
at Flavigny for an advance by echelons from the left wing. The guidance
of individual Corps during the battle was to turn on the reports which
should be brought in. The King then returned to Pont a Mousson.
As early as nine o'clock in the morning the Saxon Cavalry Division had
reached the Etain road to the west of Conflans, and had reported no
enemy visible except a few stragglers. Still, this only proved that on
the 17th the French had not yet taken up their retreat.
In rear of its cavalry the XIIth Corps arrived during the day in the
vicinity of Mars la Tour and Puxieux, and left of it the Guard
bivouacked in the evening at Hannonville sur Yron, in accordance with
order. The IInd Corps, which ever since it left the railway had followed
close on the IInd Army, reached Pont a Mousson, and was ordered to march
forward by Buxieres at four next morning.
FOOTNOTES:
[9] Five; viz. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
[10] The Hessian Division of the IXth Corps was on the left bank, much
nearer the field than the XIIth--so near indeed that portions of it were
actually engaged; and its other Division crossed the river in the night.
The _Staff History_ assigns the proximity of the IXth Corps as a leading
reason for the action of Prince Frederick Charles which Moltke
denounces. Both the VIIth and VIIIth Corps (the latter of which had a
brigade engaged in the battle) were more immediately available than the
distant XIIth.
BATTLE OF GRAVELOTTE--ST. PRIVAT.
(August 18th.)
Marshal Bazaine had not thought it advisable to prosecute the march to
Verdun now that the Germans were so close on the flank of such a
movement. He preferred to concentrate his forces near Metz, in a
position which he rightly considered as almost impregnable.
Such an one was afforded him by the range of heights stretching along
the western verge of the valley of Chatel. Their face looking toward the
enemy sloped away like a glacis, while the short and steep decline in
the rear afforded cover for the reserves. Along the flat crown of the
heights from Roncourt to Rozerieulles, a distance of about seven miles,
were posted the VIth, IVth, IIIrd, and IInd Corps in succession from the
north; for which distance there were available from eight to ten men to
the pace (Schritt). A brigade of the Vth Corps stood near Ste. Ruffine
in the valley of the Moselle; the cavalry was in rear of both flanks. In
front of the IInd and IIIrd Corps shelter-trenches had been thrown up,
battery emplacements and covered ways of communication constructed, and
the farmsteads lying out to the front converted into little forts. To
approach this (left) wing from the west it was necessary to cross the
deep ravine of the Mance. The VIth Corps on the other hand was wholly
without an engineer park; and it is indicative of the general
ill-equipment of the French that, for the transport of the wounded to
the rear, in spite of the enormous trains, provision waggons had to be
unloaded and their contents burnt. This Corps was therefore unable to
construct fortified flank defences toward the forest of Jaumont, such as
would have given to the right wing the character of formidable strength.
This would undoubtedly have been the place for the Guard, but in his
apprehension of an attack from the south the Marshal held that Corps in
reserve at Plappeville.
The King returned to Flavigny at six o'clock on the morning of the 18th.
All commanding officers were instructed to send their reports thither,
and officers of the General Staff belonging to the Royal Head-quarter
were besides sent out in different directions to report information as
to the progress of the engagement.
The following were the initial dispositions. The VIIth Army Corps, which
was to form the pivot for the eventual wheel to the right, occupied the
Bois de Vaux and Bois des Ognons; the VIIIth, which the King had
reserved at his own disposition, stood halted near Rezonville ready to
march to the north or to the east, as might be required. The IXth Corps,
on its left, advanced towards St. Marcel, while the IIIrd and Xth
followed in second line. The Guard and XIIth Corps moved in a northerly
direction.
In consequence of the Head-quarter of the IInd Army having ordered the
XIIth Corps, although it stood on the right,[11] to form the extreme
left, a serious delay occurred from the crossing of the respective lines
of march. The Saxon troops had not entirely passed through Mars-la-Tour
until nine o'clock, and till then the Guard Corps could not follow.
Meanwhile the advanced guard of the XIIth Corps had already reached
Jarny, and pursued its march as far as Briey without encountering the
enemy.
Before information to this effect came in, the conviction had been
reached in the Royal Head-quarter that at all events the main forces of
the enemy still remained before Metz; there was, however, a difference
of opinion as to the extension of the French front, which it was assumed
did not reach beyond Montigny. The Head-quarter of the IInd Army was
therefore instructed not to extend further northward, but to attack the
enemy's right wing with the IXth Corps, and push in the direction of
Batilly with the Guard and the XIIth Corps. The Ist Army was not to
begin its frontal attack until the IInd should be ready to co-operate.
In obedience to those instructions Prince Frederick Charles ordered the
IXth Corps to march towards Verneville, and, in case the French right
wing should be found there, to begin the action by promptly bringing a
large force of artillery into action. The Guard was to continue its
advance by way of Doncourt to support the IXth as soon as possible. The
XIIth was to remain at Jarny for the present.
A little later fresh reports came in, which indicated that the IXth
Corps, should it proceed in the manner ordered, would not strike the
enemy on his flank, but full on his front. The Prince, in the discretion
of his high position, therefore determined that the Corps should
postpone its attack till the Guard Corps should have been brought to
bear upon Amanvillers. At the same time the XIIth Corps was to push on
to Ste. Marie aux Chenes.
But while these orders were being expedited, there was heard from
Verneville at twelve o'clock the roar of the first cannon shots.
The two Corps of the left wing had, moreover, of their own accord, taken
an easterly direction, and the IIIrd Corps moved up in rear of the IXth
to the Caulre farm.
General von Manstein, the commander of the IXth Corps, had observed from
Verneville a French camp at Amanvillers, which apparently lay in
negligent repose. From his standpoint it could not be discerned that to
his left about St. Privat great masses of troops were in position.
Thinking that in this camp he had the enemy's right wing before him, he
determined to act on his original orders and at once take the foe by
surprise. Eight of his batteries at once opened fire.
But the French troops showed great alacrity in moving up into their
prepared positions. The isolated initiative of the single Corps
naturally drew upon it not only the fire of the troops opposite to it,
but also that of the hostile Corps to right and left.
In the effort to find a location affording something of shelter, the
Prussian batteries had taken position in a fold of the slope looking
towards Amanvillers, and facing to the south-east, where, however, they
were exposed from the north, on the flank and even in the rear, to the
fire of the enemy's artillery, as well as to the massed fire of his
infantry.
To meet this, it was necessary to send forward the infantry battalions
nearest at hand. They took possession of the eastern point of the Bois
de la Cusse on the left, and on the right seized the farmhouses of
L'Envie and Chantrenne, and forced their way into the Bois des Genivaux.
Thus the front of the 18th Division in action extended along a distance
of 4000 paces.
It had to endure very heavy loss from the circumstance that the French
with their long-range Chassepot rifles could afford to keep out of the
effective range of the needle-gun; the artillery suffered exceptionally
severely. One of the batteries had already lost forty-five gunners when
the enemy's sharpshooters swarmed forward on it. Infantry protection was
not available at the moment, and two guns were lost. By two o'clock the
batteries still remaining in position were almost unserviceable, and no
relief arrived till the Hessian Division reached Habonville, and
brought up on the left of the distressed batteries, five batteries on
either side of the railway, which diverted on themselves to a
considerable extent the concentrated fire of the enemy. The batteries of
the 18th Division, which had suffered most, could now be withdrawn in
succession, but even in the act of retreat they had to drive off the
pursuers by grape-shot.
The artillery of the IIIrd Corps and the Guard also came to the aid of
the IXth, and those of the damaged guns of the last, which were still at
all fit for service, were at once brought up again into the fighting
line. Thus there was formed in front of Verneville and as far as St. Ail
an artillery front of 130 pieces, whose fire now opposed the enemy's
artillery with conspicuous success. Now that the IIIrd Corps was
approaching Verneville and the 3rd Guard Brigade had reached Habonville,
it was no longer to be apprehended that the French would succeed in
piercing this line.
The main body of the Guard Corps reached St. Ail so early as two
o'clock. General von Pape (commanding Ist Guard Division) at once
recognized that by wheeling to the east he would not only not strike the
enemy on that right flank of his which had to be turned, but would
expose his own left flank to the hostile force occupying Ste. Marie aux
Chenes. This town-like village, in itself extremely strong, and also
strongly flanked by the main stronghold of the enemy's right, it was
necessary to gain before making any further advance; but, in obedience
to superior orders, the General had to await the co-operation of the
Saxon Corps.
The foremost troops of this Corps had already reached the vicinity of
Batilly, but it was still distant from Ste. Marie more than two miles,
so that its batteries could not be pushed forward into position west of
that place until three o'clock. But as the Guard had sent most of its
own artillery to the support of the IXth Corps the Saxon batteries were
of essential service. Ten batteries now directed their fire upon Ste.
Marie, and by the time its effect was discernible, the 47th Brigade of
the XIIth Corps came up. At half-past three the Prussian and Saxon
battalions hurled themselves on the town from the south, the west, and
the north, with loud hurrahs and without returning the fire of the
enemy. The French were driven from it with the loss of several hundred
men taken prisoners.
The Saxons eagerly followed up, and north of Ste. Marie there ensued a
lively infantry fight, which masked the fire of the artillery. The
brigade having obeyed the order to retire, the batteries immediately
re-opened fire, and the repeated efforts of the French to recover the
lost position were frustrated.
Soon afterwards the IXth Corps succeeded in storming and firmly holding
the farm of Champenois, but all further attempts by isolated battalions
or companies to force their way forward against the broad and compact
front of the French were then manifestly futile. Thus, towards five
o'clock, the infantry fire altogether died out, and the artillery fired
only an occasional shot. The exhaustion of both sides caused for the
time an almost total suspension of hostilities in this part of the
field.
The Royal Head-quarter had firmly maintained the resolution, that the
Ist Army should not commit itself to a serious offensive until the IInd
had grappled with the enemy. But when the day was half-spent and when
about noon heavy firing was heard from Vionville,[12] it was to be
assumed that the moment for action had arrived; still, for the present,
permission was only given to the Ist Army to engage in the artillery
preparation.
