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MOLTKE. 
 
 Frontispiece. 
 
MOLTKE * u ' 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL STUDY 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM O'CONNOR MOERIS 
 
 1 1 
 SOMETIME SCHOLAR OF ORIEL COLLEGE OXFORD 
 
 residesque movebit 
 Tullus in arma riros, et jam de sueta triumphis 
 
 Agmina 
 
 Ernet ille Argos, Agamemnoniasque Mycenas, 
 Ipsumqne ^aoidem, genna armipotentis Achilli, 
 Ultns avos Trojae, templa et temerata Minervaa. 
 
 VIRGIL. 
 
 WITH EIGHT PORTRAITS, MAPS, AXD PLANS OF BATTLEFIELDS 
 
 LONDON 
 
 WAUD AND DOWNEY 
 
 (Limited) 
 
 12 YORK STREET COVENT GARDEN W.C. 
 1893 
 
 [J.M rights reserved'] 
 
M7M1 
 
 MORSE 
 
cut. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 YEARS will, doubtless, elapse before a complete 
 biography of Moltke can be given to the world. It 
 is impossible at present exactly to know the part 
 he had in the organization of the Prussian array, 
 and even in the military operations of 1866-70-1 ; 
 very little of his correspondence has seen the light, 
 especially his correspondence with public men ; and 
 his figure is still 1^oo near the eyes of the living to 
 stand in the true perspective of history. But the 
 work he did, and his great achievements have been, 
 to a considerable extent, ascertained ; his character 
 and his career may be traced, if not in all their 
 parts, in a fairly distinct outline ; and it may be 
 advisable to attempt a short description of them, 
 as a " prenotion," in Bacon's phrase, of the more 
 perfect picture reserved for the future. I have 
 endeavoured in this study correctly to record what 
 Moltke accomplished in the preparation of war, 
 and in the direction of armies in the field, to form 
 a just estimate of his exploits, and to portray the 
 man in his real nature. I trust I have alike kept 
 clear of extravagant eulogy profuse and undis- 
 cerning in this case too often and of undeserved 
 
 A 2 
 
 509516 
 
IV PREFACK. 
 
 detraction and censure. Of one part of this work 
 I shall simply say this : In narrating the main 
 events of the second phase of the war of 1870-1, I 
 have given prominence to the extraordinary efforts 
 of France, and to the remarkable deeds of her great 
 soldier, Chanzy, for these passages of a grand page 
 of history have been little noticed, and have been 
 almost lost sight of, in the bewildering glare of 
 German triumphs. 
 
 Many of the authorities from which my text has 
 been composed will be found in the notes contained 
 in this volume. I have, however, subjoined a com- 
 plete list, which may be of use to the general 
 reader. Unfortunately I do not know the German 
 language, and thus I have been unable to read some 
 books which throw light on Moltke's career ; and 
 in many instances I have been obliged to rely on 
 translations. Nevertheless, I hope, in spite of 
 these drawbacks, that I have not wholly failed to 
 master my subject. 
 
 J. 
 
 FOR MOLTKE'S LIFE AND HIS WRITINGS BEFORE 1870. 
 
 1. Moltke, his life and character. Translated hy Mary Hernis. 
 London : Osgood & Co., 1892. 
 
 2. Letters of Field-Marshal Count Helmuth von Moltke to his 
 mother and brothers. Translated by Clara Bell and Henry W. 
 Fischer. 2 vols. London : Osgood & Co., 1891. 
 
 3. Moltke's Letters on the East. Translated into French by 
 Alfred Marchand. Paris : Libraire Fischbacher. 
 
 4. The Russians in Bulgaria and Eumelia in 1828 and 1829. 
 
PBEFACE. V 
 
 From the German of Baron von Moltke. London : Murray, 
 1854: 
 
 5. Moltke's Campaign of Italy in 1859. Translated into 
 French. Paris ; J. Dumaine, 1862. 
 
 6. Moltke's Letters on Russia. Translated into French by 
 Alfred Marchand. Paris: Libraire Gaudez et Fisehbacher, 1877. 
 
 7. Moltke's Remarks on the French Army, referred to in Le 
 Maieehal de Moltke. Par. xxx. Paris Libraire Moderne, 1888. 
 
 IT. 
 
 THE ORGANIZATION AND CONDITION OF THE PRUSSIAN AND 
 GERMAN ARMIES IN 1866-70. 
 
 1. Analysis of the Organization of the Prussian Army. By 
 Lieutenant Talbot. London: Triibner & Co., 1871. 
 
 2. Rapports Militaires edits de Berlin, 1866-1870. Par le 
 Colonel Baron Stoffel. Paris : Gamier Freres, 1871. 
 
 3. Note stir 1'Organizatioii de la Confederation de TAllemagne 
 <lu JSTord. Wilhelmshoe, 1871. By Napoleon III. 
 
 4. The Brain of an Army. By Spenser Wilkinson. London : 
 Macmillan & Co., 1890. 
 
 5. The Prussian Campaign of 1866, a Tactical Retrospect. 
 Translated from the German. By Colonel Ouvry. London : 
 Mitchell & Co. 
 
 6. A Retrospect on the Tactical Retrospect. Same Translator 
 and Publishers, 1871. 
 
 7. The Prussian Infantry in 1869. Same Translator and 
 Publishers, 1870. 
 
 8. Letters on Artillery,' Cavalry, and Infantry. By Prince 
 Kraft Hohenlohe. Translated by Colonel Walford. 3 vols. 
 London: Edward Stanford, 1888-1889. 
 
 9. L'art de cornbattre TArmee Francaise. By Prince Frederick 
 Charles. French Translation. Paris : E. Dentu, 1870. 
 
 III. 
 THE WAR IN BOHEMIA IN 1866. 
 
 1. The Campaign of 1866 in Germany. "The Prussian Staff 
 History." Translated into English by Colonel von Wright and 
 Captain Henry M. Hozier. London : 1872. 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 2. Les Luttes de 1'Autriche en 1866. The Austrian Staff 
 History. Translated into French by Franz Croussd. 3 vols. 
 Paris : J. Dumaine, 1870. 
 
 3. Guerre de la Prusse et de 1'Italie centre I'Autriche et la 
 Confederation Germanique en 1866. Par Ferdinand Le Comte 
 Colonel Federal Suisse. Lausanne. 2 vols. 1866. 
 
 4. La Guerre de 1866. Par le Major Vandevelde. Paris : 
 Charles Tanera, 1869. 
 
 5. Great Campaigns. Major C. Adams. Edinburgh : Black- 
 woods, 1877. This work includes an account of the war of 
 1870-1. 
 
 6. Moltke on the Battle of Koniggratz. Translated from the 
 German by Spenser Wilkinson. The United Service Magazine. 
 
 7. Field-Marshal Count von Moltke. By General Viscount 
 Wolseley. The United Service Magazine, Oct. 1891. Part II. 
 
 8. M. de Moltke. Par Charles Malo. Paris : Berger Levrault 
 et Cie. 1891. 
 
 IV. 
 
 THE FRENCH ARMY IN 1870. 
 
 1. L'Armee Franaise en 1867. By General Trochu. Paris : 
 Amyot, 1870. 
 
 2. Les Forces Militaires de la France en 1 870. Par le Comte 
 de la Chapelle. Napoleon III. Paris: Amyot, 1872. 
 
 3. Les Causes de nos De*sastres. Attributed to Napoleon III. 
 Bmxelles. J. Kozez, 1871. 
 
 4. La Verite* sur la Campagne de 1870. Par Fernand Giraudeau. 
 Marseille, 1871. 
 
 5. L' Ad ministration de 1'Armee Fran9aise. Paris : Henri 
 Plon, 1870. 
 
 6. Commission des Conferences Militaires. Paris: J. Dumaine, 
 1869. See also Note Sur 1'Organisation Militaire, and les 
 Kapports du Colonel Stoffel, before referred to. 
 
 V. 
 
 THE WAR OF 1870-1. 
 
 1. The Franco-German War, 1870-1. "The Prussian Staff 
 History." Two parts. 1st part, 2 vols. ; 2nd part, 3 vols. 
 
PREFACE. vii 
 
 Translated by Captain Clarke, from the German official account. 
 London, 1874, 1883. 
 
 2. The Franco-German War of 1870. By Field-Marshal 
 Count Helmuth von Moltke. Translated by Clara Bell and 
 Henry W. Fischer. 2 vols. London: Osgood & Co., 1891. 
 The references in the text are to this edition. An edition cor- 
 rected by Mr. A. Forbes has also been published. 
 
 3. The War for the Rhine Frontier. By v. Riistow. Trans- 
 lated by J. L. Needham. 3 vols. Edinburgh : Blackwoods, 
 1872. 
 
 4. The French Campaign, 1870-1. By. A. Nieumann. Trans- 
 lated by Colonel E. Newdigate. London : W. Mitchell & Co., 
 1872. 
 
 5. The Operations of the Bavarian Army Corps, under General 
 von der Tann. By Captain H. Helvig. Translated by Captain 
 G. S. Schawbe. London : Henry S. King & Co., 1874. 
 
 6. The Operations of the German Armies in France from Se'dan 
 to the end of the War. By W. Blume. Translated by Major 
 E. M. Jones. London : Henry S. King & Co., 1872. 
 
 7. The Operations of the South Army, in January and February, 
 1871. By Count Wartensleben. Translated by Colonel von 
 Wright. London: Henry S. King & Co., 1872. 
 
 8. Histoire de la Guerre de 1870-1. Par le General Baron 
 Ambert. Paris: H. Plon, 1873. 
 
 9. Histoire de la Guerre de 1870. Par V. D. Paris: J. 
 Dumaine, 1871. 
 
 10. La Guerre de 1870. Bruxelles, 1871. 
 
 11. L'Armee du Rhin. Par le Marechal Bazaine. Paris: 
 H. Plon, 1872. 
 
 12. Episodes de la Guerre de 1870. Par 1'ex-Mare'chal Bazaine. 
 Madrid : Gaspar, 1883. 
 
 13. Sedan. Par le General de Wimpflen. Paris: Libraire 
 Internationale, 1871. 
 
 14. La Journe'e de Sedan. Par le General Ducrot. Paris : E. 
 Dentu, 1873. 
 
 15. La Campagne de 1870. Par un Officier de l'Arme*e du 
 Rhin. Bruxelles. 
 
 16. Arruee de Metz. Par le General Deligny. Minister, 
 1871. 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 17. 'Operations et Marches da 5me Corps. Par le General de 
 Failly. Bruxelles: A. M. Labeque. 
 
 18. Metz Campagne et Negociations. Par un officier superieur 
 de 1' Armee du Bhin. Paris: J. Dumaine, 1872. 
 
 19. Eapport du Gene'ral de Riviere. Paris: E. Dentu, 1873. 
 
 20. Proces Bazaine. Paris : Le Monileur Universel. 
 
 21. The Campaign of Sedan.- By George Hooper. London: 
 George Bell & Sons, 1887. 
 
 22. Decisive Battles since Waterloo. By T. W. Knox. New 
 York and London : Putnarns Sons, 1887. 
 
 23. The Great Battles of 1870 and the Blockade of Metz. By 
 H. B. Franklyn. London : Triibner & Co., 1887. 
 
 24. La Defense de Paris. Par le General Ducrot. Paris: E. 
 Dentu, 1875. 4 vols. 
 
 25. Le Siege de Paris. Par le Ge'neral Vinoy. Paris : A. 
 Plon, 1872. 
 
 26. Memoire sur la Defense de Paris. Par E. Viollet le Due. 
 Paris: Vve. Morel et Cie., 1871. 
 
 27. La Guerre en Province. Par Charles de Freycinet. Paris : 
 Michel Levy, 1871. 
 
 28. La Premiere Armee de la Loire. Par le General D'Aurelle 
 de Paladines. 
 
 29. La Deuxieme Armee de la Loire. Par le General Chanzy. 
 Paris: H. Plon, 1871. 
 
 30. Campagne de 1'Armee du Nord. Par le General Faidherbe. 
 Paris: E. Dentu, 1871. 
 
 31. Enquete Parlementaire. See Bazaine sur la Guerre de 
 1870 and General Ducrot's fourth volume. 
 
 32. Fortification. By Major Clarke. London : Murray, 
 1890. 
 
 33. Le Marechal de Moltke, Organisateur et stratege. Par le 
 General Lewal. Paris : L. Baudoin, 1891. 
 
 34. Le Feld-Marechal de Moltke, Revue Militaire Suisse. Par 
 Abel Veuglaise. 
 
 35. Tactical Deductions from the War of 1870-1. By A. V. 
 Bogulawski. Translated by Colonel Graham. London : Henry 
 S. King & Co., 1872. 
 
 36. The Campaign of 1870. Republished from the Times. 
 London: Bentley, 1871. 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 37. The Special Correspondence of the Times, the Daily News, 
 and the Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 VI. 
 
 DIFFERENT WORKS NOT INCLUDED IN THE ABOVE LIST, AND 
 KELATING TO MILITARY AND GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 1. Commentaires de Napoleon Premier. Paris : Imprimerie 
 Imperiale, 1867. 6 vols. 
 
 2. Thcoiie de la Grande Guerre. Par le General de Clause witz. 
 Translated into French by Colonel de Vitry. Paris : L. Baudoin, 
 1886. 4 vols. 
 
 3. Strategic et Grande Tactique. Par le General Pierron. 
 Paris: Berger Levrault et Cie., 1887. 2 vols. 
 
 4. La Guerre Moderne. Par le General Derrecagaix. Paris : 
 L. Baudoin et Cie., 1890. 2 vols. 
 
 5. The Operations of War. By General Hainley. Black woods, 
 1889. 
 
 6. War. By Colonel F. Maurice. London: Macmillan & Co., 
 1891. 
 
 7. A History of Modern Europe. By C. A. Fyfle. London . 
 Cassell& Co., 1889. 3 vols. 
 
 8. The Overthrow of the German Confederation. By Sir A. 
 Malet. London: Longmans, 1870. 
 
 9. The Kefounding of the German Empire. By Colonel 
 Malleson. London : Seeley & Co., 1893. 
 
 10. Who is responsible for the War ? By Scrutator. London : 
 Kivingtons, 1871. 
 
 11. France and Prussia. Correspondence relating to the 
 Negotiations preliminary to the War. Presented to Parliament, 
 1870. 
 
 WILLIAM O'CONNOR MORRIS. 
 29th June, 1893. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Estimate formed of Moltke in Germany, France, and England 
 His birth and parentage Sent to the Military School of 
 Copenhagen ; enters the Danish, and then the Prussian 
 army ; is attached to the Staff College at Berlin His early 
 promise and attainments His domestic life and excellence 
 He travels in the East, and attempts to reform the 
 Turkish army the battle of Nisib " His Letters on the 
 East " He is attached to the staff of the 4th Corps d'Armee 
 His marriage His work on the war of 1828-29 He is 
 made aide-de-camp of Prince Henry of Prussia His view 
 of 1848 in Germany He becomes Chief of the Staff of the 
 4th Corps and a friend of the Crown Prince, afterwards 
 King and Emperor Travels in England, Russia, and France 
 Records of these experiences He is appointed Chief of 
 the General Staff of the Prussian Army .... 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Sketch of the history of the Prussian army The army of Fre- 
 derick the Great That of 1813-14 The Reforms of 1815 
 The results Reorganization of the army in 1859-60 Great 
 improvements effected by the King, Roon, and Moltke 
 Special work of Moltke in the staff and the army Formid- 
 able power of the army after 1860 The Danish War The 
 war of 1866 Political situation of the belligerent powers- 
 Austria and Prussia stand on the defensive The offensive 
 projects of Moltke frustrated Assembly of the Prussian 
 armies on the frontiers of Saxony and Silesia Assembly 
 of the Austrian army in Moravia Characteristics of that 
 army the Prussians invade Saxony and Bohemia Ad- 
 vance of the Austrians into Bohemia The projects of 
 General Benedek He loses a great opportunity Defeat 
 of the Austriane in a series of combats and battles 
 Benedek retreats behind the Biatritz . . .. .29 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Battle of Sadowa or Koniggratz Complete victory of the 
 Prussian armies Retreat of Benedek The Prussians march 
 to the Danube The Treaty of Prague Reflections on the 
 conduct of the war, and especially on the strategy and tactics 
 of Moltke and the Prussian leaders 66 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Immense increase of the military power of Prussia after 1866 
 League with Southern Germany The Army of Prussia 
 and the Confederation of the North Its South German 
 auxiliaries Great efforts made to improve these forces- 
 Attitude of France and Prussia after 1866 War probable 
 Efforts made by Napoleon III. to increase and strengthen 
 the French army Sketch of the history of that army The 
 Emperor's attempted reforms almost fail Deplorable 
 weakness of the French compared to the German armies 
 Other causes of inferiority The war of 1870-1 The plan 
 of Napoleon III. The Army of the Rhine The Emperor's 
 plan is frustrated The plan of Moltke Concentration of 
 the First, Second, and Third German armies in the Palati- 
 nate and the Rhenish provinces Positions of the belligerent 
 armies at the end of July The French perhaps lose an 
 opportunity to strike the First Army The combat of Sarre- 
 bruck Advance of the united German armies to the frontier 
 of France Combat of Wisgembourg and defeat of a French 
 detachment Battle of Worth and defeat of the French 
 army Precipitate retreat of Macmahon Battle of Spi- 
 cheren and second defeat of the French Critical position 
 of the Army of the Rhine 03 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 The German armies do not- pursue the French after Worth and 
 Spicheren Opportunity lost by Moltke Retreat of the 
 Army of the Rhine, in part towards Chalons, in part to- 
 wards the Moselle Projects of Napoleon III. The main 
 part of the French army falls back from the Nied to Metz 
 Advance of the German armies to the Moselle Marshal 
 Bazaine made Commander-in-chief of the whole French 
 army, including the part approaching Chalons His first 
 operations The French attempt to retreat on Verdun 
 Battle of Colombey Nouilly or Borny Advance of the 
 Germans beyond the Moselle Bazaine and the French 
 army to the west of Metz Battle of Mars La Tour Bazaine 
 falls back to a strong position outside Metz What he 
 might have accomplished Advance of the Germans 
 Battle of Gravelotte Its vicissitudes and characteristics 
 The French, at last defeated, are driven back on Metz 
 Reflections on this passage in the war, and on the conduct 
 of Moltke and his adversaries . . 133 
 
CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The results of Gravelotte Formation of the Army of the Meuse 
 and investment of Metz Inaction of Bazaine Opportunity 
 still perhaps open to him Advance of the Third Army 
 Formation of the Army of Chalons under Macmahon He 
 assents to a project to march on Metz for the relief of 
 Bazaine Folly of this plan The Army of Chalons on the 
 march Fine project of Moltke to intercept this movement 
 Slow progress of the Army of Chalons Macmahon, 
 though aware of the danger, yields to advice from Paris and 
 persists in the march the German armies reach their 
 enemy Action of Nouart Battle of Beaumont Mac- 
 mahon misses an opportunity of escape The Army of 
 Chalons at Sedan Advance and night march of the German 
 armies Battle of Sedan and destruction of the Army of 
 Chalons Conduct of Moltke at the capitulation Reflec- 
 tions on these operations 172 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Advance of the Army of the Meuse and of the chief part of 
 the Third Army through France The Germans in front of 
 Paris Confidence of Moltke His miscalculation in sup- 
 posing that France would yield in a short time Revolution 
 of 4th September The Government of National Defence 
 Paris resolves to stand a siege Resources of the capital in 
 material and in military force Investment of Paris by the 
 German armies Trochu and Ducrot The zone of invest- 
 ment The zone of defence Sorties made by the Parisian 
 levies Gambetta The rising of France against the in- 
 vaders Organization of the defence Extraordinary ability 
 and energy of Gambetta Formation of provincial armies 
 Erroneous views of Moltke as to the reality of the defence 
 of France Fall of Laon, Toul, Strasbourg, Soissons, and 
 other places First defeats of the French provincial armies 
 The resistance continues Conduct of Bazaine after the 
 investment of Metz The 26th of August at Metz The 
 battle of Noisseville Criminal negligence and intrigues of 
 Bazaine The fall of Metz Reflections on these events . 215 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Advance of the First and Second Armies into France after the 
 fall of Metz The besiegers' lines around Paris strengthened 
 and reinforced Mistake of Moltke as to the position of 
 affairs outside Paris The external zone The Army of the 
 Loire restored and largely increased The Battle of Coul- 
 miers Alarm at the German headquarters at Versailles 
 Moltke makes preparations to raise the siege Accidents 
 which prevented the Army of the Loire from gaining the 
 full results of its victory Disastrous effect of the fall of 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 Metz on the military situation as regards France 
 D'Aurelle falls back on Orleans, and places the Army of 
 the Loire within lines Moltke again mistaken in the dis- 
 tribution of the German forces The Grand Duke of 
 Mecklenburg sent to the West Prince Frederick Charles 
 near Orleans Immense increase of the Army of the Loire 
 Prince Frederick Charles directs a general concentration of 
 his own and the Grand Duke's forces Views of Chanzy 
 Fatal mistakes made by Gambetta The Battle of Beaune 
 la Rolande Ill-directed advance of the Army of the Loire, 
 in the hope of relieving Paris It is defeated and driven 
 back on Orleans Great sortie from Paris combined with 
 false attacks The Battle of Yilliers The sortie ultimately 
 fails Reflections on these events, and on the situation . 261 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The First Army in Picardy Indecisive battle near Amiens 
 Advance of the First Army into Normandy Retreat of 
 the French Army of the North Rouen captured Fall of 
 Thionville, Montmedy, and, before long, of Mezi^res These 
 successes strengthen the position of the Germans round 
 Paris and in France Preparations for the bombardment 
 of Paris Werder in Burgundy and Tranche Comte The 
 siege of Belfort Werder at Dijon The French Army of 
 the East Garibaldi and Cremer The Germans in the east 
 reinforced by part of the First Army The prospect becomes 
 gloomy for France Sudden change effected by Chancy on 
 the Loire Events on this theatre of the war since the fall 
 of Orleans Chanzy attacked by the Germans Protracted 
 and desperate conflict of four days Great ability of Chanzy 
 His skill and commanding influence over his troops and 
 their officers His retreat to the Loire His masterly 
 arrangements baffle the German commanders They con- 
 centrate their forces against him He retreats to the 
 Sarthe, occupies Le Mans, and resumes the offensive The 
 Grand Duke and Prince Frederick Charles fall back 
 Heavy losses of their armies The French Army of the 
 North marches towards the Somme Indecisive battle on 
 the Hallue Ineffectual sortie from Paris The military 
 situation, if unfavourable to France, is still doubtful 
 Gradual and immense additions to the numbers of the 
 German troops The efforts of France continue Reflec- 
 tions on these operations 304 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Retrospect of the military situation since Sedan Position of 
 affairs on the theatre of war at the end of 1870 What the 
 operations of the French ought to have been Wise views 
 of Chanzy Gambetta directs Bourbaki and the First 
 Army of the Loire towards the east Reckless imprudence 
 of this strategy in existing circumstances The Grand 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 Duke and Prince Frederick Charles advance against 
 Chanzy and the Second Army of the Loire Skilful 
 operations of Chanzy Battle of Le Mans The Germans 
 held in check all day The capture of one point in the line 
 of defence at night compels Chanzy to retreat He falls 
 back on Laval and reorganizes his troops Campaign in the 
 north Faidherbe successful at Bapaume He moves on St. 
 Quentin, and retreats after an indecisive battle Campaign 
 in the east Bad condition of Bourbaki's army He ad- 
 vances against Werder, and is successful at Villersexel 
 He loses a great opportunity, chiefly owing to the ^tate of 
 his troops Werder retreats behind the Lisaine Battles 
 of Hericourt, and retreat of Bourbaki Paris isolated The 
 external zone of the Germans intact Bombardment of 
 the forts and the enceinte of Paris The city bombarded 
 Complete failure of the attack Sortie of the 19th January 
 It fails Sufferings of the population of Paris Its 
 heroic attitude The armistice Bourbaki's army excepted 
 Views of Chanzy in the event of hostilities being re- 
 sumed His masterly arrangements and unshaken con- 
 stancy Advance of Manteuffel and the German Army of 
 the South against Bourbaki Skill of Moltke in directing 
 this operation Bourbaki tries to commit suicide Cata- 
 strophe of his army, chiefly owing to a misunderstanding as 
 to the armistice It is forced to cross the frontier of France, 
 and to retreat into Switzerland Fall of Belfort and other 
 French fortresses Chauzy is still for war The Assembly 
 at Bordeaux pronounces for peace The Treaty of Frank- 
 fort Part taken by Moltke in the conditions imposed on 
 France Reflections on the war, with special references to 
 events after Sedan 328 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Welcome given to Moltke on his return from the war in France 
 Honours and distinctions cenferred on him He resumes 
 his post as Chief of the Staff His dislike of flattery His 
 declining years Celebration of his sixtieth year of military 
 service His work with the General Staff Preparation 
 for war Speeches in the Reichstag and Prussian Chamber 
 - Jealousy of France Life at Creisau Moltke retires from 
 the post of Chief of the Staff Celebration of his ninetieth 
 birthday His death Reflections on his career . . . 385 
 
 INDEX , 413 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PiGE 
 
 Von Moltke Frontispiece 
 
 Von Moltke (2nd portrait) . ' . : 25 
 
 Napoleon III., Emperor of France ..... 109 
 
 Marshal Bazaine . . . . . . . .141 
 
 Marshal Macmahon . . . . . . . .197 
 
 Bismarck 221 
 
 General Chanzy 313 
 
 William I., Emperor of Germany 3G1 
 
 MAPS AND PLANS. 
 
 Map of Bohemia 65 
 
 PlanofSadowa 69 
 
 Plan of Gravelotte 161 
 
 Plan of Sedan 203 
 
 Map of Fortifications of Paris 225 
 
 Map of Fiance, showing territory in undisputed possession 
 
 of the Germans and of the French 337 
 
MOLTKE : 
 
 A BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL STUDY. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Estimate formed of Moltke in Germany, France, and England 
 His birth and parentage Sent to the Military School of 
 Copenhagen ; enters the Danish, and then the Prussian army ; 
 is attached to the Staff College at Berlin His early promise 
 and attainments His domestic life and excellence He 
 travels in the East, and attempts to reform the Turkish 
 arm y The battle of Nisib " His Letters on the East "He 
 is attached to the staff of the 4th Corps d'Armee His 
 marriage His work on the war of 1828-29 He is made 
 aide-de-camp of Prince Henry of Prussia His view of 1848 
 in Germany He becomes Chief of the Staff of the 4th Corps 
 and a friend of the Crown Prince, afterwards King and 
 Emperor Travels in England, Russia, and France Records 
 of these experiences He is appointed Chief of the General 
 Staff of the Prussian Army. 
 
 IN the early spring of 1891 Germany sate mourning 
 for her most renowned soldier. To the imagination 
 of the Teutonic race Moltke seemed a type of the 
 mythical gods, worshipped in the past by his 
 pagan fathers ; he had wielded the bolts of Thor 
 and the axe of Odin. His industry and skill had 
 been main elements in the creation of that mighty 
 
 instrument of war, the Prussian army, of the second 
 
 B 
 
2 MOLTKE. 
 
 half of the century. He had directed the opera- 
 tions, which, in 1866, had struck down Austria in 
 three weeks ; had thrust her out of her supreme 
 place in Germany ; and had made Prussia the head 
 of the German people. Four years afterwards he 
 had led the crusade of the League of Germany 
 against Imperial France ; had more than avenged 
 the disaster of Jena by the extraordinary triumphs 
 of Metz and Sedan ; had crushed the heroic rising 
 of the French nation ; and -had imposed a humiliat- 
 ing peace at the point of his sword, within sight, so 
 to speak, of conquered Paris. 
 
 The modest and retiring nature of the man, 
 impatient of the tribe of undiscerning flatterers, 
 only strengthened the chorus of general acclaim, 
 which swelled around his grave in no uncertain 
 accents. He had been known to his countrymen as 
 " the great strategist " ; and they described him as 
 the first of the masters of war, surpassing even 
 Napoleon in power and in genius. France herself, 
 who saw in him a deadly enemy, was 'not blind to 
 his remarkable parts, and especially to his adminis- 
 trative gifts, and while freely criticizing passages in 
 his career, more than one French writer has given 
 him a place above Frederick, and even beside 
 Turenne. In England, where the worship of mere 
 success prevails more widely than in other lands, 
 and where the art of war is very little studied, the 
 tribute of eulogy was without stint or measure. 
 Moltke was transformed into an ideal hero ; and it 
 was gravely announced that he was easily supreme 
 
CHILDHOOD. YOUTH. MANHOOD. 3 
 
 in the noble company of the most famous warriors. 
 A reaction, probably due, in part, to the publication 
 of Moltke's work on the memorable war of 1870-71 
 a superficial and unjust book, bearing plainly the 
 marks of mental decay, has set in of late against 
 this extravagance ; and the oracles have for some 
 time been dumb which proclaimed their idol 
 "unrivalled and faultless." In this fluctuating state 
 of ill-led opinion, it. is advisable, perhaps, to trace 
 briefly the incidents of Moltke's life and career ; to 
 try to ascertain what he really was ; to form an 
 impartial estimate of his achievements ; and to 
 endeavour to determine his true position among the 
 great men who have prepared war, or who have 
 conducted military operations in the field. Such a 
 study, no doubt, must be incomplete; our know- 
 ledge is still imperfect in many respects ; and we 
 cannot always point out the exact part played by 
 Moltke in the most striking events in which he was 
 a prominent actor. But the subject is one of im- 
 mediate interest ; and it is better, perhaps, to treat it 
 at once, inadequate as must be the treatment, before 
 Moltke passes into the domain of History. 
 
