The Franco-German War of 1870-71 Part 31

On the Upper Loire also French detachments had advanced against the Hessian posts about Briare, and had driven them back, on the 14th, to Ouzouer; while from the Sologne came a report of the advance of a newly-formed French Army Corps--the XXVth.

The German IXth Corps, after evacuating and destroying the camp at Conlie, was therefore sent to Orleans in support. The remainder of the IInd Army, the IIIrd and Xth Corps with the three cavalry divisions--in a strength of about 27,000 foot, 9000 horse, and 186 guns--was a.s.sembled by Prince Frederick Charles round Le Mans. The cavalry in observation on the front and flanks had several small skirmishes, but no further serious hostilities were attempted.

The 4th Cavalry Division held Alencon on the right, and on the left General von Hartmann entered Tours without any opposition.

FOOTNOTES:

[66] Commanding 6th Division, IIIrd Corps.

[67] "Arnage" on the map and in the _Staff History_.

[68] The "Holsteiners" mentioned in the text were two battalions of the 85th Regiment, which belonged to the 36th Brigade, 18th Division, IXth Army Corps, whose territorial region consists of Schleswig-Holstein, the Hanse towns, Mecklenburg, &c.

[69] The 17th and 92nd Regiments comprising the 46th Brigade commanded by General von Diringshofen.

[70] The 91st Regiment, 37th Brigade, 10th Army Corps, whose recruiting ground is Hanover, Oldenburg, and Brunswick. The Hanoverian Corps consists mainly of the regiments of the old Hanoverian army of the kingdom long ruled by British sovereigns; an army whose valour, proved side by side with British troops on countless battle-fields from Minden and Dettingen to the Peninsula and Waterloo, culminated in its final battle on the glorious but luckless field of Langensalza.

OCCURRENCES NORTHWARD OF PARIS DURING JANUARY.

At the beginning of the New Year a considerable part of the Ist German Army was engaged in besieging Peronne, which had afforded a safe crossing-point for the debouche of the French on the southern bank of the Somme. General Barnekow held the little place invested with the 3rd Reserve Division and the 31st Infantry Brigade. Previously it had only been kept under observation by cavalry, but circ.u.mstances had temporarily given it importance. What of the VIIIth Corps formerly on the Somme was available formed a wide curve from Amiens northward as far as Bapaume, to cover the siege.

The Ist Corps, posted at Rouen for the time, consisted only of three brigades; but the 4th was on the march thither from before Peronne, where it had been relieved. No reinforcement of the Ist Army had been effected. The 14th Division, after reducing Mezieres and, soon after, Rocroy, had received fresh orders from Versailles which transferred it to another part of the theatre of war.

General Faidherbe had concentrated his troops behind the Scarpe, from their resting quarters south of Arras, and had begun his forward march on January 2nd. He advanced with the XXIInd Corps to the relief of Peronne by way of Bucquoy. The XXIIIrd followed by the high road to Bapaume. About half-past ten Derroja's Division of the former Corps obliged the 3rd Cavalry Division, as well as those battalions of the 32nd Brigade which had been attached to it, to fall back on Miraumont, followed, however, only as far as Achiet le Pet.i.t.

The other Division, under General Bessol, did not advance towards Achiet le Grand till the afternoon. There it was opposed for several hours by two companies of the 68th, a sub-division of Hussars, and two guns, which only retired in the evening on Avesnes. The French did not follow up the detachment, but threw out outposts about Bihucourt.

Payen's Division deployed on the high road at Behagnies, and its batteries opened fire on Sapignies, where, however, General von Strubberg had posted five battalions. These repulsed the attack, and at two o'clock entered Behagnies with a rush, took 240 prisoners, and prepared the village for defence. The enemy withdrew to Ervillers, and there once again drew out, but attempted no further attack.

The other Division of the French XXIIIrd Corps, consisting of mobilized National Guards under General Robin, moved forward on the left on Mory.