Sixteen batteries of the VIIth and VIIIth Corps accordingly drew up
right and left of Gravelotte on the highway passing through that
village. Their fire was ineffective, because they were too far distant
from the enemy; and furthermore they suffered from the fire of the
French tirailleurs nestling in the opposite woods. It became necessary
to drive those out, and thus there occurred here a premature infantry
fight. The French were cleared out from the eastern declivity of the
Mance ravine, and the artillery line, now increased to twenty batteries,
was able to advance closer up to the western brink and now direct the
strength of its fire against the main position of the enemy.
But the battalions of the 29th Brigade pushed the attack further. They
pressed on leftward into the southern section of the Bois des Genivaux,
but were unable to obtain touch of the IXth Corps in possession of the
northern portion of the forest, since the French firmly held the
intervening ground. On the right sundry detachments took possession of
the quarries and gravel-pits near St. Hubert.
The artillery meanwhile had gained the mastery over that of the enemy,
several of whose batteries were silenced, and others prevented from
coming into position. The French fire was in part directed on the
farm-steading of St. Hubert, to the vicinity of which portions of the
30th Brigade had spurted forward. These formidable premises close under
the face of the enemy's main position, and in spite of a very heavy fire
therefrom, were stormed at three o'clock. The 31st Brigade also now
promptly crossed the ravine, but a further advance against the farms of
Moscou and Leipzig, over a bare stretch of ground encompassed by the
enemy on its wooded edges, did not succeed, and resulted only in heavy
loss. On the extreme right, the 26th Brigade had taken possession of
Jussy, thus securing the connection of the German army towards Metz, but
found it impossible to cross the deep valley of Rozerieulles.
Everywhere the advanced positions of the French had been driven in, the
farms in their front were blazing, their artillery appeared to be
crushed, and, as the situation was viewed from Gravelotte, there needed
nothing but to follow up the success. General von Steinmetz therefore,
at four o'clock, ordered a renewed attack with fresh forces.
While the VIIth Corps occupied the border of the woodland, four
batteries, backed by the 1st Cavalry Division, moved at a trot through
the ravine, about 1500 paces across, which lies east of Gravelotte. But
as soon as the head of the deep column came in sight of the enemy he
redoubled his rifle and artillery fire, which had till now been kept
under. One battery lost in a twinkling the men serving four of its guns,
and it was only by an extreme effort that it was withdrawn to the border
of the wood; another never succeeded in deploying. On the other hand,
Hasse's battery remained in action, in spite of the loss of seventy-five
horses, and Gnuegge's battery stood fast near St. Hubert, regardless of
the return fire from the quarries.
The foremost regiment of cavalry bent to the right at a gallop on
leaving the hollow way, and advanced towards Point du Jour, but the
enemy, being completely under cover, offered no mark for an attack.
Clearly there was no field here for the utilization of this arm, so the
regiments withdrew across the Mance ravine under a heavy fire from all
sides.
The result of the ill-success of this attempt was that swarms of French
tirailleurs now poured down from Point du Jour, and drove the Prussian
detachments still remaining on the bare plateau backward to the skirts
of the wood. Chassepot bullets even reached the position of the Royal
Commander-in-Chief and his personal staff, and Prince Adalbert's horse
was shot under him.
Fresh forces pushed forward and drove the enemy back into his main
position. St. Hubert remained in German possession, though the gunners
of the battery in post there were equal to the service of but one gun.
But all partial attempts to advance over the exposed plateau proved a
failure; and here also at about five o'clock in the afternoon there
occurred a lull in the fighting, during which the weary troops on both
sides reorganized themselves and took breath.
About this time King William and his staff rode forward to the swell
south of Malmaison. But from there nothing could be discerned of the
situation of the left flank of the army, at a distance as it was of more
than four miles. The French artillery had almost entirely ceased along
the whole front from La Folie to Point du Jour; but to the northward the
thunder of the cannon fire roared louder than ever. It was six o'clock,
the day was nearly at an end, and it was imperative that the decisive
result should be precipitated. The King therefore ordered the Ist Army
to make a renewed advance in support of which he placed the IInd Corps,
just arrived after a long march, at the disposal of General von
Steinmetz.
The battalions of the VIIth Corps which were still serviceable, except
five which remained in reserve, were again sent across the Mance ravine,
and in support of them the battalions holding the Bois de Vaux advanced
in the direction of Point du Jour and the quarries.
The IInd Corps of the French Army thus assailed was now reinforced by
the Guard Voltigeur Division. All the reserves were hurried up into the
foremost line. The artillery burst into redoubled fire, and a crushing
musketry fire was concentrated on the advancing enemy. Then the French
themselves took the offensive with a huge swarm of tirailleurs, which
hurled backward upon the wood-fringes the small leaderless bodies of
German troops that had been lying in the shallow folds of the plateau.
There, however, the sally found its limit; and there still remained at
disposition a fresh Army Corps in full strength.
The IInd Corps, the last to come up by rail into the theatre of war,
had hitherto followed in the wake of the army by forced marches, and had
not been able to take part in any engagement. It had started from Pont a
Mousson at 2 a.m. and, taking the road by Buxieres and Rezonville,
arrived south of Gravelotte towards evening. The Pomeranians expressed
their eager desire to get at the enemy before the day should end.
It would have been more proper if the Chief of the General Staff of the
Army, who was personally on the spot at the time, had not permitted this
movement at so late an hour of the evening. A body of troops, still
completely intact, might have been of great value the next day; but it
could hardly be expected on this evening to effect a decisive reversal
of the situation.
Hurrying through Gravelotte, the foremost battalions of the IInd Corps
pushed forward to the quarries, and up to within a few hundred paces of
Point du Jour; but those following soon found themselves involved in the
throng of the broken detachments remaining under fire south of St.
Hubert, and the further advance towards Moscou was arrested. In the
growing darkness friend became indistinguishable from foe, and the
firing had to be broken off. Not, however, until ten o'clock did it
entirely cease.
It was, to be sure, an advantage that the fresh troops of the IInd Corps
were available to hold the foremost fighting-line for the night, behind
which the intermixed detachments of the VIIth and VIIIth Corps were
enabled to reorganize themselves.
The whole course of the struggle had conclusively proved that the French
left flank, almost impregnable as it was by nature and art, could not be
forced even by the most devoted bravery and the greatest sacrifices.
Both sides were now facing each other in threatening proximity, and both
in attitude to renew the battle on the following morning. The result of
the day turned on the events evolving themselves on the opposite flank.
The Prince of Wuertemberg,[13] then in St. Ail, had judged at a
quarter-past five that the moment was come for an attack on the French
right wing; but that wing extended considerably further north than the
front of the Guard Corps reached; further, indeed, than the French
Commander-in-Chief himself was aware. The Saxons had, indeed,
participated in the seizure of Ste. Marie aux Chenes, but after that
event the Crown Prince[14] deemed it necessary to assemble his Corps in
front of the Bois d'Auboue, before proceeding to attack the enemy in
flank. One of his brigades had to come up from Jarny, another from Ste.
Marie; and, since the Corps had been delayed in getting away from Mars
la Tour, its direct attack could not be expected at the earliest for an
hour to come.
The 4th Infantry Brigade of the Guard Corps, in accordance with orders
received, proceeded in the prescribed direction of Jerusalem,
immediately south of St. Privat. As soon as General von Manstein
observed this movement, he ordered the 3rd Guard Brigade, which had been
placed at his orders, immediately to advance from Habonville direct upon
Amanvillers. Between and abreast of these two brigades marched Hessian
battalions. It was not till half-an-hour later that the 1st Guard
Division leftward of the 2nd moved forward from Ste. Marie against St.
Privat. This combined offensive movement was directed against the broad
front of the French VIth and IVth Corps. Their respective strongholds of
St. Privat and Amanvillers had as yet hardly felt the fire of the German
batteries, which had hitherto found enough to do in combating the
enemy's artillery outside the villages.
In front of the French main position on the crown of the height had been
prepared on the slope behind the hedges and low walls, which rose
terrace-wise backward, tier on tier of shelter trenches. Behind these
defences towered the village named St. Privat, castle-like with its
massive houses, which were garrisoned to the very roofs. The bare slope
stretching in its front was thus exposed to an overwhelming storm of
projectiles.
The losses of the Guard Corps marching forward to attack a front so
formidable were simply enormous. In the course of half an hour five
battalions lost all, the others the greater part of their officers,
especially those of the higher grades. Thousands of dead and wounded
marked the track of the battalions pressing valiantly forward in spite
of their cruel losses. The ranks as fast as they were thinned constantly
closed up again, and their cohesion was not lost even under the
leadership of young lieutenants and ensigns. As they drew nearer to the
enemy the needle-gun came into full utility. The French were driven from
all their foremost positions, in which, for the most part, they did not
await the final struggle. By a quarter-past six the battalions had
advanced to within 600 to 800 paces of Amanvillers and St. Privat. The
troops, weary from the strained exertion, halted under the steeper
slopes offering some, though small, protection, and in the shelter
trenches abandoned by the enemy. Only four battalions now remained in
reserve at Ste. Marie, behind the line which now extended to a length of
4000 paces. Every charge of the French cavalry and of de Cissey's
Division had been steadily repelled with the aid of twelve batteries of
the Guard Corps which had hastened up; but detachments commingled under
stress of untold losses, had to show a resolute front against two French
Corps in close proximity for more than half-an-hour, before relief came
to them.
It was nearly seven o'clock when on the left of the Guard, two brigades
of Saxon infantry reached the scene of strife; the other two were still
assembling in the forest of Auboue; their artillery, however, had for a
considerable time been maintaining a lively fire on Roncourt.
When Bazaine received word that the Germans were stretching out in
constantly increasing extension with intent to outflank his right, he at
three p.m. ordered Picard's Guard Grenadier Division posted at
Plappeville, to march towards the threatened flank. Though the distance
to be covered was little more than four miles, this all-important
reinforcement, having diverged to rightward from the direct road through
the woodland, had not yet arrived; and Marshal Canrobert, who was
fending off with all his might the converging masses of Prussian
assailants, decided to concentrate his troops more closely about the
strong position of St. Privat. The retreat from Roncourt would be
adequately covered by a small rearguard, since the border of the Bois de
Jaumont was being held.