 Helmuth Charles Bernard Von Moltke was born 
 in 1800, at Parchim, a little town in Mecklenburg, on 
 an affluent of the Lower Elbe. The family of the 
 child, of German origin, had for centuries belonged 
 to the noblesse of the country ; and it produced a 
 soldier in the Thirty Years' War, a follower, perhaps, 
 of the great G-ustavus. It had scattered, however, 
 
 over many lands ; and the grandfather of the future 
 
 B 2 
 
4 MOLTKE. 
 
 warrior is said to have served in the Austrian 
 army towards the close of the eighteenth century. 
 His sons were nearly all Prussian soldiers ; one 
 was wounded on the fatal day of Jena ; another, 
 perhaps, appeared in the train of the sovereigns 
 who bowed the knee, at Erfurt, to the Protector of 
 the Confederation of the Rhine ; a third seems to 
 have died, at the Beresina, in the ranks of the 
 perishing Grand Army ; and the father of Helmuth, 
 though a Danish general, is believed to have been 
 a Prussian officer. Of this parent of Moltke little is 
 known, except that * he was almost a failure in life, 
 and that he probably was an inferior man ; but 
 Henrietta Paschen, his wife, was a remarkable 
 woman, of fine parts, and of great strength of 
 character ; and in the case of Moltke, as in that of 
 Napoleon and of many other illustrious names, it 
 was the mother who transmitted the high qualities 
 exhibited by the renowned offspring. 
 
 General Moltke was a very poor man with a 
 large family; and Helmuth grew up like his 
 brothers and sisters, under the cold shade of privation 
 and want, the best training, Napoleon has said, for 
 a soldier. After learning the rudiments as he best 
 could, the boy was entered a cadet at the Military 
 School of Copenhagen when in his twelfth year. 
 He was at this seminary until 1818 ; and one of his 
 comrades has told us what was thought of him in 
 the daily round of school life at this period. His 
 industry was intense and never flagged ; and his 
 1 Moltke's "Letters," vol. i. p. 18. English translation. 
 
 
CHILDHOOD. YOUTH. MANHOOD. 5 
 
 marked gifts and resolute will commanded the 
 respect of his young companions, for boys, as a 
 rule, are good judges of character. Curiously 
 enough, however, the stern reticence seen in the 
 man, in mature age, was not apparent in these 
 early days. Moltke was modest and shy, and even 
 occasionally sad ; but he was amiable, and, in 
 short, a " good fellow " ; and, in this respect, he 
 was the exact opposite of the silent Corsican lad, 
 who, in his teens, stood moodily apart from his 
 mates, at Brienne. Moltke's reminiscences of the 
 Military School were, nevertheless, by no means 
 happy. The discipline of the place was harsh, 
 nay brutal ; and he has said that it did him 
 permanent harm. 2 " I had no education," he wrote 
 to one of his brothers, " but thrashing. I have had 
 no chance of forming a character. I am often pain- 
 fully conscious of it. This want of self-reliance 
 and constant reference to the opinions of others, 
 even the preponderance of reason over inclination, 
 often gives me moral depressions, such as others 
 feel from opposite causes. They were in such a 
 hurry to efface every prominent characteristic, every 
 peculiarity, as they would have nipped betimes 
 every shoot of a yew hedge, that the result was 
 weakness of character, the most fatal of all." Moltke, 
 however, is not just to himself, in this estimate of 
 his mental and moral qualities. If not of the very 
 highest order, his intellect was of remarkable 
 power, and certainly was not dwarfed or stunted ; 
 2 " Letters," vol. ii. p. 112. 
 
6 MOLTKE. 
 
 and he possessed firmness of purpose, and strength 
 of character, pre-eminently among the warriors of 
 his age. 
 
 After an apprenticeship to Court life as a page, 
 Helmuth obtained a commission in the Danish 
 army. Perhaps, owing to the first stirrings of an 
 earnest desire to rise in life, but more probably to 
 his family ties, the youth passed from the service of 
 a petty state to that of the military Prussian 
 monarchy, and he became a lieutenant of Prussian 
 infantry in 1822 when just of full age. He was 
 soon afterwards attached to the Staff College 1 at 
 Berlin, an institution which has been the nursery 
 of many eminent and scientific soldiers, and this 
 proved a turning point in his career. He was 
 already a ripe and laborious scholar ; he was ani- 
 mated by a deep sense of duty ; pinched by in- 
 digence, but with the pride of noble birth, he felt 
 the impulse of nascent ambition ; and the discipline 
 and the studies of the place were congenial to his 
 powerful and acute intellect, and to his strong and 
 resolute nature. Even now devoted to military 
 pursuits, Moltke flung himself into his work with 
 characteristic energy ; and though he did not lose 
 his regimental rank, he remained for five years at the 
 Staff College a most able, learned, and assiduous 
 pupil. The time was well calculated to encourage 
 the industry of an eager and thoughtful student of 
 war, and to make his knowledge enlarged and 
 
 1 "The War School" of Scharnhorst, founded in 1810, but to 
 be traced up, perhaps, to Frederick the Great. 
 
CHILDHOOD. YOUTH. MANHOOD. 7 
 
 fruitful. The long peace, indeed, kept Europe in 
 repose, and the great forces and changes which 
 ultimately were profoundly to affect the military 
 art, possessed, as yet, scarcely any influence. But 
 the preceding era had been one of war, in grandeur 
 beyond example ; the world had been convulsed by 
 the shock of arms echoing from Paris to Madrid 
 and Moscow ; the star of Napoleon had blazed over 
 Europe, and had disappeared in portentous eclipse, 
 and many eminent men had turned their minds to 
 the interpretation of such events as Bivoli, Auster- 
 litz, Torres Vedras, Waterloo. Not to speak of 
 the invaluable contributions made by the chief 
 actors in the drama themselves, the masterpieces of 
 Napoleon in exile, and the admirable writings of 
 the Archduke Charles, the greatest work of Jomini 
 had appeared ; and the pens of many other ac- 
 complished soldiers were skilfully illustrating the 
 whole period. 
 
 This important literature, as may be supposed, 
 was not neglected at the Staff College, a military 
 seminary of the highest repute ; and, indeed, 
 Clausewitz, one of the best of critics, was, if we 
 mistake not, lecturing at it on the campaigns of 
 Napoleon, at this very time. Moltke eagerly 
 studied, and completely mastered, the vast in- 
 formation which this era affords to a careful 
 thinker on war, but he carried his researches 
 much further back. He became thoroughly versed 
 in the history of his art from the days of Hannibal 
 to that of Frederick, and few minds, certainly, have 
 
8 MOLTKE. 
 
 made the theory of the profession of arms so wholly 
 his own. The earnest scholar, however, did not 
 confine himself to the literature or the science of 
 war. He seems, indeed, never to have been deeply 
 versed in politics in the highest sense ; he had not 
 Napoleon's comprehensive grasp of political facts 
 in their widest aspects ; he was deficient in the fine 
 political tact seen in Marlborough, Turenne, and 
 Wellington. But he devoured general history in 
 all its branches ; he became one of the most learned 
 of men, and, especially, he showed astonishing 
 power in acquiring a knowledge of many tongues. 
 French writers, however, are much in error when 
 they describe Moltke as a mere " bookworm," " a 
 military monk," in these laborious days. He was 
 often employed in making surveys of different parts 
 of the Prussian dominions and in other duties of 
 the engineer ; and this training stood him in good 
 stead when it fell to his lot to direct armies. He 
 travelled, too, a good deal in these years, and his 
 notes of these journeys reveal a mind far-reaching, 
 healthy, and rich with sympathy. He regarded the 
 Polish race with the eye of a Prussian, yet he was 
 touched by the memory of its glories in the past, 
 and he almost mourns over its fallen greatness. He 
 was strongly moved, too, by the pomp and the 
 majesty of the Catholic ritual in the great towns 
 of Poland, and he took a marked interest in all that 
 he saw in Silesia. The most striking feature of 
 these experiences is, however, the admiration shown 
 by the author for the grandeur of Nature ; it is 
 
CHILDHOOD. YOUTH. MANHOOD. 9 
 
 alike heartfelt, keen, and intelligent. The broad 
 river and the cultivated flat suggest all kinds of 
 felicitous thoughts ; and like most dwellers in lands 
 of plains, Moltke sought with delight the heights 
 of the mountain. In one of his letters he dilates 
 with ecstasy on the vast panorama of varied beauty, 
 which unfolds itself to the eye from the top of 
 Schneekoppe the highest peak of the Giant Hills 
 the region through which, forty years afterwards, 
 he was to move the armed strength of Prussia to 
 the field of Sadowa. 
 
 The intelligent heads of the Staff College appre- 
 ciated the remarkable promise and unceasing in- 
 dustry of the young officer, who seems to have 
 easily surpassed his fellows, and Moltke was at- 
 tached to the general staff of the Prussian army in 
 1828, having been an instructor for a short time at 
 a district military school at Frankfort. It has 
 often been observed that he rose slowly in life, and 
 this, to a great extent, is true ; but, in the first 
 years of his career as a subaltern his merits secured 
 him more speedy advancement than was usual at 
 the time in the Prussian service. He served on 
 the staff, without intermission, for some years in 
 the first instance, and his professional duties were, 
 in part, the same as those which he had performed 
 at the Staff College, that is, he was much engaged 
 in the work of surveys. But he was employed 
 a good deal in teaching pupils at the Staff College 
 the knowledge of war ; he drew up abstracts of 
 several important campaigns; he attended the 
 
10 MOLTKE. 
 
 military manoeuvres which, even in those days, 
 formed part of the training of the Prussian soldier ; 
 he made a number of confidential reports ; above 
 all, he had ample means of making himself ac- 
 quainted with the administration of the Prussian 
 staff and with the organization of the Prussian 
 army. He gradually became a man of some mark ; 
 a report from his pen on the Danish army was 
 selected for special praise by the king; and in 1835 
 he was promoted to the rank of captain, 1 " having 
 passed over the heads of four of his seniors arid the 
 whole body of twelve first lieutenants." He found 
 time, however, for the pursuit of letters, to which 
 he remained devoted through life, amidst his multi- 
 farious work on the staff ; and he made his first 
 essays, in these years, in authorship. Two works 
 from his pen, one on " Belgium and Holland,'* the 
 other on "Poland, and its present State," were 
 published in 1830-31, but they have long been out 
 of print and forgotten. The first, he informs us, 
 cost him prodigious toil, but its real merits could 
 have hardly been great, for he has said that he 
 could not understand the reasons why the Belgians 
 and Dutch disliked each other, an instance of the 
 want of political insight, which we see in his ideas 
 about Alsace and Lorraine, and their sympathies in 
 1870-71. The book on Poland, however, attracted 
 attention, and was described by the censor of the 
 press at Berlin " as the work of a man of fifty years' 
 experience." About this time, too, Moltke under- 
 1 " Letters," vol. i. p. 115. 
 
CHILDHOOD. YOUTH. MANHOOD. 11 
 
 took the task of translating the " Decline and Fall " 
 of Gibbon, but he seems to have completed one 
 volume only. Still under the heavy stress of 
 poverty, he agreed to accomplish this " herculean 
 work " for a miserable payment of about 60L 
 
 The inner and domestic life of Moltke, during 
 these years of his early manhood, reveal a very 
 pleasing side of his character. His marked ability, 
 his great acquirements, his growing reputation, his 
 strong will, had made him the real head of his 
 family, and he became its mentor and master spirit. 
 His father, evidently a weak man, had been long 
 disgusted with his profession ; the son, though 
 scarcely able to make ends meet, offered to divide 
 his scanty pay with him, in the hope that he would 
 remain in the Danish service. Moltke' s letters to 
 his brothers Adolf and Ludwig, both destined to 
 rise above the common herd, constantly urge them 
 forward in the path of duty; he reminds them 
 " how 1 imperatively and seriously necessary it is 
 that we should make our own way in life ;" and yet 
 they are wholly free from attempts at dictation and 
 from the self-assertion of a superior nature. The 
 spirit in which he confronted the battle of life, for 
 the sake of those dear to him, as well as his own, 
 appears in more than one passage like this 2 : "I 
 will set out with new courage on the thorny race- 
 course, on which I am striving after fortune alone, 
 and so far from you all. May I attain it for you 
 
 1 " Letters," vol. ii. p. 107. 
 
 2 Ibid. vol. i. p. 10. 
 
12 MOLTKE. 
 
 all ! " To his mother, whom he greatly loved and 
 revered, he gave the full expression of his thoughts 
 and hopes ; and his letters to her confirm the im- 
 pression we obtain from many sources of his real 
 character, aspiring and solid, manly, but tender. 
 He rejoices in her sympathy, as he slowly climbs up 
 the difficult ascent that leads to distinction ; he 
 cheers her in her life of privation and sorrow she 
 had been parted for years from her husband ; he 
 consults her on almost all subjects. Like other 
 young men he often has the idea of marriage in his 
 mind ; and it is curious to note that, grave and 
 sedate, he thinks that mere passion, in most 
 instances, is not a prelude to a happy union ; and 
 he believes lady-killers to be nearly always fools. 
 Yet Moltke's heart was not closed to love; he felt 
 deeply the charms of a fair young Pole, though, 
 with characteristic pride of race, he tells his mother 
 he would not give her " a Polish daughter-in-law ; " 
 and he was strongly attached to two sisters, to 
 whom he addressed a poetaster's homage, not above, 
 we must say, the average standard. Nor was he 
 by any means a morose recluse in these years of 
 hard work and engrossing study. He was joyous 
 and brilliant in social converse, and was much liked 
 by his brother officers ; and he saw a great deal of 
 the high life of Berlin. 
 
 In 1835 Moltke set off on a long journey to the 
 East. He explored Vienna ; made his way, with 
 difficulty, through the immense tracts watered by 
 the Lower Danube; and reached Constantinople, 
 
CHILDHOOD. YOUTH. MANHOOD. 13 
 
 from across the Balkans. The Sultan, Mahomed 
 II., was, at this time, engaged in an attempt to 
 restore his military power ; and he gladly availed 
 himself of the aid of a soldier, recommended to him 
 by the Prussian embassy. Moltke soon stood well 
 with the advisers of the Porte, being held in peculiar 
 esteem by Ohosref Pacha, the War Minister, and 
 commander-in-chief ; and a small party of Prussian 
 officers was sent from Berlin to help him in his new 
 official duties. The companions remained in the 
 East for nearly four years ; and Moltke penetrated 
 into almost every part of the vast and decaying 
 realms of Islam, from the Bulgarian plains to the 
 range of the Taurus. What he really accomplished 
 in the work of reform and reorganization is well 
 nigh unknown. The period was one when the 
 Turkish Empire seemed on the verge of speedy 
 extinction. Russia had made Mahomed almost a 
 vassal ; whole provinces were in constant revolt ; the 
 subject populations had begun to stir under the iron 
 yoke of their detested masters; and the fierce 
 janissary horde, the true embodiment of the con- 
 quering power of the Osmanli race, had perished 
 under the hand of their chiefs. Moltke surveyed 
 the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, and gave the 
 Sultan excellent advice, as to the defences of his 
 renowned capital, lately menaced by the legions of 
 Diebitsch; and he accompanied him on a journey 
 to the Danubian fortresess, half destroyed by the 
 last Russian invasion. He proposed, also, it seems, 
 that a kind of militia, resembling, in some measure, 
 
14 MOLTKE. 
 
 the Prussian landwehr, should be formed and 
 arrayed throughout the Empire; and it deserves 
 special notice that, like a true reformer, he endea- 
 voured to adapt the reforms he suggested to national 
 habits, tendencies, and tastes. It is evident, how- 
 ever, that his administrative powers made no perma- 
 nent impression on the sloth, the corruption, and 
 the imbecility of the Turkish War Office, and added 
 little to the military strength of the Porte. The 
 Crimean War found the Empire almost defenceless, 
 and its armies an assemblage of ill-trained levies, 
 in which 1 " what was good in barbarian warfare 
 was lost without much gain from what civilization 
 gave/' 
 
 Moltke and his companions were in Asia Minor, in 
 1838 and 1839, attached to one of the armies of the 
 Porte. The Kurds in the East were in revolt, and 
 Ibrahim Pacha, a son of Mehemet Ali, the powerful 
 and rebel satrap of Egypt, was threatening the 
 Empire from the Syrian frontier. Moltke made his 
 way throughout the great Peninsula, where the 
 remains of the glories of Greece and Home still rise 
 to the sight amidst the waste and desolation pro- 
 duced by barbarian conquest, and where Nature 
 unfolds some of her most majestic scenes. He 
 visited several ports of the Euxine; crossed the 
 table-land of the central provinces ; descended 
 into the Mesopotamian plain dividing the Tigris 
 from the Euphrates ; and explored the ruins of the 
 great fortresses which formed the advanced posts 
 1 " The Russians in Bulgaria and Roumelia," by Moltke, p. 269. 
 
CHILDHOOD. YOUTH. MANHOOD. 15 
 
 of the Legions in the East. .One incident of these 
 days may be noticed, for it was significant of his 
 persevering and strongly marked character. Moltke 
 was invited by Hafiz, the Pacha in command of the 
 Ottoman force, to endeavour to ascertain if the 
 Euphrates was navigable along a certain space, and 
 could be made an avenue for the transport of sup- 
 plies ; and he set off on an errand, declared to be 
 impossible by the Kurdish boatmen on the spot. 
 Having had a raft constructed, he launched it on 
 the stream ; it was in vain that, after a few hours' 
 experience of the force of the current, part of his 
 crew dropped off ; he persisted doggedly in the 
 perilous attempt, and though his frail craft was 
 half swamped, and nearly dashed to pieces, he suc- 
 cessfully threaded a maze of cataracts, and returned 
 to his chief with a detailed report. Moltke made 
 his earliest experiences in the field at this period ; 
 and it was his fortune, like that of Eugene of Savoy, 
 to see war for the first time as it was conducted by 
 the arms of Islam. In the summer of 1839 the 
 Egyptian army of Ibrahim Pacha was set in motion, 
 and, having reached Aleppo, it threatened to ad- 
 vance, through the passes of the Taurus, into the 
 northern provinces. Two Turkish armies were 
 opposed to it, that of Hafiz Pacha in Western 
 Kurdistan, that of Hadzchi Pacha, spread around 
 Koniah, the Iconium of the age of Imperial Rome, 
 but they were separated by vast and scarcely pass- 
 able tracts, and Ibrahim might force his way between 
 them, and possibly even defeat them in detail. To 
 
16 MOLTKE. 
 
 avert this, Hafiz approached the verge of Syria, 
 upon the Upper Euphrates, and placed his army in 
 a camp round Biradchik, not far from the little 
 stream of the Nisib. Moltke entreated the Pacha 
 to take advantage of a circuitous movement made 
 by Ibrahim, in order to turn his enemy's flank; but 
 Hafiz failed to seize the occasion ; and his adviser 
 insisted that all that was now to be done was to 
 fall back to the camp, from which the Turkish army 
 had lately advanced. The Pacha, however, turned 
 a deaf ear to the warnings of the soldier who, 
 throughout the affair, had given proof of a true 
 military eye ; and, persuaded by the ignorant mol- 
 lahs on the spot the sachems of the superstitious 
 Turk persisted obstinately in maintaining his 
 ground. Ibrahim 1 interposed between his adver- 
 sary and his camp, attacked boldly on the 23rd of 
 July, and easily won a complete victory, so decisive 
 that the virtual independence of Egypt may be said 
 to date from the day of Nisib. Moltke and his com- 
 rades escaped, with difficulty, through masses of 
 fugitives in headlong rout ; it is significant of the 
 idea he had formed of the military worth of a Turkish 
 army, that he thought it a positive gain that there 
 were no means of retreat open from the camp of 
 Hafiz, for this would " force the Osmanli to do or 
 to die." 
 
 A series of " Letters on the East " records all that 
 Moltke saw and did in these travels. This volume 
 
 1 A French officer, Captain Hautpoul, curiously enough, urged 
 Ibrahim to make this movement. 
 
CHILDHOOD. YOUTH. MANHOOD. 17 
 
 alone would entitle the author to some distinction in 
 the sphere of literature; it abounds in thorough 
 and well-digested knowledge, in cultivated thought, 
 in true human sympathy. Professional studies fill 
 many pages ; and Moltke dwells on the natural 
 strength of Constantinople as a seat of Empire, on 
 the great capabilities of the Dardanelles for defence, 
 on the value of the Balkans and the line of the 
 Danube as barriers against an invading army. He 
 explodes, we may note, what in those days was, 
 perhaps, an article in the faith of British seamen ; 
 and insists that ships are no match for forts, as was 
 seen at Sebastopol years afterwards. The book, 
 however, is mainly one of travels, and few experiences 
 of the East possess equal interest. In every 
 chapter we find the accomplished scholar, the man 
 of reflection, the master of language. A military 
 search for the ruins of Troy recalls the immortal 
 memories that cling around Ida, the Simois, and 
 the land of Priam, The forms of buried empires 
 rise out of the past, as Moltke threads his way 
 between the great rivers that watered the realms of 
 Belshazzar and Cyrus. Edessa, Nisibis, and other 
 remains of the grandeur of Rome revive images 
 of the Caesars and their all-subduing armies ; and 
 the Kurd tillers of the soil and the wandering 
 Arabs are seen through eyes that have loved the 
 Sacred Writings. If somewhat wanting in imagina- 
 tive power, the descriptions of scenery are well 
 finished, and especially are rich in life and colour. 
 We see Vienna before us, with its antique streets, 
 
 c 
 
18 MOLTKE. 
 
 its gay public places, and its noble church over- 
 looking the Marchfield and the mighty Danube. 
 Bucharest rises brightly from the Wallachian flats, 
 a human oasis in a desolate waste; the Balkan 
 heights and the Bulgarian plains stand out with 
 the Euxine in the far distance. But Constantinople 
 is the most striking scene ; and the animation of 
 the West stirring along the Bosphorus, in strange 
 contrast with the decaying grandeur of other parts 
 of the Imperial City, and all the associations, of 
 which the dome of St. Sophia may be deemed the 
 centre, have never been more effectively portrayed. 
 The work ends with a comparison between what 
 has been achieved by the Czars and the Sultans 
 during the last two centuries in the work of 
 Empire. Here, however, Moltke has missed part 
 of the truth ; he is less successful with man than 
 with Nature ; he ought to have brought out more 
 clearly the fact that the Russians are a great if a 
 backward nation, and that the Turks are a mere 
 degenerate horde. 
 
 In 1840 Moltke was again in Berlin ; he 
 attained the rank of major a short time afterwards, 
 and he was placed on the staff of the 4th Corps 
 d'armee, a passage in his career that was to prove of 
 moment. He was now in the prime of full manhood ; 
 and a casual observer has given us a faint glimpse 
 of a figure and bearing that have become historical. 
 He describes Moltke " as thin and tall of stature, 
 with a sharp, bronzed face, and with lips that seldom 
 opened, grave, taciturn, and self-contained ; " and 
 
CHILDHOOD. YOUTH. MANHOOD. 19 
 
 this description evidently has been a model for 
 French writers, who, in the bitterness of their 
 hearts, have compared his aspect in old age to 
 that " of a vulture, lean and silent, as it devours 
 its prey." Yet if we may judge from authentic 
 portraits, Moltke was at this time a handsome man, 
 blue-eyed, fair-haired, and refined in look ; and 
 though he was not in any sense talkative, and he 
 never wore his heart on his sleeve, he was a delight- 
 ful companion to those who knew him well. The 
 mother he loved had now passed away; she was to 
 be soon followed by his surviving parent ; and his 
 brothers and sisters were settled in life, two of the 
 brothers, Adolf and Ludwig, referred to before, 
 having made their mark in the Civil Service of the 
 debateable lands of Schleswig and Holstein. In 18 i2 
 Moltke made the acquaintance of Mary Burt, the 
 daughter of an English gentleman, whose second 
 wife had been one of Moltke's sisters; and the 
 acquaintance led to a most happy union. Marie, as 
 he always called her, was the fitting helpmeet of the 
 hard-working and ambitious soldier ; she appre- 
 ciated his lofty and strong character; and he was 
 deeply, nay, passionately, attached to her. What 
 she was appears in these few words, witten by her 
 husband to one of his family x : " My little wife is 
 my greatest joy. In five years I have rarely seen 
 her sad, and never cross. She has no vagaries, and 
 allows of none in other people. But no one should 
 do her a real wrong, for, with the best will in the 
 1 " Letters," vol. i. p. 177. 
 
 o 2 
 
20 MOLTKE. 
 
 world, she could not forgive it ; with all her light- 
 heartedness, she has a decided, strong, and deep 
 nature, which she would assert under all adverse cir- 
 cumstances. God preserve her from such. But I 
 know what I possess in her." After twenty-six 
 years of wedded happiness, this excellent and really 
 superior woman was carried away before her time, 
 but she lived to see all Prussia do homage to her lord, 
 as he returned a conqueror from Sadowa to Berlin. 
 A simple monument raised to her memory at the 
 home of Moltke's last honoured years, contains this 
 epitaph from his thoughtful pen : " Love is the ful- 
 filment of the law of God." 
 
 About the time of his marriage Moltke published 
 his 1 History of the War between the Russians and 
 Turks in 1828 and 1829. Unlike the bulky volumes 
 compiled by the Prussian Staff, which chronicle 
 the great conflicts of late years, but only bear slight 
 marks of his hand, this work is entirely from his 
 pen, and it is alike interesting and, in some respects, 
 curious. A strong imagination was not one of 
 Moltke's gifts, but he seems always to have thought 
 that this creative faculty was out of place in de- 
 scribing war, and the book has no traces of the 
 animation and beauty repeatedly seen in the 
 " Letters on the East." The narrative is sedate 
 and without colour, though the subject abounds in 
 
 1 This book is entitled, "The Russians in Bulgaria and 
 Rouuielia in 1828 and 1829." A translation of it into English 
 appeared in 1854, during the Crimean War. Moltke was even 
 then so little known in Europe that the translator asserted he 
 was dead. 
 
CHILDHOOD. YOUTH. MANHOOD. 21 
 
 dramatic scenes ; the storming of Ibrail is tame and 
 lifeless compared to Napier's sketch of the storming 
 of Badajoz ; the passage of the Danube and that of 
 the Balkans do not awake one spark of poetic fire, 
 and the account of the sieges of the Turkish strong- 
 holds is little more than the diary of an engineer. 
 But the criticism of the operations of the contending 
 armies is very able, and valuable in the extreme ; 
 and this is the more remarkable because Moltke, 
 unlike Napoleon, is not given to military criticism 
 and comments on war. The mistakes made by the 
 Russian commanders in crossing the Danube wifch 
 too weak a force, and especially in waiting whole 
 weeks around Shumla, and the incapacity of the 
 Turkish Pachas, are clearly and completely set forth, 
 and full justice is done to the powers of Diebitsch, 
 and, above all, to his boldness in pressing forward to 
 Adrianople with the wreck of an army, wasted by 
 forced marches, want, and disease. Yet the most 
 striking characteristic of the work is the attention 
 the author bestows on the mechanism of war, on the 
 nature and composition of the hostile forces, and on 
 the preparations made for their movements in the 
 field. Moltke dwells with emphasis on the frightful 
 losses sustained by the Russians through sheer 
 neglect, and he significantly points out how ill- 
 adapted the troops in many respects were to cope 
 with the difficulties of a campaign in Bulgaria. A 
 master of organization is more apparent throughout 
 the volume than a master of war. 
 
 Though remaining attached to the staff of his 
 
22 MOLTKE. 
 
 corps, Moltke was appointed aide-de-camp to Prince 
 Henry of Prussia a brother of the monarch who 
 succumbed at Jena and was with his chief in Eome 
 in the autumn of" 1845. The Prince was a dying 
 invalid, and Moltke and his wife had ample leisure 
 to see the Eternal City and its departed glories. 
 Characteristically he thoroughly studied Niehbuhr, 
 and extracted fruit from those hard, dry husks ; 
 but his sound judgment rebelled against the de- 
 structive scepticism of the historian, and he continued 
 to believe in Egeria and Numa. A short work on 
 'Italy appeared from his pen, but it does not require 
 special notice ; it scarcely alludes to the Italian 
 Question, already beginning to stir the Continent, 
 and it relates chiefly to Eome and Italian scenery. 
 One passage, however, in Moltke J s letters, 1 which 
 dwells on all that he saw and felt from the dome of 
 St. Peter's, is a good specimen of his peculiar 
 descriptive skill ; the associations of the past are 
 well blended in a thoughtful picture with the present 
 landscape. A short journey through Spain, made 
 after the death of Prince Henry, closed this chapter 
 of travels, and it is interesting to show that, as the 
 reflecting soldier notes how " German colonists in 
 Spain and other lands forget their fallen nationality 
 and its ties," he gives proof of a yearning for 
 German unity. In 1847 Moltke, now become a 
 colonel, was again at his work with the 4th Corps, 
 and, 2 strangely enough, he had thoughts of leaving the 
 army, at the very time when the tide of fortune was 
 1 "Letters," vol. ii. p. 160. 2 Ibid. vol. i.p. 177. 
 
