The Operations of the Army of the South under General von Manteuffel.
The two Army Corps under General von Manteuffel consisted altogether of fifty-six battalions, twenty squadrons, and 168 guns. When it arrived at Châtillon sur Seine on January 12th, the IInd Corps was on the right, and the VIIth on the left on an extension from Noyers Montigny of about forty-five miles. One brigade, under General von Dannenberg, which had already several times been in contact with portions of the French Army of the Vosges, was pushed forward to Vilaines and was charged with the duty of covering the right flank.
Several good roads led from the quarters specified in the direction of Dijon; to Vesoul, on the contrary, there were only bad tracks deep in snow over the southern slope of the wild plateau of Langres. The Commander-in-Chief, nevertheless, chose this direction, that he might as soon as possible afford General von Werder at least indirect assistance by approaching in the rear of the enemy threatening his brother-officer.
The march had to pass midway between the towns of Dijon and Langres, both points strongly occupied by the French. Wooded heights and deep ravines separated the columns and precluded mutual support; each body had to provide for its individual safety in every direction. The troops had previously undergone severe fatigues, and badly as they needed rest not one halt-day could be granted, nor could the evil plight of their boots and the horses' shoes be in any way remedied. On January 14th the march was begun in a thick fog and bitter cold, along roads frozen as smooth as glass.
The maintenance of supplies required special attention, and at first the 8th Brigade had to be left behind to secure the all-important railway-line Tonnerre—Nuits—Châtillon, until connections could be established by way of Epinal.
On the very first day's march the advanced guard of the VIIth Corps had a fight before Langres. A force from the garrison of 15,000 men was driven in on the fortress with the loss of a flag, and a detachment had to be left behind in observation of the place. Under cover of it the VIIth Corps marched past the fortress next day, while the IInd advanced to the Ignon Brook.
The weather changed during the night of the 15th. As a change from fourteen degrees of frost there came storm and rain. The water lay on the frozen roads, and it was with the greatest difficulty that the VIIth Corps reached Prauthoy, and the IInd Moloy, closing in to the left.
On the 18th the left wing advanced South-East on Frettes and Champlitte, the right assembled at Is sur Tille, and its advanced guard, after a march of thirty-one miles, reached the bridges at Gray. On the flank and rear of the Corps there had been some trivial fighting, but the cruel march across the mountains had been accomplished, and the cultivated valley of the Saône was reached.
General von Manteuffel had already received news of the satisfactory course of the first day's fighting on the Lisaine. Later telegrams from General von Werder reported that the French Army of the East would probably be obliged to retire under difficulties, and the German commander at once determined to cut off its retreat by advancing to the Doubs below Besançon.
The defeated French army was still numerically greatly superior to the German force. The troops had to be again called upon for severe exertions. They were required once more to cross a thinly-populated mountainous region, where it would be a matter of great difficulty to procure food and the shelter needful during the bitter winter nights. Strong hostile forces had to be left in the rear at Langres, Dijon, and Auxonne, and that under very insufficient observation. However, in spite of every obstacle the advance in this new direction was begun on the 19th.
The first difficulty would have been the crossing of the Saône, here very deep and about sixty-six yards wide, and full of drifting ice, had not the advanced guard of the IInd Corps found Gray abandoned by the French and both the bridges uninjured; whereupon it occupied the town. The head of the VIIth Corps crossed the river by the intact railway-bridge at Savayeux, and by a pontoon bridge thrown across by the pioneers higher up.
On the following day both Corps advanced in a southerly direction, the VIIth to Gy, the IInd to Pesmes. Here the latter also now crossed the Ognon after driving off by artillery fire a French detachment which tried to oppose the construction of the bridges.
On the 21st, at half past two, the advanced guard of the IInd Corps found Dôle occupied by the enemy. General von Koblinski (commanding 5th Infantry Brigade) attacked at once. In spite of a violent street-fight in which the townspeople took part, the Grenadiers of the 2nd Regiment made their way through the town and on the further side seized a train of 230 waggons of provisions and military necessaries, intended for Besançon and left standing in the railway-station.
While the Doubs was thus crossed by the IInd Corps at this point, so the VIIth Corps opened itself a passage across the Ognon at Marmay and Pin.
General von Werder had been instructed to follow close on the heels of the retreating enemy, and while the latter still maintained his position on the front of the XIVth Corps, the 2nd Baden Brigade on the right wing had advanced to Etobon, while Colonel von Willisen with his twelve squadrons had moved out beyond Lure. On the left, Colonel von Zimmermann with the East-Prussian Landwehr had driven the French out of Ste. Marie. These detachments everywhere found cast-away arms and portions of equipment, and hundreds willingly gave themselves up as prisoners.
