The 11th and 5th Corps engage.
The shots exchanged by the hostile cavaliers aroused the French infantry in St. Menges; but they offered no resistance when the nearest German battalion attacked the village, which was immediately occupied. Two companies, prolonging the movement, effected a lodgment in Floing and could not be expelled; while three batteries, escorted by the Hussars, dashed upon the ridge south of St. Menges, partly protected by a copse, and opened fire on the French. It was this initial combat which attracted the notice of Prince Augustus of Würtemberg, who looked with interest, from his hill above the Givonne, upon the white battle smoke which curled up beyond the heights of Illy. Shortly afterwards seven additional batteries issued from the defile and formed in succession on the hill—the same which had filled General Douay with anxiety the day before—and some infantry battalions followed; but the body of the 11th Corps was only just clearing the pass, and the 5th was still behind. In order to protect the batteries, infantry supports were advanced on either flank and in front towards the Illy brook. General Margueritte, on the Calvaire d’Illy had watched this unwelcomed development of artillery. Seeing the infantry spread out below, he thought that his horse might ride them down and then disable the line of batteries, which seemed to be without adequate support. Accordingly, by his order, General de Galliffet led forth three regiments of Chasseurs d’Afrique and two squadrons of Lancers against the intrusive foot and audacious gunners. But he never got near the batteries. Swooping down the slope upon the infantry below him, his men and horses soon fell fast, and although they swept through the skirmishers, they were crushed by the fire of the supports and the guns on the hill and the squads of infantry on either side. They endeavoured to ride in upon the flanks, but their bravery was displayed in vain, for nothing could live under the fire which smote them, and they rode back, frustrated, to the shelter of their own lines. The cavalry outburst had been repelled by a few companies of foot on an open hill-side. So puissant is the breech-loader in the hands of cool infantry soldiers. But the French foot took up the game, and the chassepot, deftly plied, forced the forward German skirmishers to fall back on the villages and hills.
Gradually the two Corps arrived on the scene. Before eleven o’clock the artillery of the 5th, preceding its infantry, went into line on a second ridge to the westward, and soon twenty-four batteries—that is, 144 guns—were pouring an “avalanche de fer” into the French position, and crossing their fire with that of the Guard batteries, which showered their shells into the right rear of Douay’s men from the heights beyond the Givonne. About this time, also, as reinforcements came up to Fleigneux, the companies there moved westward towards Olly; captured, on their way, eight guns, many horses, much munition, and above a hundred officers and men, who seemed intent on escaping over the frontier, and finally entered Olly, where soon afterwards they were gratified by the arrival of a squadron of Prussian Hussars of the Guard. Thus was the circle completed which placed the two Armies in communication. In front of the right wing the two companies which at the outset obtained a lodgment in Floing, were at length supported and relieved. As the infantry from the wooded region north of the Meuse Loop arrived, they took the place of the battalions near the guns, and these then went forward upon Floing, one after the other, and by degrees got possession of the village. But the French delivered a counterstroke so well pushed that the defenders of Floing could not keep them back, and they were only thrust out by the timely intervention of three fresh battalions from St. Menges. The French retired towards the heights of Cazal, and for some time stopped the further advance of their foes.
The battle was now practically won; for the Germans held Balan as well as Bazeilles, supported by one-half the 2nd Bavarian Corps brought up to aid the 1st; one division of the 4th Corps was deep in the fight, and the other in reserve, close at hand; the line of the Givonne, from end to end, was occupied on both banks; the Guard Cavalry, after vainly trying to charge up the Calvaire d’Illy, were behind the 5th Corps; south of the Meuse a Bavarian division faced the fortress; and to the west the Würtembergers interposed between Vinoy’s troops in Mézières and Sedan. Above all, a little after one o’clock, there were no fewer than 426 guns hailing shells upon the unfortunate French, who were almost piled one upon another in an area which did not measure two miles either in depth or breadth. It stands on record that there were in full action twenty-six batteries on the North, twenty-four on the East, ten to the West of La Moncelle, and eleven on the South between Wadelincourt and Villette—an array of force enough to crush out all resistance; but the conflict still continued, for no one had authority sufficient to stop the awful carnage.
The Condition of the French Army.
