THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
197 
inered at the tough village of St. Privat. But as dusk was settling 
down a little before 6 o’clock, of a sudden an enormous and con¬ 
tinued roar of fire burst from the French lines, a storm of bullets, 
such as had not been all day, whistled through all parts of the German 
lines, the French infantry leapt from their intrenchments, and, 
shouting and running their utmost, and loading and firing all the 
way, rushed in an immense but irregular swarm, with astonishing 
speed and noise and fire, towards the ravine held by the German 
infantry. Thereabouts they met the latter, no ways disposed to go 
back though hitherto unable to get on; and for a short time these 
opposite masses fired volleys into one another at close range. Just 
about this period however, an additional corps d’armee was brought 
up from the rear to the left of the 7th corps, and the whole German 
line thus reinforced, receiving the order to advance (the left being at 
last enabled to do so by the action of a Hanoverian corps which, 
having gradually forced its way round the French right, had estab¬ 
lished batteries playing on the flank and rear of St. Privat), pressed 
forward in imposing numbers and drove the French infantry back 
to and past their intrenchments and headlong down the reverse 
slope of the hill. 
By this time darkness had arrived, which saved the French from 
enormous losses in their descent of the tortuous roads towards Metz; 
but their army was so disorganised that the Germans, who com¬ 
menced some sort of works of investment the same night, had time 
to get everything prepared for them before they could make any 
fresh attempt to break away from the place. 
These movements of the troops were detailed to me by various 
officers of the staff of the 7th corps, partly on the field and partly 
over maps $ the account of the ground I am ni 3 T self responsible for. 
The Hill of Spicheren , 
three miles west of Saarbrlick, stands out at the turning-point of a 
ridge of hills from 300 to 400 ft. high, of which the right branch (as 
the Germans looked at it, nearly end on), retiring westwardly 
towards Forbach, overlooked the road thither from Saarbriick, whilst 
the left branch, directly facing them, extended for two or three miles, 
wooded and somewhat steep, nearly to the Saar river on the south. 
On this ridge the French had taken up position, apparently to 
check German pressure on their own westward retreat from Saar- 
briick, whence they had hurriedly broken up during the night, in 
consequence of the discomfiture of the right of their grand line at 
Weissenburg, and the threatening advance thence of the army of the 
Crown Prince of Prussia. Their left, on the retiring branch of the 
ridge, was rendered difficult of access by their occupation of some 
villages in front; but the hill of Spicheren, the salient point of the 
position, rested mainly on its own merits, viz., its bold sides, at 
inclinations of from 30° to 40°, and its perfect command of the bare 
plain in front, which, for the last 1,000 yards of. its approach, had 