During the next few days General von Werder effected a general left-wheel to the south. The right wing held Villersexel, and it was the left wing only that met the enemy in great masses at L'Isle sur le Doubs, and afterwards at Clerval and Baume les Dames.
General Bourbaki had withdrawn from the Lisaine on the 18th. The XXIVth Corps only was left on the left bank of the Doubs, with orders to defend toward the north the defiles in the steep mountain-paths of the Lomont range eastward of Clerval; all the other troops withdrew between the Doubs and the Ognon, with the Division Crémer as rearguard. The Ognon might have formed a natural protection for the right flank of the French army, and orders had been given for the destruction of all the bridges over it; but we have seen how little they had been obeyed.
On the 21st the XVth and XXth Corps arrived in the neighbourhood of Baume les Dames, the XVIIIth at Marchaux; and here, having the stronghold of Besançon close at his back, General Bourbaki desired to await for the present the further movements of the enemy. In order that his forces should still muster in full strength, the commandant of Besançon was instructed to send forward to Blamont all the battalions of Mobiles-Guards he could spare so as to relieve the XXIVth Corps. Nine battalions of mobilized National Guards had actually previously reached Besançon, which might have been substituted as desired, but they came armed with Enfield rifles, for which there was no ammunition in the fortress. Thus they would there only have added to the mouths to be filled, and General Rolland had simply sent them back again. The Intendant-General declared it impossible any longer to bring up the supplies ordered by him for the maintenance of the army; but what proved decisive was the news received this day that not only was the line of the Ognon lost, but that the Germans had already crossed the Doubs.
Under these circumstances the French Commander-in-Chief determined to continue his retreat on Besançon and there cross to the southern bank of the Doubs, so as not to be compelled to give battle with the river in his rear. The trains were sent off during the night, but above all things the XVth Corps was ordered at once to occupy Quingey with a whole division, and defend that position to extremity, in order to keep open the communications of the Corps with the interior. All the other Corps were to concentrate round Besançon, even the XXIVth, which consequently gave up the defence of the Lomont passes.
General Bourbaki reported his situation to the Minister of War, who held out hopes of supporting him with the portion of the XVth Corps still remaining on the Loire. Assistance could have been more quickly and effectually given from Dijon.
The Government had assembled there a very considerable force to replace the Division Crémer gone to join the Army of the East, for the defence of the ancient capital of Burgundy and to constitute a point of support to the operations of General Bourbaki. A Corps of 20,000 men was assigned to the local defence; a very inappropriately-named Army of the Vosges, more than 40,000 strong, was to do duty in the field. But this was of little effect in hindering the toilsome advance of the Germans over the mountains. The detachments in observation allowed themselves to be driven in by General von Kettler (commanding 8th Infantry Brigade), who followed the movement of both Corps on the right flank; and they retired on Dijon. Colonel Bombonnel, stationed at Gray, urgently begged for reinforcements to enable him to defend the passages of the Saône; his applications were refused because Dijon was in too great peril, and it was not till the Prussians had already crossed the river that "General" Garibaldi began to move.
He set out on the 19th in three columns in the direction of Is sur Tille, where there still remained only part of the (German) 4th Infantry Division. But he advanced little more than four miles. Garibaldi subsequently confined himself to watching reconnoitring parties which advanced to meet him from the heights of Messigny, and he then retired on Dijon with his troops marching to the strains of the Marseillaise.
Nevertheless, the enemy was held in too small estimation in General Manteuffel's headquarter, when General von Kettler was simply ordered to go and take Dijon.
The greatest care had been bestowed in strengthening the place. Numerous earthworks, and other erections specially constructed for defence protected it to the northward; more especially had Talant and Fontaine les Dijon been transformed into two detached forts and armed with heavy guns which commanded all the approaches on that side. The whole constituted a position which could be held against a much larger force than the five and a half battalions of the 8th Brigade with which General Kettler advanced to the attack.
Fighting at Dijon, January 21st and 22nd.—This force had reached Turcey and St. Seine, and on the 21st advanced in two columns from the west on Dijon, still distant some fourteen miles. Major von Conta from Is sur Tille on the north was approaching with a small reinforcement. The "Franctireurs de la Mort," the "Compagnie de la Revanche," and other volunteer bands as well as Mobiles-Guards were without much difficulty driven out of the villages on the way, and beyond the deep ravine of the Suzon; the village of Plombieres on the right, which was defended with spirit, was stormed, and Daix was carried on the left; but in front of the fortified position of the French, and within reach of the fire of their heavy batteries, the bold advance was forced to come to a stand. Major von Conta had also pushed on with continuous fighting, but failed to effect a junction with the brigade before dark. General von Kettler, recognizing the overwhelming superiority of the French, finally restricted himself to repulsing their sorties.
