368 



GEPvMAN-FKENCH WAE. 



parts, retreated across the Loire. The Ger- 

 mans immediately reoccupied the city. Ten 

 thousand prisoners, 77 pieces of ordnance, 

 and five armed steamboats, were taken by 

 them during these three days of fighting. 

 On December 6th the German armies re- 

 sumed their advance in the direction of 

 Tours, Frederick Charles operating in the east 

 against General Ohanzy, and the grand-duke 

 in the west against the so-called First Army, 

 under Bourbaki. As Gambetta caused the 

 appointment of a committee for investigating 

 the causes of the evacuation of Orleans, Au- 

 relles de Paladines resigned his command. 



Before the news of the French defeats in the 

 east and south was received in Paris, General 

 Trochu made on November 29th the grand sor- 

 tie which for some time had been announced. 

 After violent firing from several forts and 

 several feigned attacks on different points, a 

 very large force was hurled against L'Hay, 

 south of Fort Bicetre between Villejuif and 

 Sceaux. The attack was repulsed, but on the 

 next day resumed with new energy. On the 

 peninsula of St. Maur, which is formed by 

 a curve of the Marne, and in the wood of 

 Vincennes, about 100,000 men were concen- 

 trated and advanced against the Wurtemberg 

 and Saxon troops which were stationed at 

 Bonneuil, Champigny, Brie, and Villiers on 

 the Marne. The French obtained at first a 

 decided success, and the places mentioned 

 had to be abandoned by the Germans after 

 a gallant defence. A part of the lost ground 

 was regained when reinforcements for the 

 Germans arrived. On the next day an ar- 

 mistice was granted to the French for bury- 

 ing their dead. During the night of the 1st 

 of December the Germans suddenly attacked 

 Champigny and Brie, Avhich had remained in 

 the hands of the French, and in the morning 

 they occupied both villages. The French re- 

 newed the battle along the whole line, and in- 

 flicted very severe losses on the Germans, but 

 after eight hours' fighting they had to fall back 

 at all points. The Saxons lost in these en- 

 gagements over 2,000 men, and the loss of the 

 Wurtemberg troops was equally great. On 

 December 4th the French destroyed the 

 bridges opposite the battle-field, and aban- 

 doned their last positions on the Marne. On 

 December 5th Moltke informed Trochu of the 

 defeat of the French Army of the Loire, and 

 proposed to him to ascertain the real situation 

 by sending a French officer to the scene of 

 action. Trochu declined the offer, on the 

 ground that he was sufficiently informed. 



The First Army (First and Eighth Corps), un- 

 der Manteuffel, was, in its operations against 

 the French Army of the North, as successful as 

 the other armies. On November 27th the 

 French, who were intrenched in a camp on 

 the left bank of the Somme, southeast of 

 Amiens, advanced in a southeasterly direc- 

 tion toward Montdidier, but they were over- 

 taken at Moreuil, and defeated in a battle 



which lasted eight hours, and in which,, on 

 the part of the Germans, in particular the 

 Eighth Corps (Goeben) distinguished itself. 

 The Germans lost about 1,300 ; while the loss- 

 es of the French were greater. On Novem- 

 ber 28th the corps of Goeben entered Amiens, 

 and on November 30th the citadel of Amiens 

 had also to capitulate. The French in a 

 greatly discouraged condition fled northward, 

 in order to find new points of support in the 

 fortresses, especially in Lille. The German 

 Eighth Corps from Amiens took the road to 

 Kouen, and, after several successful skirmishes 

 on December 4th, entered Eouen on Decem- 

 ber 5th. From there, one part of the corps 

 turned toward the port of Dieppe, on the Chan- 

 nel, and the French Government saw itself 

 obliged to declare a blockade of its own ports, 

 Dieppe, Havre, and Fecamp. The siege of the 

 French fortresses had, in the mean while, also 

 made favorable progress. On November 25th, 

 Thionville (Diedenhofen) surrendered to Gen- 

 eral Kamecke with 4,000 men and 200 pieces 

 of ordnance ; on November 27th, La Fere, be- 

 tween Laon and Quentin, with 2,000 men and 

 70 pieces of ordnance. 



The transfer of the seat of the Provisional 

 Government from Tours to Bordeaux de- 

 stroyed the hopes of the Parisians for a union 

 with the Army of the Loire. That part of this 

 army which, under the command of Bourbaki, 

 was retreating on the road to Bourges, was 

 hotly pursued by Prince Frederick Charles, 

 and, on December 8th, Vierzon on the Cher, 

 an important railroad junction, was occupied 

 by the Germans, who thus gained a firm foot- 

 ing in the cattle-abounding region of Berri 

 and Nivernois. The Grand-duke of Mecklen- 

 burg found a more vigorous resistance on the 

 part of Ganeral Chanzy, who was retreating 

 with the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth 

 Corps and some fresh troops, along the right 

 bank of the Loire through Blois to Tours. Oc- 

 cupying a firm position at the Foret de Marche- 

 noir, between Beaugency and More, on the 

 Loire, he endeavored both to endanger the ad- 

 vance of the grand-duke upon Blois and to 

 protect the transfer of the seat of the Gov- 

 ernment to Bordeaux. Here a series of . 

 bloody encounters took place; on December 

 7th, at Meung ; on December 8th, at Beaugen- 

 cy; on December 9th, at Villorceau. ^The 

 Germans remained victorious and took 6 pieces 

 of ordnance and 1,500 prisoners ; but they suf- 

 fered themselves heavy losses and gained but 

 little ground. The Hessian Division, which ad- 

 vanced on the left bank of the Loire over Clery 

 and -St. Die, repulsed an attack by the French 

 at Montlivault, occupied the Castle of Cham- 

 bord, and thereby compelled Chanzy to leave 

 his favorable position and to continue his re- 

 treat. The Germans followed him closely, 

 and on December llth the Hessians occupied 

 Blois. General Chanzy suddenly changed his 

 line of retreat, taking the road to Le Mans. 

 The Germans now had likewise to change 



