104 
CHANZY's CAMPAIGN.—APPENDIX. 
thirteen, who never rose more—and the heights commanding the Huisne were in 
the hands of the Prussians, though not completely until the next day. While 
Captain Mauritz and his chosen comrades stood beside the pieces they had taken 
a Prussian battery opened upon them, not knowing of the gallant deed they had 
accomplished; and either here, or a little later from the French, he received a 
wound, “ light ” in the vocabulary of soldiers, but heavy enough to prevent him 
from advancing further that day. Pie was reposing quietly in a little hamlet on 
the heights, when it was occupied by the Prench, who held it throughout the 
night. They would have carried him off as a prisoner, but a woman who had 
seen his gentleness to her wounded countrymen caused him to lie on her bed, and 
represented to the Prench that his wound was dangerous, so that they also pitied 
him and left him there. Night came, and the faithful few whom he had led so 
well, consulting how they might rescue him, moved silently out in the darkness 
and crept into the village where the Prench were taking their rest after the battle. 
The Prussian 'kinder , who knew where their captain lay, stole quietly into the 
house with a stretcher, and saluting him with “ Here, captain, now is your time, 55 
they set him on the canvass and slipped out as they had come, unperceived. 
Alvensleben’s Action. 
Across the Huisne the Prince’s three divisions had in front of them, at one 
time or another, almost the whole of the Prench army, and all the while the whole 
passages of the river were in their hands. Cautious and timid commanders would 
have hesitated, perhaps retired, before a danger so imminent. But neither Prince 
Frederick Charles nor Alvensleben of Mars-la-Tour were timid commanders. 
“ The whole country is full of woods, right down to the Huisne,” they said “ let 
us attack, and the Prench will never know how weak we are.” The wisdom of 
secrecy in war was, in fact, never more manifest than in the operations this day; 
for had the Prench known the real number of the force opposed to them, they 
would certainly never have permitted their position to be taken. Their ignorance, 
or at least the possibility of deceiving them by an audacious movement, was one 
of the elements in the calculations of the German commander, who might have 
been attacked with a fair chance of success if the Prench had been well served by 
spies. The Prince ordered the 18th Division to carry the hills above Cliampigne, 
and sent the 5th and 6th Divisions, forming the 3rd Corps, against the Huisne, 
The 3rd Corps received the order to advance on the 11th, in the middle of the 
day. Their numbers could not have exceeded 18,000 men, for they left Orleans 
only 22,000 strong, and had been fighting ever since. They advanced, however, 
against the great natural rampart held by 50,000 men, over ground covered with 
woods and intersected by lanes separated from them by ditches and banks. The 
woods were filled by Prench riflemen, and beyond the river in front were their artil¬ 
lery and mitrailleuses. Alvensleben’s brigades advanced, the 10th Brigade going 
northward to try and gain the road to Le Mans by Savigne • the 11th marched 
upon Chateau-les-Noyers, about 500 yards from the Huisne; the 12th was sent 
to attack Yvre, and the 9th was held in reserve. The 11th, in executing its 
orders, soon found itself enveloped in a furious tempest of fire from the Prench 
batteries on the hill opposite Chateau-les-Arches. After the battle not a tree 
could be found that was not marked with balls.— Hozier. 
La Tuilebie. 
The night of the 11th was passed in some anxiety by General Alvensleben. 
When complimented in the evening on the behaviour of his men, he remarked : 
fC Yes, but I am not quite satisfied with what the 3rd Corps has done.” Not 
satisfied, when he had shown so bold a front that the Prench must have believed 
they had a whole army before them ! The Germans, indeed, disappointed as they 
were with their tactical achievements, did not know what advantages they had 