The French lost seven officers and 430 men in prisoners alone; but the fighting also cost the brigade nineteen officers and 322 men. The troops had performed a severe march in bad weather along heavy roads, and had not been able to cook either before or after the fight; the ammunition could only be replenished from a convoy which was expected next day. Nevertheless General von Kettler did not hesitate to remain for the night in the positions he had gained immediately in front of the enemy, and then to seek shelter-quarters in the nearest villages.
The French allowed him to do so without any serious opposition. Inactivity so utter caused General von Kettler the suspicion that the main body of the enemy had probably withdrawn by Auxonne to the support of the Army of the East, and he determined to bring it back on Dijon by a renewed attack.
On the 23rd at eleven o'clock, by a flank march along the enemy's front, after his advanced guard had routed a detachment of Gardes-Mobiles, he reached the farm of Valmy on the Langres road, and advanced with his two batteries against the walled and strongly-held village of Pouilly. Here, as was almost always the case when engaged in the defence of buildings, the French made a stout resistance. The 61st Regiment had to storm each house in turn, and it was not till the château was in flames that the strong body of defenders who had taken refuge in the upper floors, surrendered.
Beyond this place the enemy were found deployed in an entrenched position between Talant, which had been converted into a fort, and a large factory-building on the high-road. Here the advance was checked till the remainder of the regiment came up from Valmy, and the defenders at various points were driven back on the suburb.
It was evident that the French were still at Dijon in full force, and the object of the undertaking had therefore been attained. But now unfortunately a tragic episode occurred, for the storming of the factory was absolutely insisted on—a great building, almost impregnable against infantry unaided. When all the senior officers had been killed, a first-lieutenant, whose horse had been shot and he himself wounded, took the command of the 2nd battalion. No sooner had the 5th company, only forty strong, advanced from the neighbouring quarry, than it came under a hot fire from all sides. The leader was at once wounded, and the sergeant who carried the colour fell dead after a few steps; so did the second-lieutenant and the battalion adjutant, who had again raised the standard. It was passed from hand to hand, carried first by the officers then by the men; every bearer fell. The brave Pomeranians[81] nevertheless rushed on the building, but there was no entrance anywhere on that side, and at last the under-officer retreated on the quarry with the remnant of the little band. Here, for the first time, the colour was missed. Volunteers went out again in the darkness to search for it, but only one man returned unwounded. It was not till afterwards that the French found the banner, shot to ribbons, in a pool of blood under the dead. This was the only German colour lost throughout the war, and only thus was this one lost.
The enemy took prisoners eight officers and 150 men, and the brigade sustained a fresh loss of sixteen officers and 362 men. It mustered at Pouilly, and remained under arms till eight o'clock to meet possible pursuit; only then were quarters taken in the neighbouring villages.
Operations of the Army of the South.—The commission to take Dijon could not be executed; but the bold advance of this weak brigade cowed the hostile army into inactivity, so that General von Manteuffel was able to pursue his march unopposed.
He had given to both his corps as their objective the enemy's line of retreat south of Besançon.
From this fortress there were but few roads to the south of France available for troops, through the riven and rugged regions of the western Jura. The most direct connection was by the road and railway to Lons le Saulnier, on which Quingey and Byans were the most important barriers. Further to the east, but by a wide détour, a road runs by Ornans, Salins and Champagnole to St. Laurent and Morez. Several ways, however, radiate from Besançon and converge in Pontarlier, by using the passes peculiar to this range, called "Cluses," which pierce transversely the mountain chains and afford the valleys intercommunication. From Pontarlier one road only runs past Mouthe, and along the Swiss frontier in awkward proximity thereto.
January 22nd.—On this day the advanced guard of the 13th Division marched from Audeux to St. Vit, and after breaking up the railway and plundering a number of loaded waggons, down the riverside to Dampierre. On the way four bridges over the Doubs were found uninjured and were taken possession of. The advanced guard of the 14th Division moved from Emagny to observe Besançon. The IInd Corps closed on Dôle and pushed reconnoitring parties across the river.
January 23rd.—The concentric movement of all the bodies of the German army was continued.
General Debschitz, approaching from the north, in passing Roches found only the abandoned camping ground of the French XXIVth Corps. The 4th Reserve Division occupied L'Isle without opposition, and met no resistance till it reached Clerval and Baume.
On the Ognon the Baden Division drove the French out of Montbozon.
