THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR (PART III,) 
581 
Oh the 20th of December a reconnoitring force brought back intel¬ 
ligence that the French were strongly established in a defensive position 
on the left bank of the Hallue, and had no apparent intention of a 
further advance. Manteuffel determined at once to attack on the 23rd, 
and endeavour if possible to turn the enemy's right flank.* * * § 
The French advanced troops were easily pushed back as far as the Battle on 
Hallue stream, and eventually, after obstinate fighting, the villages in the a ue ' 
valley captured. All efforts to scale the opposite ridge were, however, 
unsuccessful, as well as the attempt to turn the right flank. The two 
armies confronted each other on the 24th without any serious fighting, 
and in the afternoon the French, unwilling to risk their ill-clad forces 
to another night's bivouac, drew off in good order towards Arras. 
The Germans pushed forward as far as Bapaume, and at the same 
time invested the small but important fortress of Peronne. Matters 
had assumed meanwhile a more menacing aspect to the westward. A 
French force, estimated at from 15,000 to 20,000 men, was advancing 
from the direction of Havre, on both banks of the Seine, towards Bouen. 
The German troops were accordingly reinforced by rail, and by taking* 
a vigorous offensive forced them back at the beginning of the new year 
to their original bases at Honfleur and Havre. 
The normal distribution of the I. Army was therefore in January in 
two principal masses,f at Bouen and on the Somme, the extreme right 
of the latter force being covered by cavalry J detached from the Army 
of the Meuse. This division of forces was accompanied with but slight 
danger, on account of the lines of rail connecting Paris, Bouen, and 
Amiens, by means of which a concentration on any one point could be 
easily effected. 
The bombardment of Peronne was carried on without result till the 
2nd of January, when the covering force north of Bapaume was driven in 
by the advance of the whole of Faidherbe's troops. The French General 
was marching southward from Arras in four columns, with the intention 
of endeavouring to raise the siege of Peronne. On the 3rd the German Battle of 
troops, § who had concentrated in the immediate vicinity of Bapaume, sr'cmam 6 * 
were vigorously attacked, and after an obstinate resistance compelled 
to surrender all their advanced posts. Although Bapaume was still held 
in the evening, a renewal of the action did not look promising to the 
Germans in the face of the increasing numbers of their enemy, and a 
* Instructions were previously sent to the 12th Cavalry Division (of the Army of the Meuse) 
to advance towards St. Quentin, and protect the march of the detachment from Mezieres before 
alluded to. 
+ ff°- rpS J - -n } at Bouen. 
1 Brigade Dragoons, j 
VIII. Corps. 
3rd Reserve Division. 
3rd Cavalry Division. )»on the Somme 
Bde. Guard Cavalry. | 
12th Cav. Division.J 
Infantry. Cavalry. Guns. 
20,000 ... 2,200 ... 84 
21,800 ... 7,200 ... 125 
J 12th (Saxon) Cavalry Division. 
§ 17 battalions, 24 squadrons, 64 guns. The effective strength of these battalions was very low. 
Faidherbe states that about 20,000 French troops took an effective part in the action, but he had 
altogether apparently about 40,000 men. 