Thus it happened that the Saxons did not find the strong resistance at
Roncourt which they had expected, and after a slight skirmish entered
the village together with the companies of the extreme left of the
Guard; a body of Saxon infantry had previously been diverted to the
right from the road to Roncourt and marched direct on St. Privat to the
support of the Guard.
The fire of twenty-four batteries of the two German Corps wrought awful
havoc there. Many houses were set on fire, or crumbled under the
concentrated crash of the shells. But the French were determined to hold
to the last extremity this point, decisive as it was of the fate of the
day. The batteries of their right flank were hurried into position
between St. Privat and the Bois de Jaumont, whence their fire would
enfilade the further advance of the Saxons on the former place. Other
batteries went southward to confront the Prussians, and the simultaneous
final rush of the German battalions was met by a rattling fire from the
French riflemen under cover in their lines of shelter trenches.
All those obstacles were gradually overcome in the course of the
assault, although again with heavy loss; some detachments halting
occasionally for a moment to pour in a volley, others again never
firing a shot. By sundown the attack had swept up to within 300 paces of
St. Privat. Some detachments of the Xth Corps, which had reached St.
Ail, closed up, and now the final onset was made from every side at
once. The French still defended the burning houses and the church with
great obstinacy, till, finding themselves completely surrounded, they
surrendered at about eight o'clock. More than 2000 men were here taken
prisoners, and the wounded were rescued from the burning houses.
The defeated troops of the VIth French Corps hurriedly retired into the
valley of the Moselle, their retreat covered by the brigade holding the
Bois de Jaumont and by the cavalry. Only then did the Guard Grenadier
Division make its first appearance, and the Reserve Artillery of the
French Army deployed east of Amanvillers. The German batteries at once
took up the fight, which lasted till late in the night, and in the
course of which Amanvillers was burned.
In that quarter the retirement of the IVth French Corps had also already
commenced, masked, however, by repeated heavy attacks to the front. In
the course of these there occurred a hand-to-hand encounter with the
charging battalions of the right wing of the Guard and the left of the
IXth Corps. Amanvillers, however, remained in the hands of the French
for the night. Not until three o'clock on the morning of the 19th did
the IIIrd French Corps evacuate its position about Moscou; and the IInd
Corps held its ground until five o'clock, engaged in constant sharp
frays with the outposts of the Pomeranians, who on its withdrawal took
possession of the plateaus of Moscou and Point du Jour.
The results attained on the 18th of August had been made possible only
by the battles of the 14th and 16th.
The French estimate their losses at 13,000 men. In October 173,000 were
still in Metz, consequently it is certain that the enemy had at
disposition in the battle of the 18th of August more than 180,000 men.
The exact strength of the seven[15] German Corps on that day amounted to
178,818 men. Thus with the forces on either side of approximately equal
strength, the French had been driven out of a position of almost
unrivalled natural advantage.
Naturally the loss of the assailants was much heavier than that of the
defence; it amounted to 20,584 men, among them 899 officers.
Whereas by the war-establishment the average is one officer to every
forty men, in this battle one officer fell to every twenty-three men;
glorious testimony to the example set by their leaders to their brave
men, but also a loss which could not be restored during the course of
the war. Altogether the six battles fought in the first fourteen days of
August had cost the German army 50,000 men.[16] It was naturally
impossible immediately to call out at home a sufficient levy in
substitution for the losses; but reinforcements drawn from the
time-expired cadres were already bespoken.
First of all that same evening the earliest instalment of the trains and
the Field-Hospitals had to be brought up from the right bank of the
Moselle; and the ammunition had to be replenished throughout. In
Rezonville, thronged as it was with the wounded, it was with difficulty
that a little garret for the King and shelter for his General Staff
were found. Its members were engrossed throughout the night in preparing
the dispositions which the new phase of the situation created by the
victory rendered immediately necessary. This exertion enabled all those
orders to be laid before his Majesty for approval on the morning of the
19th.
FOOTNOTES:
[11] The XIIth Corps never stood on the right. It occupied its assigned
position on the extreme left, and the delay arose from the Guard Corps
having occupied a position other than that designed for it, and having
been allowed to remain there.
[12] Vionville in text seems a slip of the pen for Verneville.
[13] Commanding the Guard Corps.
[14] Of Saxony, commanding XIIth Corps.
[15] These figures represent only the infantry of the eight (not seven)
Corps engaged; they do not include the cavalry, 24,584; the artillery,
at least as strong; nor the officerhood of the two armies, numbering
several thousands. Inclusive of those items the German host "employed"
in the battle of Gravelotte--St. Privat numbered, in round figures,
232,000 combatants. Accepting Moltke's own estimate of ten defenders per
"Schrith" of front, there works out a total of 133,000 men, as the
strength of the French army "employed" in the battle.
[16] During the first fourteen days of August, the German troops were in
conflict with the enemy on five occasions: viz. Saarbruecken, 2nd, loss
79; Weissenburg, 4th, loss 1551; Woerth, 6th, loss 10,642; Spicheren,
6th, loss 4871; Borny, 14th, loss 5000. Total losses during the fourteen
days, 22,143.
NEW DISTRIBUTION OF THE ARMY.
The siege of Metz had formed no part of the original plan of campaign;
it had been intended to do no more than merely to maintain an
observation on the place when the main army should have passed it on the
advance towards Paris; and a Reserve Division, consisting of eighteen
battalions, sixteen squadrons, and thirty-six guns, detailed for that
duty, was now near at hand.
Under the altered conditions, however, the regular investment of Metz
was now necessary, and this involved a radical alteration of the
existing arrangements throughout the whole army.
A separate army under the command of Prince Frederick Charles,
consisting of the Ist, VIIth, and VIIIth Corps of the former Ist Army,
the IInd, IIIrd, IXth, and Xth Corps of the IInd Army, the Reserve
Division and the 1st and 3rd Cavalry Divisions, in all 150,000 men, was
assigned to the duty of investing Metz.
The Guard, IVth, and XIIth Corps and the 5th and 6th Cavalry Divisions
were formed into a separate army under the command of the Crown Prince
of Saxony; it was styled "The Army of the Meuse" and was 138,000
strong.[17] This and the IIIrd Army, which numbered 223,000 men, were
directed to advance against the new French army forming at Chalons.
Certainly the army investing Metz was left weaker than the blockaded
enemy. It was to be expected that the latter would renew his efforts to
break out to the westward. Prince Frederick Charles' main forces were
therefore to remain on the left bank of the Moselle.
All these orders received the approval of the King, and were dispatched
to the commanding officers by eleven o'clock on the morning of the 19th.
In accordance with the orders of Prince Frederick Charles, the Xth Corps
occupied the woodland districts of the lower Moselle as far as St.
Privat, while the IInd held the high ridge from that point to Moscou. To
the right of the IInd, the VIIIth and VIIth Corps followed on, the
latter positioned on both sides of the Upper Moselle. The Ist Corps
occupied the Pouilly upland to left and right of the Seille, specially
charged to protect the great magazines which were being established at
Remilly and Pont a Mousson. The 3rd Reserve Division moved to the
vicinity of Retonfay, north-east of Metz. The IXth and IIIrd Corps
cantoned at St. Marie and Verneville as reserve. All the troops
immediately set about the construction of earthworks, and of bridges
over the Moselle above and below the fortress.
Of the Corps now belonging to the Army of the Meuse, the XIIth assembled
at Conflans and the Guards at Mars la Tour; the IVth Corps, which had
not been ordered to Metz, had already reached Commercy.
The IIIrd Army, after crossing the Vosges range, and having left a
Bavarian brigade blockading Toul, was pressing forward in three
columns. Its foremost Corps had already reached the Meuse, but were
obliged to halt there for two days, so as to cross the river
approximately abreast of the Meuse army. Its cavalry meanwhile patrolled
three marches ahead as far as Chalons and Vitry, where, for the first
time since Woerth, it regained touch of the enemy. The French encountered
were only guarding posts on the Marne railway-line, which retired when
the traffic thereon ceased.
FOOTNOTE:
[17] These figures are erroneous. It is manifest that three Corps and
two Cavalry Divisions, most of which had been materially weakened by
casualties, could not furnish a strength of 138,000 men; nor could the
IIIrd Army, originally 130,000 strong, swelled by one Corps and
diminished by battle losses of 12,000, approximate a strength of
223,000. As a matter of fact, on August 22nd, the Meuse Army was 86,275
strong, and the IIIrd Army 137,622; the two armies together had a total
strength, in round numbers, of 224,000 men.
THE ARMY OF CHALONS.
Meanwhile at Chalons there had been formed a French army of 166
battalions, 100 squadrons, and 380 guns, consisting of the Ist, Vth,
VIIth, and XIIth Corps.
Of the last the Division which had been left behind on the Spanish
frontier formed the nucleus, to which was added a body of very superior
troops, consisting of four regiments of marines; later the two cavalry
divisions also joined. General Trochu, who had been made Governor of
Paris, had taken back with him thither eighteen battalions of
Gardes-Mobiles, they having already given such proofs of insubordination
that it was thought unsafe to confront them with the enemy.
The Emperor had arrived in Chalons and had placed Marshal MacMahon in
command of the newly-formed army. In the French Head-quarter it was not
unnaturally assumed that Marshal Bazaine was in retreat from Metz. By an
advance of the Army of Chalons merely to Verdun the armies could form a
junction with each other in the course of a few days, and so a fighting
force be formed which might make head against the hitherto victorious
enemy. On the other hand, MacMahon had to concern himself with the duty
of covering Paris, and that capital, no less than his own right flank,
was threatened by the appearance of the Crown Prince of Prussia's army
on the Meuse.
For the attainment of a decision between advancing and retiring, it was
beyond everything necessary to know the direction which Marshal Bazaine
might have taken.
On the 18th tidings had come from him, that he had maintained his
position in a battle about Rezonville, but that his troops had to be
supplied with ammunition and supplies before they could renew the march.
From this it seemed only too probable that the communications of the
Army of the Rhine were already threatened; and MacMahon determined to
march on Rheims, whence he could either reach Paris, though by a
somewhat circuitous route, or move in the direction of the other army.
