The Franco-German War of 1870-71 Part 9

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 a.s.sistance 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 pa.s.sed 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 Wurtemberg 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 Wurtembergers 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 pa.s.s 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 a.s.sistance 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 Cha.s.seurs 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 sh.e.l.l fire into the throng of French hors.e.m.e.n, 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 a.s.saults 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 ma.s.s 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 rea.s.sembling 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 s.p.a.ce 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 sh.e.l.ls also fell with some effect among the French troops ma.s.sed 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 a.s.sistance 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 s.p.a.ce 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 sh.e.l.led 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 ama.s.sing 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 b.l.o.o.d.y contest was carried on for a long time with varying fortunes. The French Division, attacked on both flanks and also heavily sh.e.l.led, 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.

Cuira.s.siers 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 pa.s.s of St. Albert, where they were met by the battalions debouching therefrom. Others again entered Floing only to succ.u.mb to the 5th Jagers, 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 hors.e.m.e.n. 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 circ.u.mstances forbade their being carried out.

In consequence of previously mentioned orders, besides Ba.s.soigne'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 ma.s.ses, 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 sh.e.l.ls 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.

It is difficult to understand why we Germans celebrate the 2nd of September--a day on which nothing memorable happened, but what was the inevitable result of the previous day's work; the day on which the army really crowned itself with glory was the 1st of September.

The splendid victory of that day had cost the Germans 460 officers and 8500 men. The French losses were far greater; they amounted to 17,000 men, and were chiefly wrought because of the full development of the fire of the German artillery.

During the battle there were taken prisoners 21,000 By the Capitulation 83,000 ------ A total of 104,000 sent into captivity.

The prisoners for the present were a.s.sembled on the peninsula of Iges formed by the Meuse. As supplies for them were entirely lacking, the Commandant of Mezieres permitted the unrestricted transport of provisions by the railway as far as Donchery. Two Army Corps were a.s.signed to the duty of guarding and escorting the convoys of prisoners, who were sent off in successive bodies 2000 strong by two roads, one to Etain, and the other by Clermont to Pont a Mousson, where the prisoners were taken over by the army investing Metz, and forwarded to various parts of Germany.

On Belgian territory 3000 men had been disarmed.

The spoils of war taken at Sedan consisted of three standards, 419 field-pieces, 139 fortress guns, 66,000 rifles, over 1000 waggons, and 6000 serviceable horses.

With the entire nullification of this army fell the Empire in France.

FOOTNOTES:

[23] Moncelle is northward of Bazeilles.

[24] Now commanding XIIth Corps, since his elder brother's appointment to command of the Army of the Meuse.

[25] Sense and accuracy alike indicate that "Army of the Meuse" in text should be "Third Army," _vide_ Staff History, part I. 2nd vol. pp. 361, 367, and 370.--Clarke's authorized Trs.

PART II.

While one half of the German Army was thus engaged in a victorious advance, the other half remained stationary before Metz.

The foremost line of outposts of the investment embraced a circuit of more than twenty-eight miles. An attempt of the concentrated forces of the enemy to break through would have met at the beginning of the blockade with but slight opposition. It was therefore extremely urgent that the several posts should be strengthened by fortifications. These works, the clearing of the neighbouring battle-fields, the close watch kept over every movement of the enemy, the construction of a telegraph-line connecting the quarters of the several Staffs, and finally the erection of a sufficiency of shelter, kept the troops and their leaders amply occupied. Besides the care of the wounded, provision had to be made for the sick, whose number was daily increased by the unusually severe weather and lack of shelter. The provisioning of the troops was, however, facilitated by their stationary att.i.tude, and in addition there now flowed in upon them from their homes a copious supply of love-gifts.

The first days of the investment went by without any attempts to break out on the part of the French. They too were busy reorganizing, collecting ammunition and supplies.