CHANZY, ANTOIKE E. A. 



107 



CHANZY, Antoine Eugene Alfred, a French gen- 

 eral, died in Chaldns, January 4th. He was 

 born at Nouart, in the Ardennes, on the 18th 

 of March, 1823. His father was a captain of 

 cuirassiers. He entered the navy at the age of 

 sixteen, and a year and a half later joined a 

 regiment of artillery ; was then received into 

 the Academy of St. Cyr, and in 1843 was com- 

 missioned sub-lieutenant of zouaves, was given 

 a lieutenancy in the line in 1848, became cap- 

 tain in 1851, and was then appointed chief of 

 the Arab bureau in Hemsan. He became chief 

 of battalion in 1856, fought in the Italian cam- 

 paign, and as lieutenant-colonel took part in 

 the Syrian expedition. Being promoted to a 

 colonelcy, he commanded a regiment stationed 

 at Rome, and in 1864 was transferred back to 

 Algiers, and became general of brigade and 

 commandant, first of Bel- Abbes and then of 

 Hemsan. 



At the beginning of the German war he 

 went to Paris, and asked to be assigned to a 

 command, but Marshal Leboeuf ignored him. 



After the surrender of the imperial army at 

 Sedan, and the investment of Paris, when the 

 Government of National Defense marshaled 

 the raw bodies made up of the remaining fight- 

 ing material of the country, in the hope of still 

 redeeming vanquished France, Ohanzy was 

 made a general of division, as most of the su- 

 perior officers of the army were prisoners of 

 war. After the retirement of General d' Aurelle 

 de Paladines he was selected by Gambetta as 

 " the true soldier revealed by events " to lead 

 this second Army of the Loire in its stubborn 

 resistance. 



He has been spoken of as the one great 

 soldier produced by France in 1870-'71, and 

 the magnificent stand he made against the 



huge German forces in the region of the Loire 

 gained the respect and admiration of Europe. 

 The quality of his troops at this time was of 

 the poorest, and discipline scarcely existed. 



With Chanzy in immediate command under 

 the direction of Gen. d' Aurelle, a new spirit was 

 breathed into this mass. The Sixteenth Corps, 

 joined with the Fifteenth, was now given the 

 name of the Army of the Loire, and, by Nov. 1, 

 1870, it held the country to the north of the 

 river, between Beaugency, Blois, and Marche- 

 noir. D'Aurelle now resalved to march on 

 Orleans, which had been captured by a raid 

 from Paris, and, if possible, to cut off a Bava- 

 rian detachment, which was the only hostile 

 body in his path. For this purpose he ad- 

 vanced his two corps, combining his operations 

 with a French division which was to descend 

 on Orleans from the upper Loire. These 

 movements led to the battle of Coulmiers, the 

 one French victory gained in the war, and 

 though, owing to the delay of the distant 

 French wing, the Bavarians contrived to effect 

 their escape, they were rudely handled and 

 badly beaten. Chanzy was in command of the 

 French left, but, through the mistake of a cav- 

 alry leader, his operations were not brilliant. 



The apparition of a victorious army per- 

 plexed the counsels of the Germans at Ver- 

 sailles; and it is now known that the French 

 commander might have struck with great ef- 

 fect. The Bavarian detachment, not 20,000 

 strong, was literally the only hostile force be- 

 tween D'Aurelle and the capital of France, and 

 had that general advanced boldly with his 

 60,000 or 70,000 men, he would almost cer- 

 tainly have crushed Von der Tann, very prob- 

 ably have defeated the Grand Duke of Meck- 

 lenburg, who was hurriedly sent off with a 