But when it became known that the Crown Prince of Prussia's army had not
even been near Metz, and that Prussian cavalry had already appeared
before Vitry, the Marshal could not deceive himself as to the danger
involved in the latter alternative. With sound judgment, therefore, he
stood out against the order of the Empress and the Ministry to undertake
that enterprise; he determined against it, and announced his resolution
to march to Paris. Under its walls he could accept a battle with
advantage, since the fortifications, even in the event of defeat,
assured a safe retreat and precluded pursuit.
Further reports from Metz did not afford a clear insight into the
situation there. Also on the 18th, "the army had held its position," the
narrative ran--only the right wing had changed front. "The troops
required two or three days' rest," but the Marshal "counted still on
being able to move out in a northerly direction," and fight his way to
Chalons by the Montmedy--Ste. Menehould route, if this road was not
strongly held by the enemy. In that case, he would march on Sedan, and
even by Mezieres, in order to reach Chalons.
Bazaine might already have committed himself to the movement thus
indicated, and therefore Marshal MacMahon, who was not the man to leave
his fellow-soldier in the lurch, instead of marching on Paris, set forth
on the 23rd in the direction of Stenay.
The suddenness of this decision caused all the preparations for the
undertaking to be left unexecuted. At the end of the first day's march
the troops reached the Suippe late in the evening in pouring rain. They
lacked every necessary, and two Corps remained entirely without food.
The Marshal was therefore forced to move his army further northward to
Rethel, where large magazines of provisions had been established, and
where the railway facilitated the bringing up of stores. Even on the
third day's march the army had made little progress eastward. The left
wing remained at Rethel, the right reached the Aisne, near Vouziers. On
August 26th the main army was still standing between Attigny and Le
Chene on the Ardennes canal, while the VIIth Corps and a regiment of
Hussars lay in front of Vouziers for the protection of the right flank.
While the French army was thus marching eastward by a wide detour, the
German forces, which had been put in motion at the same time, were for
their part marching due westward.
According to orders issued from the supreme Head-quarter at Pont a
Mousson, the advance on the enemy, supposed to be at Chalons, was to be
effected in such manner that the IIIrd Army, marching on the left of the
Army of the Meuse, should have the start by a day's march, so that the
enemy, wherever he might stand halted, could be struck simultaneously in
front and on his right flank, and thus forced away northward from the
direction of Paris. The two armies were to converge as they advanced,
and to reach the line of Ste. Menehould--Vitry on the 26th.
On the first day's march, the armies still on a front some fifty-six
miles long, the Meuse was reached; on the second day, the 24th, they
advanced to the line St. Dizier--Bar le Duc--Verdun. The attempts to
take the latter place and Toul in the by-going proved unsuccessful.
So early as on that day the 4th Cavalry Division, which had pushed far
ahead, sent in important news. The Rhenish dragoons had found Chalons
and the camp at Mourmelon deserted, and notwithstanding the destruction
effected, there still remained in the latter considerable booty. An
intercepted letter written by a French officer, which intimated that the
relief of Metz was in prospect, and another which stated that Marshal
MacMahon was at Rheims with 150,000 men and was fortifying his position
there, were corroborated by the Paris newspapers.
On the 25th the Army of the Meuse formed a line from Sommeille to
Dombasle, while the heads of columns of the IIIrd Army were already
executing the march prescribed for the following day, on the Ste.
Menehould--Vitry road. The small fortress of Vitry, a few hours after a
battalion of Mobiles had left the place, surrendered to the 4th Cavalry
Division. On its march to Ste. Menehould, thence to be forwarded by
train to Paris, this battalion, 1000 strong, fell into the hands of the
6th Cavalry Division as it was moving on Dampierre, and was carried away
captive.
The 5th Cavalry Division reached Ste. Menehould, and the 12th followed
on the same road as far as Clermont, patrolling the country up to
Varennes, within nine miles of the French outposts at Grand Pre, but
without learning anything as to the whereabouts of the French army.
The scouting service to any great distance on the right of the army was
hindered by the vicinity of the forest of Argonnes, which it was
difficult for the cavalry to penetrate without the assistance of
infantry. The inhabitants of the country began to show themselves
extremely hostile. The Government had provided them with arms, and
organized a general rising. The Germans, who hitherto had made war on
the Emperor alone, were now forced to use their arms against the
population. The franctireurs, though not affecting operations on a large
scale, were a source of much annoyance to the smaller undertakings, and
as it naturally embittered the soldiers to realize that they were no
longer safe either by day or night, the character of the war became more
stern, and the sufferings of the country were increased.
A Paris telegram, sent by way of London, reached this day (25th) the
Royal Head-quarter at Bar le Duc. It stated that MacMahon was at Rheims,
and sought to effect a junction with Bazaine.
It is always a serious matter to exchange, without the most pressing
necessity, a once-settled and well-devised plan for a new and unprepared
scheme. It would have been unwise and unskilful hastily to alter the
whole direction of the advance because of rumours and information which
might later probably turn out to be unfounded. Endless difficulties must
result from such a course; the arrangements for bringing up baggage and
reinforcements would have to be cancelled, and aimless marches might
impair the confidence of the troops in their commanders.
The orders for the following day, issued at eleven o'clock in the
morning, prescribed therefore for both armies merely a slight alteration
of direction; Rheims instead of Chalons was indicated as the objective.
The cavalry of the right wing, however, was explicitly ordered to
advance to Buzancy and Vouziers, where a thorough insight into the
situation could not but be obtained.
In war it is for the most part with probabilities only that the
strategist can reckon; and the probability, as a rule, is that the enemy
will do the right thing. Such a course could not be anticipated as that
the French army would uncover Paris and march along the Belgian frontier
to Metz. Such a move seemed strange, and indeed somewhat venturesome;
but nevertheless it was possible. The chief of the General Staff,
therefore, that same day worked out a tabular detail of marches, upon
which the three Corps of the Army of the Meuse, together with the two
Bavarian Corps which were nearest that army, could be brought together
in the vicinity of Damvillers, on the right bank of the Meuse, in three
not over-severe marches.
These forces, with the two Corps standing in reserve at Metz, which
could be brought up, would constitute a force of 150,000 men, which
might give battle in the specified vicinity, or compel the enemy to do
so on the march to Longuyon. Without employing this reserve, there was
every prospect that the advance of the French could be brought to a halt
on this side of the Meuse, and then another Corps of the IIIrd Army
could be brought up.
This march-table was soon to be brought into service. Fresh news arrived
in the course of the same afternoon. The newspapers revealed the secret
by publishing vehement speeches delivered in the National Assembly to
the effect "that the French general who should leave his comrade in the
lurch, deserved the execration of the country." It would be a disgrace,
it was protested, to the French nation if the brave Bazaine were left
unsuccoured: from all this, and considering the effect of such phrases
on the French, it was to be expected that military considerations would
give way to political. A telegram from London, quoting the Paris
_Temps_, stated that MacMahon had suddenly resolved to hasten to the
assistance of Bazaine, though the abandonment of the road to Paris
endangered the safety of France.
The King, before night, approved of the march to the right, and the
orders were dispatched that night direct to the respective Army Corps on
the march.
On the 26th his Majesty moved his head-quarter to Clermont. The Crown
Prince of Saxony had set out for Varennes early in the morning with the
XIIth Corps, and had ordered the Guards to Dombasle, the IVth Corps to
Fleury.
The cavalry, sent forward in every direction, found that the enemy had
evacuated the region of the Suippe valley and had not yet entered that
of the Meuse; that Buzancy and Grand Pre were in occupation of the
French, and that a large encampment of their VIIth Corps had been
specifically perceived on the height of Vouziers. The apparition of a
few handsful of cavalry, despatched thither on observation duty,
occasioned an almost unaccountable excitement. General Douay, quartered
at Vouziers, received the most exaggerated reports, and must have
thought that a general attack by the German army was imminent. The VIIth
Corps was kept under arms the entire night in pouring rain, and the
Marshal resolved to advance towards Vouziers and Buzancy with all his
forces on the following morning. Thus the march to the east received a
check as early as the 27th, but the untruthfulness of the reports very
soon became sufficiently apparent.
If the German chiefs were deeply interested in gaining an insight into
the enemy's movements, so on the French side this requisite was
certainly urgent in no less imperative degree. With judicious disposal
of their cavalry on the right flank, a surprise like that above
mentioned would have been impossible, but the 1st French Cavalry
Division was placed on the left flank, where there was no danger
whatever, and the 2nd was rearmost of everything. It seemed as though in
the French army less attention was paid to the repulse of an attack than
to the evasion of one, and to the unobserved attainment of Montmedy,
the point of rendezvous with the other army. When the movement of the
Germans from southward could no longer be doubted, it would certainly
have been best for the French to take the vigorous offensive in that
direction with intent to defeat them, or at least to sweep them out of
the vicinity of their own line of march. If they had failed in this they
would, at any rate, have readily learnt that their undertaking was
impracticable, and that its further prosecution must certainly result in
a catastrophe. It must, however, be admitted that the German cavalry
formed an almost impenetrable screen. The Marshal could not know that
his enemy was echeloned from Vitry to Varennes, a distance of more than
thirty-seven miles, and was not at all in form to attack him just then
in serious earnest.
_August 27th._--The Marshal had cleared up his misconception, and on the
27th he continued his march, at least with part of his troops. The VIIth
and Vth Corps covered the movement at Vouziers and Buzancy, the XIIth
advanced to Le Chene, and the 1st Cavalry Division to Beaumont, probably
to ascertain the whereabouts of Marshal Bazaine. The Ist Corps and the
2nd Cavalry Division remained behind on the Aisne.
The Saxon Corps, the furthest forward of the German Army, had received
direct orders to march to Dun on the 27th, and secure on the right bank
the passages over the Meuse, as far as Stenay. It reached Stenay at
three o'clock in the afternoon, and threw forward a post on the left
bank.
The cavalry clung closely to the enemy and followed his movements, often
engaging in petty skirmishes. The departure of the Vth French Corps from
Buzancy in the direction of Le Chene was at once detected, as also was
the march to Beaumont; and the Saxon Cavalry Division pushed forward
that evening to Nouart. The Bavarian Corps reached the Clermont-Verdun
road, the 5th Ste. Menehould; the other Corps of the IIIrd Army were
hurrying by forced marches in a northerly direction.
The prospect now seemed certain that the enemy would be overtaken on the
left bank of the Meuse. Word was sent to the blockading army before Metz
that the two Corps asked for were no longer required, but they had
already set out.
