The Capture of St. Privat.
Marshal Canrobert had discerned the approaching Saxons, who were now marching from the north upon Roncourt, Montois, and Malancourt. He felt that his right had been turned, and looked in vain for the expected succour. Bazaine, he says, had promised to send a division of the Guard. Bourbaki, astounded by the spectacle which met his eyes, when he emerged from the wooded defiles west of Saulny, had, as we have seen, allowed himself to be attracted, for a moment, towards De Ladmirault, had then retraced his steps, and had taken a position to cover the high road to Woippy, the so-called northern road from Metz which goes to Briey. He had with him, according to his own statement, three or four thousand Grenadiers and some artillery; but he did not arrive in time to frustrate the Saxons and Prussian Guards. The Marshal, a little after seven, or even before, felt that he could not stand. He complains of failing ammunition, declares that the German artillery had obtained a complete mastery over his guns, and that his flank was turned. “At this moment,” he says in his own picturesque fashion, “a valiant officer, who has since been killed before Paris, and who was called Péchot, arrived at St. Privat [from Roncourt] with the 9th battalion of Chasseurs, the 6th and 12th of the Line. He dashed forward to stop the enemy; but, as the enemy flung at us masses of iron, and did not come himself, as it was shells which came instead, we could not hold on. Péchot warned me, and we were obliged to retire. We did so by moving in echelon from the centre, and, in good order, I emphasize the phrase, we gained the heights beside the wood of Saulny.” The German Staff acknowledge that the rearward movement was admirably done; but the succinct narrative vouchsafed by the Marshal to the Court which tried Bazaine, gives only a vague glimpse of the closing scene.
When the “valiant Péchot” retired from Roncourt before the Saxon inroad, he skilfully put his brigade into the forest of Jaumont, on the right rear of the original line. Colonel Montluisant, the gallant artilleryman, having received a welcome supply of ammunition, sent up from St. Quentin by the order of Bazaine, posting his batteries in lines one above the other on the terraces near the wood of Saulny, opened a sustained fire to cover the retreat. Bourbaki, although Canrobert did not know it at the time, such was the confusion and so thick was the air, had moved his batteries and Grenadiers near enough at dusk to bring both musketry and cannon-shot to bear upon the Germans. In St. Privat, glowing like a furnace, and as the darkness became deeper, shedding a wild light upon the scene, there were still stout and obstinate soldiers who either would not, or could not, follow the retiring brigades. Upon these devoted troops, as the sun went down behind the dark border of woods beyond the valley of the Orne, the much-tried Prussian Guards and the leg-weary Saxons threw themselves with all their remaining vigour; and in rear of them, yet far down the slope, stepped one Division of the 10th Corps. The guns reinforced had again been dragged forward, some overwhelming St. Privat, others pounding Montluisant, or facing south-east, and smiting the French about Amanvillers. Then, with loud hurrahs, the assailants broke into St. Privat, pursued the defenders amid the burning houses, captured two thousand prisoners, who were unable to escape from the buildings, and developed their lines in the twilight on the plateau beyond. The capture of St. Privat enabled the German artillery to press on once more, each battery striving to gain the foremost place. For Canrobert’s retreat exposed the right flank of De Ladmirault’s Corps, and, under a scathing fire, he was obliged to throw it back, protected by Bourbaki on the hill, and supported by a brigade promptly despatched towards that side by Lebœuf, who, all through the eddying fight, showed a fine tactical sense and great decision. How far the Germans were able to push their advantage it is difficult to say, since General Gondrecourt, who was near the place, maintains that some of De Ladmirault’s soldiers remained through the night in Amanvillers; whereas the Germans assert that they broke into part of the village. Be that as it may, Montigny la Grange, La Folie, and the posts thence to Point du Jour, for certain, were held by the French until the morning. Marshal Lebœuf has stated that he summoned his Generals in the evening, and said to them: “The two Corps on our right, crushed by superior forces, have been obliged to retire. We have behind us,” he added, “one of the defiles through which they (‘cette troupe’) may retreat. If we give back a step the Army is lost. The position, doubtless, is difficult, but we will remain.” He declares that the attack continued until midnight, and that not one of his men budged a foot, which is true; but Canrobert’s men did fly in disorder to Woippy, and De Ladmirault confessed that there was “some disorder” in his Corps, and that what remained of them in the wood of Saulny stood to their arms all night. The General states his case in an extraordinary manner. “Night,” he says, “surprised us in this situation, having gained the battle, but not having been able to maintain our positions.” What he meant to assert was that he, De Ladmirault had won the battle, but that the defeat of Canrobert had obliged him to retire. The truth was that some troops remained in Montigny la Grange, but that the rest, or nearly all of them, where huddled together in the wood of Saulny, whence they retreated at dawn.
During the night each Corps commander received from Marshal Bazaine an order to occupy certain positions under the guns of Metz. Canrobert, De Ladmirault, and the Guard, marched in the night, or very early in the morning, to the places assigned them; Lebœuf began his movement at dawn, but Frossard kept outposts on his front line long after daylight. During the forenoon, however, the Army of the Rhine had gained the shelter of a fortified town, which they were not able to quit until they marched off to Germany as prisoners of war.
The effective strength of the German Armies present on the field of Gravelotte was 203,402 men, and 726 guns; it would not be easy to calculate how many were actually engaged in the fight, but the forces held in reserve were considerable. The number on the French side has been put as low as 120,000, and as high as 150,000 men, and probably about 530 guns. The loss of the Germans in killed and wounded was 20,159, and 493 missing. The French loss is set down at 7,853 killed and wounded and 4,419 prisoners, many of whom were wounded men. The disproportion is tremendous, and shows once again that, armed with the breechloader, the defender is able to kill and injure nearly two to one. There were killed or mortally wounded in the German ranks no fewer than 5,237 officers and men, while the aggregate for the French is only 1,144. The loss of officers and men in the Prussian Guards, nearly all inflicted in half an hour before St. Privat, reached the dreadful total of 2,440 killed or mortally injured, and of wounded 5,511!