There were only one battalion and a squadron of Hussars to oppose it. By extending their line on the heights of Beugnatre, the German detachment succeeded in deceiving the enemy in regard to its weakness. The latter marched and counter-marched, and also brought up artillery, but did not attempt an attack, and remained at Mory.

The 30th German Brigade and the 3rd Cavalry Division a.s.sembled for the night in and about Bapaume. The 29th Brigade occupied the neighbouring villages on the right and the left of the Arras road.

BATTLE OF BAPAUME.--_January 3rd._--General Faidherbe had brought his forces close up to the position which covered the investment of Peronne.

His four Divisions consisted of fifty-seven battalions, which were opposed by only seventeen German battalions. He decided on the 3rd to push on in four columns to Grevillers and Biefvillers, on the high road, and to Favreuil on the east.

But General von Goeben was not inclined to give up his position at Bapaume. Under cover of a force in occupation of Favreuil, General von k.u.mmer in the morning a.s.sembled the 30th Brigade in front of Bapaume, and behind it the 29th, of which, however, three battalions were left in the villages to left and to right. A reserve was established further to the rear at Tronsloy, whither the 8th Rifle Battalion, with two batteries, was detached; and General von Barnekow received orders to hold three battalions and the 2nd Foot Detachment in readiness at Sailly Saillisel, without raising the blockade. Finally the detachment under Prince Albrecht, jun.--three battalions, eight squadrons, and three batteries--advanced on Bertincourt, near to the subsequent battle-field.

In this disposition, in bitterly cold and sullen weather, the attack of the French was awaited.

General Count von der Groeben had already sent the 7th Cavalry Brigade against the enemy's right flank, but it did not succeed in forcing its way through the villages occupied by the hostile infantry.

On the right wing the Division Robin was at Beugnatre met by so sharp a fire from two battalions of the 65th Regiment and two horse batteries which had joined them from Transloy, that it withdrew again on Mory. The garrison of Favreuil was reinforced by two battalions and two batteries against the approach of the Division Payen, which was marching by the high road to the eastward of that place. The first French gun moving out from Sapignies was immediately destroyed, but several batteries soon became engaged on both sides, and the French forced their way into Favreuil and St. Aubin.

The 40th Regiment advanced on these places at noon from Bertincourt, and after a lively action re-occupied them; but had to evacuate Favreuil again, and took up a position alongside of the 2nd Guard Uhlan regiment and a horse battery sideward of Fremicourt, which secured the right flank of the Division.

On the left, the Division Bessol had driven the weak garrison out of Biefvillers. The 1st Battalion of the 33rd Regiment, which moved forward to retake that place, became hotly engaged; it lost all but three of its officers, and had to retire upon Avesnes. The Division Derroja also took part in this fight. The French now brought up a strong force of artillery, and extended their firing-line to the south nearly as far as the road to Albert.

Therefore, at mid-day, General von k.u.mmer decided to confine himself to the local defence of Bapaume. At the cost of serious loss, the artillery covered the drawing in thither of the infantry. The 1st Heavy Battery, which was the last to withdraw, lost 2 officers, 17 men, and 36 horses; its guns could only be brought out of action with the help of the infantry.

In Bapaume the 29th Brigade now prepared for an obstinate defence of the old city wall, and the 30th a.s.sembled behind the place. The French advanced leisurely as far as the suburb. Then ensued a long pause in the fighting. General Faidherbe hoped to take the town by further encompa.s.sing it, without exposing it to a bombardment followed by a storm. A brigade of the Division Derroja endeavoured to advance through Tilloy, but met there with stubborn resistance from the Rifle Battalion and two batteries which had come up from Peronne. At the same time twenty-four guns of the batteries which had retired behind Bapaume opened fire on the advancing columns, which then withdrew, at half-past three, across the road to Albert. They soon resumed the attack, and succeeded in entering Tilloy. All the neighbouring batteries now opened fire upon this village. General von Mirus, who on the advance of the 3rd Cavalry Division had been left behind in Miraumont, saw no enemy in his front there, but heard the fighting at Bapaume, and advanced from the west, as did General von Strubberg from the town, to renew the attack.