In the centre of the army the VIIth Corps pushed the advanced guard of the 14th Division forward on Dannemarie, near Besançon. A fight ensued there in the form only of a cannonade which lasted till night. The 13th Division, again, which had crossed the Doubs at Dampierre, advanced on Quingey.
For want of rolling stock it had been possible to forward only one French brigade by railway, and the last trains were received at the Byans station with Prussian shells. These troops were in so bad case that they were unable even to place outposts. They abandoned Quingey almost without a struggle, and their hurried retreat on Besançon and beyond the Loue, stopped the advance of reinforcements already on the way. Thus 800 prisoners and a train of 400 convalescents fell into the hands of the Prussian advanced guard, who at once broke up the railway at Abbans-dessous.
On the right wing, the head of the IInd Corps advanced by the valley of the Loue on the southern bank. Several cuttings on this road had been prepared for defence, but were found undefended. It was at Villers Farlay that it first encountered a strong body of the enemy.
On the evening of this day, of the French forces the XXth Corps was on the north and the XVIIIth on the west of Besançon, at the distance of about four miles. Cavalry, artillery and the train were passing through the town or encamped on the glacis of the fortress. The XXIVth Corps was on the march thither, and the 2nd and 3rd Divisions of the XVth were in possession of the southern bank of the Doubs about Baume and Larnod; but the 1st Division had not succeeded in holding Quingey. Thus the most direct and important line of communications of the French army was cut, and its position, by this fresh mischance, seriously compromised. Impracticable projects and counsels from Bordeaux poured in freely, but did not mend matters; and on the 24th General Bourbaki summoned the superior officers to a council of war.
January 24th.—The Generals declared that they had scarcely more than half their men under arms, and these were more inclined to fly than to fight. General Pallu alone thought he might answer for the men of the army reserve. The Intendant-General reported that, without trenching on the magazines of the place, the supplies in hand would last for four days at most. General Billot was in favour of attempting to fight a way through to Auxonne, but he declined to take the command in chief which was offered him. The exhaustion of the troops and their evidently increasing insubordination gave little hope of the success of offensive operations. So there was no alternative but to retire on Pontarlier, as the Commander-in-Chief had proposed.
This recourse, even, was seriously threatened. To relieve himself from pressure on the north, General Bourbaki ordered the XXIVth Corps to advance once more and hold the Lomont passes. On the south the XVth was to defend the deep mountain-ravine of the Loue, and General Crémer was more especially to cover the retreat of the army on the right flank, which was most seriously threatened. For this difficult task, in addition to his own Division, a Division of the XXth Corps and the army reserve as the most trustworthy troops were placed under his command. The XVIIIth and the remainder of the XXth were to await marching-orders at Besançon.
In the German Head-quarter, where of course the plans of the French could not be known, various possibilities had to be reckoned with.
If the French remained at Besançon there would be no need to attack them there; the place was not suited for the accommodation of a large army, and its supplies could not long hold out. That they would again attempt to advance northwards was scarcely likely; by doing so they would be cutting loose from all their resources, and must encounter the larger part of the XIVth German Corps on the Ognon.
An attempt to break through to Dijon seemed more possible. But this would be opposed at St. Vit by the 13th Division, at Pesmes by Colonel von Willisen's detachment, and finally by General von Kettler.
Thus a retreat on Pontarlier seemed the most likely course; and to hinder their further march from that place would in the first instance be the duty of the IInd Corps, while in the meantime the VIIth was observing the enemy massed in Besançon, and opposing his sorties on both sides of the river.
The Commander-in-Chief therefore confined himself to giving general directions to his Generals, expressly authorizing them to act on their own judgment in eventualities which could not be foreseen.
General von Werder was instructed to advance by Marnay, and to place the 14th Division in touch with the Baden Division and Von der Goltz's Brigade, and then to distribute these bodies along the right bank of the Doubs. The 4th Reserve Division restored the bridges at L'Isle and Baume, and crossed over to the left bank. Colonel von Willisen was to join the VIIth Corps to supply its lack of cavalry. The IInd Corps was assembled behind Villers Farlay.
January 25th.—Reconnaissances on a large scale were arranged for next day. The reconnaissance of the VIIth Corps resulted in a sharp fight at Vorges. The head of the IInd Corps met the enemy in front of Salins and at Arbois, but found that the latter had not yet reached Poligny.
January 26th.—The advanced guard of the IInd Corps advanced on Salins. The fronts of the high-perched forts of St. André and Belin near the town, looked toward Switzerland, but their fire commanded also on flank and rear the plain to the south and west on the enemy's line of march. Salins constituted a strong barrier on the road to St. Laurent, and as long as it was held would cover the line of retreat of columns marching from Besançon to Pontarlier.
