348 



GEKMAN-FKENCH WAK. 



General Frossard, near Saarbrucken. On the 

 approach of the Germans, Frossard withdrew 

 his forces to the steep and partly-wooded 

 heights of Spichern, which were considered 

 an almost impregnable position. The heights 

 rise several hundred feet above the valley in 

 which Saarbrucken is situated, and which the 

 German infantry had now to traverse without 

 any cover. In many places the hUls run out 

 into the valley, flanking it in every direction. 

 Though fatigued by forced marches, the Prus- 

 sian troops at noon were ordered to storm the 

 heights. They met with a formidable resist- 

 ance, and suffered immense losses ; the single 

 division Stulpnagel alone losing 2,297 men. 

 For several hours no progress was made, but 

 when the artillery of the Fifth Division succeed- 

 ed in mounting two batteries on the heights, the 

 mitrailleuses were silenced, and the position 

 of the French became untenable. They re- 

 treated in great haste during the night, leaving 

 behind their dead and wounded. The Ger- 

 mans took about 2,000 unwounded prisoners 

 and an immense amount of war material. On 

 the next day, August 7th, the Prussians occu- 

 pied Forbach and Saargemtind ; on August 

 9th, St. Avoid. 



In consequence of these German successes 

 the entire French army fell back. The corps 

 of MacMahon, hotly pursued by the Germans, 

 hastily retreated toward Nancy and Metz. 

 The other corps retreated in the same direc- 

 tion, occupying a new position along the line 

 of the Moselle. A proclamation by the Em- 

 press Eugenie, who had been appointed Ke- 

 gent of France, acknowledged that the French 

 army had suffered a serious check, and called 

 for the organization of the most vigorous 

 resistance. The Ministerial Council declared 

 Paris in a state of siege, and convoked the 

 Chambers, which met on the 9th, and de- 

 clared at once their want of confidence in the 

 ministry, and caused the appointment of a new 

 Cabinet with Count Palikao as president. Both 

 the Senate and the Legislative Body adopted 

 the propositions of the Government for an in- 

 crease of the army, and for a reorganization 

 of the National Guard. The war credit was 

 raised to 1,000,000,000 francs, and the most 

 extraordinary efforts were made to prepare for 

 a more vigorous prosecution of the war. 



On the 12th of August the First and Second 

 German armies, or their right wing and cen- 

 tre, advanced along their whole line. Detached 

 troops of the First Army had on this day a skir- 

 mish with the vanguard of the French con- 

 centrated near Metz under Marshal Bazaine, 

 who had been appointed commander-in-chief 

 of the entire French forces. He had under his 

 orders five corps : the Guards, the Second Corps 

 under Frossard, the Third under Decaen, the 

 Fourth under L' Admirault, and the Sixth under 

 Canrobert. At the same time Marshal MacMa- 

 hon had his headquarters at Chalons, with his 

 own corps, the First, the Fifth under Failly, 

 and the Seventh under Felix Douay. Two 



new corps, the Tenth and the Thirteenth, were 

 to be organized near Chalons and near Paris, 

 under Trochu and Vinoy. It was at first the 

 plan of Bazaine to maintain his favorable posi- 

 tion on the Neid, between Bouzonville and 

 Metz, and there to fight a decisive battle. But 

 when it became more evident from day to day 

 that German forces in overwhelming numbers 

 were massed against Metz, and the Crown 

 Prince began to turn the right wing of the 

 French, it was resolved, after leaving behind 

 one corps in Metz for garrison duty, to abandon 

 the line of the Moselle, fall back across the 

 Meuse in the neighborhood of Verdun, and 

 form at Chalons a junction with MacMahon and 

 the new corps, and thus to oppose the further 

 advance of the Germans by an army of more 

 than 800,000 men. This change of position by 

 the French is said to have been made in com- 

 pliance with the advice of General Changar- 

 nier, who, though an ardent Orleanist, offered 

 at the beginning of the war his services to the 

 Emperor, and, though they were not accepted, 

 went to Metz, where he had a long interview 

 with Napoleon. The movement of the French 

 was to begin on the 14th of August. At the 

 headquarters of the German army it was re- 

 garded as a matter of the greatest importance 

 to prevent the concentration of the French at 

 Chalons, and to that end to cut off the retreat 

 of Bazaine. Steinmetz accordingly was or- 

 dered to attack the retreating French in the 

 rear, and as long as possible to detain them, 

 while Prince Frederick Charles was to get to 

 their front on the road from Metz to Ver- 

 dun, and attack them in front and on the left. 

 The most difficult part of this strategic opera- 

 tion was that assigned to Prince Frederick 

 Charles. In order to secure the passage of 

 the Moselle, he must seize and hold Pont-a- 

 Mousson, a town about 12 miles south of Metz. 

 His troops reached and secured the place only 

 a few minutes before the arrival of a train with 

 French troops from Metz, who, when they saw 

 the town in the hands of the Germans, returned 

 in great haste. It was apparent, nevertheless, 

 that Prince Frederick Charles could not strike 

 the road from Metz to Verdun before the 16th, 

 and, as Bazaine intended to leave Metz on the 

 14th, it became the task of Steinmetz to detain 

 him for at least two days. This led, on the 

 same day, to the battle of Courcelles. General 

 Steinmetz had under his orders three army 

 corps : the First (East Prussian), under General 

 Manteuffef; the Seventh (Westphalian), under 

 General Zastrow ; and the Eighth (Rhine-Prus- 

 sian), under General Goben. The First Corps 

 was stationed between the two roads leading 

 to Boulay and St. Avoid ; the Seventh between 

 the latter road and that leading to Faulque- 

 mont, the Eighth as a reserve behind both and 

 near the town of Courcelles, which lies in the 

 centre of this position. Two cavalry divisions 

 were stationed near St. Barbe and Frontigny. 

 The French occupied the line from Colombey 

 over Montoy and Noisseville to Servigny. The 



