The Franco-German War of 1870-71 Part 14

These few morning hours had cost the VIth Corps 28 officers and 413 men; and the French many more.

Two simultaneous feint-attacks on Sevres and on Mesly on the right bank of the Seine, came to nothing. The German outposts, at first driven in, re-occupied their ground by about nine o'clock.

After thus failing to gain s.p.a.ce towards the southward by this sortie, the besieged proceeded to a.s.sure themselves of the ground already in their possession by the construction of entrenchments. They fortified Villejuif and extended their lines from Hautes Bruyeres past Arcueil to the Mill of Pichon, so that there the Bavarian outposts had to be drawn in nearer to Bourg-la-Reine.

Otherwise, throughout the first half of the month of October the garrison of Paris restricted itself for the most part to daily cannonades. Guns of the heaviest calibre were directed on the most petty objects. It was sheer waste of ammunition, just as though the aim was to get rid of the stores on hand. If one of the gigantic long sh.e.l.ls happened to fall on an outpost, the destruction was of course terrible; but on the whole they did little execution.

Apart from the noise of the cannonade to which one soon became accustomed, in Versailles, whence none of the residents had fled, it might have been thought a time of profound peace. The admirable discipline of the German troops allowed the townsfolk to pursue their business undisturbed; the hosts were well paid for the billeting imposed on them, and the country people could cultivate their fields and gardens in peace. At St. Cloud every room was kept in the same order as when the Imperial family had left it, till the sh.e.l.ls from Mont Valerien reduced that delightful palace with all its treasures of art to a heap of charred ruins. It was the French fire, too, which wrecked the Chateau of Meudon, the porcelain factory of Sevres, and whole villages in the nearer environs. And it was also the French themselves who, without any necessity, felled half the Bois de Boulogne.

The investment line was considerably strengthened on the 10th and 16th of October, when the 17th Division arriving from Toul relieved the 21st at Bonneuil, and the latter took up a position between the Bavarians and the Vth Corps, in the Meudon--Sevres tract; and when the Guard Landwehr Division came up and occupied St. Germain.

These movements were observed from Paris, and to clear up the situation, General Vinoy advanced at nine o'clock on 13th October with about 26,000 men and 80 guns, against the position held by the IInd Bavarian Corps.

Four battalions of Gardes-Mobiles, protected by the fire of the nearest forts and of field batteries, advanced to the attack of Bagneux, and forced their way over the entrenchments wrecked by artillery fire, into the heart of the place, whence the defenders retired to Fontenay, when at eleven o'clock the French 10th Regiment of the line had also come up.

Reinforced by a fresh battalion, and supported by an effective flanking fire from Chatillon, the Bavarians now made so firm a stand that the enemy could make no further progress, but began to put Bagneux in a state of defence. Meanwhile the 4th Bavarian Division had stood to arms, and by about 1.30 General von Bothmer (its commander) moved it up from Sceaux and from Fontenay, and proceeded to surround Bagneux. The barricades erected by the enemy were carried, who however still offered an obstinate resistance in the northern part of the village.

A French battalion had also made its way into Chatillon, but the Bavarian battalion in occupation there held its own until a.s.sistance came, and the enemy was driven out of the place after a sharp conflict.

A third brigade seized Clamart, which at that time was not yet included in the German intrenched lines; but it failed to climb the ascent to Moulin de la Tour, although the defenders on the plateau above were exposed to the fire of the forts.

General Vinoy had convinced himself that forces which were a match for him confronted him at every point, and at three o'clock he decided to break off the fight. The French bodies of troops gradually disappeared behind the forts, and had all vanished by dusk. The Bavarians returned to their former fore-post positions, and the garrison of Bagneux was increased to two battalions.

All France had meanwhile been arming with eager haste. Armies of considerable strength were being ma.s.sed at Rouen and Evreux, at Besancon, and especially behind the Loire, of very various composition no doubt, and above all lacking in professional officers to drill and discipline them. Great battles were therefore in the first instance to be avoided; the enemy was to be constantly hara.s.sed by small engagements. Thus, towards the end of September, General Delarue advanced from Evreux with his "Eclaireurs de la Seine" up to the vicinity of St. Germain. But the 5th Cavalry Division, supported by two Bavarian battalions, drove these bands back to Dreux behind the Eure.