The latest dispositions made by Marshal MacMahon clearly betokened a
last effort on his part to persevere in the original direction. He was
echeloned along the northernmost of the roads by which he could reach
Metz, but had left a strong reserve on the Aisne on which he might fall
back. When he now learnt that nothing had been seen of the Army of the
Rhine at Montmedy, but that it actually was still at Metz, he resolved
on retreating, and, after giving orders to that effect for the following
morning, reported his intention to Paris.
From thence during the night came the most strenuous remonstrances. The
Minister of War telegraphed, "If you leave Bazaine in the lurch, the
revolution will break out," and the Council of Ministers issued a
peremptory order to relieve Metz. The troops in front of the Marshal, it
was urged, were nothing more than part of the army investing Metz; he
had the start of the Crown Prince of Prussia by several days' march; and
General Vinoy had already left Paris for Rheims with the newly-formed
XIIIth Corps as a reinforcement to him.
The Marshal silenced his military convictions and issued new orders. But
the troops had started in advance of the promulgation of them. The
change of route gave rise to much confusion; the roads were bad, and
quarters for the night were not reached until darkness had long set in;
the men were weary, wet to the skin, and depressed in spirits.
_August 28th._--Little more than nine miles' distance eastward was
attained. The XIIth Corps reached La Besace, the Ist was on the march
to Le Chene, the VIIth was halted at Boult aux Bois because of a false
report that two Prussian Corps were occupying Buzancy, further ahead. On
the strength of this report the Vth Corps moved toward that town by way
of Bar, but went on to Bois des Dames in the afternoon. Neither of these
movements was interfered with. The German cavalry had strict orders,
while watching the French as closely as possible, not in any way to
check or press them, and the Saxon cavalry evacuated Nouart on the
approach of the enemy. The Germans had to await the coming up of the
IIIrd Army, the rearmost Corps of which, the VIth, had only just reached
Ste. Menehould.
_August 29th._--For this day also a non-offensive attitude was
prescribed, and the bringing on of decisive operations was postponed
until the 30th.
The Marshal in his head-quarter at Stonne had been informed that the
Germans occupied Dun, and that the bridges over the Meuse had been
destroyed. He had no pontoon-train, and could cross the river only lower
down, at Mouzon and Villers. His XIIth Corps and 1st Cavalry Division
passed over to the right bank unhindered at these points; the Ist Corps
and the 2nd Cavalry Division proceeded to Raucourt. The VIIth Corps,
delayed on march by petty skirmishes on its right flank, did not reach
its destination at La Besace, but went into bivouac at Oches. The Vth
Corps was to have moved to Beaumont, but the staff officer carrying the
order fell into the hands of the Prussian cavalry together with his
escort. General de Failly therefore marched upon Stenay, according to
his original instructions.
Up to this time, apart from the cavalry, the Saxon Corps alone had been
in contact with the enemy, but the Guard now came up to Buzancy in
parallel line, while the Saxon Corps crossed over to the left bank of
the Meuse at Dun. Its advanced guard at once took possession of the
wooded spur to the north-east of Nouart, drove out the French cavalry,
and pressed ahead to Champy, where it encountered a strong force in
Lespart's Division. The purpose of the reconnaissance having been
attained, the advanced guard was called in. The French Division, in
consequence of fresh orders received from the Marshal, withdrew
simultaneously in a northerly direction.
On the German side four Corps of the IIIrd Army were now within nine
miles rearward of the Army of the Meuse. The 5th Cavalry Division stood
at Attigny on the enemy's line of communication; the 6th was hanging on
the heels of the French columns of march, and, among other things, had
taken Boncq with a dismounted party. The Royal Head-quarter was now
advanced to Grand Pre, and, as the result of the various reports which
had poured in, the resolution was taken to attack the enemy on the
following day, before he should cross the Meuse. The Army of the Meuse
was to march towards Beaumont, the IIIrd Army to move forward between
that place and Le Chene. To bring both armies to a parallel front, the
right wing was not to move until ten o'clock, while the left[18] was to
start before six o'clock. Only the trains absolutely requisite for the
battle were to follow.
FOOTNOTE:
[18] The Army of the Meuse constituted the right wing; the IIIrd Army,
the left.
BATTLE OF BEAUMONT.
(August 30th.)
On the 30th of August, at ten o'clock, the King set out for Sommauthe by
way of Buzancy. Both the Bavarian Corps were on the march thither, the
Vth Corps advanced in the centre towards Oches, the XIth, together with
the Wuertemberg Division, was heading for Le Chene, the VIth for
Vouziers. The IVth Corps on the right was advancing by Belval, the XIIth
reached to the Meuse, while the Guard Corps followed in rear as a
reserve.
Marshal MacMahon had issued orders for the attainment of the object that
his entire army should on this day cross to the right bank of the Meuse;
only the baggage trains and sick were to remain behind.
His Ist Corps and the 2nd Cavalry Division had left Raucourt so early as
seven; they crossed the river at Remilly, light bridges having been
thrown over for the infantry. The VIIth Corps at Oches had struck camp
still earlier at four o'clock, but as it took with it in the march all
its waggons, even the empty ones, the trains formed a column more than
nine miles in length, and seven of its battalions were forced to march
alongside the road in the capacity of baggage guard; so that the brigade
bringing up the rear was unable to start until ten o'clock. This long
procession soon came into contact with the Prussian cavalry, was fired
upon by artillery, and compelled to arrest its march. Not till one
o'clock could the movement on La Besace be resumed, and then, as heavy
firing was heard from Beaumont, General Douay conceived it right to
abandon the road to Mouzon and take that to Remilly.
To the Vth Corps had been precautionally assigned the duty of covering
the march of the other two. The troops had reached the vicinity of
Beaumont only at 4 a.m., and were thoroughly exhausted by fighting and
the night-march. General de Failly therefore determined to halt his
Corps for cooking and rest before pursuing the march. Precautionary
measures seem to have been altogether neglected, though it must have
been known that the enemy was now close at hand. While at half-past one
the officers and men were engaged in their meal, Prussian shells
suddenly burst among these heedless groups.
The two Corps of the German right wing had to move through a wooded
tract in four wholly independent columns, by ways sodden with rain. The
Crown Prince of Saxony therefore ordered that no single column should
attempt to enter on an attack before the neighbouring one was ready to
co-operate.
The IVth Corps had started very early, and after a short rest had
pursued its march at ten o'clock. When at noon the head of the 8th
Division emerged from the forest, it discerned from its elevated
position the enemy's camp about 800 paces distant, in the condition as
described. General Schoeler (commanding the Division) held that the
opportunity of so complete a surprise was not to be let pass; the
proximity of his force could not long remain undetected by the enemy. He
announced it by his cannon-fire.
The Division soon recognized that it had drawn upon itself an enemy of
immensely superior strength. The French rapidly got under arms, and
dense swarms of riflemen hurried to the front, whose long-range
Chassepots inflicted great losses, especially upon the artillerymen. The
main body of the 8th Division had meanwhile come up to the assistance of
its advanced guard, and ere long the 7th Division appeared on the right.
The French assailed it too with great impetuosity, and could only be
repulsed at the bayonet-point. Presently, however, the foremost
battalions of both Divisions made their way into the French camp in
front of Beaumont, into the town itself, and finally into a second camp
located northward of it. Seven guns, of which the teams were missing,
and which continued firing up to the last moment, a number of gunners,
waggons and horses, fell into the hands of the assailants.
Whilst now, about two o'clock, a pause occurred in the infantry fight,
fourteen batteries of the IVth Corps engaged in a contest with the
French artillery deployed on the stretch of heights north of Beaumont.
The German artillery mass was presently strengthened by the Saxon
artillery on the right, and by the Bavarian batteries on the left. This
formidable and commanding artillery line, constantly advancing in
echelon, promptly squandered the mitrailleuses, and at three o'clock the
remaining French batteries also were silenced.
The IInd Bavarian Corps, on the left of the Prussian IVth, was advancing
on La Thibaudine, when it was quite unexpectedly attacked from the west
by a strong force of the enemy.
These troops were Conseil Dumesnil's Division of the VIIth French Corps,
which was continuing in march to Mouzon in error, acting on its original
orders. Completely surprised as it was, and attacked in front and flank,
the Division gave up all hope of cutting its way through, and at about
four o'clock beat a hasty retreat northwards, leaving two guns behind.
The Bavarians had in the meantime taken possession of the farm of
Thibaudine, and the Prussians that of Harnoterie. The wooded hills
prevented a clear view of the surrounding country; the enemy had
completely disappeared.
General de Failly was making strenuous efforts to collect his scattered
forces in front of Mouzon, under cover of a rear-guard halted at La
Sartelle; and General Lebrun had left behind on the left side of the
Meuse an infantry and a cavalry brigade and three batteries belonging to
the XIIth Corps, to render him assistance.
At five o'clock the 8th Division, headed by the 13th Brigade, was
pushing toilsomely through the dense forest of Givodeau, on its way to
operate against this new defensive position. On emerging from the wood
the battalions, which had fallen into some confusion, were received by a
brisk fire at short range. The repeated efforts of the riflemen to
advance were unsuccessful, and the dense underwood hindered the clubbed
mass behind them from forming. By the time the Saxon Corps had succeeded
with extreme difficulty in extricating itself from the forest and swamps
of the Wamme stream, and had reached Letanne, the impracticability of
further progress in the Meuse valley became apparent, since numerous
French batteries, in unassailable positions on the opposite side of the
river, commanded all the low ground. The Corps therefore ascended the
plateau, moved in its turn through the Givodeau woods, and debouching
thence swelled the strength of the forces assembled on the northern
border, where, however, their development on a broader front was
impossible. So about six o'clock the infantry engagement came to a stand
for a time in this quarter.
On the left the 14th Brigade had come up into line with the 13th, and
this body (the 7th Division) was followed by the 8th Division in two
columns.
The 93rd Regiment had carried the height to the north-east of Yoncq, and
advanced in pursuit of the enemy as far as to the foot of Mont de Brune.
Four mitrailleuses and eight guns, some of them with their entire teams,
fell thus into the hands of the Anhalters.
