The Franco-German War of 1870-71 Part 22

Near Ch.e.l.les, on the line in which the French IIIrd Corps had been advancing in the morning, the Crown Prince of Saxony had collected the 23rd Division; but as soon as the enemy's real objective was penetrated, he despatched part of the 47th Brigade and a portion of the Corps Artillery to the threatened position held by the Wurtembergers.

Not less opportunely had General von Obernitz, as soon as the fighting at Mesly was over, sent three battalions to the Hunting-lodge. In the night orders came from the supreme Head-quarter for the IInd and VIth Corps to send reinforcements to the endangered points of the line of investment, and the 7th and 21st Brigades arrived at Sucy on the following day, the 1st of December.

On the French side the attempt to break through without help from outside was already considered as well-nigh hopeless, and it was only the fear of popular indignation which caused the IIIrd Army to remain longer on the left bank of the Marne. Instead of attacking, the French began to intrench themselves, and in order to clear the battle-field a truce was arranged. The thunder of the cannon from Mont Avron had to serve for the present to keep up the spirits of the Parisians. The Germans also worked at the strengthening of their positions, but, suffering from the sudden and extreme cold, part at least of the troops withdrew into quarters further rearward.

The command of the whole of the German Army between the Marne and the Seine was a.s.sumed by General von Fransecky (commanding IInd Corps). The Head-quarter of the Army of the Meuse had already given instructions that Prince George (of Saxony) with all the available troops of the XIIth Corps, should make surprise-attacks on Bry and Champigny in the early morning of the 2nd.

With this object, on the morning specified the 24th Division a.s.sembled at Noisy, the 1st Wurtemberg Brigade at Villiers, and the 7th Prussian Brigade at the Hunting-lodge.

The foremost battalions of the Saxon Division drove back the enemy's outposts by a sudden rush, took 100 prisoners, and after storming a barricade entered Bry. Here ensued an embittered fight in the streets and houses, in which the 2nd Battalion of the 107th Regiment lost nearly all its officers. Nevertheless it maintained its hold on the northern part of the village, in spite of the heavy fire of the forts.

The Wurtembergers also forced an entrance into Champigny, but soon met with fierce resistance from the enemy sheltered in the buildings. The previously occupied Bois de la Lande had to be abandoned, and General Ducrot now determined to resort to the offensive. The strong artillery line on his front came into action at about nine o'clock, and two Divisions deployed in rear of it.

Meanwhile the Fusilier battalion of the Colberg Regiment marched once more from the Hunting-lodge on Bois de la Lande, and carried it with the first onslaught. The French, firing heavily from the railway embankments, struck down the Pomeranians with clubbed rifles and at the point of the bayonet. A fierce fight was carried on at the same time at the lime-pits, where at noon 160 French laid down their arms. When six Wurtemberg and nine Prussian batteries had been by degrees brought into action against Champigny, General Hartmann[46] succeeded in getting as far as the road leading to Bry. As, however, the batteries were now being masked by their own infantry, and were suffering, too, under the heavy projectiles fired from the forts, they were withdrawn into the hollow of the Hunting-lodge. At two o'clock the 1st Wurtemberg and 7th Prussian Brigades established themselves firmly in the line from the churchyard of Champigny to the Bois de la Lande.

Meanwhile the French divisions of Bellemare and Susbielle had reached the battle-field from the right bank of the Marne. The two Saxon battalions in Bry, having already lost 36 officers and 638 men, were compelled by the approach of the enemy in very superior force, to evacuate the village and retire on Noisy, but not without taking 300 prisoners with them. The rest of the Saxon forces held Villiers, where the still available batteries also were in position.

While, at two o'clock, the French were bringing up a strong artillery ma.s.s against this point, four batteries of the IInd Corps rushed out of the hollow near the Hunting-lodge at a gallop upon their flank, and opened fire at a range of 2000 paces. In less than ten minutes the French batteries fell back and the Prussian batteries returned to their sheltered position. Several hostile battalions which, at about three o'clock, attempted a renewed a.s.sault on Villiers, were repulsed with no difficulty, and at five o'clock the fighting ceased. The French merely kept up a fire of field and fortress artillery until dark.

General Ducrot had received information in the course of the day, that the Army of the Loire was marching on Fontainebleau, and he was, therefore, very anxious to continue to maintain his position outside Paris.

During the night of December 2nd--3rd, provisions were procured, and the teams and ammunition of the batteries were made up; but the approach of support from without was in no wise confirmed.

The troops were completely exhausted by the previous disastrous fighting, and the Commander-in-Chief was justified in apprehending a repulse on the Marne by the enemy's invigorated forces. He therefore ordered a retreat, the troops being informed that the attack should be renewed as soon as their preparedness for fighting should have been re-established.

Soon after midnight the divisions were a.s.sembled behind the outposts, and the trains were sent back first. At noon the troops were able to follow over the bridges at Neuilly, Bry, and Joinville. Only one brigade remained in position to cover the pa.s.sage.