CHILDHOOD. YOUTH. MANHOOD. 23 
 
 near. This resolve was, possibly, in part due to 
 the mutterings of the revolutionary storm already 
 beginning to be heard in Germany. Moltke had 
 the political faith of a Prussian noble ; he detested 
 Liberalism and all its ways; and, if he wished to 
 see Germany rise from her weakness, he felt nothing 
 but scorn for German democracy. When 1848 
 swept over the Continent, and " shriekers in Frank- 
 fort" were trying to erect a new Germany on the 
 wrecks of princedoms and thrones, and anarchy had 
 revelled in the streets of Berlin, it seemed to Moltke 
 as if the end of all things was near, and he l contem- 
 plated, for a moment, quitting the Old World and 
 making a home for those he loved in the New, if 
 his sword was not immediately required for his 
 country's service. 
 
 Events, however, turned Moltke aside from what 
 was probably but a fleeting purpose. He was 
 made Chief of the Staff of his Corps towards the 
 close of 1848, an honour to which he had long 
 aspired, and which he had thought the extreme 
 range of his highest ambition. His was now really 
 the directing mind of a small army complete in 
 itself, and his ability, his industry, his attention to 
 details, felt through the whole sphere of regimental 
 work, soon raised the 4th Corps to marked eminence. 2 
 " Such troops, if Frederick the Great had only had 
 them," he wrote of his men, with honourable pride ; 
 and it may be remarked that, though strict in the ex- 
 treme, he was popular with the young staff officers. 
 1 "Letters," vol. i. p. 181. 2 Ibid. vol. i. p. 228. 
 
24 MOLTKE. 
 
 He was stationed at Magdeburg during the next 
 few years, and for some time lie was engaged in 
 repressing the irregular risings and mob violence 
 in which the movement of 1848 had ended, a duty 
 sternly but discreetly performed, and not in the 
 spirit of Dalzell or Claverhouse. As usual, too, he 
 devoted many hours to military duties at this period, 
 and he gave considerable attention to the Crimean 
 War, the last exhibition of the conduct and method 
 of war in the first years of this century, eliminating 
 genius and experience in the field. These passages, 
 however, were not the most important in this part 
 of Moltke's career. The Crown Prince the King 
 and Emperor who was to be was Commander-in- 
 Chief of the 4th Corps, and this true soldier, who 
 had the high faculty of discovering and esteeming 
 superior men, had appreciated the merits of the 
 Chief of his Staff. The Prince and Moltke became 
 fast friends, and seldom, indeed, have two minds 
 been united by ties of such close sympathy. The 
 Crown Prince had the wrongs of his mother 
 to avenge the ill-fated Louise of Jena and 
 Tilsit and cordially hated all that was French, 
 and Moltke felt towards France as a Prussian 
 soldier, and had described her as the 1 disturber of 
 Europe. Both, too, had a fixed, if undefined, notion 
 that Prussia ought to be the head of a united 
 Germany, and that this object was to be attained 
 through the army ; both resented the weakness, the 
 folly, the license, which had been so disastrous in 
 1 " Letters," vol. i. p. 78. 
 
MOLTKE. 
 
 To face page 25. 
 
CHILDHOOD. YOUTH. MANHOOD. 25 
 
 1848 ; both believed tbat " heroes would take the 
 place of spouters" a pregnant and significant 
 pbrase of Moltke and botb bitterly felt the dis- 
 grace of Olmiitz, the subjection of Prussia to the 
 will of Austria, in 1851-2, and the sorry attitude of 
 Prussia during the Crimean "War. 1 
 
 The reputation of Moltke, in the words of Horace, 
 " grew like the hidden growth of a tree." He did 
 not become a general until 1856, when verging on 
 the decline of manhood, an age when most com- 
 manders have done their work. Through the 
 influence, doubtless, of the Crown Prince, he was 
 made an aide-de-camp of his son Frederick the late 
 and deeply-regretted Emperor and he went with 
 his chief once more on his travels. He was present 
 at the marriage of the Princess Royal, but he has 
 scarcely referred to what he saw in England, 
 though, like Bugeaud, he admired the British 
 infantry, and, like Bugeaud, probably thought them 
 a handful of men. A collection of letters from his 
 pen, to his wife, describes a visit to Russia in 1856, 
 and though full of details of Court life and gossip, 
 is, nevertheless, of some lasting interest. St. 
 Petersburg did not strike Moltke, but he was deeply 
 moved by the sight of Moscow that city of the East 
 on the border of the West, oriental in type, yet, 
 above all, Christian and from the summit of the 
 Kremlin he looks back at the days when the plain 
 
 1 The views and opinions of the Crown Prince on these subjects 
 are well known. For those of Moltke, see ''Letters," vol. i. pp. 
 188, 189, 193, 217, 228, &c. 
 
26 MOLTKE. 
 
 swarmed with the horsemen of the Golden Horde, 
 and the affrighted Muscovite shrank behind ram- 
 parts thrown up to resist the conquering Tartar. 
 Curiously enough, he only alludes in one passage to 
 the great invasion of the West in 1812; and he 
 complacently gazes on hundreds of French cannon, 
 captured in the long and awful retreat. The 
 Russian army made a strong impression on his 
 mind ; that armed assemblage of many races and 
 tongues from the Caucasus to the Baltic and Cas- 
 pian brings vividly before him the power of the 
 Czars ; and he dwells with marked approbation on 
 the well-ordered lines and steadiness of the masses 
 of the Russian troops, characteristic of a nature 
 which made discipline and obedience the first of a 
 soldier's qualities. Soon after this time he was with 
 the Prince in Paris, but his record of his experiences 
 is brief and trivial. The splendour of the Tuileries 
 and the gay magnificence of the City on the Seine 
 delight and amaze him; and we seem to be in the 
 presence of a great martial Goth, who, dimly 
 conscious that the hour of his race is at hand, 
 passes through the Rome of Decius and Gallus. Of 
 the French army he says very little, but anything 
 he says is by no means in its favour. He had called 
 the Empire 1 a " magnificent swindle," and he sees 
 plainly that Caesarism without a Csesar Napoleon 
 III. in the seat of Napoleon democracy, faction, 
 routine, and tradition had injured the military in- 
 stitutions of France. At a time when the French 
 1 " Letters," vol. i, p. 231. 
 
CHILDHOOD. YOUTH. MANHOOD. 27 
 
 army was deemed a model for all the great Con- 
 tinental armies, Moltke criticized sharply the loose 
 indiscipline and irregular marching of French 
 troops ; and to a mind like his, which placed order 
 before liberty, the intelligence and agility of the 
 French soldier were not rated at their true worth. 1 
 Moltke was to show that he did not comprehend 
 the essential aptitude for war of the illustrious race 
 which has been the wonder and terror, more than 
 once, of Europe. 
 
 The hour of deserved advancement, deferred 
 for years, was, at last, to come for the man of 
 thought and action, remarkable alike for strength 
 of mind and of character. Frederick William of 
 Prussia was learned and enlightened, but he had 
 been, in the main, a bad ruler; he had missed his 
 opportunity in 1848, had rejected the Crown offered 
 by the German people, and had been false and 
 infirm of purpose ; he had let Prussia sink into a 
 third-rate power, and had allowed the Prussian 
 army greatly to decline. His intellect gave way in 
 1857, and the Crown Prince, his brother, the friend 
 of Moltke, having become Regent and ere long 
 King, addressed himself to the task of raising the 
 Monarchy and the State from its fallen position. 
 King William, we have seen, had a kind of notion 
 that Prussia should be at the head of the German 
 nation ; he detested the policy of his predecessor, 
 and he clearly saw that the military power of 
 
 1 " Le Mareehal Moltke," par. xxx. 107-8. This work is by a 
 French General Officer. 
 
28 MOLTKE. 
 
 Prussia must be greatly increased if she was to 
 work out her apparent destiny. Conservative, 
 simple-minded, and above all a Prussian soldier, 
 intent on Prussian interests, it was some time before 
 he lent an ear to the audacious and crafty counsels 
 of Bismarck, and thought of reaching the goal of 
 German unity by seconding " with blood and iron," 
 and without doubt or scruple, a movement partly 
 revolutionary, and in part national. But he resolved 
 from the first to reform the Prussian army, and to 
 make it what it had ceased to be, a formidable and 
 efficient instrument of war. As early as 1858, and 
 years before Bismarck became Minister, the late 
 Commander of the 4th Corps appointed Moltke 
 Chief of the General Staff, that is, gave him the 
 supreme direction of military affairs. Eoon, the 
 Minister of War, soon became his colleague, and 
 the complete reorganization of the armed strength 
 of Prussia was steadily taken in hand. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Sketch of the history of the Prussian army The army of Fre- 
 derick the Great That of 1813-14 The Keforms of 1815 
 The results Keorganization of the army in 1859-60 Great 
 improvements effected by the King, Boon, and Moltke 
 Special work of Moltke in the staff and the army Formidable 
 power of the army after 1860 The Danish War The war 
 of 1866 Political situation of the belligerent powers 
 Austria and Prussia stand on the defensive The offensive 
 projects of Moltke frustrated Assembly of the Prussian 
 armies on the frontiers of Saxony and Silesia Assembly 
 of the Austrian army in Moravia Characteristics of that 
 army The Prussians invade Saxony and Bohemia Advance 
 of the Austrians into Bohemia The projects of General 
 Benedek He loses a great opportunity Defeat of the 
 Austrians in a series of combats and battles Benedek re- 
 treats behind the Bistritz. 
 
 THOUGH the youngest army of the great powers of 
 Europe, the Prussian army has known many 
 strange vicissitudes. It owed its existence to the 
 Great Elector, a contemporary and opponent of 
 Turenne ; it had been made a powerful and well- 
 trained force by soldiers brought up in the school 
 of Marlborough ; it became a most formidable 
 organization for war in the vigorous hands of 
 Frederick the Great. It had, nevertheless, many 
 essential defects, though these were scarcely apparent 
 when it was led by a commander, if not of the very 
 first order, far superior to the commanders of his 
 
30 MOLTKE. 
 
 time. 1 It was largely recruited from mere mer- 
 cenaries ; it had hundreds of foreign officers in its 
 ranks ; it was subjected to a barbarous discipline, 
 and badly supplied in many particulars ; its supe- 
 riors were drawn from a caste of nobles, who had 
 a kind of property in the troops they mustered; 
 and if the fire of its infantry was in the highest 
 degree excellent, and its cavalry was a mighty arm, 
 its formations, though much the best of its day, 
 were, nevertheless, somewhat stiff and cumbrous. 
 
 The army rapidly declined after the death of 
 Frederick ; and its essential vices became but too 
 manifest, when it went down in 1806-7, before the 
 soldiery of Revolutionary France, commanded by 
 the greatest of captains, enthusiastic, flexible, and 
 well-handled by officers largely promoted for merit ; 
 when desertion carried away all its alien elements, 
 and when, in a word, it was reduced to impotence. 
 The army of Frederick, in fact, disappeared ; but 
 Prussia, a martial people, remained ; and in the 
 hour of subjugation and defeat, her military chiefs 
 undertook the task of creating a new army out of 
 the ruins of the old. This was a most dangerous 
 and difficult work, for the Conqueror of Jena had 
 insisted that the Prussian army should, in no case, 
 exceed 42,000 men ; and the policy of Napoleon, in 
 fact, was to keep it in a state of mere vassalage to 
 himself. A man of genius, however, and the spirit 
 
 1 Among many other authorities, " The Memoirs of General 
 Marbot," Tome i. 286-7, contain interesting details on the subject. 
 See also The Edinburgh Review for January, 1892. 
 
CHIEF OF THE STAFF. THE PRUSSIAN ARMY. 31 
 
 of the race contrived to baffle the will of the all- 
 powerful despot. Scharnhorst, made the minister 
 of war of Prussia, afraid of the jealous Lord of the 
 Continent, kept the standing army within the 
 limited strength, as regards the troops in actual 
 service ; but he passed through the ranks and 
 partly trained tens of thousands of youths in rapid 
 succession; and these, fired with patriotism and 
 apt for war, were admirably fitted to become good 
 soldiers, and formed elements of great military 
 power. Other reforms lessened and even removed 
 the most glaring defects of the old army; and, as 
 the result, the army of Scharnhorst expanded sud- 
 denly in 1813 to a force of more than 200,000 men, 
 superior to that of its allies in Saxony. The mar- 
 vellous rising of Germany did the rest ; volunteers, 
 burning to avenge their country, flocked in multi- 
 tudes to the Prussian standards; and such was 
 the enthusiasm of the wronged nation, that Prussia 
 was able to raise a powerful militia, ever since 
 known by the name of Landwehr. What these 
 formidable arrays achieved in the field, was seen in 
 many a hard-fought struggle from the banks of the 
 Elbe to those of the Seine, and especially on the 
 crowning day of Waterloo. 
 
 The military institutions of Prussia, however, 
 were not permitted to rest permanently on the 
 patriotic levies of 1813 ; their bases were laid two 
 years afterwards ; for it is characteristic of Prussia 
 that she establishes her organization for war in 
 peace. The general main lines on which the 
 
32 MOLTKE. 
 
 armed strength of the nation has ever since been 
 built up were not finally marked out until 1815. 
 By these arrangements, it was provided that every 
 Prussian subject is bound to military service as his 
 duty to the State ; and in theory, this principle has 
 been steadily retained. In practice, however, a 
 yearly contingent of not more than 40,000 men 
 was sent into the ranks of the army, a succession 
 of these contingents yielding the elements which 
 made up the national forces. The standing army 
 was composed of about 200,000 men, liable, in the 
 first instance, to serve for three years, and then 
 drafted into a reserve in which they were to serve 
 for two ; and they next passed into the reserve of 
 the Landwehr, which, divided into two main bodies, 
 could furnish perhaps 300,000 men, for the most 
 part beyond the age of youth. The army, con- 
 stituted in this way, was organized on a local terri- 
 torial system ; that is, it was formed into corps 
 d'armee, each belonging to a separate part of the 
 monarchy, and being a unit distinct in itself; 
 this corresponding to immemorial tendencies and 
 traditions of the Teutonic race, which * Ca3sar and 
 Tacitus inform us, went to war in tribes. The 
 Landsturm, a kind of universal levy, to be called 
 out only in the event of invasion, formed the last 
 defensive force of the State. 
 
 This organization gave Prussia an army of half 
 a million of men, including the Landwehr but not 
 
 1 Caesar, De Bello Gallico, cap. 51 ; Tacitus, De Moribus 
 Germanise, cap. 7. 
 
CHIEF OF THE STAFF. THE PRUSSIAN ARMY. 33 
 
 the Landsturm, an irregular and extraordinary 
 force. But if the army was large in numbers and 
 appeared powerful, the system, on which it rested, 
 had many defects, and it became a very inferior 
 instrument of war. The yearly contingent remained 
 40,000 strong ; but, as the population of the State 
 increased, it ought to have been enlarged in pro- 
 portion ; and many thousands of men, who might 
 well have served, were never summoned to join the 
 colours. The term of service, too, in the standing 
 army was, especially for the reserve, short ; it could 
 not exceed five years in the whole and, in fact, it 
 was often reduced to four. The most faulty side 
 of the system, however, was exhibited in the Land- 
 wehr as a military force. It had been assumed 
 that this great reserve would always give proof of 
 the high martial qualities it showed in 1813-14, and 
 would yield the army regularly an ample supply of 
 trained, mature, and thoroughly loyal soldiers. 
 But what was possible in a general national rising, 
 was not to be expected in ordinary times ; and the 
 Landwehr, composed of men in middle life with 
 settled occupations and, for the most part, married, 
 became a bad and unsound element for feeding and 
 sustaining the standing army. The Prussian army, 
 in fact, became divided into an assemblage of troops, 
 comparatively weak in numbers and not sufficiently 
 trained, and a collection of men disinclined to serve 
 and discontented whenever called out. It fell far 
 short of its normal strength, and was below the 
 
 standard of other armies of the time ; and this, no 
 
 D 
 
34 MOLTKE. 
 
 doubt, was the real cause of the surrender of 
 Olmiitz in 1850, and of the vacillation of Prussia 
 during the Crimean War. 
 
 King William, we have seen, had resolved to 
 bring the Prussian army out of this state of decline, 
 and had selected Moltke and Roon to aid him in 
 the task. The work of reform began in 1859-60, 
 and was carried out with admirable skill and 
 forethought. The principles of the arrangements 
 of 1815 were not changed in a marked degree ; 
 that is, military service continued to be the possible 
 obligation of all Prussians, and the army remained 
 arrayed on the local system, with the exception of 
 the corps d'elite of the Guard. But the yearly 
 contingent of recruits was raised from 40,000 to 
 63,000 men, thus taking in a quota that ought to 
 have served, and lessening what had become a 
 grievance ; and the time of service was extended 
 from five to seven years, four years being the term 
 in the reserve. The Landwehr was at the same 
 time made a wholly separate force from the standing 
 army, and it became less one of its component 
 parts, than a supplement available when an occasion 
 required. In this way, when the reform was com- 
 plete, the standing army was increased in numbers 
 from 200,000 to more than 400,000 men, and its 
 military value was perhaps quadrupled, owing to 
 the enlargement of the time of service, and its 
 organization apart from the Landwehr. Simul- 
 taneously, large supplies of material of all kinds 
 were laid in and stored, and the military strength of 
 
CHIEF OF THE STAFF. THE PRUSSIAN AEMY. 35 
 
 Prussia was increased from 500,000 to more than 
 700,000 men, taking the Landwehr but not the 
 Landsturm. into account. The real augmentation 
 of power, however, was in the change effected in 
 the standing army, which had been transformed 
 from a weak, untrustworthy force into a really for- 
 midable and efficient array. Yet such is the force of 
 routine and tradition that this extraordinary growth 
 of the armed strength of Prussia did not attract 
 much attention at the time, even among the mili- 
 tary states of the continent. 
 
 The King and Roon had the principal part in 
 increasing the strength of the Prussian army ; 
 but Moltke was their fellow-worker, and gave ex- 
 cellent advice. The staff, however, of which he 
 had been made the chief, was his special province, 
 and wholly his own, and it soon felt the effects of a 
 master's hand. The Prussian staff, in the form it 
 still retains, was a result of the partition of powers 
 made between Bliicher, a hero indeed, but a soldier 
 only, unlettered and rude, and Gneisenau, an able 
 and scientific officer ; its chief was held to be the 
 responsible counsellor of the general in command 
 in the field; and it was at once permanent, and 
 had much independence. It had had two chiefs of 
 a high order, Muffling, a companion-in-arms of 
 Wellington in the decisive campaign of 1815, who 
 had done much to promote learning and professional 
 studies of all kinds ; and Krauseneck, the real author, 
 perhaps, of the great manoeuvres in peace of the 
 
 Prussian army, if Frederick the Great had a share 
 
 D 2 
 
36 MOLTKE. 
 
 in the honour. Moltke added to the number of his 
 subordinates, superintended their education with 
 incessant care, and spared no pains in selecting the 
 officers ; and, in a word, steadily laboured to make 
 the Prussian staff, what it has been aptly called, 
 the Brain of the Army, the source and centre of its 
 intellectual force. The complete instruction of the 
 staff officer was naturally, indeed, an ideal sought 
 by one who excelled in the learning of war ; and 
 the Staff College, ultimately under Moltke's auspices, 
 developed into the great " Academy of War," a 
 military university of the best kind. In two main 
 particulars, the new Chief of the Staff made the 
 efficiency of his department much greater than it 
 had been at any previous time. Moltke accumulated 
 information, exact and minute, on the military 
 resources of every state in Europe, for he had 
 always an eye to the possible events of war; and 
 these statistics have proved of the highest value. 
 Knowing, too, how important is the study of the 
 military art from recorded facts the only means, 
 indeed, through which it can be understood he 
 inaugurated the practice of compiling histories of 
 the most memorable campaigns of the day, which 
 has been a special task of the Prussian staff : and 
 the first of the series, an account of the campaign 
 of 1859, in Italy, is wholly, it is believed, from his 
 pen. This admirable sketch is of a much higher 
 order than the elaborate descriptions of the great 
 wars of 1866 and 1870 the composition of inferior 
 men on the staff, which, as we have said, are too 
 
CHIEF OF THE STAFF. THE PRUSSIAN ARMY. 37 
 
 voluminous, are overloaded with petty details, and 
 contain scarcely any striking comments ; and it 
 is singularly characteristic of the mind of the 
 author. Moltke is more of a critic than is his 
 wont ; he dwells on the irresolute slowness of 
 Gyulai, at the outset of the war; and he approves 
 on the whole of the well-known march, by which 
 Napoleon III. turned the Austrian right, " because 
 he could trust in his army and its superior strength," 
 although he admits it was " hazardous in the ex- 
 treme." But, as usual, he addresses himself chiefly 
 to the arrangements made by both sides for war, 
 and to the general conduct of the armies in the 
 field. He points out essential defects in the military 
 organization of France and Austria ; he dilates on 
 the fatal effects of divided councils in the Austrian 
 camp, and of the value of unity in advice and com- 
 mand ; and, spite of apparent signs to the contrary, 
 he insists that precision of fire must prevail over 
 the most brilliant charges in modern battles. 
 
 Moltke, however, was more than a Chief of the 
 Staff, taking the expression even in its widest 
 import. Napoleon reduced Berthier to the position 
 of a clerk ; King William, conscious of Moltke's 
 powers, made him virtually the head of the whole 
 Prussian army. It was under his direction that 
 this mighty instrument was gradually fashioned, and 
 made effective to answer the uses of modern war, 
 and what he achieved must be rapidly glanced at. 
 It was Moltke' s great and peculiar excellence that 
 he thoroughly understood, and turned to the best 
 
38 MOLTKE. 
 
 advantage, the new conditions of war evolved in his 
 time, as Turenne, intent on his wars of marches, 
 had increased the infantry in the armies of 
 Lous XIV., as Napoleon, pre-eminent in quickness 
 of movement, drew immense consequences from the 
 progress of husbandry, and from the multiplication 
 and improvement of roads, which had taken place 
 since the days of Frederick. 
 
 During the era of peace that came after Waterloo, 
 conservatism and routine prevailed, as a rule, in 
 the War Offices of every Power in Europe. In 
 England, Wellington obstinately clung to the 
 traditions of the Peninsular War ; Soult, in France, 
 followed the ways of the Empire, but weakened the 
 military strength of the State ; Austria and Russia 
 carried out the ideas of the Archduke Charles, of 
 Diebitsch and Paskevitch ; and the wars that were 
 waged at the close of this period, were all con- 
 ducted upon the methods established in the age 
 of Napoleon. Yet during this time, and the suc- 
 ceeding years, mighty forces and influences were 
 making themselves felt, which were largely to 
 change the order of Europe, and to affect, most 
 deeply, the operations of war. The population of 
 all nations greatly increased ; education had reached 
 the masses, and had been widely diffused ; and the 
 rude elements, therefore, of military power had 
 become more ample than they had ever been while 
 the intelligence and self-reliance of the classes, 
 which form the chief material of armies, had been 
 developed beyond all previous experience. Agri- 
 
CHIEF OF THE STAFF. THE PKUSSIAN AEMY. 89 
 
 culture, too, had made a rapid advance, the lines of 
 ordinary roads had been much extended; the 
 system of railways had spread through all lands, 
 and had added immensely to the facilities of loco- 
 motion already existing ; and these prodigious 
 changes had made it possible, that armies should 
 possess a power and an ease of movement never 
 before witnessed. The age, besides, was one of 
 material knowledge, rifled cannon and the breech- 
 loading musket had been invented, and were partly 
 used ; and this formidable mechanism was destined 
 to modify the order of battles and the whole art of 
 tactics. And ere long, we should add, the great 
 Civil War of America, showed on a vast scale what 
 modern discoveries could effect in war ; it proved 
 the uses of the electric telegraph, of the steam 
 engine, and of appliances of the kind; and, 
 generally speaking, it made manifest the value of 
 the new inventions in operations in the field. 
 
 Moltke's distinctive merit, we repeat, was that he 
 saw through these facts, and all that resulted from 
 them, more clearly than most of the soldiers of the 
 day, who either did not thoroughly grasp the truth, 
 or stood on the old ways, behind the time. The 
 Prussian army, through his assiduous efforts, was 
 gradually adjusted to the new conditions. The 
 later campaigns of Napoleon had shown that armies 
 had become too large even for his master-hand ; 
 how would it be when growing population would 
 expand the armies of the existing age into far ampler 
 proportions ? To avert this grave inconvenience 
 
40 MOLTKE. 
 
 Moltke arranged tliat the Prussian army should be 
 divided into separate and distinct armies, each 
 powerful but of manageable size, when it had 
 become necessary to take the field ; and he especially 
 insisted, while maintaining the importance of unity 
 in supreme command, that the chiefs of the different 
 armies must enjoy a freedom of action and an 
 independence which Napoleon's marshals never 
 possessed. The progress of education again had 
 increased the natural powers of the individual man ; 
 and Moltke drew excellent results from this, by 
 taking advantage of intelligence and skill, and, 
 notably, by making the troops and their officers feel 
 a real sense of personal duty, and by uniting them 
 in a gradation of well-planned services, so that the 
 whole army presented the image of that connected 
 series of denned relations to which the first 1 of 
 historians ascribed the secret of the success of Sparta 
 in war. As regards the improvement in the means 
 of communication which was taking place, Prussia 
 had given special attention to railways ; and 
 Moltke laid down careful and excellent rules to 
 secure that her railways and other roads should be 
 readily available for the conveyance of troops, and 
 for the transport of the material of war, in order 
 that the assembly of her military forces and their 
 movements should be made as rapid as possible. 
 Moltke, we have seen, had perceived that the power 
 of fire-arms would be the decisive element in 
 modern battles ; and certainly he carefully studied 
 
 1 Thucydides. 
 
CHIEF OF THE STAFF. THE PEUSSIAN ARMY. 41 
 
 the effects which rifled guns and breech-loaders 
 would produce. 1 His conclusions, however, on 
 these subjects appear to have been somewhat slowly 
 formed ; and experience alone perhaps convinced 
 him, that having regard to the tremendous force of 
 the new artillery and small arms, the dense forma- 
 tions and the compact lines of the days of his 
 youth must be abandoned. From the American 
 war, in which he was thoroughly versed, he drew 
 information of much value as to the use of the 
 electric telegraph in the field. 
 
 The Prussian army, greatly enlarged in numbers, 
 though not so perfect as it became afterwards, was 
 made,, through these means, a most formidable 
 array, well arranged, well ordered, easily handled, 
 and capable of being quickly drawn together and 
 moved. It was already far the first of the armies 
 of Europe; and it should be added that the 
 Prussian foot-soldier was armed with the breech - 
 loading needle-gun, a weapon not employed in any. 
 other service, and as superior to the rifle charged 
 from the muzzle, as the long bow of Crecy was to 
 the Genoese cross-bow. Not only, too, it appears 
 probable, was Moltke the principal constructor of 
 this mighty force, he had, perhaps, a voice in 
 appointing to the chief commands in it. It is certain, 
 at least, that at this time, the Prussian generals were 
 able men ; and this exactly carried out a maxim, 2 on 
 
 1 See " A Tactical Retrospect " and a " Retrospect of the Tactical 
 Retrospect," the first work by a very able soldier, Captain May, 
 the second by Moltke. 
 
 2 " Campaign of Italy in 1859," p. 8. 
 
42 MOLTKE. 
 
 which he has more than once insisted, that if 
 captains of the first order are seen only at wide 
 intervals of time, good commanders can always be 
 made forthcoming. Be this, however, as it may, 
 the Prussian army under his care had the immense 
 advantage of direction of a superior kind, as well 
 as of an organization wholly unequalled ; and this 
 was another element that made it supreme. Finally 
 and this should be carefully borne in mind this 
 vast combination of military force was prepared and 
 equipped with a special view to the method of 
 warfare which, Moltke knew, 1 has proved to be in 
 every age the best. Versed thoroughly in the history 
 of war, bold, capable and firm in the extreme of 
 purpose, he perfectly understood the immense value 
 of the initiative in operations in the field; and he 
 had made it the end of his unceasing efforts that 
 the Prussian army should be always ready to take 
 the offensive at the briefest notice, and to fall in 
 force on an enemy at once. The local territorial 
 system, it should be observed, in itself strongly 
 promoted his object. 
 
 The great instrument of power which Moltke 
 had fashioned, was soon tried, if not really tested. 
 It would be superfluous to notice the Danish war, a 
 conflict between a petty state and two of the 
 leading Powers of the Continent, the issue of which 
 was never doubtful. It is disputed, indeed, 2 to what 
 
 1 " Faites la Guerre offensive," Napoleon. 
 
 2 See Von Sybel, " History of the Foundation of the German 
 Empire," and " Field-Marshal Von Moltke," by Von Fircks, both 
 
CHIEF OF THE STAFF. THE PRUSSIAN ARMY. 43 
 
 extent Moltke planned or directed the Prussi'an 
 movements ; superiority in command certainly does 
 not appear in the repulse at Missiinde, or in the 
 elaborate efforts made against the redoubts of 
 Diippel. In two particulars, however, the war was 
 important with reference to events in the near 
 future. Moltke was present during the invasion of 
 Jutland; and he had ample opportunity to examine, 
 on the spot, the working of the military system of 
 Austria, and to lay to heart all that was defective 
 in it. The Austrian chiefs, on the other hand, full 
 of the memories of Novara and Olmiitz, seem to 
 have held the army of their allies cheap, and 
 especially disregarded the destructive effect of the 
 formidable weapons of the Prussian infantry. 
 