The two field-batteries of the advanced guard could, of course, do little against the heavy guns of the forts; but the Fusiliers of the 2nd Regiment advanced in rushes of small detachments up the narrow ravine, scaled its rugged faces, and, supported by the two Grenadier battalions, forced their way, about half-past two, into the railway-station and suburb of St. Pierre; but with the loss of 3 officers and 109 men.
Soon after General von Koblinski arrived by way of St. Thiébaud with the 42nd Regiment. As in consequence of the representations of the Mayor the commandant refrained from bombarding the town, the advanced guard was able to take up its quarters therein; the main body of the 3rd Division retreated from under the fire of the forts on Mouchard, and the defile remained closed again to further penetration. It was necessary to turn it by the south.
In that direction the 4th Division had already marched to Arbois, its head further forward up to Pont d'Héry; it found Poligny and Champagnole on the right still unoccupied.
The VIIth Corps reconnoitred both banks of the Doubs, and found the enemy in strong positions at Busy and at Vorges.
The 4th Reserve Division advanced along the southern bank as far as St. Juan d'Adam, near Besançon; the remainder of the XIVth Corps marched on Etuz and Marnay.
General von Kettler's report of the fighting on the 21st and 23rd determined General von Manteuffel to make a renewed attempt on Dijon. He detailed to this duty General Hann von Weyhern (commanding 4th Infantry Division, IInd Corps), placing him in command of the 8th Brigade, with Colonel von Willisen's troops and Degenfeld's Baden Brigade.
On the French side, General Bressoles had started on the 24th, in obedience to orders, to take renewed possession of the passages of the Doubs and the Lomont defiles. He had, in the first instance, turned against Baume with d'Aries' Division; but as he did not succeed even in driving the German outposts out of Pont les Moulins, he retired to Vercel. In consequence of this, on the morning of the 26th, Carré's Division, which had found the passes of the Lomont unoccupied, also moved to Pierre Fontaine. Comagny's Division had already retreated to Morteau, and was making its way unmolested to Pontarlier.
General Bourbaki was greatly disturbed by this failure of his right wing; more perhaps than was needful, since, in fact, only one German division stood north of him, which at most could drive his rearguard on Pontarlier, while the main force of the enemy threatened him far more seriously on the west. He nevertheless ordered a renewed advance, on the 26th, of the XXIVth Corps, which was now to be supported by the XVIIIth. But the march through Besançon of the latter, through streets covered with ice, took up the whole of the day which should have been devoted to the attack, so that nothing came of the scheme.
The Army Reserve had reached Ornans, and stood there in readiness. The two other Divisions advanced on the road to Salins, but heard while on the march that the Germans had just carried that place. They then occupied in Déservillers and Villeneuve d'Amont, the roads leading from thence to Pontarlier.
The War Minister, meanwhile, had decisively refused permission for the general retreat of the army, without any regard to the imperative necessities of the case.
The military dilettanteism which fancied it could direct the movements of the army from Bordeaux is characterized in a telegram of the afternoon of the 25th. Monsieur de Freycinet gives it as his "firm conviction"[82] that General Bourbaki, if he would concentrate his troops, and, if necessary come to an understanding with Garibaldi, would be strong enough to fight his way out, "either by Dôle, or by Mouchard, or by Gray, or by Pontailler" (north of Auxonne). The choice was left to him.
Still more amazing was the further suggestion that if indeed the state of the army prohibited a long march, it should be embarked on the railway at Chagey, under the eye, no doubt, of the pursuing enemy.
Such communications could only avail to shatter the brave commander's self-confidence. The disastrous reports which poured in from all sides, and the state of the troops which he had seen for himself as the XVIIIth Corps marched through the town, crushed his last hope and led him to attempt his own life.
The Commander had of course to bear the blame of the total failure of a campaign planned by Freycinet; his dismissal from the command was already on its way. General Clinchant was appointed in his stead, and under these disastrous circumstances took the command of the army.
All the Generals were, no doubt, extremely reluctant to bring their weary and dispirited troops into serious contact with the enemy. Every line of retreat was closely threatened, excepting only that on Pontarlier. The new Commander-in-Chief had no choice but to carry out the plans of his predecessor. He at once ordered the further march. He himself proceeded to Pontarlier. In that strong position he hoped to be able at least to give the troops a short rest. No large bodies of the Germans had been met with so far, the ammunition columns had got safely through, and if the defiles of Vaux, Les Planches, and St. Laurent could be reached and held in advance of the enemy there was still a possibility of escape to the southwards.
