This time there were no alliances: it was simply Germany on one side and France on the other. The greatest military genius of our day, Moltke, had foreseen the war, no less than Bismarck, and was equally prepared. The designs of France lay clear, and the only question was to check them in their very commencement. In eleven days, Germany had 450,000 soldiers, organized in three armies, on the way, and the French had not yet crossed the frontier! Further, there was a German reserve force of 112,000, while France had but 310,000, all told, in the field. By the 2d of August, on which day King William reached Mayence, three German armies (General Steinmetz on the North with 61,000 men, Prince Frederick Karl in the centre with 206,000, and the Crown-Prince Frederick William on the South with 180,000) stretched from Treves to Landau, and the line of the Rhine was already safe. On the same day, Napoleon III. and his young son accompanied General Frossard, with 25,000 men, in an attack upon the unfortified frontier town of Saarbrück, which was defended by only 1800 Uhlans (cavalry). The capture of this little place was telegraphed to Paris, and received with the wildest rejoicings; but it was the only instance during the war when French troops stood upon German soil—unless as prisoners.
1870.
On the 4th the army of the Crown-Prince crossed the French frontier and defeated Marshal Mac Mahon's right wing at Weissenburg. The old castle was stormed and taken by the Bavarians, and the French repulsed, after a loss of about 1,000 on each side. Mac Mahon concentrated his whole force and occupied a strong position near the village of Wörth, where he was again attacked on the 6th. The battle lasted thirteen hours and was fiercely contested: the Germans lost 10,000 killed and wounded, the French 8,000, and 6,000 prisoners; but when night came Mac Mahon's defeat turned into a panic. Part of his army fled towards the Vosges mountains, part towards Strasburg, and nearly all Alsatia was open to the victorious Germans. On the very same day, the army of Steinmetz stormed the heights of Spicheren near Saarbrück, and won a splendid victory. This was followed by an immediate advance across the frontier at Forbach, and the capture of a great amount of supplies.
Thus, in less than three weeks from the declaration of war, the attitude of France was changed from the aggressive to the defensive, the field of war was transferred to French soil, and all Napoleon III.'s plans of alliance were rendered vain. Leaving a division of Baden troops to invest Strasburg, the Crown-Prince pressed forward with his main army, and in a few days reached Nancy, in Lorraine. The armies of the North and Centre advanced at the same time, defeated Bazaine on the 14th of August at Courcelles, and forced him to fall back upon Metz. He thereupon determined, after garrisoning the forts of Metz, to retreat still further, in order to unite with General Trochu, who was organizing a new army at Châlons, and with the remnants of Mac Mahon's forces. Moltke detected his plans at once, and the army of Frederick Karl was thereupon hurried across the Moselle, to get into his rear and prevent the junction.
METZ AND VICINITY.
1870. GERMAN ADVANCE UPON METZ.
The struggle between the two commenced on the 16th, near the village of Mars-la-Tour, where Bazaine, with 180,000 men, endeavored to force his way past Frederick Karl, who had but 120,000, the other two German armies being still in the rear. For six hours the latter held his position under a murderous fire, until three corps arrived to reinforce him. Bazaine claimed a victory, although he lost the southern and shorter road to Verdun; but Moltke none the less gained his object. The losses were about 17,000 killed and wounded on each side.
After a single day of rest, the struggle was resumed on the 18th, when the still bloodier and more desperate battle of Gravelotte was fought. The Germans now had about 200,000 soldiers together, while Bazaine had 180,000, with a great advantage in his position on a high plateau. In this battle, the former situation of the combatants was changed: the German lines faced eastward, the French westward—a circumstance which made defeat more disastrous to either side. The strife began in the morning and continued until darkness put an end to it: the French right wing yielded after a succession of heroic assaults, but the centre and left wing resisted gallantly until the very close of the battle. It was a hard-won victory, adding 20,000 killed and wounded to the German losses, but it cut off Bazaine's retreat and forced him to take shelter behind the fortifications of Metz, the siege of which, by Prince Frederick Karl with 200,000 men, immediately commenced, while the rest of the German army marched on to attack Mac Mahon and Trochu at Châlons.
1870.