 The military power of Prussia was made clearly 
 manifest, for the first time, in the great war she 
 waged against Austria and the German Confedera- 
 tion in 1866. On the causes of the conflict we 
 cannot dwell ; they were broadly due to the long- 
 standing rivalry of Austria and Prussia, as German 
 powers, and especially to Bismarck's ambitious policy, 
 yet we cannot avoid a passing glance at the political 
 situation evolved at the time", for it largely con- 
 trolled the events of the war, and it explains much 
 that, otherwise, would be obscure. The German 
 nation was strongly against a struggle, which it 
 condemned as fratricidal and unwise; and the King of 
 Prussia, if eager to enlarge the monarchy, and even 
 
 cited by " Charles Malo," the nom de plume of a distinguished 
 soldier, and military critic, in his sketch of Moltke. 
 
44 MOLTKE. 
 
 zealous in the cause of German unity, had resolved 
 if possible to maintain a defensive attitude, and 
 not to be the first to draw the sword. On the other 
 hand, Austria dreaded a rupture; she, too, felt the 
 force of German opinion ; she knew that Italy was 
 a deadly enemy ; she was sinking under financial 
 distress, and she trembled for the safety of her ill- 
 compacted Empire. Besides, Austria and Prussia 
 were both afraid of the probable armed intervention 
 of France, and thus the military counsels of both 
 states were strongly affected by the hesitation and 
 delays, to be ascribed to a halting and somewhat 
 timid policy. Bismarck was the one statesman 
 who distinctly saw his way. 
 
 These circumstances must be steadily kept in 
 view in following the operations of the war of 1866, 
 which have been the subject of a great amount of 
 criticism. On the side of Prussia, Moltke laid 
 down the general lines of the plans of the cam- 
 paign, and certainly the resolve to oppose a weak 
 force only to the ill-prepared levies of the Con- 
 federate States, and to concentrate the great mass 
 of the Prussian army against Austria, the only 
 dangerous foe, shows much firmness of purpose 
 and the clearest insight. The measures, however, 
 taken to cope with Austria were, apparently, far 
 from equally wise, and, indeed, they can be under- 
 stood only, at the outset at least, by bearing in 
 mind the considerations before referred to. Austria 
 had begun to arm towards the close of March; 
 hostilities seemed about to open, though there had 
 
THE PRUSSIAN ARMY. THE WAR OF 1866. 45 
 
 been no actual declaration of war ; and Moltke, 
 there is some reason to believe, wished to assemble 
 at once the main Prussian armies, to bring them 
 together around Gb'rlitz and the adjoining Lusatian 
 plains ; and having covered the approaches to the 
 heart of Prussia, especially the great cities of Berlin 
 and Breslau, to be ready to advance across the 
 Bohemian frontier, following, probably, a single 
 line of invasion. The king, however, would not 
 hear of such a course as this ; he deferred the 
 assembly of the Prussian armies for weeks, as 
 he was anxious not to take the offensive ; and, 
 as on the assumption that he would stand on the 
 defensive only, they could not find the means of 
 subsistence were they kept together long within 
 a contracted space, it became necessary to give 
 up a project, at once daring and well conceived. 
 The strategy of Moltke was, in fact, baffled in this 
 respect by his master's scruples. 1 
 
 The preparations of Austria went steadily on, 
 while those of Prussia were long delayed, and it 
 was not until nearly the middle of May that the 
 real assembly of the Prussian forces began. By 
 this time, however, the occasion had been lost of 
 concentrating the great mass of the Prussian army 
 around Gb'rlitz or any other given point. In view 
 of the situation it had become perhaps necessary 
 to gather together, as quickly as possible, and by 
 
 1 These conclusions may, we think, be drawn from a careful 
 study of the " Prussian Staff History of the War of 1866," 
 chapter ii. See especially \21-29.\ English translation. 
 
46 MOLTKE. 
 
 every means of communication on the spot, the 
 different parts of the armed strength of Prussia; 
 this involved their distribution at wide distances, 
 and, besides, the insuperable difficulty of supplies 
 would increase should an attempt be made to unite 
 them closely, and the king should maintain an 
 attitude of defence. Moltke's arrangements were 
 made to meet a position of affairs in which he was 
 circumscribed and restricted, and if their strategic 
 merit admits of question, they show how admirable 
 had been his organizing powers. Of the nine J 
 corps d'armee, which made up the army, eight arid 
 a half were opposed to Austria ; these great masses 
 of men, about 260,000 strong, and all their vast 
 material of war, drawn together from their different 
 local centres, were moved towards Saxony and into 
 Silesia by the numerous roads and railways spread- 
 ing throughout Prussia; and the celerity and 
 precision of this great movement, accomplished in 
 the space of three weeks only, astonished, nay, even 
 alarmed Europe. Three large armies were now 
 formed; the first, composed of one corps and a 
 half, to be soon joined by a powerful reserve, and 
 given the name of the Army of the Elbe ; the 
 second, known as the First Army, for the moment 
 comprising three corps, with two more not far in 
 the rear ; and the third, designated as the Second 
 Army; and the huge arrays, divided into three 
 groups, were extended upon an immense line, from 
 Torgau on the Elbe to Waldenburg and Landshut, 
 1 Including the Guards. 
 
THE PEUSSIAN ARMY. THE WAR OF 1866. 47 
 
 where the Giant Hills mark out the Bohemian fron- 
 tier. The Army of the Elbe was in the hands of 
 Herwarth Bittenfield, a general of proved expe- 
 rience and worth ; the First and Second were led 
 by Prince Frederick Charles and the Crown Prince, 
 the eldest son of the king, both true to the martial 
 traditions of their House. 
 
 This wide dissemination of the Prussian forces, 
 had Moltke's assumptions been correct, would cer- 
 tainly have been extremely hazardous, 1 for he 
 believed that a large part of the Austrian army was 
 collected at this time in Bohemia, prepared to join 
 hands with its Saxon allies, and a few days, nay, 
 hours, might bring forth war. From what we 
 have seen, however, he had but little choice, though 
 possibly he had advanced the armies too near to 
 Bohemia, with a view to the bold offensive he had 
 in his mind ; and in judging his strategy, we must, 
 we repeat, remember the situation that had been 
 made for him. All apprehensions and dangers of 
 the kind were, nevertheless, without foundation, 
 owing to the disposition made of the forces of 
 Austria. That Power, we have seen, was averse to 
 war; the Emperor, like the King of Prussia, was 
 disinclined to begin hostilities, and if Austria armed 
 long before Prussia, this was caused by a belief, 
 which was perfectly true, that she did not possess 
 the means of assembling her armies as rapidly as 
 
 1 "Prussian Staff History," p. 25. The writer admits, p. 18, 
 that the " intelligence was very defective " concerning the Austrian 
 movements. 
 
48 MOLTKE. 
 
 her well-prepared rival. Her project for a cam- 
 paign was strictly defensive ; the staff 1 prepared an 
 elaborate plan of operations with this object only ; 
 and while Prussia was drawing near the Bohemia 
 passes, by far the greater part of the Austrian 
 army was collected in Moravia, around Brimn and 
 Olmiitz, one corps alone being in Bohemia. The 
 attack, therefore, which Moltke thought not im- 
 probable, and which most soldiers in Europe 
 believed would be made, on the widely divided 
 Prussian armies, was not possible, and was not 
 even designed. 
 
 It was not until the llth of June that the 
 positions of the main body of the Austrian army 
 became certainly known in the Prussian camp. 
 Silesia seemed threatened by an advance from 
 Olmiitz, and, in order to guard against this danger, 
 a new direction was given to the Prussian armies, 
 political considerations in this respect, too, 2 being, 
 not improbably, without influence. The Second 
 Army was strengthened by the Guards and the 
 1st Corps, the two divisions which had been in- 
 tended to form a part of the First Army ; and the 
 Crown Prince moved to the tracts round the Neisse, 
 where the river descends from its source to the 
 Oder. The Army of the Elbe was left in its former 
 position, but the First Army was drawn towards 
 
 1 " Austrian Staff History," translated into French, and called 
 " Les Luttes de 1'Autriche, vol. i. p. 79. 
 
 3 Austria was believed to be, and perhaps was, hankering after 
 Silesia. See " Fyffe's History of Modern Europe," vol. iii. p. 367. 
 
THE PEUSSIAN ARMY. THE WAR OF 1866. 49 
 
 the Second, extending from Niesky and Gorlitz to 
 Reiehenbach and Lowenburg, along the verge of 
 the Giant Hills ; the defence of Silesia, it is evident, 
 being the immediate object of these movements, 
 but with a view to the offensive, should an occasion 
 offer. War broke out on the 15th of June ; there 
 " was no more talk about defensive flank marches J>1 
 in the Prussian councils, and the king consented 
 at last to take the offensive, yielding probably to 
 the advice of Moltke and Bismarck, who had given 
 his voice for decisive operations from' the first. 
 
 At this juncture the three Prussian armies were 
 spread along a front of about 130 miles, from the 
 Middle Elbe to the Upper Neisse ; and offensive 
 operations being designed, two courses only, per- 
 haps, were open to Moltke. He might draw his 
 forces together, within a more contracted space, 
 behind the range of the Bohemian hills, on the 
 verge of Saxony and in Silesia, and might then 
 move into Bohemia and Saxony, making the inva- 
 sion on a single line only. But, apart from other 
 objections to an operation of the kind, this strategy 
 would involve considerable delay; and, as the 
 result, the Austrian army would have ample time 
 to march into Bohemia, and, uniting with its Saxon 
 supports, to fight a great battle, fully concentrated, 
 in one of the strong positions, chosen by itself, 
 which abound to the south of the mountain barrier. 
 The alternative was to advance, at once, with the 
 
 1 " Prussian Staff History," p. 30. The tone of impatience at 
 previous delays cannot be mistaken. 
 
50 MOLTKE. 
 
 three armies from where they stood ; to enter 
 Saxony and Bohemia with these, on double, but con- 
 verging lines of invasion ; and to unite the armies, 
 as quickly as possible, at a point south of the great 
 Bohemian ranges, in the hope that they would 
 forestall the enemy, and join before he could pre- 
 vent their junction. This operation, however, 
 involved the drawing together of large masses, 
 divided by wide distances, and separated by obstacles 
 of all kinds, hill ranges, mountain passes, and rivers, 
 and the assembling them in a hostile country, where 
 the Austrians might be collected in force a con- 
 tingency by no means improbable ; and from the 
 days of Turenne to those of Lee, movements of the 
 kind have repeatedly proved disastrous, especially 
 when an adversary is bold and skilful. 
 
 Moltke instantly adopted the second course, 
 though it is idle to suppose that he did not weigh 
 the hazards, or was unaware of the undoubted 
 dangers. He remained at Berlin to direct the great 
 offensive movement, the electric telegraph giving 
 him the means of communicating with the chiefs of 
 the armies, and perhaps of lessening the risk of the 
 converging march ; and he assigned Gitschin, a 
 well-known spot, between the Upper Iser and the 
 Upper Elbe, as the point where the junction was to 
 be made. Operations now began along the im- 
 mense front still occupied by the three Prussian 
 armies. The Army of the Elbe, 70,000 strong, with 
 its reserve, entered Saxony on the 16th of June; 
 was in possession of Dresden by the 18th ; and 
 
THE PRUSSIAN AEMY. THE WAR OF 1866. 51 
 
 having sent detachments to its left was in com- 
 munication with the First Army on the 19th and 
 20th ; the two armies being now placed under the 
 chief command of Prince Frederick Charles, though 
 their principal divisions remained apart. The 
 Prince had invaded Bohemia by the 22nd and 23rd, 
 the First Army, under his immediate orders, being 
 about 93,000 men ; the Army of the Elbe, reduced to 
 perhaps 60,000 for it had been necessary to leave 
 some divisions in Saxony advanced, on the right, 
 in a parallel line ; and the two masses more than 
 150,000 men, had reached Reichenberg and Gabel 
 by the 25th, still a long march from the line 
 of the Iser, where the Austrians had a part of their 
 army. 
 
 Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the great field 
 of manoeuvres the Crown Prince had advanced from 
 the Neisse with the Second Army, about 115,000 
 strong; and having made skilful demonstrations 
 to his left, in order to feign an attack on Olmufcz, 
 he directed the chief part of his forces towards the 
 passes which lead into Bohemia, through long 
 defiles, ending at Trautenau and Nachod. On the 
 25th, however, when Prince Frederick Charles had 
 already approached the course of the Iser, the Crown 
 Prince was still on the Bohemian frontier; and 
 thus the three armies, though drawing towards each 
 other, were fully seventy or eighty miles apart, and 
 divided by a difficult and intricate country. Was it 
 probable for five or six days were required even if 
 they had scarcely to fire a shot that they would be 
 
 E 2 
 
52 MOLTKE. 
 
 able to meet near, or round Gitschin, before their 
 enemy would stand in force between them ? And 
 in considering these operations it deserves special 
 notice that, at this moment, the exact positions of 
 the Austrian army were not known. 1 
 
 While the Prussian armies were thus on the 
 march, a broad and dangerous gap being still 
 between them, the Austrian army had begun to 
 move. The chief mass of that army, we have seen, 
 had been placed around Briinn and Olmiitz, and it 
 was in these positions on the llth of June, but it 
 broke up from its camp a few days afterwards. 
 Before reviewing its operations a word must be 
 said on the nature and characteristics of this impos- 
 ing force, which, with the corps in Bohemia and its 
 Saxon allies, was not less than 270,000 strong ; that 
 is, nearly equal in numbers to the three Prussian 
 armies, including the detachment left behind in 
 Saxony. As an instrument of war it was not to be 
 compared to the well-organized and efficient arrays, 
 composed, too, of soldiers of one nation, which it 
 was about to meet in the field. The cavalry, indeed, 
 formed an excellent arm, and the artillery was 
 better, perhaps, than the Prussian, but the infantry, 
 the backbone of an army, 2 was, as it has always 
 been, of inferior quality. The tactics of the 
 
 1 "Prussian Staff History," 62. 
 
 2 " La mauvaise infanterie Autrichienne," Napoleon. A striking 
 instance of the bad quality of the Austrian infantry is to be found 
 in General Marbot's Memoirs, vol. iii. p. 273. See also Edinburgh, 
 Review, April, 1892. 
 
THE PRUSSIAN ARMY. THE WAR OP 1866. 53 
 
 Austrians, too, were radically unsound ; they were 
 based on the principle that determined charges 
 would get the better of effective fire ; the troops 
 were marshalled in too close formations, and, above 
 all, they were armed with the muzzle-loading rifle, 
 and did not possess the deadly needle-gun. Nor 
 were the Austrian commanders to be even named 
 with their able and thoroughly trained antagonists. 
 The gen eral-in- chief, Benedek, was a stout soldier, 
 of the school of Daun, famous in Austrian history ; 
 but he had no capacity for the higher parts of war ; 
 and he was unfortunately matched against such a 
 man as Moltke. Few of his subordinates, too, were 
 capable men; and the staff, though numbering 
 some good officers, was rather behind the require- 
 ments of the age. If we add most important, per- 
 haps, of all that the Austrian army was largely 
 made up of troops of different races, which disliked 
 their rulers, we shall see how unfit it was to cope 
 with its enemy. 
 
 Benedek, who had been given a free hand, had 
 reached Olmiitz in the first days of June, and his 
 purpose seems to have been to take the offensive, 
 and to abandon the defensive projects of the 
 Austrian staff. He wished, however, not to begin 
 hostilities until the contingents of the Confederate 
 Powers were, in some measure, ready to afford him 
 aid ; and, in any event, his intention was not to 
 take the field until the 20th of June. Nevertheless, 
 having been l apprised by the telegraph that war 
 
 1 "Luttes de 1'Autriehe," vol. iii. p. 10. 
 
54 MOLTKE. 
 
 had been declared on the 15th, and that it was of 
 great importance to move at once, he set his army 
 in motion on the 17th of June; his object being to 
 enter Bohemia, and to find a favourable oppor- 
 tunity to attack the enemy. By this time the Saxon 
 army, about 25,000 strong, had retreated before 
 the Prussian invasion ; and ere long it had joined 
 the single Austrian corps which, we have seen, had 
 been in Bohemia for weeks. Benedek ordered the 
 chiefs of the united bodies, from 55,000 to 60,000 
 men, to stand firmly on the Upper Iser, between 
 Jung Bunzlau and Munchengratz, and to make head 
 against the advancing Prussians; and with the 
 remaining six corps of his army, considerably more 
 than 200,000 men, he broke up from around Briinn 
 and Olmiitz, directing the troops by parallel roads 
 and much of his material along the lines of rail- 
 way which reach Bomisch Triibau from these places, 
 and formed a single line as they approached the 
 Elbe. The object of these operations was to attain 
 the table-land between the Iser and the Elbe, which, 
 protected to the east by the two fortresses of 
 Josephstadt and Koniggratz, extends westward to 
 near Jung Bunzlau and Munchengratz, a region 
 rendered memorable in 1778 by the successful 
 resistance made by Loudon and Lacy to all the 
 efforts of Frederick the Great. Holding this tract 
 in force, Benedek hoped to be able to interpose 
 between the hostile armies, to attack, and to defeat 
 them in detail ; and his intention was to direct his 
 efforts, first against the army of Prince Frederick 
 
THE PRUSSIAN ARMY. THE WAR OF 1866. 55 
 
 Charles, and having fallen on this in superior 
 strength, to turn against the army of the Crown 
 Prince, and to strike it down as it emerged from 
 the passes of Bohemia in very inferior numbers. 
 This plan was perfectly right in principle, and had 
 it been carried out the Austrian chief would have 
 held a central position between divided foes, and 
 interior lines on the scene of the contest; he would, 
 in fact, have had the same points of vantage as 
 Napoleon possessed in 1796, when army after army 
 succumbed to his strokes, in operations still perhaps 
 unrivalled, as his enemies converged in double and 
 separate lines towards his formidable lair, round 
 Mantua and the Adige. 
 
 Had Benedek been a great captain, had he made 
 use of the ordinary means employed to keep back 
 an enemy on the march, and had his army been 
 thoroughly prepared, he probably would have 
 attained his end. The telegraph had kept him 
 aware of the Prussian movements, 1 especially of 
 those of the Crown Prince; he had to traverse a 
 distance of about a hundred miles only, going back 
 even to his corps in the rear ; and he might, 
 with proper arrangements, have reached the posi- 
 tions he had in view, by the 28th or 29th of June, 
 interposing between the hostile armies, who should 
 have been retarded on their way. But he gave no 
 orders to Clam Gallas, 2 the leader of his corps on 
 
 1 " Luttes de 1'Autriche," vol. iii. p. 25. 
 
 2 Clam Gallas, however, ought to have taken these measures of 
 his own accord, and without waiting for command from his 
 
56 MOLTKE. 
 
 the Tser, or to the Crown Prince, the chief of the 
 Saxon forces, to break up roads, to destroy rail- 
 ways, or generally to impede the advance of the 
 enemy ; he directed them only to stand on the Iser ; 
 and, 1 especially, he did not push forward troops to 
 occupy the Bohemian passes, to obstruct, and to 
 bar the defiles, and so to check the Crown Prince's 
 columns, as they moved from the Silesian frontier. 
 His movements too, were unsteady and slow ; the 
 soldiers were harassed by conflicting orders ; the 
 arrangements for procuring supplies were defective ; 
 and, in short, his army was feebly directed, and 
 was unable to march with anything like celerity. 
 
 superior. That he did not, shows the difference in capacity and 
 intelligence between the Austrian and Prussian generals. See 
 " Great Campaigns," by Major C. Adams, p. 445 an able work, 
 but somewhat deficient in accuracy, and too much of an apology 
 for Benedek. 
 
 1 This is well pointed out by the Austrian staff, which has 
 fairly described the position of affairs, and what ought to have 
 been done at this critical juncture : " Luttes de 1'Autriche," 
 vol. iii. p. 15. "Si au lieu d'attendre jusqu'au dernier moment 
 en avait fait partir, par exemple, les 4 e et 8 e corps un ou deux 
 jours plustot ; si le 2 e corps stationne a Landskron, qui etait le 
 plus rapproche* de Josephstadt, avait commence le mouvement, 
 au lieu de le fermer, la concentration de 1'armee autour de cette 
 ville eut etc effectuee quelques jours plustot. Si, enfin, on avait 
 envoye rapidement en Boheme, par le chemin de fer, quelques 
 brigades d'infanterie avec la mission d'observer et de rendre im- 
 practi cables les defiles de la frontiere prussierme, en eut, sin on 
 empeche', au moins retarde le debouche des colonnes de la 11" 
 armee, ce qui eut permis de diriger la plupart des corps autrichiens 
 contre 1'armee du prince Frederic Charles, et de 1'ecraser par des 
 forces superieures. Ces d fferentes mesures de precaution etaient 
 parfaitement indiquees." 
 
THE PBCJSSIAN ARMY. THE WAR OF 1866. 57 
 
 As the general result, the Austrian army had not 
 approached the positions sought by its chief the 
 table-land between the Iser and the Elbe until it 
 was, perhaps, too late; and as the march of the 
 Prussians had not been thwarted by precautions 
 even of the most obvious kind, Prince Frederick 
 Charles, we have seen, had drawn near the Iser, 
 ready to advance, by the 25th of June, the Crown 
 Prince, however, being still distant. In these cir- 
 cumstances, the Austrian leader though this has 
 been the subject of much controversy ought, we 
 think, to have abandoned his project ; he was still 
 four or five marches, at the rate of his movements, 
 from the points he had intended to hold; and if 
 he made an attempt to occupy these, he ran the 
 risk of being wedged in, between the foes con- 
 verging against him, and of meeting the fate of 
 Napoleon at Leipzig. Yet, though he had been 
 baffled to this extent, one of the best opportunities 
 ever presented to a real general was row offered 
 to him. By the 26th of June, the great mass of 
 his forces was concentrated, on either bank of the 
 Elbe, round Josephstadt, Koniggratz, Opocno, 
 and Tynist, and at a short distance from the 
 Bohemian frontier ; and, if Prince Frederick 
 Charles was close to the Iser, the Crown Prince 
 had not even entered the passes, which lead from 
 Silesia into Bohemia, his army too being widely 
 scattered, and extended upon a very broad front. 
 Had Benedek, therefore, who, we repeat, had been 
 kept informed of the enemy's movements, drawn in 
 
58 MOLTKE. 
 
 his corps from the Iser one march only, and 
 directed the principal part of his army towards 
 Trautenau and Nachod, where the defiles nearly 
 end, and meet the Bohemian plains, he would have 
 opposed l an overwhelming force to any the Crown 
 Prince could bring against him, and might perhaps 
 have gained important success. In that event he 
 would have had ample time to turn in full strength 
 against Prince Frederick Charles, and to attack 
 him with largely superior numbers. He was 
 already, in fact, in the central position, which it 
 had been, from the first, his object to gain, and in 
 possession of interior lines ; and, had he known 
 how to turn this advantage to account, we shall 
 
 1 This is well indicated by the Austrian staff. " Luttes de 
 Autriche," vol. iii. p. 49 : " De 1'ensemble de tous ces rapports il 
 etait aise de conclure dans la soiree du 26, que la 11* armee 
 prussienne netarderait pas a entrer en Boheme, et qu'elle s'avan- 
 cait en trois colonnes fort eloignees les unes des autres. D'un 
 autre cote, il est incontestable qu'il etait non seulement possible, 
 
 mais facile d'opposer a 1'ennemi : d'abord le 4 e corps puis 
 
 le 10 e corps en troisieme lieu, le 6 e corps en- 
 suite les 3 e et 8 e corps enfin le 2 e corps et la 2 e division 
 
 de cavalerie le'gere." The " Prussian Staff History " practically 
 arrives at the same conclusion, and the following is probably from 
 the hand of Moltke himself : " Now that all is over, anyone may 
 say that the best plan would have been to have fallen with all 
 force on the 11 Army debouching from the mountains." The 
 writer, however, expresses a belief that the march of the Crown 
 Prince was not known to Benedek, but this is positively denied 
 by the Austrian staff, which was in possession of the facts, 
 p. 48. Major Adams adopts the view that Benedek was not aware 
 of the movements of the Crown Prince, but significantly observes, 
 p. 415 : " Had Benedek known what the Crown Prince was about 
 to undertake, he might have punished him." 
 
THE PRUSSIAN ARMY. THE WAR OF 1866. 59 
 
 not say, so inferior his army was, that he would 
 have completely beaten his enemy, but probably he 
 would have made the invasion collapse. 
 
 Unhappily for Austria the chief she had chosen 
 had none of the gifts of a great commander. To 
 make effective use of a central position, such as 
 that which Benedek actually had, and of the in- 
 terior lines on which he was placed, requires 
 promptitude, decision, boldness, insight, and 
 especially power to seize the occasion ; and Benedek 
 did not possess these qualities. A gallant soldier, 
 he was no strategist ; and if tenacious and stubborn 
 in a high degree, he was obstinate, very slow of 
 perception, and essentially a man of fixed ideas, 
 who will not recede from a settled purpose. Though 
 the opportunity had, we are convinced, been lost, 
 he persisted in carrying out his original design, and 
 in endeavouring to place his army on the table-land 
 between the Iser and the Elbe, in the hope of strik- 
 ing Prince Frederick Charles ; and as he did not 
 interpret the facts correctly, he committed himself 
 to a whole series of false, erroneous, and disastrous 
 movements. Instead of drawing Clam Gallas and 
 the Saxons towards himself, he left them isolated 
 on the Iser, a much stronger enemy being already 
 at hand ; and, instead of concentrating, as he might 
 have done, a very superior force against the Crown 
 Prince, he turned aside the corps, which would have 
 served his purpose, believing that he could attack 
 Prince Frederick Charles with effect. At the same 
 time, having been made aware that the Crown 
 
60 MOLTKE. 
 
 Prince was advancing in force, and was approaching 
 the Bohemian passes, he sent a detachment to hold 
 him in check ; but this consisted of two corps only, 
 inadequate to resist a whole army. Clam Gallas and 
 the Saxons thus remained exposed to the First Army 
 and the Army of Elbe; the great mass of the 
 Austrian army was directed to positions which it 
 could not reach in time to paralyze Prince Frederick 
 Charles, and was diverted from the enemy it might 
 have beaten, the Second Army of the Crown Prince ; 
 and a fraction only of Benedek's forces was marched 
 against the Crown Prince with his 115,000 men. 1 
 The distribution, in a word, of the Austrian army 
 was fatally erroneous at every point ; weak bodies 
 were opposed, on either wing, to enemies immensely 
 greater in strength ; and the main force, in the 
 centre, was engaged, far from its supports, in a 
 hopeless task. In these circumstances all the 
 advantage of its central position and interior 
 lines was thrown away, and had even become a 
 peril. 
 
 The results of Benedek's false operations were 
 soon developed with astounding quickness. Clam 
 Gallas was attacked on the 26th of June by the 
 
 1 "Luttes de 1'Autriche," vol. iii. p. 26: "Dans les derniers 
 jours, au moment decisif, alors qu'il n'y avait pas une heure a 
 perdre, le commandant-en-chef ordonne, d'un cote au prince royal 
 de Saxe une chose impossible ; se tenir sur 1'Iser contre des 
 forces tres superieures ; et, de 1'autre, il envoie des corps, isoles 
 se faire battre successivement, et isolement sur la rive gauche 
 de 1'Elbe. Ces mesures devaient necessairemont avoir des con- 
 sequences desastreuses, car elles detruisirent et la cohesion et 
 le moral de 1'armee." 
 
THE PRUSSIAN ARMY. THE WAR OF 1866. 61 
 
 First Army, and driven across the Iser ; and the 
 blow was followed by blows in rapid succession. 
 The Prussians had crossed the Iser by the 27th ; 
 and Prince Frederick Charles, turning away from 
 Gitschin the point where the armies were to meet l 
 conduct which has exposed him to some censure 
 fell in force, at Munch engratz, on the 28th, on the 
 combined Austrian and Saxon corps, and defeated 
 them with considerable loss. The Prince now made 
 for Gitschin, and again routed his enemy completely 
 on the 29th, Clam Gallas and the Saxons falling 
 back towards the main Austrian army, in a pre- 
 cipitate retreat. Through these engagements, the 
 advanced columns of the First Army and of the Army 
 of the Elbe had reached the appointed place of 
 junction ; and the isolated wing of the Austrian 
 army had been cruelly stricken and half de- 
 stroyed, the main body, still at a great distance, 
 not being able to give it support. 
 
 Meantime, on the opposite scene of the conflict, 
 the Crown Prince had got through the defiles of the 
 hills, making for Trautenau and Nachod by the 
 roads, which traverse the passes into Bohemia, and 
 the results to Austria had been even more disastrous. 
 One of the two corps, indeed, which had been sent 
 by Benedek to check the progress of the Crown 
 Prince, defeated and drove back a Prussian corps at 
 Trautenau, on the 27th of June ; but this repulse was 
 avenged by the Prussian Guards, who routed their 
 enemy, at Soor, on the 28th. Simultaneously the 
 
 1 " Great Campaigns," p. 410. 
 
62 MOLTKE. 
 
 other Austrian corps had been shattered to pieces, 
 at Nachod, on the 27th ; and a third corps, hurried 
 up to afford it aid, and misdirected in every way, 
 was involved at Skalitz in a terrible defeat. The 
 second wing of the Austrian army, divided from 
 the main body, like the first, and, like it, too weak to 
 resist the enemy, had been driven in, and almost 
 crushed ; and Benedek, with the mass of his forces, 
 unable to reach his adversaries at any point, and 
 to strike a single blow with effect, stood impotent 
 in the centre, looking on, so to speak, at the 
 annihilation of powerful arrays, which, if properly 
 directed, might have accomplished much. 
 