When, at half-past five, the artillery had come up into position, and at
the same time the 27th Regiment was approaching, General Zychlinski
(commanding 14th Brigade) advanced to the enveloping attack.
The French occupied in strength the summit of the entirely isolated
hill; their batteries faced to eastward against the Bois de Givodeau,
whence an assault threatened; but they swiftly changed front to the
south and directed a heavy fire on the 93rd and the 2nd Battalion of the
27th, as they charged up on this face while the Fusilier battalion was
at the same time pressing forward from the west. Regardless of their
losses, the assailants eagerly scaled the ascent, the brigade and
regimental commanders at their head. Six French guns were seized while
in action, in spite of a brave resistance by the gunners and covering
troops, and the enemy was pursued as far as the Roman road. Here four
more guns, completely horsed, which had been abandoned by the
artillerymen, fell into the hands of the conquerors.
The three battalions[19] hurried on towards Mouzon, without waiting for
the support of the[20] 14th Brigade following in rear, but they suddenly
found themselves threatened by a cavalry-charge.
Marshal MacMahon had recognized the fact that the only thing left him
now to do was to effect as orderly an evacuation as possible of the left
bank of the Meuse; the reinforcements sent across from the right had
already been recalled. The 5th Cuirassier Regiment alone still remained.
When, a little to the north of the Faubourg de Mouzon, it was reached by
the fire of the advancing Prussians, the French regiment hurled itself
upon the enemy with a noble contempt for death.
The shock struck the 10th Company of the 27th Regiment. The soldiers,
without closing their ranks, waited for the word of command of their
leader, Captain Helmuth, and then fired a volley at close range, which
struck down eleven officers and 100 men, the brave commander of the band
of horsemen falling fifteen paces in front of his men. The survivors
rushed back towards the Meuse, and, as all the bridges had been removed,
they strove to gain the other side by swimming.
Considerable masses of the enemy were still in front of Mouzon, and upon
these the batteries of the IVth Corps, as one after another they came
into action, directed their fire. Two Bavarian batteries brought under
their fire the bridge at Villers, lower down the river, and prevented it
from being used. Then the suburb was carried after a fierce encounter,
and here too the bridge across the Meuse was taken and held. The enemy,
deprived of every way of retreat, received with a hot fire the 8th
Division emerging from the valley of the Yoncq, but was gradually driven
back towards the river. The French troops in front of the Bois de
Givodeau were also in a hopeless plight; they were assailed by the 7th
Division and XIIth Corps, and were dispersed after an obstinate
struggle. By nightfall the French had ceased their resistance on the
hither side of the Meuse. Many lagging stragglers were taken prisoners,
others hid themselves in the copses and farmhouses, or tried to escape
by swimming the river.
In this battle, as in the preceding ones, the attack suffered far
heavier loss than the defence. The Army of the Meuse lost 3500
combatants, the preponderating loss falling on the IVth Corps. The
French estimated their loss at 1800; but in the course of the day and on
the following morning, 3000 prisoners, mostly unwounded, fell into the
hands of the victors, with 51 guns, 33 ammunition and many other
waggons, and a military chest containing 150,000 francs. And, what was
of supreme importance, by the result of this battle the French army had
been driven into an extremely unfavourable position.
While the IVth Corps had been chiefly sustaining the day's battle, the
Saxon Cavalry had pushed forward on the right bank of the Meuse, and had
reconnoitred towards Mouzon and Carignan. The Guard Corps reached
Beaumont, and General von der Tann with the 1st Bavarian Corps was at
Raucourt, having marched by way of La Besace with some slight
skirmishing on the way. The IInd Bavarian Corps was assembled at
Sommauthe, the Vth Corps had reached Stonne, the XIth, La Besace. Thus
seven Corps now stood in close concentration between the Meuse and the
Bar.
The King rode back to Buzancy after the battle, as all the villages in
the vicinity of the battle-field were crowded with the wounded. Here, as
previously at Clermont, was felt the great inconvenience of inadequate
lodging for hundreds of illustrious guests and their suites, when, for
once in a way for military reasons, head-quarters were established in a
small village, instead of in a large town. Shelter for those officers
whose duty it was to prepare the necessary orders for the morrow was
only found late at night, and with considerable difficulty.
These orders instructed that on the 31st two Corps of the Army of the
Meuse should cross over to the right bank of the river, to prevent the
possibility of further progress of the French to Metz by way of
Montmedy. Two Corps of the army besieging Metz were besides already
posted in that direction about Etain and Briey. The IIIrd Army was to
continue its movement in the northward direction.
As the situation had now developed itself, it already seemed within
sight that the Army of Chalons might be compelled to cross over into
neutral territory, and the Belgian Government was therefore asked
through diplomatic channels to concern itself with its disarmament in
that event. The German troops had orders at once to cross the Belgian
frontier, should the enemy not lay down his arms there.
While the Vth French Corps was still fighting about Beaumont, and when
the rest of the army had crossed the Meuse, General MacMahon had ordered
the concentration of his army on Sedan. He did not intend to offer
battle there, but it was indispensable to give his troops a short rest,
and provide them with food and ammunition. He then meant to continue the
retreat by way of Mezieres, which General Vinoy was just then
approaching with the newly-formed XIIIth Corps. The Ist Corps, which had
arrived at Carignan early in the afternoon, detached two of its
divisions to Douzy in the evening to check any further advance of the
Germans.
Though any pursuit immediately after the battle of Beaumont was
prevented by the intervening river, the retreat of the French soon
assumed the ominous character of a rout. The troops were utterly worn
out by their exertions by day and night, in continuous rain and with
but scanty supplies of food. The marching to and fro, to no visible
purpose, had undermined their confidence in their leaders, and a series
of luckless fights had shaken their self-reliance. Thousands of
fugitives, crying for bread, crowded round the waggons as they struggled
forward to reach the little fortress which had so unexpectedly become
the central rallying point of a great army.
The Emperor Napoleon arrived at Sedan from Carignan late in the evening
of the 30th; the VIIth Corps reached Floing during the night, but the
XIIth Corps did not arrive at Bazeilles until the following morning. The
Vth Corps mustered at the eastern suburb of Sedan in a fearfully
shattered state, followed in the afternoon of the 31st by the Ist,
which, after many rear-guard actions with the German cavalry, took up a
position behind the Givonne valley. To pursue the march to Mezieres on
that day was not to be thought of. The XIIth Corps had that same evening
to show a front at Bazeilles, where the thunder of their cannon already
heralded the arrival of the Germans. The destruction of the bridges
there and at Donchery was ordered, but the order remained unexecuted,
owing to the worn-out condition of the men.
_August 31st._--Of the army of the Meuse the Guard and 12th Cavalry
Divisions had crossed the Meuse at Pouilly, and by a pontoon bridge at
Letanne, and swept the country between the Meuse and the Chiers.
Following close upon the rear of the French and harassing them in
skirmishes till they reached their new position, they brought in as
prisoners numbers of stragglers. The Guard Corps then crossed the Chiers
at Carignan and halted at Sachy; the XIIth pushed on to about Douzy on
the Meuse,[21] while its advanced guard thrust ahead on the further side
(of the Chiers) as far as Francheval. The IVth Corps remained at Mouzon.
The 4th Cavalry Division of the IIIrd Army reconnoitred in the direction
of Sedan, drove back the French outposts from Wadelincourt and Frenois,
and, moving from the latter place, seized the railroad under the fire of
hostile artillery. The 6th Cavalry Division on the left flank proceeded
on the way to Mezieres as far as Poix.
When the Ist Bavarian Corps reached Remilly before noon, it came under
heavy fire from the opposite side of the river, and at once brought up
its batteries in position on the hither slope of the valley of the
Meuse. A sharp cannonade ensued, by the end of which sixty Bavarian guns
were engaged. It was only now that the French attempted to blow up the
railway bridge south of Bazeilles, but the vigorous fire of the 4th
Jaeger Battalion drove off the enemy with his engineers, the Jaegers threw
the powder-barrels into the river, and at midday crossed the bridge. The
battalion entered Bazeilles in the face of a storm of bullets, and
occupied the northern fringe of the straggling place. Thus the XIIth
French Corps was forced to move up into a position between Balan and
Moncelle, where, having been reinforced by batteries belonging to the
Ist Corps, it had to encounter, and that with considerable waste of
power, the daring little band of Germans.
General von der Tann[22] did not however hold it advisable to commit
himself on that day to a serious conflict on the further side of the
Meuse with a closely compacted enemy, while his own Corps was still
unconcentrated; and, since the weak detachment in Bazeilles had no hope
of being reinforced, it withdrew therefrom at about half-past three
without being pursued.
Meanwhile two pontoon bridges had been laid at Allicourt, without
molestation from the French. These and the railway bridge were
barricaded for the night, while eighty-four guns further secured them
from being crossed. The Ist Bavarian Corps went into bivouac at
Angecourt, the IInd at Hancourt.
To the left of the Bavarians the XIth Corps marched towards Donchery,
followed by the Vth. The advanced guard found the place unoccupied, and
extended itself on the further side of the river. By three o'clock two
other bridges were completed close below Donchery, whilst the railway
bridge above the place, also found unguarded, was destroyed.
On the extreme left the Wuertemberg and the 6th Cavalry Divisions came in
contact with the XIIIth French Corps, which had just arrived at
Mezieres.
The King removed his head-quarters to Vendresse.
In spite of a succession of occasionally very severe marches in bad
weather, and of being in regard to supplies chiefly beholden to
requisitioning, the Army of the Meuse advancing on the east, and the
IIIrd Army on the south, were now directly in face of the concentrated
French Army. Marshal MacMahon could scarcely have realized that the only
chance of safety for his army, or even for part of it, lay in the
immediate prosecution of his retreat on the 1st of September. It is true
that the Crown Prince of Prussia, in possession as he was of every
passage over the Meuse, would have promptly taken that movement in flank
in the narrow space, little more than four miles wide, which was bounded
on the north by the frontier. That nevertheless the attempt was not
risked was only to be explained by the actual condition of the exhausted
troops; for on this day the French Army was not yet capable of
undertaking a disciplined march involving fighting; it could only fight
where it stood.
