On the 26th, Prince Wrède's Head Quarters were at Morhenge; and, on the 27th, his Advanced Posts penetrated as far as Nancy, where he established his Head Quarters on the 28th. From St Dieuze the Prince detached to the left, in order to discover the march of General Rapp; who, however, was still on the Rhine, and whose retreat had thus become cut off by the occupation of Nancy.
Prince Wrède halted at Nancy, to await the arrival of the Austrian and Russian Corps d'Armée. Upon his right, Lieutenant General Czernitscheff crossed the Moselle, on the 29th, within sight of Metz; and carried by storm, on the 3rd of July, the Town of Chalons sur Marne. The garrison of this place had promised to make no resistance, and yet fired upon the Russian Advanced Guard; whereupon the Cavalry immediately dismounted, scaled the ramparts, broke open the gates, sabred a part of the garrison, made the remainder prisoners, including the French General Rigault, and pillaged the town.
After remaining four days in the vicinity of Nancy and Lüneville, Prince Wrède received an Order from Prince Schwartzenberg to move at once upon Paris, with the Fourth, or Bavarian Corps; which was destined to become the Advanced Guard of the Army of the Upper Rhine. This Order was given in consequence of the desire expressed by the Duke of Wellington and Prince Blücher, that the Army of the Upper Rhine should afford immediate support to their operations in front of Paris. On the 5th of July, the main body of the Bavarian Army reached Chalons; in the vicinity of which it remained during the 6th. On this day, its Advanced Posts communicated, by Epernay, with the Prussian Army. On the 7th, Prince Wrède received intelligence of the Convention of Paris; and, at the same time, directions to move towards the Loire. On the 8th, Lieutenant General Czernitscheff fell in with the Enemy between St Prix and Montmirail; and drove him across the Morin, towards the Seine. Previously to the arrival of the Corps at Château Thierry; the French garrison had abandoned the place, leaving behind it several pieces of cannon, with ammunition. On the 10th of July, the Bavarian Army took up a position between the Seine and the Marne; and Prince Wrède's Head Quarters were at La Ferté sous Jouarre.
Third Corps d'Armée, Crown Prince of Würtemberg.
On the 22nd of June, a portion of the Third Corps d'Armée, under the Crown Prince of Würtemberg, took possession of the intrenchments of Germersheim, on the left bank of the Rhine. Lieutenant Field Marshal Count Wallmoden was posted, with ten Battalions and four Squadrons, in observation of the Fortress of Landau, and the line of the Queich. The main body of the Corps stood between Bruchsal and Philipsburg. On the 23d, the Corps crossed the Rhine at Germersheim, and passed the line of the Queich without opposition.
The Crown Prince was directed to proceed by Weissenburg and Hagenau, with a view to complete, in conjunction with the Fourth Corps d'Armée, the plan of intercepting the retreat of General Rapp.
On the 24th, the Corps advanced to Bergzabern and Nieder Ottersbach; at both of which points it fell in with the Enemy, and drove him back. Count Wallmoden left a small Detachment to observe Landau; and advanced, with the remainder of his force, as far as Rheinzabern. On the 25th, the Crown Prince ordered the advance towards the lines of Weissenburg, in two Columns. The first Column assembled at Bergzabern, and the second moved forward by Nieder Ottersbach. Count Wallmoden was directed to advance upon Lauterburg. The Crown Prince advanced his Corps still further along the Hagenau road. His Advanced Guard pushed on to Inglesheim, and the main body of the Corps reached the lines of Weissenburg; which the French abandoned in the night, and fell back upon the Forest of Hagenau, occupying the large Village of Surburg. On the 26th, the Crown Prince attacked and defeated the Enemy at the last mentioned place, with his Right Column; whilst the Left Column, under Count Wallmoden, was equally successful in an attack which it made upon the French General Rothenburg, posted, with 6,000 Infantry and a Regiment of Cavalry, at Selz. On the following day, General Rapp fell back upon the Defile of Brümath; but this he quitted in the night, and took up a favourable position in the rear of the Suffel, near Strasburg. His force comprised twenty four Battalions of Infantry, four Regiments of Cavalry, and a numerous Artillery, and amounted to nearly 24,000 men.
The Crown Prince of Würtemberg, whose force amounted altogether to more than 40,000 men, succeeded, on the 28th, after a smart action, in forcing General Rapp to retire within the Fortress of Strasburg. The loss of the Third Corps on this occasion amounted to 75 Officers, and 2,050 men, killed and wounded. That of the French was about 3,000 men.
Austrian Reserve Corps, Archduke Ferdinand.
The Third Corps remained in front of Strasburg until the 4th of July; when it was relieved by the arrival of the Second Austrian Corps, under Prince Hohenzollern, from the vicinity of Colmar. At this last point the Advanced Guard of the Austrian Reserve Corps, under Lieutenant Field Marshal Stutterheim, moved upon Remiremont, and the main body upon St Marie aux Mines. The Austrian Reserve Corps itself reached Raon l'Etape; whence it subsequently moved (on the 10th) to Neufchâteau. The Third Corps, under the Crown Prince of Würtemberg, marched into the vicinity of Molsheim.