The woods in front of the 6th Cavalry Division were also full of hostile parties, who were, however, swept out without much difficulty beyond Rambouillet to Epernon.

Matters looked more serious to the south of Paris, in front of the 4th Cavalry Division, which was in observation towards the Loire.

The newly-formed French XVth Corps had a.s.sembled at Orleans in three Divisions with a strength of 60,000 men, and it occupied the whole forest-belt on the right bank of the river. To counteract the danger threatening the investment from that direction, the 1st Bavarian Corps and the 22nd Division of the XIth had been put in march on Arpajon and Montclery as soon as they were freed from duty at Sedan; and on the 6th of October they were placed, with the 2nd Cavalry Division, under the command of General von der Tann.

ACTION OF ARTENAY.

(October 10th.)

When General von der Tann received instructions to take the offensive against Orleans, he marched on the 9th of October to the vicinity of St.

Peravy without meeting any serious opposition, and on the 10th advanced on Artenay. The 4th Cavalry Division covered the right flank; the 2nd remained near Pithiviers, where the enemy had collected in great force.

General La Motterouge on the same day also moved out on Artenay with the XVth French Corps, having the wood in his rear occupied by Gardes-Mobiles; and so the advanced guards of both sides met at a short distance to the north of the common objective.

While the Bavarian light horse on the right were driving the French cavalry before them, the infantry deployed across the road near to Dambron. The 22nd Division marched forward on Dambron with both Cavalry Divisions on its flanks. Under the fire of the Bavarian batteries, the French had gone about to Artenay, where the Germans were ready to receive them. Attacked in front and threatened by bodies of horse, at about two o'clock, leaving their tents standing, they began a retreat which soon degenerated into flight. The cavalry seized four field-guns and took above 250 prisoners. Six hundred more, who had reached Croix Briquet, surrendered there to the Bavarian infantry on the arrival of the latter.

The German troops had made a long march; General von der Tann therefore allowed them rest for the day in and around Artenay, and only the advanced guard went on to Chevilly, to pursue the march to Orleans next day.

ENGAGEMENT AT ORLEANS.

(October 11th.)

On this day, the 22nd Division, for the time only 6000 strong, moved to the right flank of the advance, and drove the French out of several villages partly prepared for defence; it was not till about ten o'clock that it met with serious opposition from an intrenched position at Ormes.

The French Commander after the disaster at Artenay had decided on a retreat behind the Loire, to cover which he had halted about 15,000 men on the right bank of the river, in a position which possessed many essentials towards a good defence.

General von Wittich (commanding 22nd Division) first sent the 44th Brigade against this position at Ormes, and opened fire from seven batteries. The troops of his left wing, supported by the Bavarian right, made their way but slowly over the plain east of the enemy's position, and various enclosures and buildings had to be stormed and taken as they advanced. This threatening att.i.tude of the German right, however, shook the firmness of the defence, and, after some hours' hard fighting, the French began to retreat. No sooner was this observed by the Germans than two batteries were brought up to within 800 paces, and the 83rd Regiment stormed the entrenchments at two in the afternoon, but with heavy loss. Detachments of the 43rd Brigade had meanwhile reached the road in rear of Ormes, and took 800 prisoners. But the villages, gardens and vineyards which line the road to Orleans for more than four miles on either side, were serious obstacles to the advance of the Germans in close formation, and the Division did not arrive at Pet.i.t St. Jean till three o'clock, of which the nearest buildings were forcibly taken possession of.

The Bavarian Corps, which had also met with a stout resistance at Saran, pushed forward to Bel Air, but with great loss, especially in the artillery. Here the nature of the ground did not allow of the deployment of the guns, a further attack came to a standstill, and at half-past four the French were still stoutly holding their own at Les Aides, till the advance of the 4th Bavarian Brigade to Murlins threatened their line of retreat. They made a renewed stand behind the railway embankment, 1000 paces in front of the town, and the railway-station and gas-works had also to be taken by a.s.sault.

It was already five o'clock when General von der Tann led his reserve, the 1st Bavarian Brigade, to the decisive a.s.sault of Grand Ormes. The 32nd Prussian Regiment crossed the embankment on the left flank of the French, who now retired into the suburb of St. Jean. The 1st Bavarian Regiment, hurrying in their rear, was received with a hot fire at the gate of the city; but with its officers marching at its head it reached the market-place about seven o'clock.