On the German side it was still expected that the Marshal would strike
for Mezieres. The Army of the Meuse was ordered to attack the enemy's
positions with the object of detaining him in them; the IIIrd Army,
leaving only one Corps on the left bank, was to press forward on the
right side of the river.
The French position about Sedan was covered to rearward by the fortress.
The Meuse and the valleys of the Givonne and the Floing brooks offered
formidable obstructions, but it was imperative that those outmost lines
should be obstinately held. The Calvary height of Illy was a very
important point, strengthened as it was by the Bois de Garenne in its
rear, whence a high ridge stretching to Bazeilles afforded much cover in
its numerous dips and shoulders. In the event of a retreat into neutral
territory in the last extremity, the road thereto lay through Illy.
Bazeilles, on the other hand, locally a very strong point of support to
the Givonne front, constituted an acute salient, which, after the loss
of the bridges across the Meuse, was open to attack on two sides.
FOOTNOTES:
[19] Of 27th and 93rd Regiments.
[20] Read in "rest of the."
[21] Douzy is on the north bank of the Chiers.
[22] Commanding Ist Bavarian Corps.
BATTLE OF SEDAN.
(September 1st.)
In order, in co-operation with the Army of the Meuse, to hold fast the
enemy in his position, General von der Tann sent his Ist Brigade over
the pontoon-bridges against Bazeilles so early as four o'clock in a
thick morning mist. The troops attacked the place, but now found the
streets barricaded, and were fired on from every house. The leading
company pressed on as far as to the northern egress, suffering great
losses, but the others, while engaged in arduous street-fighting, were
driven out of the western part of Bazeilles by the arrival of the 2nd
Brigade of the French XIIth Corps. They however kept possession of the
buildings at the southern end, and from thence issued to repeated
assaults. As fresh troops were constantly coming up on both sides, the
French being reinforced to the extent even of a brigade of the Ist and
one of the Vth Corps, the murderous combat long swayed to and fro; in
particular the struggle for the possession of the Villa Beurmann,
situated in front of the exit, and commanding the main street throughout
its whole length, lasted for a stricken hour. The inhabitants took an
active part in the fighting, and so they inevitably drew fire upon
themselves.
The fire of the strong array of guns drawn up on the left slope of the
valley of the Meuse naturally could not be directed on the surging
strife in Bazeilles, which was now blazing in several places, but at
eight o'clock, on the arrival of the 8th Prussian Division at Remilly,
General von der Tann threw his last brigades into the fight. The walled
park of the chateau of Monvillers was stormed and an entrance won into
the Villa Beurmann. The artillery crossed the bridges at about nine
o'clock, and the 8th Division was requested to support the combat in
which the right wing of the Bavarians was also engaged southward of
Bazeilles about Moncelle.[23]
In this direction Prince George of Saxony[24] had so early as five
o'clock despatched an advanced guard of seven battalions from Douzy.
They drove the French from Moncelle, pressed ahead to Platinerie and the
bridge there, and, in spite of the enemy's heavy fire, took possession
of the houses bordering the further side of the Givonne brook, which
they immediately occupied for defensive purposes. Communication with the
Bavarians was now established, and the battery of the advanced guard
moved up quickly into action on the eastern slope; but a further
infantry support could not at first be afforded to this bold advance.
Marshal MacMahon had been struck by a splinter from a shell near
Moncelle at 6 a.m. He had named General Ducrot as his successor in the
chief command, passing over two senior Corps commanders. Apprized of
this promotion at seven o'clock, that General issued the necessary
orders for the prompt assemblage of the army at Illy, in preparation for
an immediate retreat on Mezieres. He had already despatched Lartigue's
Division of his own Corps to safeguard the crossing of the Givonne
ravine at Daigny; the Divisions of Lacretelle and Bassoigne were ordered
to take the offensive against the Saxons and Bavarians, to gain time for
the withdrawal of the rest of the troops. The divisions forming the
second line were to start immediately in a northerly direction.
But the Minister of War had appointed General de Wimpffen, recently
returned from Algiers, to the command of the Vth Corps in room of
General de Failly, and had at the same time given him a commission
empowering him to assume the command of the Army in case of the
disability of the Marshal.
General de Wimpffen knew the army of the Crown Prince to be in the
neighbourhood of Donchery. He regarded the retreat to Mezieres as
utterly impracticable, and was bent on the diametrically opposite course
of breaking out to Carignan, not doubting that he could drive aside the
Bavarians and Saxons, and so succeed in effecting a junction with
Marshal Bazaine. When he heard of the orders just issued by General
Ducrot, and at the same time observed that an assault on Moncelle seemed
to be taking an auspicious course, he produced--to his ruin--the
authoritative commission which had been bestowed on him.
General Ducrot submitted without any remonstrance; he might probably not
have been averse to be relieved of so heavy a responsibility. The
Divisions of the second line which were in the act of starting
immediately were recalled; and the further advance of the weak Bavarian
and Saxon detachments was soon hard pressed by the impact of the first
stroke of the enemy rushing on to the attack.
By seven in the morning, while one regiment of the Saxon advanced guard
had gone in upon Moncelle, the other on its right had to concern itself
with the threatening advance of Lartigue's Division. With that body it
soon became engaged in a heavy fire-fight. The regiment had laid down
its packs on the march, and had omitted to take out the cartridges
carried in them. Thus it soon ran short of ammunition, and the repeated
and violent onslaughts of the Zouaves, directed principally against its
unprotected right flank, had to be repulsed with the bayonet.
On the left in this quarter a strong artillery line had gradually been
formed, which by half-past eight o'clock amounted to twelve batteries.
But Lacretelle's Division was now approaching by the Givonne bottom, and
dense swarms of tirailleurs forced the German batteries to retire at
about nine o'clock. The guns, withdrawn into a position at a somewhat
greater distance, drove back with their fire the enemy in the hollow,
and presently returned to the position previously occupied.
The 4th Bavarian Brigade had meanwhile pushed forward into Moncelle, and
the 46th Saxon Brigade also came up, so that it was possible to check
the trifling progress made by Bassoigne's Division.
On the right flank of the Saxons, which had been hard pressed,
much-needed supports now arrived from the 24th Division, and at once
took the offensive. The French were driven back upon Daigny, with the
loss of five guns. Then in conjunction with the Bavarians, who were
pushing on through the valley to the northward, the village of Daigny,
the bridge and the farmstead of La Rapaille were carried after a bitter
fight.
About ten o'clock the Guard Corps reached the upper Givonne. Having
started in the night, the Corps was marching in two columns, when cannon
thunder from Bazeilles heard afar off caused the troops to quicken their
pace. In order to render assistance by the shortest road, the left
column would have had to traverse two deep ravines and the pathless wood
of Chevallier, so it took the longer route by Villers Cernay, which
place the head of the right column passed in ample time to take part
with the Saxons in the contest with Lartigue's Division, and to capture
two of its guns.
The Divisions ordered back by General Ducrot had already resumed their
former positions on the western slopes, and fourteen batteries of the
Guard Corps now opened fire upon them from the east.
At the same hour (ten o'clock) the 7th Division of the IVth Corps had
arrived near Lamecourt, and the 8th near Remilly, both places rearward
of Bazeilles; the head of the latter had reached the Remilly railway
station.
The first attempt of the French to break out eastward to Carignan proved
a failure, and their retreat westward to Mezieres was also already cut
off, for the Vth and XIth Corps of the IIIrd Army, together with the
Wuertemberg Division, had been detailed to move northward to the road
leading to that place. These troops had started early in the night, and
at six a.m. had crossed the Meuse at Donchery, and by the three pontoon
bridges further down the river. The advanced patrols found the Mezieres
road quite clear of the enemy, and the heavy cannonade heard from the
direction of Bazeilles made it appear probable that the French had
accepted battle in their position at Sedan. The Crown Prince, therefore,
ordered the two Corps, which already had reached the upland of Vrigne,
to swing to their right and advance on St. Menges; the Wuertembergers
were to remain behind to watch Mezieres. General von Kirchbach then
indicated Fleigneux to his advanced guard as the objective of the
further movement, which had for its purpose the barring of the escape of
the French into Belgium, and the establishment of a junction with the
right wing of the Army of the Meuse.
The narrow pass about 2000 paces long between the heights and the river
traversed by the road to St. Albert, was neither held nor watched by the
French. It was not till the advanced guard reached St. Menges that it
encountered a French detachment, which soon withdrew. The German advance
then deployed against Illy. Two companies moved to the right and took
possession of Floing, where they maintained themselves for the next two
hours without assistance against repeated attacks.
The earliest arriving Prussian batteries had to exert themselves to the
utmost to maintain themselves against the much superior strength of
French artillery in action about Illy. At first they had for their only
escort some cavalry and a few companies of infantry, and as these bodies
debouched from the defile of St. Albert, they found themselves an
enticing object of attack to Margueritte's Cavalry Division halted on
the aforesaid plateau of Illy. It was at nine o'clock that General
Galliffet rode down to the attack at the head of three regiments of
Chasseurs d'Afrique and two squadrons of Lancers formed in three lines.
The first fury of the charge fell upon two companies of the 87th
Regiment, which met it with a hail of bullets at sixty yards range. The
first line charged some horse-lengths further forward, then wheeled
outward to both flanks, and came under the fire of the supporting troops
occupying the broom copses. The Prussian batteries, too, showered their
shell fire into the throng of French horsemen, who finally went about in
confusion, and, having suffered great losses, sought refuge in the Bois
de Garenne.
At ten o'clock, the same hour at which the assaults of the French on
Bazeilles and about Daigny were being repulsed, fourteen batteries of
the XIth Corps were already in action on and near the ridge south-east
of St. Menges; to swell which mass presently came up those of the Vth
Corps. Powerful infantry columns were in march upon Fleigneux, and thus
the ring surrounding Sedan was already at this hour nearly closed. The
one Bavarian Corps and the artillery reserves on the left bank of the
Meuse were considered strong enough to repel any attempt of the French
to break through in that direction; five Corps were on the right bank,
ready for a concentric attack.
The Bavarians and Saxons, reinforced by the head of the IVth Corps,
issued from the burning Bazeilles and from Moncelle, and, in spite of a
stubborn resistance, drove the detachments of the French XIIth Corps in
position eastward of Balan back upon Fond de Givonne.