The retreat was very skilfully covered by a series of small attacks on the German outposts. The French batteries had opened fire at Le Plant and Bry by daybreak, and the withdrawal of the enemy's army was completely hidden by the thick mist.

General Fransecky a.s.sembled the Saxon and the Wurtemberg Divisions in a fighting position at Villiers and Coeuilly, the 7th Brigade with the Corps-Artillery of the IInd Corps and two regiments of the VIth at Chennevieres, intending to wait for the expected reinforcement which the VIth Corps had agreed to furnish for the 4th. The 23rd Division also received orders from the Crown Prince of Saxony to cross to the left bank of the Marne, whilst the Guard Corps had meanwhile extended its outposts to Ch.e.l.les.

So remained matters on the 3rd, with the exception of petty frays, and at four o'clock in the afternoon the troops were able to return to quarters. When early on the 4th patrols rode forward towards Bry and Champigny, they found these places vacated, and the peninsula of Joinville deserted by the enemy.

The IInd French Army, which had been severely reduced and its internal cohesion much shaken, returned to Paris; on its own report it had lost 12,000 men. The German troops engaged had lost 6200 men, but resumed their former positions in the investing line.

This energetic attempt on the part of General Ducrot was the most serious effort that was made for the relief of Paris. It was directed towards what was at the moment the weakest point of the investment, but met with any success only at the outset.[47]

FOOTNOTES:

[46] Commanding 3rd Infantry Division.

[47] A legend was subsequently circulated that the voice of one general in a German council of war had, in opposition to all the others, prevented the removal of the chief head-quarters from Versailles. Apart from the fact that during the whole course of the invasion no council of war was ever held, it never occurred to any member of the King's military suite to set so bad an example to the army. [Moltke.]

THE ADVANCE OF THE IST ARMY IN NOVEMBER.

The newly-formed levies in northern France were not remaining inactive.

Rouen and Lille were their chief centres. In front of the latter place, the Somme with its fortified pa.s.sages at Ham, Peronne, Amiens, and Abbeville afforded a line equally advantageous for attacks to the front or for secure retreat. Isolated advances had, indeed, on various occasions, been driven back by detachments of the Army of the Meuse, but these were too weak to rid themselves of the continued molestation by pursuit pushed home.

We have already seen how, after the fall of Metz, the IInd Army marched to the Loire, and the Ist into the northern departments of France.

A large portion of the Ist Army was at first detained on the Moselle by having had to undertake the transport of the numerous prisoners and the observation of the fortresses which interrupted the communications with Germany. The whole VIIth Corps was either in Metz or before Thionville and Montmedy. Of the Ist Corps, the 1st Division was detached to Rethel,[48] the 4th Brigade transported by railway through Soissons to the investment of La Fere, and the 3rd Cavalry Division sent on towards the forest of Argonnes. The remaining five brigades followed with the artillery on the 7th November.[49]

Marching on a wide front, the force reached the Oise between Compiegne and Chauny on the 20th. In front of the right wing the cavalry, supported by a battalion of Jagers, came in contact with Gardes-Mobiles at Ham and Guiscard; in face of the infantry columns the hostile bodies fell back on Amiens. It was learned that 15,000 men were there, and that reinforcements were continually joining.

On the 25th the 3rd Brigade reached Le Quesnel. The 15th Division of the VIIIth Corps advanced beyond Montdidier, and the 16th to Breteuil, whence it established connection with the Saxon detachments about Clermont. On the 26th the right wing closed up to Le Quesnel, the left to Moreuil and Essertaux. The cavalry scouted forward towards the Somme, the right bank of which it found occupied. The enemy's att.i.tude indicated that he was confining himself to the defence of that position.

General von Manteuffel thereupon determined to attack, without waiting for the arrival of the 1st Division, the transport of which from Rethel was extraordinarily delayed. His intention, in the first instance, was to utilize the 27th in drawing closer in his forces, which were extended along a front of some nineteen miles. But the battle was unexpectedly fought on that same day.

FOOTNOTES:

[48] According to statement on p. 177, to Mezieres.

[49] The "five brigades" mentioned in the text consisted of the 3rd of Ist Corps, and the four composing the VIIIth Corps, of which, the Ist and VIIth, the Ist Army was made up. The 1st Cavalry Division, originally belonging to the Ist Army, was transferred to the IInd Army by the reorganization following the capitulation of Metz.

BATTLE OF AMIENS.

(November 17th.)

General Farre, with his 17,500 men distributed into three brigades, stood eastward of Amiens on the south bank of the Somme, about Villers Bretonneux and Longueau along the road to Peronne, holding also the villages and copses on his front. Besides these troops there were 8000 Gardes-Mobiles occupying an intrenched position about two and a half miles in front of the city.

