<;I:I:MAN-H:KNVH \v.\i:. 



tho routo of tlti-ir march ; one part of tlio 

 : I A riu v joined tin- graiid-duko, and in 

 tin- place of tho First Bavarian Corps, which 

 nt i.i Orleans, the Tenth Corps resumed 

 ;.!irsuit. After a victorious i-n^-voim-nt 

 on December loth, it occupied, on D.-.-.-rn'.. r 

 null, Y.ii(16me on the Loire. Other divisions 

 advanced from Ohartres after successful skir- 

 mishes beyond Cliatoaudun. On December 

 17th, tho French were again beaten n:ir 

 Kpui/.ny, and tho retreat more and mor 

 suiuod the nature of a flight. The Provisional 

 mil. 'iit, which at first had published tho 

 M't brilliant accounts of pretended successes 

 of t lu- Annies of Paris and the Loire, at length 

 I'uu ml it necessary to issue an order clearly in- 

 dicating tho danger of tho situation. On De- 

 ivmlier llth, a circular of Gambctta decreed tho 

 organization of regiments of gendarmes who 

 were to receive orders directly from tho Min- 

 ister of War and to follow the army, in order to 

 arrest all fugitives and to deliver them over 

 to courts-martial. Another decree ordered 

 the establishment of ten new camps. Tho 

 execution of this decree would have formed a 

 new army of nearly one and a half million of 

 soldiers, but it was soon found to be impossible 

 to collect so large a force. The remainder of the 

 army of Chanzy sought a refuge in the camp of 

 Coulin near Le Mans, behind the Sarthe, where 

 it was to form a junction with the remainder 

 of the Army of Brittany. The Grand-duke 

 of Mecklenburg continued to advance in this 

 direction, while the Tenth Corps marched upon 

 Tours. After a few bombshells had been thrown 

 into the city, it hoisted the white flag and asked 

 for a German garrison. Tho Germans, how- 

 ever, contented themseves with destroying the 

 railroad to Paris, and encamped on the right 

 bank of the Loire. The Third Corps, which 

 had followed the army of Bourbaki as far as 

 Gien, was recalled and took up a position be- 

 tween Blois and Tours. In the east, the 

 Brigade Goltz, of the corps of General Wer- 

 der, was ordered to operate against the for- 

 tress of Langres, which formed the chief sup- 

 port of the franc-tireurs in the Champagne. 

 The franc-tireurs were, on December 16th, 

 beaten in a three-hours' fight at Longeau, south 

 of Langres, and driven back upon this fortress. 

 A more important engagement took place on 

 December 18th at Nuits, about thirteen miles 

 south of Dyon, between tho division of Ba- 

 den (Von Glumer) and 20,000 Gardes Mobile. 

 It lasted five hours, and ended in the occupa- 

 tion of the town by the Germans. The French 

 lost 1,000 dead and wounded, 700 prisoners, 

 and a vast amount of arms and ammunition ; 

 but the Germans likewise lost about 800 

 men. The corps of Werder had, in spite of 

 its victories, a very difficult stand, as tho 

 franc-tireurs, however often they might be 

 dispersed, found a safe refuge in the moun- 

 tains, and as large bodies of troops arrived 

 from Lyons for the purpose of raising the 

 siege of Belfort. G aribaldi advanced from Au- 



tun upon Ohagny and Beatimc,' south of Xuiu, 

 and received various n uta, among 



t!n-ni a I'.'lUh legion under Dombrowaky. 

 In the north, tho army of Manteuffel, aft 

 t-up\iiiK Dieppe and Fecamp, marched in thcdi- 

 iv.-tiun i if llavro, fr tho 

 most energetic measure* were taken. But 

 when Kaidherbe surprised small divisions of 

 Gorman troops near La Fire and Ham, and 

 seemed resolved to make a new movement for 

 tic relief of Paris, Manteuftel hastened back 

 I mi 1 1 Normandy, arrested his advance and 

 o'.i;,|,,-n,-d him to fall back, and pursued him 

 as far as Amiens. On December 23d, Man- 

 teuffel encountered, not far from the for- 

 mer battle-field, the bulk of the Army of the 

 North, which was encamped behind the Hallue, 

 an affluent of the Somme. After a bloody bat- 

 tle, lasting from eleven o'clock ia the morning 

 to six in the evening, the Germans occupied 

 all tho villages which in tho morning had 

 been in possession of the French among 

 them Pont-Noyelles, tho centre of their posi- 

 tion. They also made 1,000 prisoners, but 

 darkness prevented them from following up 

 tho victory. Faidhcrbe, on his part, claimed 

 to have defeated the Germans, but did not ex- 

 plain the cause of his retreat to the Belgian 

 frontier. Trochn, not being informed of this 

 retreat, and expecting to cooperate with Foid- 

 herbe, made, on December 21st, another great 

 sortie. Three divisions attacked the Prussian 

 Guards near Stains and Le Bourget, and ad- 

 vanced in the east, on both sides of the Onrcq 

 Canal, from Bobigny upon Sevran, and from 

 Rosny and Neuilly sur Marne upon Chelles, 

 against the right wing of the Saxon corps. The 

 vanguard of the Germans had to be withdrawn 

 from Stains and Lo Bourget, but, after being 

 efficiently bombarded for a short tune, both 

 places were retaken by storm. The Saxons 

 also had at first to evacuate Ville Evrard and 

 Maison Blanche, which are situated opposite 

 the Plateau of Avron, but regained them after 

 a bloody engagement before evening. The 

 attack had been repulsed so energetically that 

 tho fire of two batteries at Noisy was sufficient 

 to repel, on December 22d, a new attack by 

 the French upon the left wing of the Saxons. 

 On December 27th the Germans began a vig- 

 orous fire upon Mont Avron, a height east of 

 the city, of 850 feet, which had been, on De- 

 cember 21st, the chief support of tho French 

 sortie. The French batteries were silenced in 

 the evening, and on December 29th the Twelfth 

 Corps occupied Mont Avron, an important 

 position, as it facilitated an efficient bom- 

 bardment of Forts Noisy, Rosny, and No- 

 gent 



Thus the close of the year saw the French 

 everywhere defeated. On January 28, 1871, 

 the capitulation of Paris virtually put an end 

 to the war, which ceased altogether on Feb- 

 ruary 26, 1871. The details must be reserved 

 for the AMEBICAX ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 

 1871. 



