CHAPTER IX.
PRESSED BACK ON METZ
Darkness had set in, and the last shot had been fired, when Marshal Bazaine rode back to his head-quarters at Gravelotte. There he became impressed with the scarcity—“penury”—of munitions and provisions; there he acknowledged to the Emperor that the direct road to Verdun had been closed, and that he might be obliged to retreat by the north; and there he wrote the order which was to move his entire Army the next day nearer to Metz. The troops began their retrograde march as early as four o’clock, by which hour Prince Frederick Charles was up on the hill above Flavigny, intently watching his antagonists. Rezonville was still occupied by infantry, a cavalry division was drawn up between that village and Vernéville until late in the forenoon, and the marches of troops to and fro kept the cautious German Commanders, for some time, in a state of uncertainty.
It has now to be shown how they had employed the 16th outside the area of the conflict, where the several Corps stood in the evening, and by what means the Great Staff, on the 17th, acquired the knowledge that the “Army of the Rhine” had retired upon the line of hills immediately to the westward of Metz.
The movement of troops comes first under notice. On the extreme left the 4th Corps having crossed the Moselle at Marbache, had pushed forward in a south-westerly direction, part of the Corps making a dashing but fruitless attempt to intimidate the garrison of Toul, so important because it barred the railway to Chalons, and at the end of the day was still under orders to march upon the Meuse. The Guard, preceded by its cavalry, advanced from Dieulouard to several points half-way between the Moselle and the Meuse, the right being at Bernecourt and the left about Beaumont. The 12th Corps, Saxons, crossed the Moselle at Pont à Mousson, and had one division there and one about Regnièville en Haye. The 2nd Corps, still approaching the Moselle by forced marches, had attained villages east of the Seille. It will be readily understood that, as the 4th and 2nd Corps were so far distant from the centre of action west of Metz, they could hardly be moved up in time to share in the impending struggle; and they, therefore, for the present, may be omitted from the narrative. It was otherwise with the remaining Corps, and it was the aim of the Great Staff to bring them all up to the Verdun road.
From the very earliest moment, General von Moltke held the opinion that the full consequences of the action on the 14th could only be secured by vigorous operations on the left bank of the Moselle; and as the reports came in from the front on the 16th, that sound judgment was more than confirmed. The Royal head-quarters were transferred in the forenoon to Pont à Mousson, whither King William repaired; and Von Moltke, who had preceded the King, found information which led the general to the conclusion that a new chapter in the campaign had been opened. Accordingly, he desired to push up to the front the largest possible number of troops, so that he might, if such a design were feasible, have ample means wherewith to shoulder off the French to the northward, and sever their communications with Chalons. At this stage, the idea of shutting them up in Metz had not yet been conceived. The 7th, 8th and 9th were ordered to hasten forward on the road towards Vionville, and some part of them, as we have seen, were engaged on the 16th. Extra bridges were erected on the Moselle, the roads were cleared of all impediments, and the results rewarded the foresight, energy and goodwill displayed by officers and men. The 12th Corps was eighteen, and the Guard twenty-two miles from the battlefield, but so keen and intelligent were their commanders, that, inferring from the information they received what would be required of them, they stood prepared to execute any order as soon as it arrived. The former body, indeed, marched off northward in the night, and sent word of the fact to the Guard, which led the commander to assemble the divisions on the instant and stand ready to step forth. So that when the formal orders were brought, the Guard started at five in the morning, when the Saxons were already on the road. The 8th Corps, or rather its remaining division, were on the way at dawn, preceded by the 9th, and followed by the 7th from its cantonments on the left bank of the Seille. Thus the whole available portions of the Second and First Armies were in motion, to sustain the 3rd and 10th, if they were attacked on the 17th; to act, as circumstances required, if the French abandoned the battlefield.
Prince Frederick Charles, who had slept at Gorze, took horse at dawn, and reached his watch-tower on the hill south-west of Flavigny at half-past four o’clock, early enough to distinguish by the increasing light the French line of outposts between Bruville and Rezonville. About six o’clock the King joined the Prince, and at the same time the 9th Corps took post near the right wing of the 3rd. What the staff had now to determine was whether the French intended to retire or attack, and if they retired whither they went. Patrols, busy on all sides, gave in contradictory or rather discordant reports, which for some time left it doubtful whether the retreat was not actually being carried out by Conflans on the Briey road; but by degrees the head-quarters arrived at the conclusion that the French would not attack, that they had not withdrawn far, and that the task of grappling with them must be deferred until the next day. Soon after noon, when General Metman, acting as rear guard, quitted Rezonville, there were on or near the field no fewer than seven German Corps and three divisions of cavalry; so that had the French renewed the battle for the Verdun road, even early in the morning, they would have found it a severe task to make their way at least along the southern or Mars la Tour high road. About eight in the morning General von Moltke had dictated an order on the height near Flavigny, in obedience to which the 7th Corps marched by Borny and Ars upon Gravelotte, following the Mance brook, and occupying the woods on the right and left; while the 8th, already in part on the field, ascended the watercourse and ravine which gives access to Rezonville. The object of the double movement was to accelerate the retreat of the French from these places. It was not accomplished without some wood-fighting, but about half-past three General Metman withdrew his flankers, and glided out of sight beyond the ridge near Point du Jour. But the firing had alarmed Von Moltke, who, dreading lest the fiery Steinmetz should bring on a general or even partial engagement, sent him positive orders to stop the combat. The veteran, however, pressed forward himself with Von Zastrow, Von Kameke and their staff officers. Emerging from the woods into the open, they beheld across the deep ravine the French camps on the opposite plateau, and even discerned the works thrown up by the careful Frossard to cover his guns and infantry. A mitrailleuse at once opened fire on the group of horsemen, and drove them away, but not before they had seen enough to prove, when combined with the cavalry reports from the north-west flank, that the French Army was encamped on the heights to the west of Metz, and had not attempted to withdraw by any of the still open roads towards Mézières or Chalons. Therefore, the German armies halted, and the Generals had a little leisure to frame a plan of operations for the 18th.