On the evening of the 27th, the Division Poullet was at Levier, nearest to the Germans; the two other Divisions under General Crémer, with the XVth and XXth Corps, were écheloned on the road from Ornans to Sombacourt; the XVIIIth Corps alone was on the eastern road through Nods. The XXIVth, in a miserable condition, had reached Montbenoît with its head at Pontarlier; two Divisions were still in Besançon.
On this same day General von Fransecky collected the main body of the IInd Corps at Arbois, and reinforced General du Trossel's posts at Pont d'Héry.
The XIVth Corps relieved the 14th Division of the VIIth Corps at St. Vit; the latter advanced to the right of the 13th Division into the Loue angle, which the French had already abandoned.
On the north, General von Debschitz held Blamont and Pont du Roide, while General von Schmeling watched Besançon from St. Juan, and General von der Goltz marched on Arbois to form a reserve.
January 28th.—Suspecting that the French were already on the march by Champagnole on St. Laurent, General Fransecky, to cut off from them that line of retreat, advanced on the following day in a southerly direction with the IInd Corps.
General du Trossel reached Champagnole without opposition, and thence sent his cavalry along the road to Pontarlier. Lieutenant-Colonel von Guretzky arrived at Nozeroy with a squadron of the 11th Dragoons, and found the place occupied; but he made prize of fifty-six provision-waggons and the military-chest, taking the escort prisoners.
The 5th and 6th Brigades advanced on Poligny and Pont du Navoy.
The 13th Division of the VIIth Corps, having been relieved at Quingey by the Baden troops, assembled at La Chapelle, while the 14th advanced on Déservillers. Its head found no enemy in Bolandoz, although his camp-fires were still smouldering; so that the main hostile army was not overtaken on that day.
General Clinchant had in fact moved his Corps closer on Pontarlier. But it soon became evident that supplies were not procurable for any long stay there. General Crémer received orders that night to move forward at once to Les Planches and St. Laurent with three cavalry regiments standing already on the road to Mouthe. The mountain-roads were deep in snow, but by forced marching he reached the points designated on the following afternoon. The XXIVth Corps and a brigade of the Division Poullett followed next day, and the latter also occupied with two battalions the village of Bonneveaux at the entrance to the defiles of Vaux. On the evening of the 28th the rest of the French army stood as follows: the XVIIIth Corps was behind the Drugeon at Houtaud close before Pontarlier; the 1st Division of the XVth had advanced over the brook to Sombacourt, the 3rd Division was in the town. On the left the 2nd and 3rd Divisions of the XXth Corps held the villages from Chaffois to Frasne, and on the right the army reserve occupied Byans.
General von Manteuffel had ordered for the 29th a general advance on Pontarlier, where at last the French must certainly be found.
January 29th.—Of the IInd Corps General Koblinsky had set out from Poligny in the night. When he reached Champagnole and had assembled the whole of the 5th Brigade he moved forward therefrom at about seven o'clock. General du Trossel with the 7th Brigade also reached Censeau without finding the enemy.
On the right Colonel von Wedell marched from Pont du Navoy on Les Planches with four battalions of the 6th Brigade. He found only dismounted troopers, posts probably left by General Crémer which were easily dispersed by the Jägers. Detachments were then sent out in different directions, and everywhere met with scattered troops; but at Foncine le Bas the head of the XXIVth Corps was found, and Colonel von Wedell now blocked the last line of retreat which had remained to the French.
With the rest of the IInd Corps General von Hartmann marched unopposed on Nozeroy.
The 14th Division of the VIIth Corps had not received the order to advance on Pontarlier till somewhat late; it did not start from Déservillers until noon, and only reached Levier at three o'clock, where, at the same hour, the head of the 13th Division also arrived from Villeneuve d'Amont, the state of the roads having greatly delayed its march.
The advanced guard of three battalions, half a squadron, and one battery, had met only stragglers on the way, and General von Zastrow commanded it to push forward to the Drugeon brook. In the forest on the left of the road closed detachments of the enemy were retiring on Sombacourt, and Major von Brederlow with the 1st battalion of the 77th Regiment turned off to attack that village lying on the flank. The 2nd company under Captain von Vietinghof dashed into it through Sept Fontaines with loud cheers, and was at once closely surrounded by strong bodies of the enemy; but the other companies soon came to its assistance. The first Division of the XVth French Corps was here completely routed without the Army Reserve close at hand in Byans having come to its support. Fifty officers, including two generals, and 2700 men were taken prisoners; ten guns, seven mitrailleuses, forty-eight waggons, 319 horses and 3500 stand of arms fell into the hands of the Hanoverian battalion[83] which was left in occupation of Sombacourt.