 In this series of conflicts the Austrians lost from 
 30,000 to 40,000 men, the Prussians probably not 
 10,000. The result was due, in the first instance, 
 to the fatal mistakes made by the Austrian chief, 
 who not only let a grand opportunity slip, but, in 
 his subsequent operations, did almost everything 
 which ought not to have been done, as affairs stood. 
 What indeed can be said to excuse a commander, 
 who, in the presence of enemies gathering round 
 him, exposes the forces he had detached to be 
 beaten in detail, and persists in making the mass 
 of his army powerless, but that he was the counter- 
 part of the unskilful boxer, who, in the words of 
 the Greek orator, was always too late to stop his 
 adversary's blows? Yet other and potent causes 
 concurred to make the defeats of the Austrians so 
 complete and disastrous. The Austrian generals 
 did not act well in concert, and Benedek had much 
 
THE PRUSSIAN ARMY. THE WAR OF 1866. 63 
 
 reason to complain of more than one of his lieu- 
 tenants in command, especially on the Iser, and 
 after Nachod. The Austrian soldiery, too, in vain 
 endeavoured to oppose the bayonet charge to the 
 fire of the Prussians, and they literally withered 
 away under the destructive effects of a weapon to 
 which they had little to oppose. It should be added 
 that they had been taught by their officers to 
 despise their enemy, and when they discovered 
 what the Prussians were in the field, false confidence 
 was replaced by abject despair, and they easily 
 broke up into hordes of fugitives. An immense 
 number, besides, of unwounded prisoners fell into 
 the hands of the victorious Prussians, and this 
 distinctly shows that a large part of the army, that 
 composed of Hungarian and Slavonic elements, 
 not to speak of the rebellious Italians, 1 had no 
 heart in the cause of the Empire. As for the con- 
 duct of the Prussian commanders, Prince Frederick 
 Charles has been blamed for not making for 
 Gitschin at once, and his movements were by no 
 means rapid. But the Crown Prince gave proof of 
 remarkable skill in these operations from first to 
 last, and it may generally be said that the Prussian 
 chiefs admirably carried out a very difficult plan ; 
 co-operated heartily with each other, and showed 
 
 1 Soldiers, however disloyal their nationality may be, will 
 usually be true to their standards, as long as success attends 
 them. But soldiers of this kind always show their natural 
 tendencies in the hour of defeat. The Germans, who followed 
 Napoleon in 1807, 9, 10, rose against him in 1812 13. 
 
64 MOLTKE. 
 
 that they had that sense of duty and that readiness 
 to act and think for themselves, which were due in 
 some measure, doubtless, to Moltke' s training. The 
 Prussian army was as superior to the Austrian in 
 organization and military worth, as its infantry 
 was in destructive fire, and this difference alone 
 was almost decisive. 
 
 The successive defeats of the hostile corps, sent 
 against him in inadequate strength, and ending in 
 the terrible reverse at Skalitz, had enabled the 
 Crown Prince to march into Bohemia, and to ad- 
 vance in triumph to the Upper Elbe. Ere long 
 Moltke and King William had hastened from Berlin 
 to the theatre of war, and the Prussian armies were 
 directed by Moltke on the spot. So complete was 
 the prostration of the Austrian army that the Crown 
 Prince could, without difficulty, have joined Prince 
 Frederick Charles at Gitschin, and the united armies 
 might have borne down on the enemy in irresistible 
 strength. Moltke, however, deliberately kept the 
 Prussian armies apart at a distance of more than 
 twenty miles ; this, he believed, would give them 
 more freedom of action, and Benedek 1 had perhaps no 
 longer the power to thrust himself between them. 
 By the 30th of June, Prince Frederick Charles and 
 the Crown Prince were advancing, in separate masses, 
 to the Elbe, and the beaten Austrian army, its 
 wings shattered, and its centre sharing the contagion 
 of defeat, was falling back in confused fragments, 
 which, however, had nearly effected their junction. 
 
 1 " Prussian Staff History," 157. 
 
THE PRUSSIAN ARMY. THE WAR OF 1866. 65 
 
 It still stood between divided enemies, but apart 
 from the question whether it had sufficient space to 
 endeavour to strike at its foes in succession, it was 
 so disheartened, injured and broken-down, 1 that an 
 attempt of the kind would, perhaps, have been fatal. 
 Nevertheless a gap remained open between the 
 enemies in its front; 2 good judges have thought 
 that the Austrian leader had still a last chance to 
 strike with effect, and possibly a man of genius, like 
 the youthful Bonaparte, who, before Arcola, was in 
 a plight, apparently as desperate as that of Benedek, 
 might, at the last hour, have plucked safety, nay 
 success, from danger. But Benedek had neither 
 inspiration nor resource ; merely a tenacious soldier, 
 his only thought was to make a determined stand, 
 and to fight a defensive battle, in a strong position, 
 for the honour of his master's arms, but with 
 scarcely a hope of victory. Drawing in his shattered 
 forces on all sides, with a steadiness and skill which 
 has been justly praised, he retreated slowly behind 
 the Bistritz, an affluent of the Upper Elbe; the 
 veteran stood stubbornly here to bay. 
 
 1 " Luttes de 1'Autriche," vol. iii. p. 163. 
 
 2 Lecomte : "La Guerre de la Pmsse et de T Italic centre 
 1'Autriche, et la Confederation Germanique," vol. i. pp. 365-6. 
 This distinguished veteran was sometime the first aide-de-camp of 
 Jomini, and is almost the last living link between the Napoleonic 
 wars and those of this age. He is a scientific and admirable 
 military critic. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Battle of Sadowa or Koniggratz Complete victory of the 
 Prussian armies Retreat of Benedek The Prussians march 
 to the Danube The Treaty of Prague Reflections on the 
 conduct of the war, and especially on the strategy and tactics 
 of Moltke and the Prussian leaders. 
 
 WHILE Benedek was retreating behind the Bistritz, 
 the Prussian armies advanced slowly, scarcely 
 pressing the beaten enemy, as he fell back. This 
 was a marked feature of Moltke' s strategy, very 
 different from the conquering march of Napoleon, 
 which we shall see over and over again, and con- 
 tact with the Austrian army was lost. It was 
 believed in the Prussian camp, on the 2nd July, that 
 the Austrians had retired beyond the Elbe, and were 
 in position, resting on either flank, on the fortresses 
 of Josephstadt and Koniggratz, and Moltke's in- 
 tention was to reconnoitre in force, and either to 
 attack the enemy, where it was supposed he stood, 
 or to turn his left wing by a march on Pardubitz. 
 In the afternoon, however, it was ascertained that 
 a considerable part of the Austrian army was at 
 hand, having fallen back behind the Bistritz, but 
 not the Elbe ; and Prince Frederick Charles, with 
 characteristic daring, determined to assail his foe at 
 once, with the First Army, and that of the Elbe, 
 which had been for some time nearly in line with him. 
 
SADOWA. 67 
 
 As, however, it might turn out that Benedek 
 would be in largely superior force, the Prince sent 
 a message to the Crown Prince now at Konighinhof 
 about twelve miles distant for the Prussian 
 armies had gradually approached each other, re- 
 questing the assistance of one corps at least ; and 
 the Chief of his Staff was dispatched to Gitschin, 
 the general head-quarters of all the Prussian armies, 
 to inform the King and Moltke of the intelligence 
 that had been obtained, and of the purpose that 
 had been already formed. Moltke J s decision was 
 marked by the boldness and insight which almost 
 always marked his resolves in war. The project of 
 Prince Frederick Charles was a half measure only, 
 and Moltke sent a message to the Crown Prince to 
 march at once, not with a single corps, to co-operate 
 with his colleague as had been proposed, but 
 drawing together the whole of his forces, to fall on 
 the flank of Benedek on the. right, and to over- 
 whelm him with the three united armies. The 
 order carried by a single officer, 1 immense as were 
 the issues depending on it, was not, however, dis- 
 patched until midnight ; 2 Konighinhof was more 
 than twenty miles from Gitschin ; the Second Army, 
 
 1 To have sent this order by one messenger was a clear mistake, 
 and it is surprising it was made hy the Prussian staff. Mistakes 
 of the kind, however, were repeatedly made by Berthier in the 
 wars of Napoleon, and were twice made by Soult on occasions of 
 supreme importance in the campaign of 1815. 
 
 2 There was no telegraphic communication between the Prussian 
 armies at this moment. See Hamley's " Operations of War," 
 p. 213. Ed. 1889. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 MOLTKE. 
 
 widely divided, was still, for the most part, beyond 
 the Elbe, and at distances of from ten to twelve 
 miles from the positions of Benedek near the 
 Bistritz ; the Elbe would have to be crossed to 
 reach the enemy ; and heavy rains and continued 
 bad weather had broken up the roads, and flooded 
 the plains. Was it probable, in the face of difficul- 
 ties like these, that the Crown Prince would attain 
 the field in time, and be able to complete the de- 
 cisive movement, before his colleague, doubtless 
 exposed to very superior forces, would have perhaps 
 succumbed ? Would the heir of Prussia achieve 
 what had been achieved by Bliicher, in his celebrated 
 march from Wavre to Waterloo, or would he fail, 
 like the Archduke John at Wagram, not to refer to 
 many other instances, to reach the First Army until 
 it was too late ? 
 
 While the operations of the Prussians were being 
 matured, Benedek was making preparations for a 
 great defensive battle. The aspect of his stricken 
 and desponding soldiery, as they defiled under his 
 eye on their way to the Bistritz, had shaken for a 
 time the resolve he had formed to await the enemy's 
 attack in a strong position, and he had entreated 
 the Emperor in a telegraphic message, an expression 
 of a mind that had begun to despair, " to make 
 peace in order to avert a catastrophe." By degrees 
 however, his firmness, in part, returned ; his master 
 had bade him to fight stubbornly on ; he had got 
 rid of Clam Gallas 1 and other lieutenants, who had 
 
 1 Clam Gallas is a name well known in the military annals of 
 
SADOWA. 69 
 
 proved themselves to be incapable men ; his troops, 
 after a day of repose, had, in some measure, taken 
 heart again, and he returned to his original design, 
 to stand behind the Bistritz and to strike hard for 
 Austria. Nevertheless he hesitated and lost pre- 
 cious hours ; at a Council of War held on the 2 ad 
 July he did not utter a syllable to his subordinates 
 to indicate 1 the decision he had formed, and it was 
 far in the night before he declared his intentions, 
 and gave orders for a great and decisive battle. 
 This delay was in many respects unfortunate, if 
 it had little to do, probably, with the final issue of 
 events. 
 
 The note of preparation had sounded in the 
 Austrian camp by the early dawn of the 3rd of 
 July. The bivouacs were astir, with great masses 
 of men seen dimly in the light of the dying watch- 
 fires, and the sullen rumble of guns and trains in 
 motion gave token of the impending conflict. The 
 position in which Benedek was taking his stand 
 may be briefly described as a huge oblong square, 
 extending between the Elbe and the Bistritz, rising 
 in the space between into ranges of uplands, here 
 and there forming well-marked heights, and dotted 
 all over with woods and hamlets. The Bistritz 
 covered a large part of the Austrian front, dividing 
 it from the First Army and the Army of the Elbe; 
 the Trotinka, another feeder of the Elbe, ran along 
 
 Austria since the Thirty Years' War. The representative of the 
 House, in 1866, had also done badly in Italy in 1859. 
 1 "Les Luttes de TAutriehe," vol. iii. pp. 174-5. 
 
70 MOLTKE. 
 
 part of the Austrian right, in the direction of the 
 army of the Crown Prince ; the interval between 
 the two streams was filled by eminences containing 
 the points of Horenowes, Maslowed, and Cistowes ; 
 and the Elbe bridged, however, at different places 
 to afford an army the means of retreat flowed 
 behind the Austrian rear by Koniggratz. Benedek's 
 army, about 210,000 strong, including some 24,000 
 cavalry and 770 guns, and made up of eight corps, 
 comprising the Saxons, was so placed as to fill 
 nearly the whole square, which, in some respects, 
 formed a good position of defence. On the left the 
 Saxons, with the 8th corps in the rear, held the 
 rising grounds round Problus in force, throwing 
 detachments to the course of the Bistritz, at the 
 village of Nechanitz and thence to Lubno. At 
 fhe centre, occupied in great strength, spread the 
 masses of the 10th and 3rd corps, with outposts 
 advancing to the Bistritz, the main body gathering 
 around the heights of Lipa, and especially of Chlum, 
 this last commanding the whole scene around, and 
 it guarded, besides, in imposing force, the broad 
 main road, which, running from Koniggratz, 
 approached, near Sadowa, the enemy's vedettes 
 and almost divided the Austrian lines. The right 
 of Benedek was formed by the 4th and the 2nd 
 corps, but owing to delays and obscure orders these 
 parts of the army were thrown more forward than 
 the Austrian leader had intended ; they held 
 Horenowes and part of the adjoining tract, between 
 the Trotinka and the Bistritz ; and the Austrian 
 
SADOWA. 71 
 
 right flank was protected by a small force only from 
 the projected attack of the Crown Prince's army. 
 The 6th and the 1st corps, and the great mass of 
 the cavalry, were held towards the extreme rear, in 
 reserve, extending from near Koniggratz and 
 touching the centre, and at different parts of the 
 position, as a whole, a few earthworks had been 
 hastily thrown up, in order to check the enemy's 
 progress. The artillery was ranged in formidable 
 tiers of guns at every favourable point of vantage, 
 especially along the heights at the centre; trees 
 were cut down and cleared to give play to its fire, 
 and farmhouses and villages had here and there 
 been fortified to strengthen and increase the means 
 of defence. 
 
 The arrangements of Benedek, taken altogether, 
 were in many particulars very defective. He must 
 have known that the Crown Prince's army was 
 menacing his right at no great distance, and that 
 an attack from this side was possible, but he made 
 no preparations to resist such an effort, and he 
 left his right flank almost uncovered, even if his 
 4th and his 2nd corps had advanced further than 
 he had originally designed. He evidently thought 
 that he would have to cope only with the First 
 Army and the Army of the Elbe, but, considering 
 the situation even from this point of view, mis- 
 taken and deceptive as it was, his dispositions were 
 far from judicious. His army was drawn up for a 
 passive defence only, a system of tactics radically 
 bad, and it was not arranged with skill and 
 
72 MOLTKE. 
 
 intelligence upon this faulty and perilous system. 
 The line of the Bistritz was not turned to account, 
 though it formed in places a strong obstacle, for it 
 was guarded by weak detachments only ; the army 
 was crowded into a relatively narrow space, where 
 it had not sufficient freedom of action ; the centre 
 presented a convex front that exposed it terribly to 
 a converging fire, and its masses were so huddled 
 together that bold attacks might lead to confusion 
 and ruin. The reserve, besides, was by far too 
 large, and a common defect in Austrian tactics 
 the cavalry, instead of covering the wings, and 
 being enabled to exhibit its powers, was collected 
 in the rear and almost paralyzed, except in the 
 case of eventual defeat. The army, in a word, was 
 ill-ordered, even for a purely defensive battle ; but 
 it is unnecessary to say a truth proved by number- 
 less examples in all ages that it should have been 
 so arranged as to possess the means of readily 
 making counter attacks, and of taking the offensive 
 in defending itself. And, above all, it must be 
 borne in mind that nothing or nearly nothing was 
 done to guard against the great force of the Crown 
 Prince. 
 
 The three Prussian armies, should they once 
 unite, would form a mass somewhat superior in 
 numbers 200,000 footmen, perhaps, 30,000 horse- 
 men, and about 790 guns and infinitely superior 
 in real force to the hostile army arrayed against 
 them. The Crown Prince, however, was nearly a 
 march distant, a river and a difficult country in his 
 
SADOWA. 73 
 
 way ; the First Army and the Army of the Elbe 
 did not exceed 124,000 men, with from 300 to 400 
 guns, and for hours this would be the only force 
 to be opposed to an army nearly double in size. 
 Yet Prince Frederick Charles did not hesitate to 
 attack; and at about seven in the morning, 1 the 
 2nd and 4th corps of the First Army, the 3rd 
 being in reserve, and almost the whole of the Army 
 of the Elbe had drawn near the line of the Bistritz. 
 The Austrian outposts and other detachments fell 
 back before the advancing enemy, abandoning 
 important points of vantage, and the stream was 
 mastered after 8 a.m. by three divisions of the First 
 Army. These troops boldly pressed forward against 
 the Austrian main line, and, making some impres- 
 sion on the 10th and 3rd corps, gained ground in 
 front of the enemy's centre, but they were crushed 
 by the fire of the powerful batteries accumulated 
 round the hostile position, which their weaker 
 artillery could not subdue ; and though there was 
 not a thought of retreat, they were brought to a 
 standstill and made no progress. Meanwhile, on 
 their right the Army of the Elbe had been detained 
 for hours in crossing the Bistritz, for though the 
 Saxons did not defend the river, wide and flooded 
 marshes spread around Nechanitz, and the passage 
 was by a single defile ; and here, too, the Prussian 
 advance was arrested. And, on the opposite side, 
 
 1 The " Prussian Staff History " reckons the First Army and 
 the Army of the Elbe by divisions, but, for the sake of clearness 
 in the narrative, we have adhered to the enumeration by corps. 
 
74 MOLTKE. 
 
 to the Prussian left, the turn of events seemed even 
 less prosperous. A single division of the First 
 Army the 7th, and its chief, Fransecky, deserve to 
 be named had achieved important success at first, 
 and had nearly cut its way to the Austrian centre, 
 bat it was overwhelmed by the masses of guns on 
 the spot, and by the efforts of the 4th and the 2nd 
 Austrian corps, which drove it, struggling to the last, 
 backward, and its position had become so critical 
 that Prince Frederick Charles was compelled to send 
 nearly his whole reserve to afford it support. It 
 seemed probable, too, that even this addition of 
 force would be unable to stem the advancing 
 enemy, and to restore, at this point, the Prince's 
 battle. 
 
 It was now past eleven, and the scales of Fortune 
 appeared to incline against the two Prussian armies. 
 The divisions in the centre barely held their ground, 
 and were perishing under a destructive fire ; the 
 Army of the Elbe was kept back on the Bistritz, 
 and the 7th division had almost succumbed. The 
 superiority of numbers had, in fact, told ; though 
 not defended as they ought to have been, the 
 approaches to the Austrian positions had been 
 difficult to force ; the Austrian artillery had done 
 great things, and the needle-gun had been unable 
 to produce its effects amidst the woodlands and 
 other obstacles which covered large parts of the 
 Austrian front. The Austrian army, in short, was 
 as yet unshaken ; more than one of Benedek's 
 highest officers entreated him to assume the offen- 
 
SADOWA. 75 
 
 sive; 1 the project was seriously discussed round the 
 commander-in-chief ; and it will always remain 2 a 
 grave question whether, at this crisis, a determined 
 attack made by the mass of the 10th, the 3rd, the 
 4th, and the 2nd corps, against the thin and en- 
 feebled Prussian centre, might not have been 
 attended with success. Even if we conclude that 
 in the presence of the enemies about to appear in 
 the field, an effort of the kind would have ultimately 
 failed, the First Army might have been driven back, 
 and, in that event, the course of the battle would 
 have probably taken a different turn. It is certain 
 at least that serious alarm prevailed for a time in 
 the Prussian camp ; anxious eyes were turned to 
 scan the horizon and to endeavour to descry the 
 Crown Prince's columns, and officer after officer 
 was despatched to the left to accelerate the advance 
 of the Second Army. Time, however, passed, and 
 there was no sign of the necessary and eagerly- 
 hoped-for relief ; and meanwhile a tempest of shot 
 and shell was ravaging the dwindling Prussian 
 ranks, and the enemy was thought to be preparing 
 
 1 "Luttes de 1'Autriche/ 7 vol. iii. pp. 210-12. 
 
 2 The " Prussian Staff History," pp. 205-6, admits that the 7th 
 division 4< was in very great danger," but insists that a general 
 Austrian attack would have been disastrous. The Austrian staff, 
 " Luttes de 1'Autriche/' vol. iii. p. 210, it is fair to add, concurs in 
 this view. But see, on the other side, General Derreeagaix's 
 " La Guerre Moderne," vol. ii. p. 269, a very able work. His words 
 are significant : " Vers le milieu du jour 1'avantage appartenait 
 aux Autrichiens ; il n'y avait plus qu'a prononcer un effort decisif, 
 et le sueces semblait certain." 
 
76 MOLTKE. 
 
 a grand attack. Yet Moltke's confidence was never 
 disturbed, his combinations he felt assured would 
 succeed ; he awaited calmly the coming of the 
 Second Army which, he was convinced, would be on 
 the field in time ; and, in reply to an earnest 
 question of the King, simply said, 1 " Your Majesty 
 will win to-day, not only the battle but the cam- 
 paign." 
 
 At the prospect of success which seemed at hand, 
 the Austrians had felt hope and pride revive, and 
 Benedek was greeted with enthusiastic cheers by 
 the soldiery as he rode towards the front. The 
 Austrian chief, however, had lost the occasion, if 
 he had a favourable chance of attacking, and before 
 noon the heads of the Crown Prince's columns 
 were seen advancing and threatening his right. 
 The telegraph had informed Benedek that the 
 Second Army was upon the march, 2 but he gave 
 little attention to the report, and the advent of the 
 new enemy seems to have taken him by surprise. 
 The Crown Prince had set his army in motion at 
 between 7 and 8 a.m. ; he had effected the passage 
 of the Elbe, and his troops, marching with speed 
 and ardour, had overcome the obstacles in their 
 way, and were now advancing towards the tract 
 that spreads between the Trotinka and the Bistritz. 
 
 1 Moltke on the Battle of Koniggratz, United Service 
 Magazine, Dec. 1891, p. 443. Moltke's only answer to Bismarck, 
 who was in a state of passionate excitement, for he had staked 
 everything on the war, was an offer of a cigar. 
 
 2 " Luttes de 1'Autriche," vol. iii. p. 234. 
 
SADOWA. 77 
 
 Benedek hastily recalled the 4th and 2nd corps 
 these had been thrown too forward, we have seen, 
 from the first, and had recently pressed still more 
 onward against Fransecky's shattered division 
 and ordered them to confront the Second Army ; 
 but the message, unfortunately, arrived too late. 
 The Prussian Guards, seizing the opportunity at 
 once, had reached the Austrian positions with ex- 
 treme celerity ; had taken possession of the hills 
 of Horenowes, which had been left almost without 
 defence, and had soon swept with their batteries 
 the plains beyond as far as Cistowes and Maslowed. 
 The 4th and 2nd corps were thus forced to make 
 the retrograde movement, exposing their flanks to 
 a terrible storm of deadly missiles, and the 4th 
 corps, inclining to the right, retreated upon the 
 Austrian centre, while the 2nd corps assailed by 
 the 6th of the Prussians, the left wing of the 
 Second Army, which had passed the Trotinka, was 
 scattered in flight, and with difficulty attained the 
 Elbe. 
 
 Ere long misfortunes, in quick succession, fell 
 on the imperilled and, even now, doomed army. 
 Owing partly to the retreat of the 4th and 2nd 
 corps, and partly to the confusion of the strife, the 
 dominant height of Chlum in the centre had been 
 left for a time ill-guarded, and, taking advantage 
 of a fog on the plain, the Prussian Guards pressed 
 forward and had soon seized Chlum, the key of the 
 whole position of their foes. Benedek, who, hither- 
 to had seemed unaware of the manifold perils 
 
78 MOLTKE. 
 
 gathering around, now really alarmed, moved his 
 6th corps in reserve against the audacious Guards ; 
 Chluni and the heights were taken by fche Austrians 
 again, but before long Prussian reinforcements came 
 up, and the 6th corps was almost destroyed, the 
 needle-gun doing prodigious havoc. Meanwhile, 
 on the opposite side of the battle, defeat had 
 lowered on the Austrian banners. The Army of 
 the Elbe having at last succeeded in crossing the 
 Bistritz, had attacked the Saxons, and its com- 
 mander skilfully turning his enemy's left, had, 
 despite the efforts of the 8th corps in the rear, 
 forced the whole wing back in precipitate retreat. 
 
 The great Austrian army might now be com- 
 pared to a huge sea animal, hemmed in on all sides, 
 by assailants plying their deadly harpoons. The 
 right flank had been driven in by the Crown Prince; 
 the occupation of Chlum had placed the Prussians 
 upon its centre, and had made them masters of the 
 main road, which formed its principal avenue of 
 retreat, and its left wing had been beaten by the 
 Army of the Elbe. The First Army, by this time 
 relieved from the oppressive strain to which it had 
 been exposed, soon advanced in force against its 
 stricken foes ; and the Second Army, drawing in 
 from the right, completed a disaster already certain. 
 The whole Austrian army gave way; its convex 
 front suffered frightful losses from the cross fire of 
 its uniting foes, and its masses, confused and 
 crowded together, were soon involved in despairing 
 rout. Yet Benedek, a true soldier if not a real 
 
SADOWA. 79 
 
 chief, fought stubbornly and heroically to the end, 
 and left nothing undone to keep back the enemy. 
 The last corps of the reserve, moved rapidly for- 
 ward, for a time checked the march of the Prussians, 
 but it, too, ere long was broken up and scattered. 
 It was now the turn of the Austrian cavalry, unwisely 
 kept inactive for hours on the field ; and these fine 
 squadrons, nobly supported by artillerymen, who 
 fought and fell by their guns, covered the retreat, 
 not without success. The defeated army was en- 
 abled to get over the Elbe, but it lost not less than 
 187 guns and rather more than 40,000 men, in- 
 cluding fully 20,000 prisoners, of whom half had 
 suffered from no wounds. The losses of the 
 Prussians were less than 10,000 men, but their 
 armies were so worn out and their ranks so con- 
 fused the inevitable result of their junction on the 
 field that Moltke did not attempt to press the 
 pursuit. 
 
 Decisive a battle as Sadowa was, it cannot be com- 
 pared with Jena or Austerlitz, " those mighty waves 
 that effaced the landscape." The Prussians once 
 more lost sight of their enemy ; and Benedek drew off 
 his shattered forces making for Olmiitz, by very rapid 
 marches. Custozza had by this time been fought ; 
 a worthy son of the Archduke Charles had com- 
 pletely defeated the Italian army, and information 
 reached the Prussian camp that the whole remain- 
 ing forces of Austria would be gathered together 
 for the defence of Vienna. Moltke advanced 
 cautiously towards the Austrian capital ; the three 
 
80 MOLTKE. 
 
 Prussian armies approaching each other, although 
 moving on separate lines ; and he succeeded l by a 
 very able movement in cutting Benedek off from 
 Vienna, and intercepting his intended retreat. By 
 the 22nd of July the victorious Prussians had made 
 their way into the great plains of the Marchfield, 
 not far from the historic field of Wagram, having 
 performed feats of arms which had never entered 
 the imagination of Frederick the Great ; and a 
 Power once a vassal, had overthrown its Suzerain. 
 The Treaty of Prague, negotiated in some measure 
 by France, brought the momentous strife to an end ; 
 the supremacy of Germany was transferred from 
 Austria to Prussia, as the leading state ; Austria in 
 fact, was driven out of Germany, and Prussia 
 acquired a large extent of territory, and became the 
 head of a German Confederation of the North. It 
 is unnecessary to follow the contest between the 
 small force which Prussia had employed against the 
 Confederate States of Germany ; it strikingly illus- 
 trates the success which a little but well-directed 
 army may obtain against forces superior in numbers, 
 but without good organization or command. 
 
 The extraordinary success of Prussia, in the great 
 war of 1866, astonished and almost terrified Europe. 
 Her military power had not been suspected, and an 
 immense majority of soldiers believed that Austria 
 would easily defeat the enemy. Yet the dispositions 
 of Moltke were generally condemned, especially the 
 
 1 These operations are very well analyzed by General Derre- 
 cagaix, " La Guerre Moderne," vol. i. pp. 552, 556, 
 
SADOWA. 81 
 
 double march into Bohemia and Saxony ; and the 
 needle-gun alone was set down as the cause of Sa- 
 dowa and the other Prussian victories. A genera- 
 tion, indeed, which retained memories of the marvels 
 of 1796 and 1814, and which had lately witnessed 
 the fine operations around Richmond, of that great 
 captain, Lee, 1 could not fail to censure strategic 
 methods which unquestionably departed from the 
 principles these grand passages of arms illustrate ; 
 and it may confidently be asserted that no impartial 
 critic of repute approved of Moltke's direction of 
 the war, until after the triumphs of 1870-1. The 
 subject invites a few comments, the excitement of 
 the time having passed away, and our knowledge of 
 the facts having been enlarged. 
 
 Moltke invaded Bohemia on a double line, with 
 three and then two armies widely divided by a 
 mountainous and intricate country, but converging 
 to an arranged point of junction, the Austrian army 
 being nearly equal in number to his entire forces and 
 not distant. Operations of this kind are hazardous in 
 the extreme, for not to refer to other dangers, the 
 enemy is given an opportunity to strike in, before the 
 
 1 Among many other authorities we may cite Lecomte, " Guerre 
 de la Prusse, etc." vol. i. p. 369, who expresses the ideas of 
 Jomini in this matter. " Depuis qu'on fait la guerre, en avait 
 rarement place de telles masses dans des conditions d'action plus 
 pitoyables que 1'etaient les masses Prussienes. La eelebre 
 bevue des generaux Autrichiens de 1796, s'ava^ant au secours 
 de Mantoue en trois colonnes separees, bevue si bien chatiee par 
 Bonaparte et connue de tous les ecoliers, etait certes un chef 
 d'oeuvre de strategic a cote du plan prussien de 1866." 
 