The French did not await their arrival, and were driven back out of the suburb and also Avesnes. The French Divisions spent the night at Grevillers, Bihucourt, Favreuil, and Beugnatre, thus surrounding Bapaume on three sides. The day had cost the Germans 52 officers and 698 men, and the French 53 officers and 2066 men.

But only by exerting the whole available strength of the VIIIth Corps had it been possible to withstand the preponderating attack of the enemy. It had not yet been possible to replenish the Corps' supply of ammunition, and General von Goeben decided to immediately move back the fighting ground to behind the Somme. This movement was actually in process when the patrols brought information that the enemy was also evacuating the neighbouring villages.

The French troops, as yet unaccustomed to the vicissitudes of warfare, had suffered extremely from the previous day's fighting and the severe cold of the ensuing night. General Faidherbe could perceive that the forces before Peronne had been brought forward to Bapaume, and that the Germans thus reinforced would take the offensive. His chief object, the interruption of the siege of Peronne, had been obtained, and the General thought it best not to endanger that result by a second encounter. He led his Corps back in the direction of Arras. Of the German cavalry detachments following up the retirement the 8th Cuira.s.siers succeeded in breaking a French square. The 15th Division withdrew behind the Somme, immediately below Peronne, and the Saxon cavalry joined the right wing at St. Quentin.

FIGHTING ON THE LOWER SEINE.--_January 4th._--Exactly at the same time the other Corps of the Ist Army was in conflict with the enemy on the Lower Seine. The French had not undertaken any new enterprise on the right bank of the river, but on the left bank they held the wooded heights of Bois de la Londe, which overhang the southern outlet of the Seine after its encircling the peninsula of Grand Couronne. Here General von Bentheim,[71] with a view of gaining room in this direction, had a.s.sembled half the Ist Army Corps, and advanced on the 4th of January on Les Moulineaux. Before daybreak Lieut.-Colonel von Hullessem surprised the enemy's outposts there, stormed the rock-crowned fortalice of Chateau Robert le Diable, and took prisoners the defenders who had sought refuge amid the ruins of the castle. The heights of Maison Brulet were then scaled under the heavy fire of the enemy, and two of his guns were taken. After a renewed resistance at St. Ouen the French withdrew on Bourgachard in the afternoon, pursued towards six in the evening by a half squadron of dragoons, two guns, and a company carried on waggons, which took from them two 12-pounders posted at the entrance of Rougemontier, killing the gunners and capturing an ammunition waggon.

After a slight skirmish the enemy was also driven out of Bourgtheroulde and thrown back in the direction of Brionne. The French right wing at Elbeuf during the night hastily withdrew from a position rendered precarious by the wavering of the other detachments. The affair cost 5 officers and 160 men. The loss of the French must have been equal, besides which they lost 300 prisoners and 4 guns.

General Roye posted his troops behind the Rille on the line Pont-Audemer--Brionne, but the Germans now held Bourgachard, Bourgtheroulde, and Elbeuf strongly garrisoned, with three battalions at Grand-Couronne in readiness to furnish support. The other troops returned to Rouen. An attempted advance of the French on the same day by the northern bank of the Seine had been arrested in front of Fauville, whence they again withdrew towards Harfleur.

Meanwhile it had not escaped the observation of the VIIIth Army Corps that this time the French did not seek the cover of the northern fortresses, but that they had halted south of Arras, thus betraying an intention shortly to renew the attack on the force investing Peronne.

General von Goeben therefore decided to return to the northern bank of the Somme, to cover that operation, and there to take up a flanking position whose front the enemy would have to cross in his advance.

On January 6th, after the troops had been permitted one day's rest and the ammunition had been replenished, the 30th Brigade moved to Bray, the 29th to Albert. In close vicinity to the enemy was the 3rd Cavalry Division at Bapaume, behind it the Guard Cavalry Brigade. For the protection of the left flank Lieut.-Colonel von Pestel[72] occupied Acheux, and from the investing Corps the 3rd Reserve Division moved westward of Peronne to Feuilleres. The Corps-Artillery remained for the time on the left bank of the Somme, since it almost seemed as if the enemy intended to direct his attack on Amiens.

