352 



GERMAN-FRENCH WAR. 



ble for a further resistance to the progress of 

 the Germans. Although several German corps 

 had to remain for the investment of Metz, 

 landwehr regiments began to arrive in France, 

 and to relieve the regular army. At the close 

 of August, 80,000 landwehr infantry and four 

 regiments of landwehr cavalry had entered 

 the country, swelling the total number of 

 German troops in France to about 600,000. 

 At the same time three reserve army corps 

 were organized in Germany, one on the Rhine, 

 under the Grand-duke of Mecklenburg-Schwe- 

 rin, a second in Berlin under General Can- 

 stein, and the third near Glogau, under Gen- 

 eral Lowenfeld. 



The army of investment which was left at 

 Metz consisted of the First Army, heretofore 

 commanded by General Steinmetz, and the 

 Second Army ; the whole under the command 

 of Prince Frederick Charles. It comprised the 

 First, Second, Third, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, 

 and Tenth Corps, and two cavalry divisions. 

 The remainder of the troops, which was at 

 once to resume, under the command of the 

 King, the advance into the interior, was divided 

 into two armies, of which one, the Third Army, 

 was placed under the command of the Crown 

 Prince of Prussia; the other, the Fourth, un- 

 der that of the Crown Prince of Saxony. The 

 former comprised the Fifth, Sixth, and Elev- 

 enth North-German Corps, the two Bavarian 

 Corps, the Wurtemberg division (that of Baden 

 was investing Strasbourg), and one division of 

 cavalry ; to the other, the Fourth Army, be- 

 longed the Fourth and Twelfth Corps, the 

 Guard, and two divisions of cavalry. Both 

 armies were by converging marches to ad- 

 vance upon Chalons, the one from Nancy, 

 where its .headquarters were as late as August 

 16th, over Commercy, Ligny, Bar-le-Duc, and 

 Vitry ; the other from the battle-field near 

 Metz, over Verdun and Menehould. Before the 

 beginning of the advance, the King of Prussia 

 and the crown prince had an interview at Pont- 

 d-Mousson, the first meeting since their de- 

 parture from Berlin. The King conferred the 

 iron cross upon the crown prince ; the latter 

 declared, however, that he could wear this badge 

 of distinction only on condition it should be at 

 the same time conferred upon the chief of his 

 staff, General Bltimenthal ; and the King at 

 once complied with this wish. On the 23d of 

 August the headquarters of the crown prince 

 were removed from Vaucouleurs to Ligny, 

 where on the 24th the King also arrived. 

 While all were waiting for the King, the crown 

 prince received the important news that Mar- 

 shal MacMahon had evacuated Chalons. Ac- 

 cordingly, General Moltke, who arrived about 

 two hours before the King, had at once a con- 

 ference with General Blumenthal, in which the 

 two strategists discussed a new and bold plan 

 adapted to the -altered military situation. The 

 King on the same day left for Bar-le-Duc, 

 where the chief headquarters were to be es- 

 tablished; the crown prince set out from 



Ligny on August 26th, and through Bar-le-Duc 

 proceeded to Remigny. 



The fortified camp at Chalons, which was 

 regarded by the population of Paris as an im- 

 pregnable buttress to the capital, was evacu- 

 ated from August 21st to August 23d. Marshal 

 MacMahon. accompanied by the Emperor and 

 the Prince Imperial, proceeded on August 21st 

 via Courcelles, to Reims ; on August 23d the 

 last French battalions left, and on August 25th 

 the place was occupied by German troops. On 

 the same day the small fortress of Vitry, which 

 is situated about thirteen miles from Chalons, 

 on the right bank of the Marne, and com- 

 mands both the railroad which leads from St. 

 Dizier or Bar-le-Duc to Chalons and Paris, and 

 the'southern road to Sezanne and Paris, capit- 

 ulated. About 1,100 men, who already had 

 left the fortress to join MacMahon, were over- 

 taken by Prussian cavalry and captured. 



At the German headquarters it was at first 

 xmknown whether MacMahon was moving for 

 Paris or for Metz. Soon, however, the recon- 

 noissances made in every direction, and, still 

 more, some important information about the 

 movements of the French armies which, in an 

 imprudent correspondence from Mezieres, was 

 conveyed to a Belgian newspaper, and from 

 Berlin at once telegraphed to the headquarters 

 of the King, gave to General Moltke the assur- 

 ance that MacMahon had marched to the re- 

 lief of Bazaine. The positive information was 

 received by General Moltke while at his break- 

 fast, and, before the meal was finished, a plan, 

 which aimed at cutting off the retreat of 

 MacMahon toward Paris, and required for its 

 successful execution forced marches during a 

 few days, from four o'clock in the morning to 

 ten in the evening, was de'cided upon. The 

 army of the Prussian Crown Prince abandoned 

 the march upon Paris, and, in order to flank 

 MacMahon, hastened from Chalons, over Suip- 

 pes to Vouziers, while the Fourth Army of the 

 Saxon Crown Prince advanced from Verdun 

 through the upper valley of the Meuse toward 

 Dun and Stenay, its left wing retaining con- 

 stant connection with the right wing of the 

 Third Army. The royal headquarters were 

 steadily moved forward between these two 

 armies; being transferred, on August 26th, 

 from Bar-le-Duc to Clermoni, and on August 

 29th from Clermont to Grandpre". The French 

 army consisted of the First, Fifth, Seventh, and 

 Twelfth Corps, which had been concentrated 

 in Chalons ; of the Dumont Brigade, which had 

 been recalled from Rome ; of some divisions of 

 the marine infantry ; of four regiments Avhich 

 had belonged to the escort of the Emperor ; 

 and reinforcements received from Paris. Tn 

 consequence of their forced marches, the Ger- 

 mans soon overtook the French. On August 

 27th, Saxon cavalry encountered six squadrons 

 of a French regiment near Busa.ncy, eleven miles 

 southeast of Stenay, and forced them to retreat. 

 On the 29th the Saxon vanguard took the 

 heights near Nouart, northeast of Buzancy ; 