Once in possession of the southern spur of the ridge sloping down from
Illy, and while awaiting the renewed attacks of the French, the extreme
urgency was realized of reassembling the different Corps and of
re-forming the troops, which had fallen into great confusion.
As soon as this was done, the 5th Bavarian Brigade advanced on Balan.
The troops found but a feeble resistance in the village itself; but it
was only after a hard fight that they succeeded in occupying the park of
the chateau situated at its extreme end. From thence, soon after midday,
the foremost battalion extended close up to the walls of the fortress,
and exchanged shots with the garrison. There now ensued a stationary
musketry fight with the enemy once again firmly posted about Fond de
Givonne. At one o'clock the French, having evidently been reinforced,
took the offensive, after a preparatory cannonade and mitrailleuse fire.
The 5th Bavarian Brigade was driven back for some considerable distance,
but presently, supported by the 6th, regained its old position after an
hour's hard fighting.
Meanwhile the Saxon Corps had extended itself in the northern part of
the valley against Givonne. There also the foremost detachments of the
Guard Corps were already established, as well as in Haybes. The Prussian
artillery forced the French batteries to change their positions more
than once, and had already caused several of them to go out of action.
To gain breathing space here, the French repeatedly tried to send
forward large bodies of tirailleurs, and ten guns were brought up into
the still occupied Givonne, but these were taken before they could
unlimber. The Prussian shells also fell with some effect among the
French troops massed in the Bois de Garenne, though fired from a long
distance.
After the Franctireurs de Paris had been driven out of Chapelle, the
Guard-cavalry dashed through Givonne and up the valley, and at noon the
Hussars had succeeded in establishing direct contact with the left flank
of the IIIrd Army.
The 41st Brigade of that army had left Fleigneux and was descending the
upper valley of the Givonne, and the retreat of the French from Illy in
a southern direction had already begun. The 87th Regiment seized eight
guns which were in action, and captured thirty baggage waggons with
their teams, as well as hundreds of cavalry horses wandering riderless.
The cavalry of the advanced guard of the Vth Corps also made prisoners
of General Brahaut and his staff, besides a great number of dispersed
infantrymen and 150 draught-horses, together with forty ammunition and
baggage waggons.
In the direction of Floing there was also an attempt on the part of the
French to break through; but the originally very weak infantry posts at
that point had gradually been strengthened, and the French were driven
from the locality as quickly as they had entered. And now twenty-six
batteries of the Army of the Meuse[25] crossed their fire with that of
the Guard batteries, in position on the eastern slope of the Givonne
valley. The effect was overwhelming. The French batteries were shattered
and many ammunition waggons exploded.
General de Wimpffen at first took the advance of the Germans from the
north for nothing more than a demonstration, but toward midday became
completely convinced that it was a real attack. He therefore ordered
that the two Divisions of the Ist Corps halted in second line behind the
Givonne front, should now return to the Illy height in support of
General Douay. On rejoining the XIIth Corps he found it in full retreat
on Sedan, and now urgently requested General Douay to despatch
assistance in the direction of Bazeilles. Maussion's Brigade did
actually go thither, followed by Dumont's Division, which latter was
relieved in the foremost line by Conseil Dumesnil's Division. All this
marching and counter-marching was executed in the space south of the
Bois de Garenne dominated by the cross fire of the German artillery. The
recoil of the cavalry heightened the confusion, and several battalions
drew back into the insecure protection of the forest. General Douay, it
is true, reinforced by portions of the Vth Corps, retook the Calvary (of
Illy), but was forced to abandon it by two o'clock; and the forest (of
Garenne) behind it was then shelled by sixty guns of the Guard
artillery.
Liebert's Division alone had up to now maintained its very strong
position on the heights north of Casal. The amassing at Floing of a
sufficient strength from the German Vth and XIth Corps could only be
effected very gradually. After one o'clock, however, detachments began
to climb the steep hill immediately in its front, while others went
round to the south towards Gaulier and Casal, and yet others came down
from Fleigneux. The complete intermixture of the troops prevented any
unity of command; and a bloody contest was carried on for a long time
with varying fortunes. The French Division, attacked on both flanks and
also heavily shelled, at last had its power of resistance undermined;
and the reserves of the VIIth Corps having already been called off to
other parts of the battle-field, the French cavalry once more devotedly
struck in to maintain the fight.
General Margueritte, with five regiments of light horse, and two of
Lancers, charged to the rescue out of the Bois de Garenne. Almost at
the outset he fell severely wounded, and General Galliffet took his
place. The advance was over very treacherous ground, and even before the
actual charge was delivered the cohesion of the ranks was broken by the
heavy flanking fire of the Prussian batteries. Still, with thinned ranks
but with unflinching resolution, the individual squadrons charged on the
troops of the 43rd Infantry Brigade, partly lying in cover, partly
standing out on the bare slope in swarms and groups; and also on the
reinforcements hurrying from Fleigneux. The first line of the former was
pierced at several points, and a band of these brave troopers dashed
from Casal through the intervals between eight guns blazing into them
with case-shot, but the companies beyond stopped their further progress.
Cuirassiers issuing from Gaulier fell on the hostile rear, but
encountering the Prussian Hussars in the Meuse valley, galloped off
northward. Other detachments cut their way through the infantry as far
as the narrow pass of St. Albert, where they were met by the battalions
debouching therefrom. Others again entered Floing only to succumb to the
5th Jaegers, who had to form front back to back. These attacks were
repeated by the French again and again in the shape of detached fights,
and the murderous turmoil lasted for half an hour with steadily
diminishing fortune for the French. The volleys of the German infantry
delivered steadily at a short range strewed the whole field with dead
and wounded horsemen. Many fell into the quarries or down the steep
declivities, a few may have escaped by swimming the Meuse; and scarcely
more than half of these brave troops returned to the protection of the
forest.
But this magnificent sacrifice and glorious effort of the French cavalry
could not change the fate of the day. The Prussian infantry had lost but
little in the cut-and-thrust encounters, and at once resumed the attack
against Liebert's Division. But in this onslaught they sustained heavy
losses; for instance, all three battalions of the 6th Regiment had to
be commanded by lieutenants. But when Casal had been stormed, the
French, after a spirited resistance, withdrew at about three o'clock to
their last refuge in the Bois de Garenne.
When between one and two o'clock the fighting in Bazeilles had at first
taken a favourable turn, General de Wimpffen reverted to his original
plan of driving from the village the Bavarians, now exhausted by a long
struggle, and of breaking a way through to Carignan with the Ist, Vth,
and XIIth Corps; while the VIIth Corps was to cover the rear of this
movement. But the orders issued to that effect in part never reached the
Corps; in part did so so late that circumstances forbade their being
carried out.
In consequence of previously mentioned orders, besides Bassoigne's
Division, the Divisions of Goze and Grandchamp were still available.
Now, at about three in the afternoon, the two last-named advanced from
Fond de Givonne, over the ridge to the eastward, and the 23rd Saxon
Division, which was marching up the valley on the left bank of the
Givonne, found itself suddenly attacked by closed battalions accompanied
by batteries. With the support of the left wing of the Guard Corps and
of the artillery fire from the eastern slope, it soon succeeded in
repulsing the hostile masses, and indeed drove them across the valley
back to Fond de Givonne. The energy of the French appeared to be by this
time exhausted, for they allowed themselves to be taken prisoners by
hundreds. As soon as a firm footing had been gained on the heights west
of the Givonne, the German artillery established itself there, and by
three o'clock an artillery line of twenty-one batteries stretching from
Bazeilles to Haybes was in action.
The Bois de Garenne, in which many broken bands of all Corps and of all
arms were straggling in search of refuge, still remained to be gained.
After a short cannonade the 1st Guard-Division climbed the heights from
Givonne, and were joined by Saxon battalions, the left wing of the IIIrd
army at the same time coming on from Illy. A wild turmoil ensued, in
which isolated bands offered violent resistance, while others
surrendered by thousands; nor was it until five o'clock that the Germans
had complete possession of the forest.
Meanwhile long columns of French could be seen pouring down on Sedan
from the surrounding heights. Disordered bodies of troops huddled closer
and closer in and up to the fortress, and shells from the German
batteries on both sides of the Meuse were constantly exploding in the
midst of the chaos. Pillars of fire were soon rising from the city, and
the Bavarian riflemen, who had pushed forward through Torcy, were
preparing to climb the palisades at the gate when, at about half-past
four, the white flags were visible on the towers.
The Emperor Napoleon had declined to follow General de Wimpffen in his
attempt to break through the German lines; he had, on the contrary,
ordered him to enter into negotiations with the enemy. In consequence of
the renewal of the order to that effect the French suddenly ceased
firing.
General Reille now made his appearance in the presence of the King, who
had watched the action since early morning from the hill south of
Frenois. He was the bearer of an autograph letter from the Emperor,
whose presence in Sedan was till then unknown. He placed his sword in
the hand of the King, but as this was clearly only an act of personal
surrender, the answer stipulated that an officer should be commissioned
with full powers to treat with General von Moltke as to the surrender of
the French Army.
This painful duty was imposed on General de Wimpffen, who was in no way
responsible for the desperate straits into which the French army had
been brought.
The negotiations were held at Donchery in the night between the 1st and
2nd September. On the part of the Germans it had to be insisted on that
they durst not forego the advantages gained over so powerful an enemy as
France. Since the French had regarded the victory of German arms over
other nationalities in the light of an offence to France, any untimely
generosity might cause them to forget their own defeat. The only course
to pursue was to insist upon the disarmament and captivity of their
entire army, with the exception that the officers were to be free on
parole.
General de Wimpffen declared it impossible to accept conditions so hard,
the negotiations were broken off, and the French officers returned to
Sedan at one o'clock on the morning of the 2nd. Before their departure
they were given to understand that unless the offered terms were
accepted by nine o'clock that morning the artillery would reopen fire.
The capitulation was signed by General de Wimpffen on the morning of the
2nd, further resistance being obviously impossible.
Marshal MacMahon was very fortunate in having been disabled so early in
the battle, else on him would have inevitably devolved the duty of
signing the capitulation; and though he had only carried out the orders
forced upon him by the Paris authorities, he could hardly have sat in
judgment, as he afterwards did, on the comrade he had failed to relieve.
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