But during the next day the French did not undertake anything of importance, and on the 9th Peronne fell.

REDUCTION OF PeRONNE.--_January 9th._--For fourteen days this little place had been invested by eleven battalions, sixteen squadrons, and ten batteries. Flooded meadows on one side, and on the other walls with medieval towers, had secured it against a surprise; but for the rest it was commanded on all sides by overhanging heights.

Although the fire of fifty-eight field guns had not done it much damage, yet in any case it must have been very soon discontinued for want of ammunition. A bombardment with captured French siege-artillery remained without result. The fortress stoutly maintained its fire, and its garrison of only 3500 men even attempted sorties.

As before mentioned, on the day of the battle of Bapaume, a portion of the besieging troops had been necessarily withdrawn to the support of the VIIIth Army Corps, and in the uncertainty as to the result of this fight it had been imperative to take precautions for the safety of the siege material. The troops that remained behind stood ready to march, and part of the heavy guns had been withdrawn. But the garrison maintained a waiting att.i.tude.

Two days later arrived a siege-train of fifty-five heavy guns which had been brought together at La Fere. A second, of twenty-eight French siege-pieces, was on the way from Mezieres. The preliminaries of a regular siege were undertaken, and when at length on the 8th of January a large ammunition-convoy arrived, the commandant was summoned to give up a defence that had now become hopeless.

On the 10th of January, General von Barnekow entered the fortress, which was found amply provided with arms, ammunition and provisions. The garrison were made prisoners.

On the 7th of January, his Majesty the King had a.s.signed General von Manteuffel to another section of the theatre of war, and had given the supreme command of the Ist Army to General von Goeben.

Freed from concern as to Peronne, that General's only duty thenceforward was to insure the protection of the investment of Paris. For this purpose the Somme, whose pa.s.sages were all in the hands of the Germans, formed a natural bulwark, behind which the attack even of a greatly superior enemy could be awaited. And some reinforcements now arrived for the VIIIth Army Corps. The peaceful condition of the Lower Seine allowed of two infantry regiments and two batteries being sent from thence to Amiens. By instructions from the supreme Head-quarter an infantry brigade of the Meuse Army was held in readiness, which in case of need was to be sent up by rail to reinforce the Ist Army.

It was still uncertain whither the enemy would direct his stroke.

General von Goeben, therefore, spread his forces behind the Somme on a prolonged extension of some forty-five miles, still holding fast the points gained in front of the river, to meet the contingency of his having to renew the offensive. In the middle of the month, the detachments of the Ist Corps under the command of General Count von der Groeben occupied Amiens, Corbie, and the line of the Hallue as a flank position. The 15th Division, holding Bray firmly, took up quarters south of that village. Next to it, on the left of Peronne, was the 3rd Reserve Division, right of it were the 16th Division and the 3rd Reserve Cavalry Brigade, holding Roisel and Vermand to the front. The 12th Cavalry Division was at St. Quentin.

The French army had already begun to advance on the Cambrai high-road, and its XXIInd Corps had pushed back the 3rd Cavalry Division first out of Bapaume and then out of Albert behind the Hallue. The XXIIIrd followed by the same road, and their objective really appears to have been Amiens. But a reconnaissance had exposed the difficulty of attacking in that direction, besides which a telegram from the War Minister announced that the Army of Paris within the next few days was to make a last supreme effort to burst the bonds of the investment, and the Army of the North was enjoined to divert, as far as possible, the enemy's forces from the capital, and draw them on itself.

In accordance with these orders General Faidherbe decided to advance without delay on St. Quentin, whither the Brigade Isnard was already marching from Cambrai. An attack on their right wing, consisting for the time solely of cavalry, directly threatened the communications of the Germans, while the vicinity of the northern forts afforded the French army shelter and also greater liberty of action.

But General von Goeben had foreseen such a leftward movement of the enemy, and concentrated all his forces to meet it.