 G 
 
82 MOLTKE. 
 
 separate masses unite, and to attack and beat them 
 successively in detail. Many notable examples have 
 made this truth manifest ; and Napoleon's exploits 
 around Mantua, only illustrate, with peculiar 
 splendour, what, for instance, has been achieved by 
 Turenne, by the Archduke Charles, and the illustrious 
 Lee. Nor does the war in Bohemia, in 1866, disprove 
 a conclusion that may be accepted as an axiom of the 
 military art. Had Benedek been a real general, had 
 his army been equal to rapid movements, he pro- 
 bably could have carried out his project ; could 
 have reached the table-land between the Iser and 
 the Elbe before the approach of the Prussian 
 armies ; and holding a central position, and interior 
 lines, could have fallen first on Prince Frederick 
 Charles, and then turned against the Second Army. 
 Nay, false and slow as his operations were, and bad 
 as were his army's arrangements, he might certainly 
 on the 26th and 27th of June have attacked the 
 Crown Prince with very superior forces, and made 
 Prince Frederick Charles powerless, so decisive was 
 the advantage of the position which, without know- 
 ing it, he had attained. Moltke's strategy, therefore, 
 was very dangerous ; it might have led to real dis- 
 asters, and it should be added that Napoleon has 
 condemned this strategic method in many passages, 
 and that he l emphatically condemned movements of 
 
 1 " Commentaires," voL vi. p. 336, ed. 1867, " II est de prineipe 
 que les reunions des divers corps d'armee ne doivent jamais se 
 faire pres de Tennemi ; cependant tout reussit au roi." Attempts 
 have been made to distinguish the operations of Frederick from 
 
SADOWA. 83 
 
 the kind, undertaken, on the same theatre of war, 
 by Frederick the Great in 1756 and 1757, although 
 the King was completely successful. Nor can it be 
 forgotten that in 1778 Frederick failed, in circum- 
 stances extremely similar, against Lacy and the 
 brilliant Loudon. 
 
 The question, therefore, is, what excuse can be 
 made for the violation of a principle in war, which 
 exposed the Prussian armies to great dangers, 
 though every kind of advantage was on their side ? 
 An apology has been composed by the Prussian 
 Staff, very possibly from the pen of Moltke him- 
 self, but it fails to meet the real facts of the case, 
 and if not uncandid, it is at best inadequate. 
 Benedek, the argument runs, had not sufficient 
 time 1 to interpose between the Prussian armies, and 
 to command space enough, on the scene of the con- 
 flict, to enable him to attack them when apart ; his 
 central position and interior lines were, accordingly 
 of no use to him, and he placed himself between 
 them only to incur disaster. In the events that 
 happened, this, we believe, is true, as regards the 
 Austrian leader's project, to gain the table-land 
 between the Iser and the Elbe, and to fall on Prince 
 Frederick Charles, in the first instance, repeating 
 the attack on the Crown Prince, but this really 
 
 those of Moltke, but they have not been very successful, and 
 Napoleon's remark is of universal application. 
 
 1 " Prussian Staff History," p. 65. Here and there " auri per 
 ramos aura refulget," the hand of Moltke appears through these 
 masses of details. Yet it is doubtful if he really is the author of 
 this apology. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 MOLTKE. 
 
 evades the true issue. Benedek had time and space 
 enough on the 26th of June, and until after the end 
 of the 27th, 1 to assail the Crown Prince in over- 
 whelming numbers, and to hold Prince Frederick 
 Charles in check, and this consideration will be held 
 decisive, except in the eyes of the worshippers of 
 success. This apology, therefore, falls to the 
 ground, it cannot stand the test of well-informed 
 criticism. 
 
 Another explanation of Moltke's strategy, is 
 that he made use of a discovery of the age, which 
 lessened the risk he certainly ran. One of the 
 dangers of an advance on a double line is, that it is 
 difficult to make the converging armies keep time 
 with each other on their march ; and this gives the 
 adversary an occasion to interpose, and to strike 
 right and left at his divided enemies. But the 
 electric telegraph enables armies to communicate 
 with each other, at any distance, from hour to hour, 
 nay from minute to minute, and so to regulate their 
 movements as to be in concert; this immensely 
 diminishes, in operations of the kind, the hazards 
 which otherwise would be incurred ; and Moltke 
 directed the Prussian armies, by the electric tele- 
 graph, in their advance on Gitschin. In reply to 
 this, it might be enough to 'say, that no hint is to 
 be found in the "Prussian Staff History," that this 
 argument is of the slightest value ; it should be 
 
 1 The subject is very ably discussed by General Derrecagaix, 
 " La Guerre Moderne," vol i. p. 292. A simple analysis of the real 
 facts is conclusive. 
 
SADOWA. 85 
 
 recollected that the electric telegraph did not pre- 
 vent Prince Frederick Charles from acting without 
 regard to the Crown Prince, and marching on 
 Munchengratz instead of Gritschin ; and, above all, 
 did not prevent Benedek l from gaining a central 
 position between them, and possessing the advan- 
 tage of interior lines. There is, however, we 
 believe, even a more complete answer to what is 
 little more than an ingenious afterthought. Benedek 
 had the assistance of the electric telegraph, even to 
 a greater extent than Moltke ; 2 the conditions of 
 communication were, therefore, rendered at least 
 equal for the hostile armies ; and, though this is 
 not the place to examine the subject, it can be 
 proved, we think, that the electric telegraph is of 
 
 1 Writers who have made the discovery that te Moltke invented 
 a new strategy/' have denied that a central position and interior 
 lines are of any advantage ; Moltke would have been the first to 
 laugh at such nonsense. The value of a central position and of 
 interior lines was seen conspicuously in 1866, in the operations of 
 Falkenstein, against the levies of the German Confederation, and 
 in the Prussian advance to the Danube ; and it was exhibited 
 very clearly, as we shall notice afterwards, in Moltke's move- 
 ments during the siege of Paris. The advantage may not be so 
 decisive, in the case of the immense armies of the present age 
 as it was in the days of Turenne, or even of Napoleon, but it is, 
 and must be very considerable. General Derrecagaix ably 
 reviews the question in, " La Guerre Moderne," vol. i. pp. 275, 
 293, and seems to think that the change in the size of armies has 
 made no essential difference. 
 
 2 This evidently is the opinion of Lord Wolseley, United 
 Service Magazine, October, 1891, p. 6. "The power which the 
 electric telegraph gave Moltke was most important ; but the tele- 
 graph ought also to have helped Benedek." 
 
86 MOLTKE. 
 
 more use to an army in a central position, and 
 standing upon interior lines, than to two armies 
 drawing towards each other, but still far apart. 
 
 A third apology that has been made for Moltke 
 has found favour with distinguished soldiers, and 
 certainly is entitled to respect. He knew, it is 
 alleged, that Benedek was a bad general, and that 
 the Austrian army was of inferior quality ; and, 
 acting on this knowledge, he ventured to under- 
 take, in order to gain decisive success, operations 
 hazardous no doubt in theory, 1 but not really 
 perilous, as affairs stood. It deserves notice that 
 this is the very excuse made by Clausewitz 2 for 
 Frederick the Great, probably with reference to 
 Napoleon's censures on the movements of the King 
 in 1756 and 1757, analogous, we have seen, to 
 those of Moltke. Moltke, too, probably was not 
 ignorant of the character of Benedek, and of the 
 state of his army; and, unquestionably, many a 
 great captain has done things in the presence of an 
 adversary he could hold cheap, which he could not 
 attempt in the presence of a really able enemy, 
 commanding a good and efficient army. This is 
 repeatedly seen in the campaigns of Turenne, of 
 Marlborough, and above all of Napoleon ; the most 
 striking instance perhaps in history is Nelson's 
 attack on the fleet of Villeneuve, an inspiration of 
 
 1 This is the position taken by Lord Wolseley, United Service 
 Magazine, Oct. 1891, pp. 4, 6. 
 
 * Theorie de la grande Guerre," French translation, vol. iii. 
 p. 193. 
 
SADOWA. 87 
 
 genius, which would have been madness had not 
 Nelson been well aware of the impotence of the foe 
 in his grasp ; and it should be added that this kind 
 of discernment is one of the distinctive marks of a 
 real leader in war. But disregarding an enemy 
 may be carried too far ; and a whole plan of opera- 
 tions, based on the notion that liberties may safely 
 be taken with him, is assuredly open to adverse 
 comment. Napoleon has over and over again 
 insisted that a strategic project ought to assume 
 that a opponent, as a rule, will do what is right, 1 
 and that it should follow correct methods; and 
 wonderful as were his feats of arms, when dealing 
 with men like Alvinzi and Mack, he never deviated 
 from this sound principle. But the whole plan of 
 Moltke, in 1866, was in its conception too hazardous, 
 and this apology, therefore, is not sufficient. 
 
 The true excuse to be offered for Moltke, is we 
 believe of a different kind, and curiously enough is 
 found in the work of an enemy. 2 We have already 
 indicated what that excuse is, but we shall very 
 briefly recur to the subject. The excessive dis- 
 semination of the forces of Prussia, at the moment 
 when hostilities begun, was, as we have seen, not 
 
 1 This, too, is laid down by Moltke himself, "The Franco- 
 German War," English translation, vol. i. p. 94. 
 
 2 Les Luttes de 1'Autriche, vol. iii. p. 27 : " Cette concentra- 
 tion des deux armees offrait evidemment de grand dangers, mais 
 elle etait la consequence force du plan adopte par 1'etat major 
 prussien." The writer, however, was not aware that this plan 
 was adopted by Moltke, under the stress of circumstances, over 
 which he had no real control. 
 
88 MOLTKE. 
 
 to be ascribed to Moltke ; and, had he been free to 
 carry out his ideas from the first, there is reason 
 to believe that he would not have attempted the 
 invasion of Bohemia on a double line. But the 
 Prussian armies being divided as they were, he had 
 no choice, but to do what he did, or to operate in 
 quite a different way, that is to concentrate the 
 armies behind the Bohemian hills, and to advance 
 on a single front of invasion ; and this course must 
 have involved delay, and would have enabled the 
 Austrian army to take defensive positions of the 
 greatest strength, and possibly even to take the offen- 
 sive. He was limited therefore to two alternatives ; 
 and though it has been urged by good judges, 1 
 that the alternative he adopted was the worse of 
 the two, that he ought to have drawn all his forces 
 together, and entered Bohemia on one line only, 
 and that, in that event, he would have achieved 
 success, decisive and certain, without running 
 risks ; this conclusion is by no means obvious. In 
 any case, if fault is to be found with his strategy, 
 this must be attributed in the main to a position 
 of affairs, 2 which was, in no sense, of his own 
 making. 
 
 If Moltke' s operations in 1866 were, therefore, 
 hazardous in a high degree, and are fairly open to 
 
 1 Lecomte, vol. i. pp. 370-1. This view probably was that of 
 Jomini. 
 
 2 Lord Wolseley, who seems to have had special information 
 on the subject, distinctly asserts, United Service Magazine, Oct. 
 1891, p. 8 ; " Moltke was not responsible for the dispersion of the 
 army." 
 
SADOWA. 89 
 
 sharp criticism, the situation must be taken into 
 account, and, from this point of view, much is to 
 be said for them. These operations, however, will 
 not find a place among the master-pieces of the art 
 of war; and they can be justified only upon 
 assumptions, which must be kept in sight, if they 
 are not to be condemned. It is otherwise if we 
 confine our study of the contest to the day of 
 Sadowa ; here Moltke's dispositions rise above cen- 
 sure, and deserve all but the very highest praise. 
 The Prussian leader, indeed, did not regard a prin- 
 ciple on which Napoleon often insists, 1 that separate 
 armies ought not to unite in face of the enemy on 
 the field ; and the course even of this battle shows 
 that the great master, as a rule, is in the right. 
 The First Army on that 3rd of July was for a time 
 in undoubted peril ; the Second Army might quite 
 conceivably have failed to perform "a most arduous 
 task ; the junction of the two armies caused such 
 confusion that it was impossible to pursue the 
 enemy, and Benedek drew off the great mass of 
 his forces. But the incapacity of the Austrian 
 chief, and the feebleness and despondency of the 
 Austrian army had, by this time, been made clearly 
 manifest ; it is very doubtful, too, if Benedek had 
 a real opportunity to attack with success ; and the 
 tactics of the Prussians, bearing in mind the existing 
 state of affairs, were the best possible. The bold 
 
 1 " Commentaires," vol i. p. 444; "Le principe de ne jamais 
 reunir ses colonnes devant et pres de 1'ennemi." Waterloo and 
 Sadowa are special exceptions that really prove the rule. 
 
90 MOLTKE. 
 
 and rapid decision of Moltke, too, to unite the three 
 armies for a decisive effort was worthy of a chief of 
 a high order, and it should be said, besides, that a 
 general-in-chief was never more loyally and ably 
 seconded. The march of the Crown Prince to the 
 field was one of the finest in the annals of war ; 
 and the conduct of the Prussian Guards has been 
 never surpassed. 
 
 Moltke gave proof, in the war of 1866, of deci- 
 sion, promptness, and force of character, but not, 
 we think, of strategic genius. His movements are 
 still censured 1 by very able critics, and had his 
 career ended on the field of Sadowa, he would 
 never have been placed among great captains. 
 The causes of the success of the Prussians are 
 manifest, and lie upon the surface. Benedekwas a 
 commander of the most faulty type ; he was dull- 
 minded, obstinate, and sluggish in the field, and 
 inevitable disaster was the consequence. He had 
 one great chance, but he threw it away ; his opera- 
 
 1 Charles Malo, before referred to, observes: if Du 22 au 29 
 Juin, il ne tenait qu'au general autriehien de les battre en detail, 
 et de rendre leur jonction impossible, pour peu qu'il sut mettre 
 a profit sa position centrale et ses lignes interieures ; aucune raison, 
 militaire ne I'empechait, et s'il est assurement permis a la guerre de 
 faire fonds jusqu'a un certain point sur 1'imperitie de son 
 adversaire, si Ton peut se permettre vis-a-vis d'un Mack ce qui 1'on 
 ne tenterait pas impunement vis-a-vis d'un archiduc Charles, il y a 
 lieu de reconnaitre avec tous les historiens impartiaux de la cam- 
 pagne, que 1'etat-major prussien a par trop largement escompte des 
 fautes qu'un eclair de bon sens ou un sage conseil suffisait a faire 
 eviter. En un mot, il ne faut rien moins que tant inertie d'une 
 part, pour faire excuse de 1'autre, de tant de temerite." 
 
SADOWA. 91 
 
 tions from the 26th to the 30th of June simply 
 played into his enemy's hands ; his dispositions 
 at Sadowa were poor and defective. In General 
 Hamley's words, 1 he was one of those leaders who 
 " spoils his offensive movements by hesitation, 
 defends himself by makeshifts, and only half under- 
 stands his own blunders when they have ruined his 
 army ; " and he became the easy prey of his skilled 
 antagonists. The Austrian army, too, was not to 
 be compared in natural strength, in moral force, in 
 organization, in power of manoeuvre, and in arma- 
 ment, to the enemy it met ; it was even more inferior 
 to King William's army, than the army of Daun 
 was to that of Frederick the Great. The Prussian 
 army, on the other hand, if not nearly as perfect as 
 it was made afterwards, was by many degrees the 
 best army of the time. It had been adjusted to 
 the new conditions, its organization had been 
 admirably arranged, it had been divided into units 
 of manageable size ; the rapidity of its movements 
 and its energy in the field received justly the praise 
 of all eye-witnesses. Its leaders, too, though 
 mistakes were made, for mistakes must necessarily 
 be made in war, exhibited skill, vigour, intelli- 
 gence, promptness, and usually acted in perfect 
 concert ; and in these respects we perceive how fine 
 had been their training. The tactics of the three 
 arms had not yet been perfected, but the needle- 
 gun alone gave the Prussian infantry a prodigious 
 advantage over their foes ; and the Austrians 
 1 Operations of War," p. 469. Ed. 1889. 
 
92 MOLTKE. 
 
 quailed under the power of this destructive weapon. 
 This army which, when in face of its enemy was 
 " like a panther darting on an ox," had been, in a 
 great measure, the creation of Moltke ; this circum- 
 stance was, in 1866, his real title to renown. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Immense increase of the military power of Prussia after 1866 
 League with Southern Germany The army of Prussia and 
 the Confederation of the North Its South German 
 auxiliaries Great efforts made to improve these forces 
 Attitude of France and Prussia after 1866 War probable 
 Efforts made by Napoleon III. to increase and strengthen the 
 French army Sketch of the history of that army The 
 Emperor's attempted reforms almost fail Deplorable weak- 
 ness of the French compared to the German armies 
 Other causes of inferiority The war of 1870-1 The plan 
 of Napoleon III. The Army of the Rhine The Emperor's 
 plan is frustrated The plan of Moltke Concentration of 
 the First, Second, and Third German armies in the Palatinate 
 and the Rhenish provinces Positions of the belligerent 
 armies at the end of July The French perhaps lose an 
 opportunity to strike the First Army The combat of Sarre- 
 bruck Advance of the united German armies to the frontier 
 of France Combat of Wissembourg and defeat of a French 
 detachment Battle of Worth and defeat of the French 
 army Precipitate retreat of Macmahon Battle of Spicheren 
 and second defeat of the French Critical position of the 
 Army of the Rhine. 
 
 THE Treaty of Prague, we have seen, had enlarged 
 Prussia, and had made her the head of a German 
 Confederation of the North. An immense develop- 
 ment of her resources for war was one of the 
 immediate results of this sudden growth of power. 
 Schleswig-Holstein, Hanover, and Hesse- Cassel, 
 had become parts of her newly acquired territory ; 
 
94 MOLTKE. 
 
 Saxony and other small states were her Confederate 
 allies ; and four new corps d'armee, raised in these 
 lands, were added to the nine of the Prussian army, 
 increasing the total number to thirteen, while the 
 system of the reserves and Landwehr of Prussia was 
 extended to these conquered or dependent provinces. 
 The standing army of the Confederation of the 
 North, that is, of Prussia under another name, 
 became thus fully 550,000 strong, and the Land- 
 wehr not less than 400,000, the Prussian Landsturm 
 being again omitted ; and the standing army, in- 
 cluding the reserve, was composed in the main of 
 trained soldiers, while the Landwehr, though a 
 supplemental force, was capable of good service in 
 second line. Yet even these figures do not convey an 
 adequate notion of the huge increase of the military 
 strength of Prussia at this time. Partly owing to the 
 fear of the ambition of France, for 1813 had been 
 never forgotten, and recent events had revived its 
 memories, and partly to the impulse to German unity, 
 which the war of 1866 had greatly quickened, the 
 German states of the South soon joined hands with 
 Prussia, though allies of Austria a few months before, 
 and Bavaria, Baden, and Wiirtemberg placed their 
 forces at the disposal of their late enemy. The 
 standing armies of these three powers exceeded 
 100,000 men ; the reserves, corresponding to the 
 Prussian Landwehr, were not less than 60,000 
 or 70,000 ; and these arrays formed a powerful 
 addition to the armed strength of the dominant 
 state of Germany. Within less than four years from 
 
THE WAR OF 1870-1. WORTH AND SPIOHEREN. 95 
 
 the day of Sadowa, the standing army of Northern 
 and Southern Germany, directed and controlled 
 from Berlin, was fully 650,000 strong, including 
 about 100,000 horsemen and 1500 guns ; and this 
 colossal mass was supported by nearly half a million 
 men, for the most part equal to the work of war. 
 Napoleon had never such a force in arms, even 
 when he drew levies, of many races and tongues, 
 from all parts of a subdued continent. 
 
 Nor were earnest and constant efforts wanting to 
 strengthen the formidable military machine which 
 had been enlarged into these huge proportions. 
 Trained officers were employed to extend the 
 system of Prussian organization through the Con- 
 federate allies, and especially to reform the South 
 German armies. The most careful attention was 
 given to the means of transport and communication, 
 with a view to war ; new railways were made and 
 others designed ; and wonderful as had seemed the 
 rapidity of the assembly of the forces of Prussia 
 in 1866, a much higher rate of celerity was attained. 
 Sadowa, in fact, instead of making the victors rest 
 content on their laurels, and satisfied with what 
 they had already won, became a point of departure 
 for fresh preparations, and for perfecting the state 
 of the Prussian army. The experiences of the con- 
 test were turned to advantage; faults that had been 
 committed were carefully noted, and especially the 
 methods through which the three arms can be 
 brought to a state of the highest efficiency, became 
 the subject of intelligent study. The formations of 
 
96 MOLTKE. 
 
 the infantry, if not finally settled, were gradually 
 made more light and flexible, in order to increase 
 the power of its fire, and to lessen the effects of the 
 fire of the enemy; the cavalry, which had been 
 scarcely a match for the Austrian squadrons, was 
 much improved ; the material of the artillery was 
 transformed, old smooth-bore guns being given up 
 as useless, and rifled breech-loading guns being 
 placed in their stead ; and the tactics of the artil- 
 lery were greatly changed, the reserves of guns of 
 the age of Napoleon having been found to be 
 extremely cumbrous, and of little avail in the battles 
 of the day. These multifarious and searching re- 
 forms, too, were carried out by the military chiefs 
 with an energy, a thoroughness, and a practical 
 skill, of which eye witnesses have left no uncertain 
 sound. (< The activity of the Prussian army," 
 said one of the ablest of these, " is prodigious. It 
 is not equalled in any other army of Europe ; it is 
 that of a hive of bees." 1 
 
 We cannot exactly set forth the share of Moltke 
 in these great works of reform; but they had, we 
 
 1 For further information on the extension of the military 
 power of Prussia after 1866, and on the improvement of the 
 Prussian and German armies, the reader may consult, among other 
 authorities, Riistow, vol. i., chaps, iv. and v.: "Note sur Porgani- 
 sation Militaire de la Confederation de PAllemagne du Nord," 
 written by Napoleon III. ; Talbot's " Analysis of the organization 
 of the Prussian Army ; " Reports of the " Commission des Con- 
 ferences Militaires ; " the " Letters on Artillery, Cavalry and 
 Infantry " of Prince Kraft Hohenlohe ; and, above all, the im- 
 portant " Rep.orts " of Baron Stoffel, a French military attache at 
 Berlin during this period. 
 
THE WAR OF 1870-1. WORTH AND SPICHEREN. 97 
 
 know, his cordial support. These preparations were 
 not without cause ; the long-standing feud between 
 Prussia and France, composed for a time, had be- 
 come again active, and war between the two states 
 was already probable. Napoleon III. had not been 
 averse to the aggrandizement of Prussia, up to a 
 certain point, and he had even sympathies with 
 German unity ; but France, he insisted, should have 
 an equivalent in an extension of her frontier to- 
 wards the Ehine. Bismarck artfully flattered the 
 Emperor's hopes, without committing himself to 
 definite pledges; and, when Austria and Prussia 
 became involved in war, Napoleon probably thought 
 that he would have an occasion to carry out suc- 
 cessfully his ambitious projects. He was baffled, 
 however, by the results of Sadowa ; instead of 
 being made an arbiter between the contending 
 Powers, he had to submit to the will of Prussia ; 
 his demands for compensation out of German terri- 
 tory were courteously, but distinctly, rejected, and 
 the formation of the German Confederation of the 
 North, and the alliance of the South German States 
 with Prussia, made him aware that a gigantic Ger- 
 man Power had established itself along his borders. 
 He felt the bitterness of humiliation and defeat ; 
 and, meanwhile, the splendour of the Prussian vic- 
 tories had aroused the jealousy of the French army, 
 and the immense increase of the power of Prussia 
 for war had alarmed French politicians and states- 
 men. The classes which direct opinion in France 
 
 began to denounce Prussia as a deadly enemy ; and 
 
 H 
 
98 MOLTKE. 
 
 Prussia, in turn, intent on becoming the undisputed 
 head of a united Germany and on being supreme 
 from the Rhine to the Niemen, saw in France the 
 only obstacle in her path. Old passions and hatreds 
 were quickened into life by the animosities of the 
 present time ; and a rupture, ultimately perhaps to 
 grow into a furious conflict of hostile races, seemed 
 imminent in a not distant future. Prussia, accord- 
 ingly, had sharpened her weighty sword ; and the 
 prodigious extension of her military strength, and 
 especially her league with the South German Powers, 
 were largely due to the prospect of a struggle with 
 France. 
 
 In view of the war, which they deemed certain, 
 the French Emperor and the men around his throne 
 directed their minds to the state of the army and to 
 the means of increasing its force. The army of 
 France, perhaps the oldest in Europe, has, like the 
 nation, " had its ebbs and flows," and has proved 
 every extreme of fortune. It was little more than 
 a feudal militia until after the middle of the seven- 
 teenth century ; it became the admiration and the 
 scourge of the Continent when administered by 
 Louvois and directed by Turenne. After a series of 
 defeats, due to Eugene and Marlborough, it emerged 
 from the War of the Spanish Succession, stricken 
 but victorious, under a great chief, Yillars ; and, 
 though it fought brilliantly when led by Saxe, it 
 sank into decrepitude during the Seven Years' War. 
 It almost perished in the Great Revolution, yet 
 reappeared in the masses of levies which drove the 
 
THE WAR OF 1870-1. WORTH AND SPICHEREN. 99 
 
 League of Europe across the frontiers, and it accom- 
 plished wonders against the hosts of the Continent, 
 ill-organized, with incapable leaders, and in the 
 fetters of obsolete routine. Ere long it fell into the 
 hands of Napoleon, and though it was by no means 
 free from very grave defects, it marched, with the 
 great master, from Madrid to Moscow, and it 
 inscribed on its banners a roll of victories un- 
 paralleled for their number and splendour. Yet its 
 reverses were as great as its triumphs, and it saw 
 Vitoria, Leipzig, Waterloo, as well as Marengo, 
 Jena, and Austerlitz. At the Kestoration it was 
 little more than the shadow of a great name for 
 many years. 
 
 After the fall of Napoleon the French army was 
 formed on a plan, of which the chief authors were 
 Marshals Gouvion St. Cyr and Soult, well-known 
 lieutenants of the great Emperor. This scheme of 
 organization embodied ideas of the Republican and 
 Imperial eras, adapted, however, to an age of 
 peace and of national exhaustion, after a strife with 
 Europe. The conscription, established in 1798-9, 
 which formed the system of recruiting in France, 
 which had filled the ranks of the Grand Army with 
 hundreds of thousands of good soldiers, but which 
 Napoleon had frightfully abused, was retained as an 
 institution of the state, but was modified to a 
 considerable extent ; and the practice was allowed 
 of admitting substitutes in the place of the recruits 
 drawn to enter the army. The principle, therefore, 
 
 of the Prussian system, that every subject is bound 
 
 H 2 
 
100 MOLTKE. 
 
 to military duty, a principle first asserted in Revo- 
 lutionary France, was abandoned, or evaded at 
 least ; and more than one writer has, perhaps fanci- 
 fully, declared that a decline in the warlike temper 
 of the French people may be traced to this circum- 
 stance. The conscription was divided into two 
 classes, the first of men called to serve in the ranks, 
 the second of men to form a reserve ; and this last 
 class was left wholly untrained, the experiences of 
 1792-1815 having proved, it was thought, that the 
 youth of France had such a natural fitness for war 
 that a few months of preparation would make them 
 soldiers. The army, constituted in this way, was 
 composed of about 300,000 men, for the most part 
 troops of a high order, for the term of service was 
 eight years at least ; it was supplied, also, with good 
 material of war, and with thousands of skilful and 
 veteran officers, the survivors of the Napoleonic days, 
 and it could be increased by nearly 300,000 more ; 
 this reserve, however, it must be borne in mind, 
 being without military discipline and skill, and in 
 fact an assemblage of rude levies. In this respect 
 the reserve was very inferior even to the Landwehr 
 of the Prussian system, for the Landwehr had had 
 experience in the ranks ; but Soult, recollecting the 
 glories of the past, especially insisted that a force 
 of this kind would prove formidable and efficient in 
 the field, and would suffice as a second line for the 
 regular army. 
 
 The army of France, formed on this system, 
 distinguished itself in Algerian warfare, produced 
 
THE WAR OF 1870-1. WORTH AND SPICHEREN. 101 
 
 at least one eminent chief, Bugeaud, and a consider- 
 able number of brilliant officers, and played a 
 conspicuous part in the siege of Sebastopol. After 
 the accession to the throne, however, of Napoleon 
 III., it underwent a marked change for the worse ; 
 and this, owing to two distinct causes. By this 
 time the old officers of the Grand Army had passed 
 away, and had left no successors of equal military 
 worth and skill ; and the principle of commuting 
 the duty to serve, by the mere payment of a sum of 
 money, a most mischievous principle had been 
 established. Eecruits, who had been compelled to 
 find substitutes, approved by the state, or to serve 
 in person, had been made enabled to discharge 
 themselves from military liabilities of all kinds, by 
 a simple contribution to the War Office, and the 
 results were, in different ways, disastrous. The 
 army became crowded with bad troops, tempted 
 into the ranks by the sums thus obtained ; it was 
 largely avoided by the better classes ; its quality 
 was in some measure impaired ; and it was 
 even considerably reduced in numbers, for men 
 could not be always found to replace the men who 
 had freed themselves from the obligation to serve. 
 Yet these were not the worst defects in the existing 
 military system of France. New conditions of war 
 were being developed ; owing to the extension of 
 railways, operations in the field were year after 
 year becoming more rapid ; and the invention of 
 rifled small-arms and cannon made it necessary that 
 soldiers should have a careful training. In these 
 
102 MOLTKE. 
 
 circumstances the untried reserve of the French 
 army became almost useless. Becruits, who, in the 
 first part of the century, had months to learn a 
 soldier's calling, before they were summoned to 
 join their regiments, had now only a few weeks or 
 days ; and raw conscripts, who could become familiar 
 with the old musket in a very short time, could not 
 equally deal with arms of precision. The reserve 
 therefore became a mere force on paper ; and 
 Napoleon III. made it no secret that, in the Cam- 
 paign of Italy in 1859, he had no second line to the 
 regular army. 
 