The main interest of the drama henceforth centres in the despairing efforts of the French to avert the catastrophe of Sedan. Early in the morning the Emperor Napoleon mounted his horse and rode out with his own staff to witness the battle. On his way towards Bazeilles he met and spoke to the wounded Marshal, who was being carried to the hospital in Sedan. Then the Emperor rode towards the hills above La Moncelle, and for several hours he lingered on the field, well under fire, for two officers were wounded near him; but he had no influence whatever on the battle. Soon after taking command, De Wimpffen, riding out of the Fond de Givonne, came plump upon Napoleon as he watched the fight near Balan. “All goes well, Sire,” said the General; “we are gaining ground;” and when His Majesty remarked that the left, meaning the front towards St. Menges, was threatened, the General replied, “We shall first pitch the Bavarians into the Meuse, and then, with all our forces, fall upon the new foe.” They parted, the Emperor returning to Sedan, whence he did not emerge again that day, and the General careering towards the fight. Then followed a sharp dispute between De Wimpffen and Ducrot, in the presence of Lebrun, ending in the order to stop the so-called retreat which had scarcely begun. It is impossible to reconcile the conflicting accounts of these officers; but De Wimpffen’s own words show that, at the time, he did not attach great importance to the attack on Douay, for to that General he wrote, “I believe in a demonstration upon your Corps, especially designed to hinder you from sending help to the 1st and 12th Corps,” and he asked him to aid Lebrun. Then he went himself to the position held by Douay, in order to expedite the despatch of reinforcements. “Come and see for yourself,” said Douay, on reaching the heights. “I saw quite a hostile Army extending afar,” writes De Wimpffen, “and a formidable artillery—the big batteries of the 5th and 11th Corps—firing with a precision which, under other circumstances,” he adds, “I should have been the first to admire.” Prince Bibesco says that De Wimpffen promised to send troops from the 1st Corps to occupy the Calvaire d’Illy, and then went away. As he was riding back, in that state of emotion which the French describe by the phrase, “le cœur navré,” he encountered Ducrot. “The events which I predicted,” said the latter, “have happened sooner than I expected. The enemy is attacking the Calvaire d’Illy. Douay is greatly shaken. Moments are precious. Hurry up reinforcements if you would keep that position.” “Well,” retorted De Wimpffen, still believing that he had only Bavarians to deal with, “look after that yourself. Collect what troops you can and hold the ground while I attend to the 12th Corps.” Thereupon Ducrot ordered up guns and infantry; while then, or shortly afterwards, De Wimpffen called for troops from Douay, who, believing the Calvaire was or would be occupied by Ducrot’s people, sent off three brigades, and put his last division in front line. Apparently the cross currents of wandering battalions met in the wood of Garenne; and it is not easy to see how any advantages were obtained by the shifting to and fro which went on. Ducrot was anxious to defend the Illy plateau; De Wimpffen desired to break out towards Carignan. He fondled the idea at one o’clock, when neither object could possibly be attained; but if there had been a chance left, the conflict between the two Generals would have sufficed to destroy it.
That “Army” which De Wimpffen saw from the north-western heights came on in irresistible waves. The French infantry could not endure the thick and ceaseless hail of shells from the terrible batteries. The French artillery, brave and devoted, vainly went into action, for the converging fire from the hostile hills blew up the tumbrils, sometimes two at once, killed and wounded the gunners, and swept away the horses. Ducrot’s reinforcements, despite his forward bearing and animated language, melted away into the woods, and the last battalions and the last two batteries led up by Douay were speedily forced to retire. The Germans, already in the village of Illy, advanced to the Calvaire, while the troops of the 11th Corps sallied out of Floing, deployed on both sides, and soon the interval between the two villages was full of hostile troops. General Ducrot pictures himself, and doubtless truly, as using every effort by word and example to rally and hold fast the foot; but they could not be held; they slipped off and vanished under the trees. At this time the only strong body of French was Liébert’s division above the terraced hill which leads up to Cazal, and the cavalry of Margueritte and Bonnemains lurking in the hollows and under the cover of trees. To these men Ducrot appealed, and his appeal was nobly answered.
The French Cavalry Charge.
General Margueritte commanded five regiments of horse, principally Chasseurs d’Afrique. At the request of Ducrot he promptly moved out from cover, and prepared to charge; but wishing to reconnoitre the ground, he rode in advance, and was hit in the head by a bullet which traversed his face. Mortally wounded, he gave the command to De Galliffet, and rode off, supported by two men, and grasping the saddle with both hands, “the star of his arm,” as Colonel Bonie poetically calls him. Then De Galliffet performed his task, and rode straight into the intrusive enemy. For half an hour, on the hill sides south of Floing, and even the lowlands bordering the Meuse, the dashing French horsemen dauntlessly struck at their foes. The German infantry scattered in lines of skirmishers, were just attaining the crest of the eminence, when the cavalry dashed upon them. They broke through the skirmishers, but fell in heaps under the fire of the compact bodies of supports. Failing to crush a front, they essayed the flanks and even the rear, and nothing dismayed, sought again and again to ride over the stubborn adversary, who, relying on his rifle, would not budge. The more distant infantry and the guns, when occasion served, smote these devoted cavaliers. Sometimes the Germans met them in line, at others they formed groups, or squares as the French call them, and occasionally they fought back to back. One body of horse rode into a battery, and was only repelled by the fire of a company of infantry. Another dashed through a village on the banks of the river, and although they were harried by infantry, and turned aside and followed by some Prussian hussars, several rode far down the river, and created some disorder in the German trains. There were many charges, all driven home as far at least as the infantry fire would permit, more than one carrying the furious riders up to the outskirts of Floing. But, in the end, the unequal contests everywhere had the same result—bloody defeat for the horseman, who matched himself, his lance or sword and steed against the breech-loader held by steady hands in front of keen eyes. Yet it is not surprising that these daring charges excited the ungrudging admiration and deep sympathy of friend and foe. They did not arrest the march of the German infantry, or turn the tide of battle, or even infuse new courage into the French soldiers, who were exposed to trials which few, if any, troops could bear. But they showed, plainly enough, that the “furia francese” survived in the cavalry of France, and that, if the mounted men refused or disdained to perform more useful work by scouting afar and covering the front of armies, they could still charge with unabated heroism on the field of battle. They were dispersed, and they left behind heaps of dead and dying—one-half their strength resting on the scene of their daring. Three Generals, Margueritte, Girard and Tilliard, were killed, and Salignac-Fenelon was wounded. The Germans say that their own losses were small, but that among the Jägers a comparatively large number of men were wounded by the sword. These notable exploits were done about two o’clock or a little later; and, with slight exceptions, they mark the end of desperately offensive resistance on the part of the French.