The rest of the advanced guard had meanwhile approached Chaffois, where the road opens out from the mountains into the wide valley of the Drugeon. That village, as we have seen, was occupied by the 2nd Division of the XXth Corps.
Colonel von Cosel passed at once to the attack. Three companies of the 53rd Regiment surprised the French field-posts and took possession of the first houses of the village, but then the whole mass of the French XVIIIth Corps barred his further progress. By degrees all the available forces had to join in the fighting, and also reinforcements had to be brought up from the main body of the 14th Division. The fight lasted with great obstinacy for an hour and a half, when suddenly the French ceased firing and laid down their arms. They claimed that an armistice had already been agreed on.
Monsieur Jules Favre had, in fact, telegraphed to Bordeaux at a quarter-past eleven on the night of the 28th, that an armistice of twenty-one days had been concluded, without adding, however, that, with his consent, the three eastern departments had been excluded from its operations. The information, in this imperfect form, was transmitted to the civil authorities by the Delegation at 12.15 of the 29th; but Monsieur Freycinet did not forward it to the military authorities, whom the matter principally concerned, till 3.30 in the afternoon.
Thus could General Clinchant in all good faith transmit to General Thornton, in command of the Divisions at Chaffois, a message which, as regarded the Army of the East, was altogether incorrect. The latter at once sent his staff officer to the Prussian advanced guard, which was still in action, who demanded the cessation of the firing in recognition of the official communication.
General von Manteuffel had received in Arbois at five in the morning, full particulars from the supreme Head-quarter of the terms of the armistice, according to which the army of the South was to prosecute its operations to a final issue. An army order announcing this to all the troops was at once sent out, but did not reach the VIIth Corps till evening.
Nothing was known there of any armistice; however, the tidings might be on the way, and General von Zastrow granted the temporary cessation of hostilities, and even sanctioned the release of his prisoners, but without their arms.
Chaffois, with the exception of a couple of farmsteads, remained in possession of the 14th Division, which found such quarters there as might be; the 13th occupied the villages from Sept Fontaines back to Déservillers.
January 30th.—In full confidence in the news from the seat of Government, General Clinchant, on the 30th, suspended the movements of his army. The newly-appointed Commander of the XXIVth Corps, General Comagny, also gave up his intended attempt to cut his way with 10,000 men at Foncine through Colonel von Wedell's weak brigade. The other Corps, after the unfortunate course of the fighting on the previous evening, had drawn in close on Pontarlier; but detachments of cavalry were sent out on the roads to Besançon and St. Laurent, to establish a line of demarcation and also to keep up communications with the fortress and with Southern France.
On receiving the army order at about eleven o'clock, General Zastrow gave notice to the enemy in his front of the resumption of hostilities, but restricted his immediate demands to the complete evacuation of Chaffois, which was complied with. Otherwise the Corps remained inactive where it was.
Of the IInd Corps General du Trossel had set out very early from Censeau, but the appearance of a French flag of truce, and his fear of offending against the law of nations, here too occasioned considerable hesitation. The forest of Frasne was not clear of the French till evening. Lieutenant-Colonel von Guretzky made his way into the village with quite a small force, and took prisoners twelve officers and 1500 men who held it, with two colours. The 5th Brigade then also moved up into Frasne; the rest of the Corps occupied the same quarters as on the previous day.
A flag of truce had presented itself at Les Planches, but Colonel von Wedell had simply dismissed the bearer. The outposts of the XIVth Corps did the same.
On the north of Pontarlier, General von Schmeling advanced to Pierre Fontaine, General von Debschitz to Maiche.
January 31st.—Early in the morning of this day the French Colonel Varaigne made his appearance at General von Manteuffel's head-quarters at Villeneuve, with the proposal that a cessation of hostilities for thirty-six hours should be agreed upon, till the existing condition of uncertainty should be removed; but this proposal was refused, as on the German side there were no doubts whatsoever. Permission was granted for the despatch of an application to Versailles, but it was at the same time explained that the movements of the Army of the South would not be suspended pending the arrival of the answer.
On this day, however, the IInd Army Corps marched only to Dompierre on a parallel front with the VIIth, its advanced guard pushing forward on the Drugeon to Ste. Colombe and La Rivière. Thence, in the evening, a company of the Colberg Grenadiers crossed the steep mountain ridge and descended on La Planée, where it took 500 prisoners. A right-flank detachment of two battalions and one battery under Lieutenant-Colonel Liebe marched unopposed up the long pass of Bonnevaux to Vaux, and took prisoners 2 officers and 688 men. The enemy then abandoned the defile of Granges Ste. Marie and retired to St. Antoine in the mountains.