 The expedition to Mexico, almost as fatal to the 
 Second Empire as Spain had been to the First, still 
 further weakened the French army. The Emperor, 
 a man of thought and ideas, though almost a 
 failure as a man of action, had endeavoured, mean- 
 while, to introduce improvements into a military 
 system behind the age ; and, in some measure, he 
 strengthened the reserve by requiring that its levies 
 should have a partial training. The French army, 
 nevertheless, remained a very imperfect instrument 
 of war ; and Napoleon made an effort, after 
 Sadowa, and in view of the probable war with 
 Prussia, to augment its numbers and to render it 
 more efficient. The classes for recruiting were 
 somewhat increased, further attempts were tried to 
 give the reserve discipline ; and the principle of a 
 general liability to serve was asserted by the institu- 
 tion of the Garde Mobile, a levy, however, which, 
 even in theory, could not form a really effective 
 
THE WAR OF 1870-1. WORTH AND SPIOHEREN. 103 
 
 force, for it was to be called out for a fortnight 
 only in the year, and it could be at best simply a 
 weak militia. These changes, moreover, were only 
 proposed between 1866 and 1868 ; time was needed 
 to make them of any use, insufficient and feeble make- 
 shifts as they were; and ere long Marshal Niel, the 
 ablest of the Imperial counsellors, was removed from 
 the scene by premature death, and faction and folly 
 in the Chambers in Paris baffled and set at nought 
 the Emperor's projects. The reform of the army 
 proved, in a word, abortive ; and when 1870 had 
 come that army presented a strange contrast to that 
 of Prussia and her auxiliary States. It showed a force 
 on paper of more than a million of men ; but 500,000 
 of these were Gardes Mobiles, a levy scarcely called 
 into existence, and that must be almost left out of 
 the account ; and it was really composed of 567,000 
 men, of whom a considerable part was an ill-trained 
 reserve. Immense deductions, too, had to be made 
 from this total, for troops in Algeria, in depots, in 
 fortresses, and for men that could not be deemed 
 effective ; and the true number of the standing 
 army of France was under 340,000 men, 1 comprising 
 some 40,000 cavalry, and less than 1000 guns, and 
 backed by a weak reserve of very little value. This 
 was wholly different from the colossal arrays which 
 
 1 < l The Franco-German War." "Prussian Staff History," vol.i. 12. 
 The great importance of the military statistics collected by Moltke 
 is proved by the fact that, in 1866 and in 1870 he was perfectly 
 acquainted with the military resources of Austria and France. 
 Spies, too, were very largely employed. 
 
104 MOLTKE. 
 
 Prussia and her dependents could send into the 
 field ; and France would be outnumbered nearly 
 two to one should she venture to enter the lists with 
 her rival. 
 
 Nor were numbers only anything like a test of 
 the inferiority of the military power of France. The 
 army of Prussia, we have seen, was organized on the 
 local territorial system ; and this system, if well 
 administered, whatever objections may be made to 
 it, unquestionably facilitates the assembly of troops, 
 for the operations of war, in a short space of time. 
 It is obvious, in fact, that when corps d'armee are 
 established in separate tracts or provinces, with 
 their reserves and their requirements on the spot, 
 they can be brought rapidly into the field ; and this 
 celerity is of supreme importance, for it may secure 
 the initiative in the first moves of a campaign. The 
 French army, on the other hand, was formed on 
 what we may call the central national system ; that 
 is, large bodies of troops existed, as a rule, in 
 certain parts of the country, but it was necessary, 
 on a declaration of war, to unite these into corps 
 d'armee; their reserves were scattered throughout 
 France, and many of their essential needs were 
 kept in great depots and arsenals at a distance 
 from them. This considerably delayed their 
 assembly in the field; and though mechanism is not 
 to be rated too highly, it has been fairly remarked, 
 that, 1 under the one system the instrument could be 
 used at once, and that, under the other, time was 
 1 " Note sur 1'Organisation Militaire," p. 69. 
 
THE WAR OP 1870-1. WORTH AND SPICHRREN. 105 
 
 required to put together its component parts. The 
 railways, again, of Prussia and Germany were 
 generally constructed with a view to war ; those of 
 France were rather made for the ends of commerce ; 
 and this difference alone would give the Prussian 
 army a great advantage, in the event of a collision 
 between the two powers, for it would enable it to 
 combine, and to take the field more quickly than 
 its supposed enemy. Yet even all this does not 
 suffice to show how ill-fitted France was to cope 
 with an infinitely stronger and better prepared 
 antagonist. Napoleon III. had no administrative 
 power ; he never possessed a good war minister ; 
 many of the subordinates in the War Department 
 were incapable men, without a sense of duty ; and 
 the military organization of France accordingly 
 was out of joint, and did its work badly. On the 
 other hand, Moltke and Eoon had brought the 
 military organization of Prussia, and to a certain 
 extent of the lesser states, to a point that almost 
 approached perfection. 
 
 On the opposite sides of the Rhine, therefore, 
 formidable military strength confronted weakness, 
 and an admirable organization for war was placed 
 beside one that was bad and defective. Apart from 
 inferiority in numbers, too, the army of France was 
 not equal to that of Prussia. In the chassepot rifle, 
 indeed, the French infantry possessed a better weapon 
 than the Prussian needle-gun ; and this gave it a 
 distinct advantage. But the German artillery was 
 far superior to the French ; and the mitrailleuse, 
 
106 MOLTKE. 
 
 a feeble instrument in the field, had been largely 
 substituted for the ordinary gun, to please Napoleon 
 III., in the French batteries. The cavalry of France 
 was still true to its noble traditions, and excelled 
 in daring and rapid movements ; but it had not 
 been trained as an exploring force, one of its chief 
 uses in the days of Napoleon ; and in this respect 
 the Prussians were far before it. If, too, a con- 
 siderable part of the French army was composed of 
 troops who had been in the ranks much longer 
 than the young Prussian soldiers, a considerable part 
 was a mass of recruits ; and the elements, therefore, 
 of military power were better combined in the hosts 
 of Prussia. But the most marked feature of 
 inferiority was this : in the French army, the three 
 arms had not been accustomed to act in concert, 
 as systematically as in the Prussian service ; their 
 proper functions had not been as fully ascertained ; 
 and this told powerfully against the French. 
 Turning to the higher grades and the chief com- 
 mands, the French staff, even in the time of 
 Napoleon, exhibited several plain defects; it had 
 since declined from a high standard ; and it could 
 not be compared to the staff of Prussia, by many 
 degrees the best in Europe. The French army, 
 therefore, did not possess a source of power of 
 extreme value ; and in the most important respect 
 of all, its supreme direction, it was sadly wanting. 
 It had not a single great commander in high places : 
 most of its leaders, versed in Algerian warfare, 
 had neglected the nobler parts of the military art, 
 
THE WAE OF 1870-1. WORTH AND SPICHEREN. 107 
 
 and were unequal to large operations in the field : 
 they had little knowledge of scientific war, and of 
 strategy and tactics of the grand kind : and these 
 heirs of the renown of Napoleon's legions were 
 ignorant of Napoleon's teaching and methods. 
 Men such as these are " but stubble to the swords " 
 of the generals of Prussia, and above all, of 
 Moltke. 
 
 In this sketch of the military state of France, some 
 elements of power have to be still considered. Her 
 organized army was pitiably weak ; but in her 
 Algerian reserves, in her large garrisons, in thou- 
 sands of veterans, who had seen service, and in her 
 gallant and martial youth, she had real materials 
 of strength in war, and ill-arranged and scattered 
 as they were, time was to show that these could 
 be made formidable. She had besides, immense 
 wealth, and world-wide credit, the command of 
 the sea as against Germany, and the patriotism 
 and pride of a great nation, and these resources, 
 seldom borne in mind sufficiently, even by the 
 ablest soldiers, were, as they have always been, of 
 the highest value. Nevertheless the French people 
 at this juncture was in a condition that was not 
 favourable to a perilous conflict with such a power 
 as Germany. Its sons, indeed, were, in no sense, 
 degenerate, as a fine page of history was ere long 
 to prove, and it had still that singular aptitude for 
 war which distinguished the Gauls of the age of 
 Caesar. But it had been devoted for years to the 
 arts of peace, to the accumulation of riches, to 
 
108 MOLTKE. 
 
 successful industry ; it had suffered from the effects 
 of democratic despotism, most injurious to the 
 national life, and corruption and sloth were but 
 too prevalent in its higher, and even its middle 
 classes, with consequences pregnant with many evils. 
 On the other hand, Germany was animated by a 
 strong feeling to complete, once for all, the national 
 unity ; and she was inspired by a growing hatred of 
 France, the enemy of ages that was thwarting her 
 purpose. The enthusiasm of 1792-4, which had 
 enabled France to triumph over old Europe, was 
 now, in fact, on the side of Germany. 1 
 
 The Luxemburg incident showed how profound 
 were the animosities dividing Prussia and France ; 
 though negotiations, never clearly explained, were 
 continued, even after Sadowa, between Napoleon 
 III. and Bismarck, on the principle of composing 
 mutual discord 2 by the spoliation of a neighbouring 
 and friendly state. The Hohenzollern candidature 
 for the throne of Spain brought the festering 
 elements of passion to a head, and involved Germany 
 and France in a tremendous conflict. This is not 8 
 
 1 Ample details respecting the state of the French army, at 
 this period, will be found, inter alia, in General Trochu's " L'armee 
 Fran9aise en 1867 ;" in the " Reports " of Stofl'el ; in Riistow, 
 vol. i. chap. iii. ; in the " Prussian Staff History," vol. i. chap. i. ; 
 and in the " Conferences Militaires." See also " Les Forces 
 Militaires de la France en 1870," by le Comte La Chapelle, 
 Napoleon III., under a feigned name. 
 
 2 For a sketch of these negotiations, see Fyffe's " History of 
 Modern Europe," vol. iii. pp. 384-5. 
 
 8 On this subject the reader may consult the official correspon- 
 
NAPOLEON III. 
 
 Emperor of France. 
 
 . To face page 109. 
 
THE WAR OF 1870-1. WORTH AND SPICHEREN. 109 
 
 the place to pronounce a judgment on the conduct 
 of the persons engaged in a lamentable quarrel that 
 appalled Europe : enough to say that the provoca- 
 tion came from Prussia, that the French Govern- 
 ment was guilty of petulant folly, and that Bismarck 
 aroused to frenzy the wrath of Paris, in concert 
 perhaps with chiefs l of the army who, indisputably, 
 were eager to force on a war, in which the chances, 
 they knew, would be all against France. At a 
 great Council of State held at the Tuileries, the die 
 was cast on the 14th of July, 1870 ; the French 
 reserves were called out on the following day ; the 
 Chambers voted immense credits, amidst a scene 
 of thoughtless excitement ; and Paris, overflowing 
 with madding crowds, and clamouring wildly 
 through her streets, hailed with exultation the 
 declaration of war. 
 
 The fury of the capital hardly stirred the nation, 
 and alarmed and embarrassed Napoleon III. The 
 Emperor had, at heart, been opposed to a rupture; 
 he knew much better than his " lightminded " coun- 
 sellors how immense was the military strength of 
 Germany ; but he had yielded to importunities he was 
 too weak to resist, and he was forced to confront a 
 position of affairs, fraught with tremendous peril to 
 France and his throne, with a mind and body 
 
 dence on the dispute between France and Prussia ; an able, but 
 one-sided pamphlet, " Who is responsible for the war 1 " by 
 " Scrutator ; " and Fyffe, vol. iii. pp. 417, 421. 
 
 1 Many passages in Moltke's letters show that he had long 
 been desirous of a trial of strength, between France and Prussia, 
 in the field. 
 
110 MOLTKE. 
 
 enfeebled by disease. His plan for the campaign 
 had been formed for some time, and he has told us 
 himself that it followed the design of his mighty 
 kinsman in 1815, one of the most splendid of the 
 designs of Napoleon. 1 In 1815 the armies of 
 Bliicher and Wellington were disseminated upon 
 a wide and deep front, extending from Ghent and 
 Liege to Charleroi; and Napoleon, drawing his forces 
 together, with a secrecy and skill that have never 
 been surpassed, succeeded in striking the centre of 
 the Allies, and in separating their divided masses, 
 and only just missed a decisive triumph. Napoleon 
 III., in the same way, believed that the armies of 
 Prussia and Southern Germany would be far 
 apart at the beginning of the campaign, and his 
 purpose was to collect a powerful army behind 
 the great fortresses of Metz and Strasbourg, to 
 cross the Rhine between Eastadt and Germersheim, 
 and, having paralyzed or defeated the South German 
 armies, to attack the Prussians in the valley of 
 the Main, in the hope of renewing the glories of 
 Jena. Though he was aware that the enemy would 
 be superior in numbers, in the proportion at least 
 of two to one, he calculated that this bold and rapid 
 manoeuvre would make up for deficiency of force, 
 and he had resolved to oppose 250,000 Frenchmen 
 
 1 See Comte La Chapelle, and " Campagne de 1870," par un 
 officier attache a 1'Elat-Major-General, generally attributed to 
 Napoleon III. ; " Prussian Staff History," vol. i. p. 20. We 
 believe Napoleon III. set off, in 1870, with his uncle's account 
 of Waterloo in his carriage. 
 
THE WAR OF 1870-1. WORTH AND SPIOHEREN. Ill 
 
 to about 550,000 Germans, who, he assumed, would 
 be widely divided, as Napoleon had opposed 128,000 
 to 224,000 of Bllicher and Wellington. But would 
 a sovereign, who had never excelled in war, be able 
 to wield the arms of Achilles, and to imitate 
 Napoleon's march to the Sambre ? Was the French 
 army of 1870 to be compared in organization and 
 military worth to that which sprang into Bel- 
 gium in 1815 ? Above all, would the chiefs of the 
 German armies repeat the mistakes of Bliicher and 
 Wellington, and would the forces of Prussia and 
 Southern Germany be at a distance from each other 
 when the blow would fall ? 
 
 The bold offensive project of Napoleon III. was, 
 it is believed, founded, also, on x a hope that Austria 
 and Italy would join hands with him, should the 
 French eagles appear beyond the Rhine, and it 
 should be added that if he 2 contemplated an 
 advance at first, with 250,000 men only, he was 
 convinced that he would have an immediate reserve 
 of not less than 150,000, without reckoning the 
 unorganized Garde Mobile. The plan, however, 
 brilliant perhaps in conception, in no sense 
 corresponded to the facts, and in a few days 
 proved wholly abortive. Immense efforts were 
 nevertheless made, in the first instance, to carry 
 it out ; and it is a mistake to suppose that the 
 French War Office, and the administrative services 
 attached to it, were deficient in active good 
 
 1 Fyffe, vol. iii. pp. 424, 425. 
 Comte La Chapelle. 
 
112 MOLTKE. 
 
 will and energy. Eight corps d'armee, including 
 the Imperial Guard, were given the name of the 
 Army of the Rhine, and directed into Alsace and 
 Lorraine ; the organized parts of these arrays 
 were soon collected along a broad arc, extending 
 from Thionville to Strasbourg and Belfort, and 
 thousands of troops and other men of the reserve 
 were hurriedly despatched to join these forces. 
 Here, however, the military system of France 
 betrayed its inferiority, and, to a great extent, 
 broke down, and the assembly of the army, which 
 ought to have been rapid in the extreme, to give it 
 a chance of success, was tardy, mismanaged, and 
 in all respects imperfect. Even the formation of the 
 corps d'armee required time, and the large contin- 
 gents needed to make up their strength were scat- 
 tered over all parts of the country. The railways, too, 
 especially in Alsace and Lorraine, were not sufficient 
 and not well prepared to carry masses of men and 
 material, with the celerity which the occasion 
 demanded; and the administration of the French 
 army, founded on the principles we have referred to, 
 and, at the crisis, largely composed of inexperienced 
 and incapable men, proved unequal to bear the 
 strain upon it, and to supply the corps and the 
 troops on the march with all kinds of appliances 
 necessary for taking the field. 1 Napoleon III. 
 
 / 
 
 1 The French accounts of the maladministration and want of 
 preparation of the army may be suspected of exaggeration. But 
 they are confirmed by that of the "Prussian Star! History," 
 
THE WAR OF 1870-1. WORTH AND SPICHEREN. 113 
 
 reached Metz in the last days of July, and the 
 spectacle before him was very different from that 
 which he had expected to find. Most of his corps, 
 indeed, were spread along the frontier ; but instead 
 of 250,000 men, not 200,000 had been assembled ; 
 large parts of these were inferior troops ; the 
 reserve fell far short of what it was on paper, and 
 the whole Army of the Ehine was not yet a 
 sufficiently equipped and organized force. In these 
 circumstances the ill-fated monarch virtually gave 
 up his offensive project; but " willing to wound 
 and yet afraid to strike," and already dreading 
 opinion in Paris, he did not adopt any other 
 course, and he allowed his forces to remain in the 
 positions they held, irresolute, and already waiting 
 on events. 
 
 Moltke had been hampered in 1866; but in 
 1870 he had perfect freedom of action, and, under 
 the nominal command of the King, he now directed 
 the whole armed strength of Prussia and her con- 
 federate allies. Learned in the history of war, and 
 possessing rare insight, he had anticipated the 
 design of the French Emperor as long previously 
 as 1868, and, in view of a probable conflict with 
 France, he had proposed in a very able paper, 1 that 
 the South German armies, on a declaration of war, 
 should not remain isolated south of the Main, but 
 should march to the Rhine, and effect their junction 
 
 vol. i. p 29, and by Moltke in his "Precis of the Franco- 
 G-erman War," vol. i. p. 6. English translation. 
 1 " Prussian Staff History," vol. i. p. 50. 
 
 I 
 
114 MOLTKE. 
 
 with the armies of Prussia and the States of the 
 North. It was as if Wellington and Bliicher in 
 1815 had drawn their forces together, on a narrow 
 front, before their adversary had approached Belgium, 
 and this project of Moltke must have completely 
 baffled the offensive design of Napoleon III. But 
 when the armies of Germany had come into line, 
 what were their movements to be in the next 
 instance ? Moltke well knew that the united 
 military power of Germany was much greater than 
 that of France ; he believed, too, that the German 
 armies could be assembled more quickly than their 
 antagonists, and he formed a plan of operations, 
 which, if dictated, so to speak, by the situation 
 before him, was, nevertheless, admirably conceived 
 and masterly. The Rhenish Provinces and the 
 Palatinate had formed a kind of sallyport for an 
 attack on Germany in the wars of Louis XIV. and 
 of Napoleon, but they had been in the hands of 
 the Germans since 1815; and, if strongly occupied 
 by German armies, they would be a base of opera- 
 tions of the highest value for a great offensive 
 movement into Alsace and Lorraine. Moltke in- 
 sisted therefore that the German forces, to be 
 collected, we have seen, on the Rhine, should cross 
 the river and join hands with those of Rhenish 
 Prussia, to the west, and the uniting masses were 
 to bear down in irresistible strength on the French 
 frontier, where, to the north-east, it is most vul- 
 nerable. Should the enemy attempt to take the 
 offensive, he was to be met and encountered in 
 
THE WAR OF 1870-1. WORTH AND SPICHEREN. 115 
 
 pitched battles, the issue of which could be hardly 
 doubtful, for the Germans would be two-fold in 
 numbers; but should he assume a defensive atti- 
 tude, he was to be driven from any lines he might 
 hold, and a general invasion of France was to 
 follow. In that great movement the main object of 
 the Germans 'should be to force the French armies, 
 in defeat, into the Northern Provinces, and thus to 
 open a way to the capital of France. 
 
 This plan was not a conception of genius, or 
 even, in any sense, original ; it was that of Marl- 
 borough when, after Blenheim, he had intended to 
 enter France ; it was that laid down by Clausewitz, 
 perhaps, for Gneisenau, with a view to a contest 
 with France after 1815. But it was distinctly the 
 best that could be adopted, and it reveals a daring 
 and accomplished strategist, bent on a grand and 
 decisive offensive movement. The project of Moltke 
 was carried out with a celerity and precision that 
 showed how perfect the organization of the German 
 armies had become. The orders for the assembly 
 of these prodigious hosts were received on the 15th 
 of July; the operation was completed in about 
 sixteen days; and the working of the machinery 
 to effect this object was so admirable that, Moltke, 
 it is said, in reply to the anxious question of a 
 friend, remarked, " I have nothing to do ; my 
 arrangements are made." The corps d'armee, 
 collected, and formed on the spot, had soon called in 
 their reserves at hand ; their material hard by was 
 
 quickly supplied ; and the gathering masses were 
 
 i 2 
 
116 MOLTKE. 
 
 rapidly conveyed, by the military system of the 
 German railways, from the Niemen, the Vistula, 
 the Oder, and the Inn, and westward from the 
 Lower Moselle to the Rhine, and the tract on its 
 western bank, the Palatinate and the Rhenish 
 Provinces. Three large armies were now formed, 
 on the system of 1866 ; the First, composed * of two 
 corps for tne present, and numbering about 60,000 
 men, under the command of the old and gallant 
 Steinmetz; the Second, 130,000 strong at least, 
 four 2 corps, led by Prince Frederick Charles ; and 
 the Third formed of five 3 corps, a combined Northern 
 and South German army, about equal in force to 
 the Second, and under the direction of the Crown 
 Prince of Prussia. These masses, however, fully 
 320,000 men, were sustained in second line by a 
 gigantic reserve, 4 five corps, excellent and trained 
 soldiers ; and the forces collected for the invasion 
 of France already numbered half a million of men, 
 with guns and cavalry in due proportion, drawn 
 together in little more than a fortnight. By the 
 end of July the First Army, the right wing of the 
 coming invasion, held the region around Treves 
 and Lower Sarre ; the Second, the centre, was 
 assembled about Mayence, and thence extended 
 
 1 The 7th and 8th Prussian corps. 
 
 2 The 3rd, 10th, and 4th Prussian corps, and the Guards. 
 
 3 The 5th and llth Prussian corps, two Bavarian corps, the 
 1st and 2nd, and two divisions of Wurtemberghers and Badeners, 
 equal to one corps. 
 
 4 The 1st corps to be added to the First Army, the 9th, 12th, 
 and 2nd to join the Second, and the 6th to support the Third. 
 
THE WAE OF 1870-1. WORTH AND SPICHEREN. 117 
 
 along the main roads leading through the Pala- 
 tinate towards the verge of Lorraine ; and the 
 Third Army, the left wing, had its centre at 
 Landau, filling the country between Neustadt and 
 Spires, and already overhanging Alsace. A con- 
 centration of force, so rapid and complete, had 
 never been witnessed before in war, and it was 
 powerfully aided by the enthusiastic ardour of the 
 Teutonic race from the Niemen to the Moselle. Ger- 
 mans disliked the conflict of 1866, but the nation 
 in 1870 sprang, as a man, to arms to avenge old 
 wrongs and more recent injuries, on the enemy of 
 Eossbach, of Jena, of Waterloo. 
 
 The Emperor, meanwhile, had lingered at Metz, 
 and no important change had been made in the 
 disposition of the Army of the Rhine, the mass of 
 which lay spread on the French frontier, along 
 the borders of Lorraine and Alsace. In the judg- 
 ment of its chief, it was still not ready to take the 
 field and to begin to move, though great efforts 
 had been made, during the last few days, to furnish 
 it with the needs it required, and considerable rein- 
 forcements had been added by degrees. It is probable 
 however that, at this conjuncture, a real commander 
 would have found the means of directing it against 
 the enemy in his front, and of retarding at least 
 the German invasion, if not of gaining important 
 success. On the last day of July, and for a day or 
 two afterwards, the First Army on the Lower Sarre 
 and at Treves stood isolated, and without supports 
 at hand ; three corps of the French army and the 
 
118 MOLTKE. 
 
 Imperial Guard were only two or three marches 
 distant, and it is difficult to suppose that x 100,000 
 men, supplied with all that was necessary for the 
 march, might not have been moved against the 
 60,000 of the First Army, and have fallen on it in 
 overwhelming strength. Villars had taken a step 
 like this, with excellent results, when confronting 
 Marlborough on this very ground in the indecisive 
 campaign of 1705 ; and had it been taken by 
 Napoleon III., the Army of the Rhine, after partial 
 success, would probably have found the means of 
 retreating safely, and of stubbornly defending the 
 line of the Moselle, as Villars had done, with 
 ultimate success. The Emperor, however, was 
 not a great general ; he let a good opportunity 
 pass, and he was, besides, wholly unable to direct 
 the large mass of the Army of the Rhine, which, 
 unlike the independent German armies, remained 
 altogether under his sole command. Instead of the 
 bold offensive, which was, at least, promising, he 
 adopted a perilous and weak half measure, to satisfy, 
 it would seem, the Parisian populace, already cla- 
 mouring for an advance to the Rhine. On the 2nd 
 of August a small German detachment was assailed 
 by a largely superior force at Sarrebruck on the 
 Middle Sarre, but an idle demonstration could have 
 no effect ; the French did not even cross the river, 
 
 1 This operation, and the probable results, are fully and clearly 
 explained by General Derrccagaix, " La Guerre Moderne," vol. i. 
 pp. 512-13. See also "La Guerre de 1870," by V. D., p. 98. 
 The " Prussian Staff History " is silent on the subject. 
 
THE WAR OF 1870-1. WORTH AND SPIOHEREN. 119 
 
 and the Army of the Rhine remained in its camp a. 
 By this time, indeed, indecision and alarm were 
 predominant in the French Councils. Intelligence 
 had been received that the German armies were 
 approaching the frontier in immense strength, but 
 nothing definite had been ascertained ; and, though 
 attempts at reconnoitring on a great scale had 
 been made, the French cavalry, unskilled in this 
 service, had been unable to discover the real position 
 of affairs. In these circumstances, Napoleon III. 
 maintained his passive and expectant attitude, the 
 worst possible in view of impending events. 
 
 The hurried advance of the chief part of the 
 Army of the Rhine to the French frontier, deficient 
 as it was in requirements for the field, had induced 
 Moltke to believe, for a time, that the French 
 intended to take a bold offensive ; he had made 
 preparations for a defensive stand, and he did not 
 push forward the German armies for a few days 
 after they had been assembled. The puny attack 
 at Sarrebruck, however, and the continued inaction 
 of the Army of the Rhine, facts made known at the 
 head-quarters at Mayence, through the excellent 
 exploring of the German horsemen, soon made the 
 situation clear to him ; and orders were given for an 
 immediate advance to the frontier. The First and 
 Second Armies drew near each other, the one making 
 for the Middle Sarre, the other marching in the 
 same direction, behind the western slopes of the 
 German Yosges, along the main avenues into 
 Lorraine ; and thus the prospect of striking the 
 
120 MOLTKE. 
 
 First Army, and beating it in detail, disappeared. 
 The Third Army, meanwhile, had all but reached 
 Alsace prepared to deal the first weighty blow, and 
 to begin the great general offensive movement, which 
 was to force the French northwards and to uncover 
 Paris; and the three armies had, by the 4th of 
 August, their foremost divisions quite near the 
 frontier. The march of the invaders was carefully 
 screened by bodies of horsemen, thrown forward, 
 and keeping away the enemy's patrols ; and the 
 French seem to have been unaware of its signifi- 
 cance, and even as to its true direction, until the 
 reality was ascertained too late. 
 
 Turning to the opposite camp we must next glance 
 at the situation of the Army of the Rhine, already 
 within reach of the destructive tempest. Of its 
 eight corps two were all but out of the account, one 1 
 being upon the Marne at Chalons, and the other, far 
 to the south, round Belfort, 1 though this had de- 
 spatched a single division northwards. Six corps 
 therefore only remained, and these, by this time 
 210,000 strong, spread along the frontier, in dis- 
 jointed parts, and dangerously exposed to a bold 
 attack. One corps 2 was behind Sarrebruck, on 
 the Middle Sarre, two 3 being immediately in the 
 rear ; the Imperial Guard was not far from Metz, 
 and these masses, perhaps 135,000 men, formed the 
 left wing of the whole army. A 4 single corps, 
 
 1 The 6th and 7th corps respectively. 
 
 8 The 2nd corps. * The 3rd and 4th corps. 
 
 4 The 5th corpg, 
 
THE WAR OF 1870-1. WORTH AND SPICHEREN. 121 
 
 about 25,000 strong, was in the centre, holding at 
 Bitohe a chief passage through the French Vosges ; 
 and another 1 corps and a part of that at Belfort, 
 perhaps 50,000 men in all, and composing the right 
 wing of the French army, were on the northern 
 verge of Alsace. 320,000 men, therefore, the first 
 line of the German invasion, well led, well combined, 
 and acting well in concert, were about to fall on 
 210,000, unprepared, separated at wide distances, 
 and, for the most part, under inferior chiefs. 
 
