CHANZY, ANTOINE E. A. 



ing efforts which he made once more discon- 

 certed the strategists of "Versailles. The great 

 sortie from Paris had, no doubt, failed ; out it 

 had cost tb.3 Germans thousands of lives, and 

 the proud city still defied its enemy. D'Au- 

 relle had succumbed with Orleans; but afresh 

 army had arisen from the wreck, and it had 

 found a chief who could make it accomplish 

 feats that seemed impossible to professional 

 soldiers. 



While Ohanzy was making his heroic stand, 

 exposed to the whole weight of his enemy's 

 force, Bourbaki did nothing, and declared that 

 he could not detach a man from his quarters at 

 Bourges to aid his colleague. This remissness 

 enabled the Germans to make the movement 

 along the Loire which endangered the flank of 

 Chanzy when it had been found impossible to 

 break his front, and it compelled him to leave 

 his position. The great object of the French 

 Government was to direct a relieving force on 

 Paris, already besieged for four months. Ac- 

 cordingly, Chanzy resolved to ascend from the 

 Loire toward the capital by the northwest, 

 and by the 13th of December the French army 

 was in position around Vend6me. 



On Dec. 15th Chanzy was attacked again, 

 Prince Frederick Charles having rightly judged 

 that he was the foe to strike down at all cost. 

 The French made a gallant resistance ; but on 

 the second day their right wing was turned, 

 and shattered by an attack in flank. Chanzy 

 decided on a retreat to Le Mans, a strong posi- 

 tion upon the Huisne, and a strategic point of 

 no little value, his. object being still to attain 

 Paris. He drew off his army without difficul- 

 ty, and having been re-enforced by a Breton 

 detachment, he reached Le Mans on Dec. 20th. 

 During three weeks of incessant fighting he 

 had held the main German army at bay. Hav- 

 ing soon established his army on the Huisne, he 

 threw out posts to the Bruye ami the Loire. 

 Meanwhile Prince Frederick Charles had fallen 

 back, holding a long line from Oh art res to Or- 

 leans, his worn-out troops being in sore dis- 

 tress. A pause in the contest now occurred. 



The position of France was very far from 

 hopeless, but another interference of Gambet- 

 ta's brought disaster. He rejected the judi- 

 cious scheme of the general, and adopted the 

 fatal project of detaching the First Army far 

 to the east in order to raise the yiege of Belfort 

 and reach the German communications with 

 the Rhine. Bourbaki, thus sent off to destruc- 

 tion amid the snows of the Jura, freed Prince 

 Frederick Charles from an enemy on his flank, 

 and enabled him to turn his whole forces against 

 the one chief he had found invincible. Draw- 

 ing together his army and that of the Grand 

 Duke, the German commanders in the first 

 week in January began to move toward Le 

 Mans and the Huisne. The advanced posts of 

 Chanzy were gradually driven in, though not 

 without a tenacious resistance ; but his trust 

 was in his positions on the Huisne, which he 

 had strengthened with remarkable skill, and 



CHEMISTRY. 



109 



he fell back on them with unabated confidence. 

 He had still 90,000 men, against 60,000 or 70,- 

 000 Germans ; but his troops were not to be 

 compared to their foes. The attack began on 

 Jan. 10th, but the decisive effort was made 

 next day ; and the Prince struck home with his 

 full strength. The defense was stern and sus- 

 tained ; Chanzy's tenacity, and his strong posi- 

 tions, made up for the defects of his soldiers, 

 and after ten hours of desperate fighting the 

 French were still in possession of their lines. 



A sudden attack, made after nightfall, by 

 a German corps, discomfited the Breton lev- 

 ies, and placed a hostile force on Chanzy's 

 flank. Scenes of confusion and panic followed, 

 an effort to drive away the enemy failed ; and 

 Chanzy was compelled to make a general re- 

 treat. Although part of the French army dis- 

 banded, and several thousand were taken pris- 

 oners, it was in tolerable order within two 

 days. By the 20th, having been scarcely pur- 

 sued, so heavy had been the loss of the Ger- 

 mans, Chanzy was once more in a good position, 

 around Laval and upon the Mayenne, and hav- 

 ing been joined by a new corps, he still expected 

 to make, as quickly as possible, good use of 

 his force, and to march to the relief of Paris. 

 But the fall of that city on Jan. 28th, and the 

 catastrophe of Bourbaki's army, prevented him 

 from attempting that march. He received the 

 thanks of the Assembly at Versailles, and held 

 afterward high command. 



After the close of the war he was elected 

 deputy to the National Assembly for Ardennes, 

 and became the leader of the Left Center, de- 

 claring in favor of the republic from " patri- 

 otic and rational " grounds. Gen. Chanzy was 

 reputed to be attached to the cause of the 

 Orleanist monarchists, and it is certain that 

 through his secret protection the Orleans princes 

 entered the army under assumed names, and 

 fought in the final campaign. After he was 

 appointed on the committee of defense, on July 

 29, 1872, and placed in command of the Sev- 

 enth Army Corps, he took no further part in 

 political discussions. 



On June 15, 1873, he was appointed Gov- 

 ernor-General of Algeria, where he had diffi- 

 culties with his subordinates, and declared a 

 state of siege in the commune of Algiers. On 

 Dec. 10, 1875, he was made a Senator, and in 

 the election for President on Jan. 30, 1879, 

 received 99 votes. On Feb. 18, 1879, he was 

 appointed embassador to St. Petersburg, his 

 political activity and ambition having awakened 

 distrust in France. He was a persona grata 

 at the Russian court, and his suspected roy- 

 alist proclivities led to his recall toward the 

 close of 1881. From Feb. 19, 1882, he com- 

 manded the Sixth Army Corps at Chalons. 



CHEMISTRY. Chemical research during 1883 

 can not be said to have exhibited very marked 

 progress in any one department, nor has it 

 yielded much that is particularly striking in 

 the way of new discoveries. There has. been 

 clearly apparent, however, on the part of those 