In accordance with instructions from the Army Headquarter, General von Goeben (commanding the VIIIth Corps) had given orders for the 27th that the 15th Division should take up quarters at Fouencamps and Sains; the 16th at Rumigny and Plachy and in the villages further back; the Corps-Artillery at Grattepanche. Consequently the VIIIth Corps was to be a.s.sembled before Amiens between the Celle and the Noye, at the distance, then, of nearly two and a half miles from the Ist Corps, and divided from it by the latter brook and the Avre. General von Bentheim (commanding the 1st Division, Ist Corps[50]) on the other hand, had sent his advanced guard, the 3rd Brigade, into quarters north of the Luce.

At an early hour that brigade seized the pa.s.sages of the brook at Demuin, Hangard, and Domart. At ten o'clock it moved forward in order to occupy the appointed quarters, and as the enemy were already in possession, a fight began which gradually increased in magnitude.

The wooded heights on the north bank of the Luce were taken without any particular resistance, and maintained in spite of several counter strokes by the French. The artillery pushed forward through the intervals of the infantry. On the left the 4th Regiment seized the village of Gentelles, on the right the 44th Regiment rushed up to within 300 paces of the left flank of the French position, and by a vigorous onslaught carried by storm the earthworks at the railway cutting east of Villers Bretonneux. Soon after mid-day heavy hostile ma.s.ses drew up at Bretonneux and in Cachy, directly opposite the 3rd Brigade, which was extended along a front of some four miles.

On the left wing of the Germans the 16th Division had by eleven o'clock already reached its a.s.signed quarters, and had driven the enemy out of Hebecourt, as well as out of the woods north of that village towards Dury. The 15th Division, in compliance with the enjoined a.s.semblage of the VIIIth Corps on the left bank of the Noye, moved westward from Moreuil through Ailly to Dommartin, its advance guard which had been holding Hailles marching direct on Fouencamps. Thus it happened that before noon the roads from Roye and Montdidier between the two Corps were left completely uncovered by troops on the German side, while a French brigade was standing at the fork of these roads at Longueau, though, in fact, it remained absolutely inactive. This interval was at first screened only by the numerous retinue and staff escort of the Commander-in-Chief; and then it was to some extent filled by the battalion const.i.tuting the guard of the headquarter. As, however, after ten o'clock the French on their side commenced an attack on the 3rd Brigade, General von Manteuffel ordered the 15th Division to join in the fight as far as possible toward the right wing.

After a staunch defence the companies of the 4th Regiment were driven back out of the Bois de Hangard towards the declivity of the height in front of Demuin, and subsequently, having expended all their ammunition, the defenders of Gentelles were driven back to Domart.

General von Strubberg (commanding 30th Infantry Brigade, VIIIth Corps), on instructions from the scene of combat in front of the Luce, had sent four battalions in that direction, which crossed the Avre, but came under such a heavy fire from the Bois de Gentelles that their further advance was prevented, and they had to change front against the wood.

Behind them, however, the other detachments of the 30th Brigade pressed forward to St. Nicolas on the right bank, and to Boves on the left, and in co-operation with the 29th Brigade drove the French from the neighbouring Ruinenberg.

Meanwhile a part of the approaching 1st Division came up behind the 3rd Brigade. The artillery positions were considerably strengthened, and the cannon fire was directed against the earthworks south of Bretonneux. As the nearest support the Crown Prince's Regiment went forward, and soon the French were again driven out of the Bois de Hangard. The East Prussians following them up, took cover in front of the earthworks; several detachments of the 4th and 44th Regiments gradually collected there from the neighbouring woods, and the enemy was then driven back from this position. Thirteen batteries now silenced the French artillery, and, after they had fired for some time on Bretonneux, the place was, at four o'clock, seized by the Prussians pouring in from all sides with drums beating. The French in its interior made only a weak defence at isolated points; for the most part they hurried over the Somme at Corbie under cover of the darkness, and with the loss of 180 unwounded prisoners.

When, somewhat later, the French General Lecointe advanced with the reserve brigade on Domart, he found that crossing point already in possession of the 1st Division, and turned back. Cachy only was held by the French till late in the evening.

The troops of the Ist Corps were distributed for the night in the hamlets to the south of the Luce; but the outposts were established on the northern bank of the Somme, and Bretonneux also remained occupied.

On the left wing of the battle-field the 16th Division had advanced to Dury, and had driven the French out of the neighbouring churchyard, but had been forced to withdraw from an attack on the enemy's extensive and strongly defended line of intrenchment. It bivouacked behind Dury.

It was night before General von Manteuffel received information which proved that the enemy had been completely defeated. Early in the morning of the 28th the patrols of the Ist Corps found the region clear of the enemy as far as the Somme, and all the bridges across the river destroyed. At noon General von Goeben entered Amiens, the citadel of which capitulated two days later with its garrison of 400 men and 30 cannon.