70 
THE FRENCH MANOEUVRES OF 1891. 
flat, and a good deal cut up by rivers and streams. There are, how¬ 
ever, numerous small ranges of hills on which the vines are largely cul¬ 
tivated; these hills afford magnificent artillery positions, and bring the 
power of artillery greatly to the front. In places there are large woods, 
but, with a few exceptions, these partake more of the nature of small 
copses, sufficiently large however to break up the regular advance 
of any line of infantry, and to make the handling of them a matter 
of considerable difficulty, as they can hardly pass directly through 
them, and so are obliged to take ground continually to the right or 
left in order to avoid them. 
The manoeuvres may be divided into three stages. The first stage con¬ 
sisted of a series of movements of corps against corps; for the second 
period the Y. and YI. Corps formed one army, known as the Army of 
the West, under the command of General Gallifet, a cavalry soldier, 
who first gained distinction as being in command of the Cavalry 
Division which, at the battle of Sedan, attempted to check the advance 
of the encircling German army, by a brave, though fruitless advance 
across the plateau of Illy. This Western army was pitted against 
what was designated the Eastern Army, composed of the YII. and 
YIII. Corps, the command being given to General Davofist, a grand¬ 
nephew of NapoleoiTs famous Marshal of that name. 
For the third and last stages the two armies were combined into one 
force, the whole being under the direction of General Saussier, the 
present military ‘Governor of Paris, the man on whom, in the event of 
war, the chief command of the whole armies of France would probably 
devolve. General Miribel, the chief of the General Staff, acted as his 
first assistant. 
The scheme, under which General Saussier directed the movements of 
his troops, was one very likely to become a reality in case of war. An 
enemy has invaded France from the direction of Luxemburg, and hav¬ 
ing crossed the Argonne, has moved south on that part of the Meuse, 
which lies between Yitry-!e-Fran 9 ois and St. Dizier. To meet this 
invasion, a defending force has been assembled round Yandeuvre, it is 
ordered to advance northwards at once and drive back the enemy, 
whose advance-guard is believed to have already crossed the Meuse. 
The four corps forming the defending force were in cantonments 
round Yandeuvre, a town ten miles north of the Seine, between that 
river and the Aube. Each corps consisted of 25 battalions of Infantry, 
8 squadrons of Cavalry, 20 batteries of Artillery, 3 companies of 
Engineers, 1 Field Bakery, and 1 Ambulance Company. Two divisions 
of Cavalry, in all 48 squadrons and 6 batteries of Horse Artillery, were 
attached to this force. In addition, there was a large equipment of 
bridging material, a field hospital, with all its supplies and carriages, 
and the most modern arrangements for ballooning. The balloons 
formed a most striking feature in the many scientific appliances which 
have been lately introduced into the French army, and in future they 
should play an important part on the battle-field. They are not 
exactly a novelty, as for years back they have been used for purposes 
of observation, but their real value^ has at these manoeuvres been 
brought much more prominently to the front than heretofore. The 
