346 



GEEMAN-FEENCH WAE. 



best "African" generals. At 8 o'clock the 

 Bavarians, under Lieutenant-General Hart- 

 mann, began the attack upon Weissenburg, 

 which was vigorously defended by the French, 

 but had to surrender when the Fifth Prussian 

 Corps arrived for the support of the Bava- 

 rians. The most difficult task of the day was 

 the storming of the Geisberg, where General 

 Douay had drawn up the best portion of his 

 division. The French mitrailleuses made ter- 

 rible havoc in the ranks of the three German 

 regiments which stormed the hill, but availed 

 nothing against the impetuous bravery of the 

 German columns. About 12 o'clock General 

 Douay himself fell, the French line broke, 800 

 prisoners fell into the hands of the Germans, 

 and the key to Alsace was secured. The crown 

 prince, who from the heights of Schweigen, 

 near Weissenburg, had directed the battle, was 

 received by his troops with indescribable en- 

 thusiasm. The town of Lauterburg was occu- 

 pied by the troops of Baden, under General 

 Beyer, and those of Wurtemberg, under Gen- 

 eral Obernitz, without encountering any re- 

 sistance. 



On August 5th the headquarters of the 

 crown prince were at Sulz. It was at once 

 ascertained that MacMahon, to arrest the ad- 

 vance of the victorious Germans, was rapidly 

 concentrating his corps west of Worth. In 

 the morning of August 6th he occupied the 

 line extending from Froschweiler to Mors- 

 bronn, having his centre in Elsasshausen. On 

 the German side, the Second Bavarian Corps 

 (under General Hartmann) had its position at 

 Lembach, north of Worth ; the Fifth Prussian 

 Corps, under General Kirchbach, at Preusch- 

 dorf, east of Worth ; the First Bavarian Corps, 

 under General Von der Tann, at Lamperts- 

 loch, south of the road leading from Sulz to 



Worth ; the Eleventh Prussian Corps, under 

 General Bose, at Holschloch ; the Wurtemberg 

 division at Gunstett ; and the cavalry north of 

 Sulz, at Schonenburg. Skirmishes between 

 the outposts began early in the morning, and 

 at 4 o'clock Worth was occupied by the Ger- 

 mans. At 8 o'clock the Second Bavarian 

 Corps began the battle, in which soon the 

 whole artillery of the Fifth Corps took part. 

 As the other corps were still a considerable 

 distance from the scene of the battle, the Fifth 

 Corps was ordered to fall back until all the 

 troops would be in the position assigned to 

 them. In the mean while, the Second Ba- 

 varian Corps had gained an advantageous po- 

 sition on the left flank of the enemy, which it 

 abandoned when it received the order of the 

 commander-in-chief. The French, thus re- 

 lieved, and receiving by railroad large reen- 

 forcements from the corps of Failly and Can- 

 robert, concentrated their whole strength 

 against the Fifth German Corps, at Worth. 

 As the Eleventh German Corps could already 

 be seen to be on the march from Gunstett, the 

 Fifth Corps assumed the offensive. Three 

 times it endeavored to penetrate across the 

 Saner and beyond Worth, but each time it was 

 driven back with immense slaughter. At 2 

 o'clock the engagement became general along 

 the whole line. The Eleventh Corps attacked 

 Elsasshausen, and the First Bavarian Corps ap- 

 peared on the field from Gorsdoff. Furious at- 

 tacks were made and repulsed on both sides, but 

 at length Elsasshausen was taken, and the Elev- 

 enth Corps, soon followed by the Wurtemberg 

 division from the south, and the First Bavarian 

 from the east, cooperated in the attack upon 

 the last position of the French at Froschwei- 

 ler. At 4 o'clock the victory of the Germans 

 was complete, and the French, hotly pursued 



by the German cavalry, put to flight. The 

 loss of the French in killed and wounded was 

 estimated at 10,000. Among the dead were 

 Generals Colson and Eaoul. Two eagles, 30 

 cannons, 6 mitrailleuses, 360,000 francs, and 

 8,000 prisoners, fell into the hands of the Ger- 

 mans. Most of the Turcos were either cap- 



tured or killed. The Germans lost about 4,000 

 in killed and wounded. 



On the same day on which MacMahon was 

 defeated at Worth, parts of the First and 

 Second German armies, numbering in all 

 twenty-seven battalions, gained a brilliant vic- 

 tory over the Second French Corps under 