The Corps had found every road strewn with cast-away arms and camp utensils, and had taken in all 4000 prisoners.
Of the VIIth Corps, as soon as the enemy had been informed of the resumption of hostilities, the 14th Division bent leftward on the Drugeon and up to La Vrine, whence a connection was effected with the 4th Reserve Division of the XIVth Corps in St. Gorgon. The 13th Division advanced to Sept Fontaines. Pontarlier was now completely surrounded, and General von Manteuffel fixed February 1st for the general attack thereon. The IInd Corps was to advance from the south-west, the VIIth from the north-west; General von der Goltz was to establish himself in front of Levier in reserve.
Meanwhile the French Commander-in-Chief had conceived doubts whether everything was quite right with the communications from his Government. All the mountain-passes leading to the south were now lost, and an escape in that direction was no longer to be hoped for. General Clinchant had already sent rearward the baggage and ammunition columns, the sick and worn-out men, through La Cluse under shelter of the forts of Joux and Neuv. And when in the afternoon a message from Bordeaux brought the intelligence that in fact the Army of the East had been excluded from the armistice, the Commander-in-Chief summoned his generals to a council of war. Every General present declared that he could no longer answer for his troops. General Clinchant himself therefore went out the same evening to Les Verrières, to conclude negotiations he had already opened, in virtue of which on the following day, February 1st, the army was to cross the Swiss frontier by three roads.
To cover this retreat, the Army Reserve was to hold Pontarlier till all the baggage-trains should have passed La Cluse, while the XVIIIth Corps was to take up a covering position between the two forts. Defensive works there were at once set about. What of the XVth Corps on the way by Morez had failed in getting through with the cavalry was to try to cross into Switzerland at any available point.
February 1st.—When the advanced guard of the IInd Corps now advanced on Pontarlier from Ste. Colombe, it met with but slight resistance at the railway station. The Colberg Grenadiers took possession of the town without a struggle, and captured many prisoners, but then found the road on the further side entirely blocked by guns and waggons. They could pass beyond on either side of the road only with difficulty through deep snow. Just in front of La Cluse the road winds between high rocky precipices into the wide basin of the Doubs, completely commanded by the isolated fortalice of Joux perched on the solid rock. On debouching into the open the foremost companies were received by a hot fire. Four guns, dragged up thither with the greatest exertions, could make no head against the heavy guns of the fort, and the French themselves here passed to the attack.
The Colberg Fusiliers had meanwhile climbed the heights to the left, followed by the 2nd Battalion of the Regiment and a battalion of the 49th Regiment, which drove the French out of the farmsteads on the rifted upland. The steep cliff on the right was also scaled, several rifle sub-divisions of the 49th climbed the acclivity up to La Cluse, and the Colberg Grenadiers advanced to the foot of Fort Neuv.
To take the strong fortalices by storm was obviously impossible, and furthermore because of the nature of the ground the fugitive enemy could scarcely be overtaken in force. Of the French, 23 officers and 1600 men were taken prisoners, with 400 loaded waggons; of the Germans, 19 officers and 365 men had fallen, mostly of the Colberg Regiment. The troops spent the night on the field of the fighting.
As no large force could come into action at La Cluse, General von Fransecky had ordered the main body of the Corps to march further southward to Ste. Marie. To avoid the necessity of crossing the steep chain of the Jura, General von Hartmann first betook himself to Pontarlier to avail himself of the better roads from thence, but his progress was stopped, the fight at La Cluse having assumed unexpected proportions. The VIIth Corps and the 4th Reserve Division, which had reached the Doubs at noon, were equally unable to get at the enemy.
During the whole day the French columns were crossing the Swiss frontier. The Army Reserve in Pontarlier was at the beginning swept away by the tide of baggage-waggons and drivers, and only joined the XVIIIth Corps on reaching La Cluse. During the night they both followed the general line of retreat. Only the cavalry and the 1st Division of the XXIVth Corps reached the neighbouring department of l'Ain to the southward, the latter force reduced to a few hundred men. There crossed the frontier on to Swiss soil some 80,000 Frenchmen.
General Manteuffel had transferred his headquarters to Pontarlier. There, in the course of the night, he first heard through Berlin of the convention arranged between General Clinchant and Colonel Herzog of the Swiss Confederation.
General von Manteuffel had achieved the important success of his three weeks' campaign by hard marching and constant fighting, although there had been no pitched battle since that of the Lisaine. These marches, indeed, had been such as none but well-seasoned troops could have accomplished under bold and skilful leadership, under every form of fatigue and hardship, in the worst season and through a difficult country.
Thus two French armies were now prisoners in Germany, a third interned in the capital, and the fourth disarmed on foreign soil.