714 
ACHIEVEMENTS OF FIELD AETXLLERY. 
tinued the line through Givonne, Moncelle, and Balan to Bazeilles, and 
the 5th Corps, much shattered at Beaumont, was in reserve. The high 
ground on the west of the Meuse was sufficiently near the old-fashioned 
little fortress to enable rifled artillery to bombard it from thence. No 
attempt was made by the French to occupy the left bank of the river, 
nor were the bridges at Donchery or opposite Bazeilles destroyed. 
Large masses of guns were, therefore, easily placed by the Germans in 
position east of Frenois, the 11th Corps of the 3rd Army was sent across 
the Meuse at Donchery to attack the enemy entrenched near Floing, 
and the 5th Corps was to bear down on them at Illy. 
The 1st Bavarian Corps was to assault Bazeilles, the 2nd Bavarian 
Corps remaining on the left bank of the river to guard the rear, and 
the Wurtemberg Division was placed across the road to Mezieres, 
shutting off retreat in that direction. 
The French position along the deep valley of the Givonue was 
extremely strong, and was to be assailed by the “Army of the Meuse,” 
under the Crown Prince of Saxony, of which the 12th Corps advanced 
between Moncelle and Daigny, the Guard assaulted Givonue, while the 
4th Corps, which came up late in the day, supported the three corps 
thus already pressing the eastern side of the French positions. 
At 4 o’clock, through the thick mist of an autumn morning, the 
Bavarians commenced the attack by crossing the pontoon bridges, 
which had been fixed near Aillicourt the previous day, and advancing 
towards Bazeilles, where a furious conflict was commenced which raged 
with varying success round and in the village for the next six hours. 
The guns of the 1st Bavarian Corps could not effectively support this 
advance at first, on account of the heavy mist, and in order to reach 
the streets of the village were brought across at about 9 o’clock. The 
artillery of the 2nd Bavarian Corps was placed on the heights near 
Frenois to prevent any attempt at escape along the Mezieres road on 
the western side of the Sedan. 
At 5 o’clock the Crown Prince of Saxony had pushed forward an 
advanced guard of 7 battalions from Douzy in the direction of La 
Moncelle, with which the Saxon artillery was sent ahead boldly, and 
gradually a long artillery line was built up south of Daigny on the 
eastern slopes of the Givonne Valley, which shortly after 9 o’clock 
consisted of 13 Saxon and 3 Bavarian batteries. 
La Moncelle fell into the hands of the Germans between 6 and 7 
o’clock, and, after the most obstinate resistance, Daigny and the bridge 
over the Givonne were captured three hours later. Meanwhile, on the 
French side, Marshal MacMahon had been wounded and obliged to 
leave the field at 6 o’clock, and had handed over the command to 
General Ducrot. That officer set about retreating to Mezieres, but being 
superseded almost at once by General Wimp fen, a totally different 
policy was pursued, and an effort to break through and reach Carignan 
was set on foot. At 10 o’clock this attempt had, however, been foiled, 
and, as we have seen, the Germans were left in possession of the 
passes across the Givonne. 
While the French efforts on the east of Sedan had thus proved in 
vain, the retreat to Mezieres had also been cut off by the 5th and 11th 
