GERMAN-FRENCH WAR. 



Ml 



hattK' began in the afternoon with a violent 

 iittai-k I'.v tln f Tliirtn-ntli Divi>ion of tliu 

 Wi-t jihalian Corps upon the roar-guard of 

 i iiinl French Corps, and soon the con- 

 raged along the whole line. On the 

 t the French tho Second, Third, and 

 F.mrth Corps wore drawn into the- li^'lit; mi 

 tin- part of tho Germans tho First and Second 

 corps, tho divisions of tho Fourth Corps and 

 one regiment of the Ninth Corps (Manstein) ; 

 the Eighth German Corps did not become in- 

 volved. TIu- cavalry on both sides took but 



little part in the action, which wai chiefly fought 

 by the infantry and artillery. Both armies 

 displayed great obstinacy, but at 10 o'clock tho 

 Germans were maulers of the whole field, tho 

 French having been driven back toward the 

 I'm -t ri-ss. The loss of the Germans in dead and 

 wounded was estimated at about 4,000, while 

 the loss of the French was at least equally large. 

 On the morning of August 15th General Stein- 

 mctz obtained the consent of Marshal Bazaine 

 to an armistice for the burial of the dead of 

 both armies. The result of tho buttle fully 



corresponded with the intentions of tho Ger- 

 man headquarters. The enemy had been dis- 

 lodged from the villages east of Metz which it 

 occupied on the morning of the 14th, and the 

 departure of the army from Metz on the 14th 

 of August had been prevented. 



The Arrny of the Moselle, under Marshal Ba- 

 zaine (its official name still was the "Army of 

 the Rhine"), left Metz on August 15th, ac- 

 companied by the Emperor and his son, in 

 order to retreat over Verdun, Clermont, and 

 St. Menehould, to Chalons, on the Marne. For 

 its march to Verdun it had at its command 

 three main roads: a northern one, about 88 

 miles long, over Briey and Etain, passing 

 through an open and hilly country, with sparse 

 woody tracts ; a central one, about 34 miles 



long, leading over Gravelotte, Conflans, and 

 Etain, and traversing many heights and woody 

 ravines ; and a southern one, about 80 miles 

 long, which leads over Gravelotte, Rezonville, 

 Vionville, Mars la Tour, and Manheulles, and 

 passes beyond Gravelotte, through several 

 trough-shaped ravines, the narrow valleys of 

 several creeks which flow into the Orne, and 

 always in close proximity to villages. The line 

 from Mars la Tour to Gravelotte, and the two 

 lines loading from there northward to Jarny, 

 constitute a triangle, tho interior of which is 

 sprinkled with villages, hamlets, and partly 

 with woods. This triangle, so well adapted 

 for defensive purposes, was the scene of the 

 lattle of Vionville, on August 16th. Bazaino 

 chose for his retreat the southern road, as it is 