The French hurried across the bridge over the Loire, while the 43rd Prussian and 1st Bavarian Brigades seized the princ.i.p.al buildings and the pa.s.sages across the river; but as darkness fell they desisted from further advance and bivouacked on the open places of the city.

The day had cost the Germans a loss of 900 men, the 3rd Bavarian Brigade having suffered most severely. But their hard-won victory promptly dispelled the disquietude of the investing armies caused by the threatening att.i.tude of the French; and 5000 rifles, ten locomotives and sixty railway-carriages were welcome prizes.

The French rear-guard had lost in detached combats and retreats alone 1800 prisoners; but it had covered the retreat of the main body of the Army of the South for a whole day against superior forces, with praiseworthy determination. In the open field, where skilful handling of ma.s.ses is possible, it would soon have been defeated; but in street-fighting unflinching personal courage is all that is needed in the defender, and the latest recruits of the newly created French levies did not lack that attribute.

On the following day the 1st Bavarian Division took possession of the suburb of St. Marceau, on the further side of the Loire, and advanced to the Loiret. The 2nd Cavalry Division scouted through the Sologne, the 4th on the right bank ranged to the westward.

The French XVth Corps had continued its retreat to Salbris and Pierrefitte, behind the Sauldre.

It was certainly to be wished that its pursuit could have been followed up to Vierzon and Tours, so that the vast a.r.s.enals at the first-named town might have been destroyed, and the Government Delegation driven away from the other. But it must not be forgotten that though the French forces had been discomfited at Artenay, favoured by the nature of the locality they had escaped utter defeat by retreat. General von der Tann was disproportionately weak in the infantry arm, and hostile ma.s.ses were disclosing themselves on all sides. A new French Army Corps, the XVIth, appeared at Blois, below Orleans, and at Gien, above that city; the German cavalry met with resistance in the forest of Marchenoir and before Chateaudun; and everywhere the inhabitants and volunteers appeared so full of confidence that the proximity of reinforcements was to be presumed.

So it behoved the Germans to restrict themselves to the occupation of Orleans and the line of the Loire; and for this purpose the Bavarian Corps, with the 2nd Cavalry Division, seemed a sufficient force. The 22nd Infantry and 4th Cavalry Divisions were recalled to the IIIrd Army; on their return march they were charged to disperse the volunteers who had made their appearance at Chateaudun and Chartres.

General von der Tann had the bridges over the Loiret and the Loire prepared for destruction, an Etappen-line was established to Longjumeau, and the Bavarian Railway Detachment set to work to restore the line to Villeneuve.

REDUCTION OF SOISSONS.

(October 15th.)

Soissons still hindered the further utilization of the railway, which had been re-opened at the time of the fall of Toul as far as Rheims.

This fortress had been bombarded by field artillery without success when the Army of the Meuse pa.s.sed by it on the march to Paris, and since then it had only been kept under observation until on October 6th eight Landwehr battalions, four squadrons, two batteries, two companies of pioneers, and four of fortress artillery made good the investment.

Soissons, with its walls about 26 feet high, had complete immunity from escalade, and the damming of the Crise brook made it una.s.sailable on the south. The south-west front, on the other hand, had only a dry ditch, with no counterscarp of masonry; here, too, the town was commanded by Mont Marion, rising to a height of 300 feet at a distance of little more than a mile. Against this face of the fortress, therefore, the artillery attack was directed at short range, when on the 11th October there arrived from Toul 26 Prussian siege-guns with 170 rounds for each, and 10 French mortars. The Grand Duke of Mecklenburg took over the command.

In a clear moonlight night the artillery with the help of the infantry was brought up on to the heights of Ste. Genevieve; the construction of the batteries about Belleu and in Mont Marion was completed and the arming of them effected. At six in the morning of 12th October they opened fire simultaneously.

The besieged answered with great spirit but with small results, and the accurate fire of the Prussian artillery soon subdued that of the enemy in the particular front.

A narrow breach was visible by next day, and the fire from the fortress was evidently much enfeebled; but the commandant decidedly rejected the demand that he should capitulate. On the 14th he increased the number of guns on his south front, so that the batteries on Ste. Genevieve had an arduous struggle. The French also laboured hard along the front of the attack to restore the severely damaged works, brought more guns up to the ramparts, and closed the breach by retrenchment.