 The Third Army, as Moltke had arranged, was 
 the first to pour over the French frontier. Its 
 advanced divisions had surrounded the old town of 
 Wissembourg, famous for the lines of Villars, by the 
 forenoon of the 4th of August ; and it had soon 
 been engaged with a single French division, impru- 
 dently thrown forward without supports, in com- 
 plete ignorance of the German movements. The 
 French made a stern and prolonged resistance, but 
 they were overwhelmed by the converging masses 
 of enemies, fourfold at least in numbers ; and the 
 division, losing more than a third of its men, 
 was driven, in rout, upon the main body. This 
 was the right wing of the Army of the Ehine, com- 
 posed of the 1st corps and of a part of the 7th, and 
 under the command of Marshal Macmahon, the Ney 
 of the days of the Second Empire ; and it was in 
 positions around Worth, a strategic point of no 
 small importance, covering roads that lead to Stras- 
 bourg and across the Vosges. Macmahon was 
 
 1 The 1st corps. 
 
122 MOLTKE. 
 
 now aware that the Germans were at hand, but, 
 extraordinary as it may appear, he had no concep- 
 tion of the immense superiority of their approaching 
 forces, his cavalry had been so ill employed ; and, 
 even after the defeat of Wissembourg, he thought 
 for a moment that he could take the offensive, and 
 he did not at once call to his aid the corps at Bitche, 
 the 5th, directed by General Failly, which the 
 Emperor had placed under his orders. Even on 
 the 5th he did not believe that anything like serious 
 peril was near, and it was not until the following 
 day that he requested Failly to join hands with 
 him, and that with one division only, a proof how 
 little he understood the true state of affairs. 
 
 As a battle, however, might be imminent, he drew 
 up his army along the heights near W5rth before 
 nightfall upon the 5th, and his confidence, it is said, 
 was so great that he exclaimed to his staff, " The 
 Prussians will be badly worsted." The position was 
 one of great strength against a direct attack made 
 by foes not in overpowering numbers. The stream 
 of the Sauer ran before the Marshal's front, a 
 difficult obstacle to an advancing force ; his lines 
 were protected by the villages of Frosch wilier, 
 Elsasshausen, and Morsbronn, defensive points 
 that had been in part fortified ; the slopes which 
 the enemy would be compelled to ascend were in 
 most places very intricate ground, and yet they 
 afforded facilities at certain spots for counter 
 attacks, essential for defence, especially in the case 
 of French soldiers. The position, however, was 
 
THE WAR OF 1870-1. WORTH AND SPIOHEREN. 123 
 
 liable to be turned on both flanks, and dense woods 
 on either side of the French army would give a 
 powerful adversary a marked advantage to conceal 
 and combine his attacks. Macmahon placed his 
 divisions along the line ;* his force, allowing for the 
 loss at "Wissembourg, was probably about 46,000 
 men, including 5000 horsemen a ad 120 guns. 
 
 The Crown Prince meantime had been making 
 ready for a decisive effort against Macmahon' s 
 army. He had ascertained the position and the 
 strength of the French by pushing forward his 
 bodies of horsemen, but he did not contemplate a 
 general attack until he had all his corps in hand, 
 an event not probable until the 7th of August. An 
 accident, however, or it is more likely the impetuous 
 zeal of subordinate chiefs, precipitated dangerously 
 a hard fought battle. On the morning of the 
 6th the 5th Prussian corps fell boldly, near Worth, 
 on the French centre, and the attack was sup- 
 ported by the 2nd Bavarian corps issuing from the 
 woods on Macmahon's left. These efforts, however, 
 completely failed, and though part of the llth 
 Prussian corps soon came into line, and the supe- 
 riority of the German artillery was proved even 
 
 1 There is no French official account of the war, but the careful 
 analysis made by General Derrecagaix, in " La Guerre Moderne," 
 the narrative of V. D., and many tracts and books written by 
 distinguished French officers, in some measure supply a lamentable 
 desideratum. These works should be read to check the " Prussian 
 Staff History," not always trustworthy, especially as regards the 
 numbers engaged in several battles, no doubt in order to conceal 
 the overwhelming superiority, as a rule, of the Germans in force. 
 
124 MOLTKE. 
 
 from the first moment, the difficulties of the attack 
 were great, and the French, possessing much the 
 better small-arms and skilfully making offensive 
 returns, had for three or four hours a distinct 
 advantage. The condition of the Germans, indeed, 
 had become so critical that orders arrived from the 
 Crown Prince to suspend the course of the fight 
 for a time, and it has been thought that had Mac- 
 mahon seized the favourable opportunity, at this 
 moment, he might have forced his enemy to draw 
 off beaten. The presence of mind, however, and 
 the self-reliance of Kirchbach, the chief of the 5th 
 corps, inclined the scale trembling in the balance ; 
 lie refused to give up the doubtful struggle, and he 
 was thanked for his bold resolve by the Crown 
 Prince, who reached the field soon after mid-day. 
 By this time the remaining part of the llth corps 
 had joined in the contest, the Wiirtemberghers 
 being a short way in the rear, and determined 
 efforts were made to turn Macmahon's right, while 
 the 5th corps fell on the French centre. The 
 pressure of superior numbers at last told, notwith- 
 standing admirable charges of the French infantry, 
 who more than once drove their enemies back, 
 entangled as they were in difficult ground ; the 
 Germans, sheltered by ravines and woods, gradually 
 established themselves on their enemy's flank, and 
 the French right wing was compelled to fall back 
 towards the centre round Elsasshausen. A noble 
 incident, however, marked its defeat : the French 
 cavalry made an heroic attempt to protect their 
 
THE WAR OF 1870-1. WORTH AND SPICHEREN. 125 
 
 comrades as they retired, and though they were 
 almost wholly destroyed by a withering fire in the 
 street of Morsbronn, one of the finest charges in 
 the annals of war recalled the historic days of 
 Eylau and Waterloo. 
 
 During all this time the 5th corps had been 
 making a furious onslaught on Macmahon's centre, 
 while the 2nd Bavarian corps had renewed its 
 attack from behind its wooded screen on the French 
 left; but decisive success was not achieved, until 
 the 1st Bavarian corps, coming on the field, made 
 the overwhelming pressure impossible to withstand. 
 Another splendid division of the French cavalry 
 offered itself up a victim to shield the footmen ; 
 but, gradually the defence began to slacken, and 
 the beaten army to show signs of panic. Never- 
 theless some brave regiments clung tenaciously to 
 every point of vantage to the last ; and it was not 
 until their foes, in irresistible force, had converged 
 against them on both flanks, had stormed Frosch- 
 willer and Elsasshausen, and had pierced Mac- 
 mahon's centre right through, that the battle can 
 be said to have come to an end. The whole French 
 line then precipitately gave way, and the roads 
 through Alsace swarmed with affrighted fugitives, 
 hurrying away in despair and hideous rout. The 
 retreat was in some degree covered by the arrival 
 of the division of Failly's corps, summoned, we 
 have seen, by Macmahon late ; but the victory of 
 the Germans was not the less complete. The 
 French army lost nearly half its numbers, reckoning 
 
126 MOLTKE. 
 
 prisoners, and a fourth part of its guns ; the losses 
 of the Germans were nearly 10,000 men, a proof 
 how fierce the conflict had been; but they had 
 almost ruined their beaten enemy. Macmahon, 
 who had fought to the last moment, did not 
 attempt to retreat towards the main French army, 
 through the passes of the Vosges, in his rear ; he 
 made through Lower Alsace with the wreck of his 
 forces. 
 
 At Worth, 46,000 Frenchmen and 120 guns, 
 these very inferior to those of the enemy, had been 
 opposed to 100,000 Germans, and not less than 
 300 guns, and the issue of the contest had been 
 long uncertain. The battle is honourable to France 
 in the highest degree ; but had it been conducted 
 on the German side with due regard to the prin- 
 ciples of war, it could not have lasted for this space 
 of time. The attacks of the Germans were, at 
 first premature ; until after noon they were badly 
 combined, and the immense superiority in force 
 of the Third Army was not felt until nearly the 
 end of the struggle. This precipitate haste, and 
 these imprudent tactics alone enabled Macmahon's 
 army to protract the noble defence it made ; and 
 had the battle followed the Crown Prince's design, 
 the result would have been quick and decisive. 
 The boldness and firmness of Kirchbach, however, 
 in continuing the strife, when it had once begun 
 another among repeated instances of the charac- 
 teristics of the Prussian leaders, acquired largely 
 through Moltke's precepts are worthy of the very 
 
THE WAE OF 1870-1. WOETH AND SPIOHEREN. 127 
 
 highest praise ; and the German divisions supported 
 each other admirably, when they had been at last 
 collected for the decisive attack. 
 
 Macmahon skilfully fought a very brilliant fight, 
 if we regard Worth as an isolated fact only ; and 
 the French soldiery, who formed the flower of the 
 army, and who had perfect confidence in themselves 
 and their chief, especially the cavalry, showed 
 heroic qualities. Yet, if we examine the Marshal's 
 conduct as a whole, and with reference to the 
 military art, we perceive that it was a series of 
 errors. It is difficult to understand, how, after the 
 affair of Wissembourg, he was ignorant of the 
 strength of the enemy in his front, and why he did 
 not at once fall back from Worth. He ought, 
 evidently, to have summoned the entire corps of 
 Failly to his assistance on the 5th ; as he had 
 made up his mind to fight, it was his obvious interest 
 to have every available man on the field. He, no 
 doubt, showed tactical skill at Worth, but he ought 
 not to have made a hopeless attempt to resist, after 
 both his flanks had been turned, and his centre 
 broken ; and this was a main cause of the rout of 
 his army. Above all, he ought to have effected his 
 retreat on the main army, through the passes in his 
 rear, and not have made an eccentric movement 
 southwards ; this gave his enemy a most favourable 
 chance to annihilate the remains of his forces, and 
 it uncovered the centre and left of the Army of the 
 Rhine, with the gravest and most disastrous 
 results. The rout, however, of Worth was so 
 
128 MOLTKE. 
 
 complete, that perhaps he had not his troops 
 sufficiently in hand to direct their retreat in the 
 true direction. 
 
 A battle, meanwhile, of a very different kind, 
 had been fought on the same day, far to the left of 
 Worth, and west of the Vosges. The Germans, 
 we have seen, had approached the frontier of 
 Lorraine and Alsace by the 4th of August, and 
 three divisions of the First and Second Armies, a 
 fourth being at a little distance, had, by the follow- 
 ing day, drawn near Sarrebruck. The French 
 corps, the 2nd, under General Frossard, which had 
 taken part in the demonstration of the 2nd, at the 
 intelligence of the advance of the enemy, had fallen 
 back from the plains behind the town, and had 
 occupied a position near Forbach, along a series of 
 heights in the midst of woods, extending from 
 Spicheren to the village of Stiring. Kameke, the 
 chief of the foremost German division, believed that 
 his adversary was in full retreat, and having 
 obtained the permission of his leader, Zastrow, 
 fell boldly on the strong line of the French. The 
 Prussian artillery again showed its superiority 
 to that opposed to it, but the attack of Kameke 
 at first failed, though his troops displayed the 
 most determined courage. Another German divi- 
 sion ere long came up, and though the French 
 were in turn reinforced, the assailants gradually 
 had the advantage ; a projecting eminence, called 
 the Red Spur, was stormed by an heroic effort, and 
 the Germans, as at Worth, made their footing good 
 
THE WAR OF 1870-1. WORTH AND SP10HEREN. 129 
 
 on their enemy's right, under the screen of a forest, 
 which spread along this side of the French position. 
 
 Up to this moment Frossard had thought that a 
 real attack was not being made, and he had not even 
 appeared on the field. He now, however, took his 
 troops in hand, and sent off to the chief of the corps 
 in his rear, making an earnest demand for imme- 
 diate aid. But meanwhile the third German divi- 
 sion had joined in the fight, and made its presence 
 felt, and while the battle raged along the front of 
 the French, a bold effort was made to turn their 
 left, and to seize Stiring, on which it rested. The 
 struggle continued for some hours, each side 
 fighting like good soldiers, though the destructive 
 fire of the German batteries produced gradually 
 marked effects; L but no reinforcements reached 
 the hard-pressed French ; and Frossard was 
 already contemplating a retreat, when the ap- 
 parition of the fourth hostile division, on his 
 left, compelled him hurriedly to draw off his forces. 
 Stiring was now captured and the whole position 
 lost, but the retreat was conducted in good order, 
 and the Germans did not attempt a pursuit. Their 
 losses, indeed, exceeded those of the enemy, about 
 4800 to 4000 men, but they had not the less gained 
 important success. The defeat of Frossard laid 
 Lorraine open, and broke the front of the Army of 
 the Rhine. 
 
 The Germans were at first inferior in force at 
 Spicheren, 1 but less so than is commonly supposed. 
 
 1 It is impossible even nearly to reconcile the German and 
 
 K 
 
130 MOLTKE. 
 
 They were superior, however, at the close of the 
 battle, without taking into account the last division, 
 the presence of which determined the retreat of 
 Frossard, and they were then probably about 
 30,000 to 25,000 men. On the other hand, there 
 was no feat of arms on the side of the French, 
 compared to the storming of the Red Spur height, 
 and the troops of the 2nd French corps were not 
 equal in quality to those which Macmahon led. 
 The most striking feature of the battle, certainly, 
 was the contrast presented by the contending 
 leaders. The attack of Kameke was, no doubt, 
 premature, as had been the original attack at Worth, 
 but he was admirably seconded by his colleagues ; 
 and here we see once more a remarkable instance 
 of one of the best characteristics of the Prussians 
 in command. How utterly different was the con- 
 duct of the generals in the opposite camp ! Fros- 
 sard was not in the field until the afternoon; he 
 was absent from his post at a momentous crisis, 
 and he lost precious hours in applying for the aid 
 which otherwise he might perhaps have secured. 
 Yet this was by no means the worst : three French 
 divisions, commanded by Bazaine, a name of evil 
 repute in the war of 1870, were not ten miles from 
 
 French accounts of the numbers engaged on either side at Spich- 
 eren. " The Prussian Staff History " repeatedly assumes that the 
 French were largely superior in force; but this is denied by 
 General Derre*cagaix, " La Guerre Moderne," vol. i. p. 530. The 
 French seem to have had at first the numerical advantage, but 
 they were outnumbered at last. 
 
THE WAR OF 1870-1. WORTH AND SPICHEREN. 131 
 
 the scene of the conflict ; and if Frossard was late 
 in seeking assistance, the sound of the battle ought 
 to have prompted Bazaine to advance with all his 
 troops to Spicheren. Had he taken this course, 
 25,000 men would have been placed in the scale 
 on the side of France, and the French must easily 
 have gained a victory. Bazaine, however, remained 
 inactive, and a fine opportunity was thrown away. 
 From the day of Ro^esvalles to that of Waterloo, 
 it has been a distinctive fault of the warriors of 
 France to think of themselves only, and to neglect 
 their comrades. 
 
 Worth and Spicheren were the first act in the 
 great drama of the war between France and 
 Germany. The Emperor's plan for the campaign 
 had failed ; he had been tried in the balance and 
 found wanting. Moltke had perfectly carried out 
 his fine strategic project, and France had been 
 invaded in irresistible force. Gleams of the old 
 lustre had shone on the French arms ; the conduct 
 of Macmahon's soldiery on the field of Worth had 
 been worthy of the heirs of Napoleon's legions. 
 But the Germans were in overwhelming strength ; 
 and not in numbers only, but in military worth, 
 their armies were better than that of their enemy. 
 They had been more quickly assembled in the field ; 
 their organization was far superior ; they were 
 better prepared, equipped, and trained for war; 
 in artillery, and in the art of exploring, by cavalry, 
 they easily surpassed the French. The French 
 
 army, on the contrary, was numerically weak ; its 
 
 K 2 
 
132 MOLTKE. 
 
 administration had not fulfilled its functions ; it was 
 sent to the frontier before it was ready ; it had a 
 considerable admixture of bad soldiers ; and, owing 
 to its deficiency in reconnoitring power, it was like 
 a man with short sight fighting with a man endowed 
 with perfect and true vision. Its leaders, too, were 
 far behind those of the Germans ; not that a great 
 military genius had appeared among these, but that 
 the German generals were skilful, daring, and self- 
 reliant, and especially acted well together, while the 
 French generals were deficient in these respects. 
 As to the supreme direction of the two armies, it 
 would be absurd to compare Napoleon III. to 
 Moltke, and the Emperor was already beset by a 
 difficulty, which was to cause his ruin, the necessity 
 he felt of yielding to opinion in Paris. It was this 
 that led to the trifling of Sarrebruck ; it was this that 
 kept his army upon the frontier when he knew that 
 it was outnumbered two to one, and when a retreat 
 had become his only safe course ; and it was this, 
 we shall see, that made his advisers neglect mili- 
 tary considerations for supposed reasons of state, 
 and that precipitated an appalling catastrophe. He 
 might plaintively assert, 1 "All may yet be repaired," 
 but dark clouds even now were lowering on France. 
 
 1 The well-known phrase of the Emperor, "Tout peilt se reparer," 
 uttered after Worth and Spicheren, is an exact repetition of a 
 remark of Napoleon after Waterloo. " Comment.," vol. v. p. 194. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 The German armies do not pursue the French after "Worth and 
 Spicheren Opportunity lost by Moltke Ketreat of the Army 
 of the Khine, in part towards Chalons, in part towards the 
 Moselle Projects of Napoleon III. The main part of the 
 French army falls back from the Nied to Metz Advance of 
 the G-erman armies to the Moselle Marshal Bazaine made 
 commander-in-chief of the whole French army, including the 
 part approaching Chalons His first operations The French 
 attempt to retreat on Verdun Battle of Colombey Nouilly 
 or Borny Advance of the Germans beyond the Moselle 
 Bazaine and the French army to the west of Metz Battle o 
 Mars La Tour Bazaine falls back to a strong position outside 
 Metz What he might have accomplished Advance of the 
 Germans Battle of Gravelotte Its vicissitudes and charac- 
 teristics The French, at last defeated, are driven back on 
 Metz Reflections on this passage in the war, and on the 
 conduct of Moltke and his adversaries. 
 
 THE double defeat of Worth and Spicheren had 
 broken up the Army of the Rhine. Macmahon, we 
 have seen, had fled southwards to the right ; 
 Frossard, on the left, had moved to Sarreguemines, 
 exposing himself to an attack on his flank ; Failly, 
 with the centre, had hurried away from Bitche, 
 detaching part of his troops to the main army, and 
 seeking, amidst many perils, to join Macmahon. 
 The German leaders, however, did not press the 
 enemy, as had happened after the victories that 
 
134 MOLTKE. 
 
 preceded Sadowa ; and they did not turn their 
 immense success to advantage. In the belief that 
 Macmahon had fallen back, as he ought to have 
 done, on the main army, they sent a small force 
 along the roads towards Bitche ; but when it was 
 found that he had gone in another direction they 
 did not attempt to molest his retreat. Frossard, 
 again, was not even followed ; Failly was permitted 
 to effect his escape, and to unite with the wreck of 
 Macmahon's forces ; and, as had been witnessed 
 in Bohemia before, contact with the foe was 
 altogether lost. Moltke was not, perhaps, respon- 
 sible for all this, for he was still many leagues in 
 the rear ; but, at this moment, he did not contem- 
 plate a determined pursuit of the French army, and 
 it is characteristic in fact of him, that he seldom 
 attempted to crush a defeated enemy, the very 
 opposite, in this respect, to Napoleon. Without 
 troubling himself with the movements of the French, 
 he proceeded leisurely, but surely, to carry out the 
 design which he had formed for the campaign, that 
 is to make the success of the invasion certain, to 
 drive his adversaries, beaten, to the north, and to 
 secure an approach to the French capital. For this 
 purpose the immense reserves of the German 
 armies, already on the march, were hastened forward 
 to the scene of events ; and five corps, 1 about 
 150,000 strong, were added to the gigantic forces 
 
 1 The 1st corps joining the First Army ; the 9th, 12th, and 2nd 
 the Second Army ; the 6th corps the Third Army. See ante. The 
 2nd corps was still some marches in the rear. 
 
METZ. MAES LA TOUR. GRAVELOTTE. 135 
 
 already spreading over Alsace and Lorraine. On 
 the 8th of August, two days after Worth, the vast 
 columns of the Third Army were directed through 
 the passes of the Vosges ; and while the Baden 
 division was told off to secure the flank, and to lay 
 siege to Strasbourg, the left wing of the great 
 invasion was marched to the Sarre, and thence to 
 the Upper Moselle. Meanwhile, the First and the 
 Second Armies, the right wing and centre of the 
 German hosts, advanced slowly on the 10th of 
 August through the table-lands and plains of 
 Lorraine, the First Army forming the pivot of a great 
 general movement on the Moselle, where the French 
 army, it was supposed, was making a stand on the 
 line between Metz and Thionville. 450,000 men, 
 at least, were thus set in motion to overwhelm the 
 remains of an army of 210,000, which had already 
 suffered heavy reverses, which at this moment could 
 hardly place 150,000 men on the course of the 
 Moselle, but which, it was assumed, was in a strong 
 position, resting on two fortresses covering its 
 flanks. 
 
 It is difficult to condemn the strategy, for, mani- 
 fold as are the chances of war, it made ultimate 
 success all but certain, and in the event it was more 
 than justified, if this is no conclusive test of its 
 merits. Moltke had resolved not to enter the 
 interior of France without an overwhelming 
 superiority of force, and this once secured he 
 might fairly expect that he would be able to effect 
 his daring project. He therefore waited until his 
 
136 MOLTKE. 
 
 reserves were at hand, and he moved, without an 
 attempt at haste, to the Moselle, ever intent on the 
 one great object in view. Nor can it be denied 
 that circumspection and caution were needed in the 
 advance ; it was reasonable to expect that the 
 French army would defend the formidable line of 
 the Moselle, as Villars had held it against Marl- 
 borough ; the real state of that army and its chiefs 
 could hardly be fully known in the German camp, 
 and a great invasion of France had been always 
 perilous. Nevertheless, an impartial student of war 
 will probably think that in this instance Moltke let 
 a grand opportunity slip, and failed to strike a 
 blow that might have been decisive. He was in 
 communication by the telegraph with the three 
 armies, and it is not easy to understand why, after 
 Worth and Spicheren, he did not at once follow his 
 defeated enemy. A very slight effort of the Third 
 Army would have simply annihilated Macmahon's 
 forces, and probably would have destroyed Failly ; 
 and had it sent even a small detachment across the 
 Vosges, the First and Second Armies, with this 
 support, could have crushed to atoms the remaining 
 parts of the 1 Army of the Rhine, already beaten. 
 In that event, a great and decisive victory might 
 have been won about the 10th of August, before the 
 French army had had time to retreat, and the war 
 would perhaps have come to an end without a 
 
 1 This movement has been indicated by several writers ; and 
 what Moltke might have accomplished is well shown by Y. D., 
 "La Guerre de 1870," pp. 213-17. 
 
METZ. MARS LA TOUR. GRAVELOTTE. 137 
 
 desperate struggle protracted for months. Be this 
 as it may, when on the path of victory Moltke was 
 never to be even named with Napoleon, though 
 the telegraph gave him an immense advantage, 
 unknown in the days of Jena and Austerlitz, but 
 the difference cannot be deemed surprising if we 
 recollect that Moltke was in his seventieth year. 1 
 It was certainly, also, a plain mistake that the 
 French army was not kept in sight; this gave it 
 ample time to escape had it been even rationally 
 led ; nay, in spite of the overpowering strength of 
 its foes, it afforded it, we shall see, more than one 
 chance to strike with effect, perhaps to achieve 
 great things had a real commander been at its 
 head. 
 
 Meanwhile the shattered Army of the Rhine, 
 though not pressed as it ought to have been, had 
 been effecting its retreat in distress and confusion. 
 Macmahon, ultimately joined by Failly, after falling 
 back towards Haguenau and Strasbourg, had marched 
 hurriedly through the defile of Saverne ; and cross- 
 ing the Upper Moselle and the Meuse, was, in obedi- 
 
 1 In commenting on the operations of the Germans after Worth 
 and Spicheren, Major Adams, though an enthusiastic admirer of 
 Moltke , observes, " The one quality in which Von Moltke seems 
 deficient is that of reaping the full and instantaneous fruits of 
 victory. The time that was permitted to elapse after the first 
 struggle lost to the Germans the opportunity of bringing the war to 
 a brilliant and rapid conclusion," " Great Campaigns," pp. 614-15. 
 Still, the thinker on war should ever bear in mind the sagacious 
 remark of Turenne, "Memoires," p. 185 : " Souvent les personnes 
 les plus habiles font des fautes qu'il est plus aise de remarquer que 
 de prevenir." 
 
138 MOLTKE. 
 
 dence to the commands of his ill-fated master, seek- 
 ing a refuge near the great camp of Chalons, where he 
 could rally the corps that had been placed at Belfort, 
 the 7th, commanded by General Douay. The 
 left wing and part of the centre of the French 
 army, for the time not 140,000 strong, taking even 
 into account the troops sent off by Failly, were 
 thus left exposed to a crushing blow, which, how- 
 ever, we have seen, was not struck, and they remained 
 open to the irresistible attacks of an enemy almost 
 threefold in strength, should they attempt to make 
 a stand in Lorraine. In these circumstances Na- 
 poleon III. resolved to abandon the line of the 
 Moselle, and ordered a general retreat on Chalons ; 
 and this probably was the most judicious course, for 
 if he could not expect to repeat the marvels of the 
 campaign of 1814, his whole forces would have been 
 drawn together, and Paris, a colossal fortress, would 
 have formed a huge entrenched camp, most favour- 
 able as a field of manoeuvre. 
 
 Once more, however, the dread of the scorn of 
 the capital had a fatal influence on the troubled 
 Head of the State, who never should have been a 
 general-in-chief. The Emperor was afraid to retreat 
 so far ; and when it had become apparent that the 
 German armies were not making a rapid advance, he 
 resolved for a few hours to try to stand on the Nied, 
 an affluent of the Sarre, to the east of Metz. The 
 corps which had been formed at Chalons, the 6th, 
 " under Canrobert, the Crimean veteran, had been 
 hurriedly directed to move upon Metz, and three- 
 
METZ. MARS LA TOUR. GBAVELOTTE. 139 
 
 fourths of it had, ere long, reached the fortress, 
 raising the numbers, therefore, of the army in 
 Lorraine l to about 170,000 men, 10,000 of these 
 probably being not effective troops. Macmahon, 
 however, was not called up, though as yet he was 
 far to the east of Chalons, and a single day sufficed 
 to induce the Emperor to give up any project of 
 accepting battle. The line of the Nied was too 
 short to afford a good position of defence against a 
 more powerful enemy ; and, at the intelligence of 
 the approach of the Gerrdans, the French army was 
 hastily directed on Metz, invaluable hours having 
 been lost. The retreat was effected in severe 
 weather; 2 signs of insubordination, panic, and terror, 
 had begun to show themselves among the French 
 soldiery, always sensitive either in victory or defeat ; 
 and the attitude of their chiefs was despondent in 
 the extreme. By the 12th of August the retiring 
 army was in front of Metz on the eastern bank of 
 the Moselle. It had not been molested by the slow 
 moving enemy, and it might easily have made its 
 way to Chalons, but for lamentable vacillation and 
 weakness in command. 
 
 1 A careful comparison of many authorities seems to prove that 
 the calculation is fairly correct. The figures given by Moltke, we 
 shall see, are altogether wrong, and those of the Prussian Staff are 
 not nearly correct. 
 
 2 A good account of the state of the French army, in its re- 
 treat 011 Metz, after Worth and Spicheren, at least as regards the 
 troops in Lorraine, will be found in u Metz, par un officier superieur 
 de 1'armee du Rhin," p. 50. See also "Guerre de 1870," by 
 Bazaine, pp. 42, 46. 
 
140 MOLTKE. 
 
 During these lame and halting operations of the 
 French, the invaders had been overrunning Lor- 
 raine. The Third Army, detaching a few troops to 
 mask the petty forts of the Yosges, but reinforced 
 by an additional corps, had reached the Upper 
 Moselle by the 14th of August, had taken possession 
 of Lun^ville and Nancy, the chief towns of the old 
 Duchy, and already held the avenues leading to 
 Paris. The First and Second Armies, strengthened 
 by four corps, advanced along the great roads be- 
 tween the Sarre and the Moselle, and spread over the 
 adjoining region, at first extended on a wide front, 
 but drawn towards each other when the news 
 arrived that the French army was upon the Nied. 
 When informed that the enemy was in full retreat, 
 Moltke made arrangements for a further advance of 
 the two armies upon the Moselle, which deserve the 
 attention of students of war. He had lost sight of 
 the French army, but he had been apprised that it 
 was behind the Moselle, yet, as it was quite possible 
 as was the case in fact, that it was concentrated east 
 of the river, and in the neighbourhood of the great 
 stronghold of Metz, his preparations were formed on 
 this assumption. The First Army was directed to 
 stand on the Nied, to observe and even to reach the 
 enemy, and the most forward corps of the Second 
 Army were ordered to attain and master the Moselle, 
 so that, in conjunction with the Third Army, they 
 should be able to take part in the great movement, 
 which was to send the French northward and to lay 
 open Paris. The march, however, of the Second 
 Army was a march across the front of a still power- 
 
MABSHAL BA/A1NK. 
 
 To face paye 141. 
 
MBTZ. MARS LA TOUR. GRAVELOTTE. 141 
 
 ful foe, under the protection of a stronghold of the 
 first order ; and this flank march, to use technical 
 language, was admirably screened by dense masses 
 of horsemen, which covered all the approaches from 
 Metz. On the supposition, however, that the French 
 were at hand, two corps of the Second Army were 
 moved to support the First Army, should it be 
 assailed, and the combined forces were so placed 
 that, in Moltke's judgment, they would possess the 
 means of falling on their enemy in front and flank. 
 By this time the stress of opinion in the camps of 
 the French had compelled the Emperor to give up 
 his command. Marshal Bazaine, who had been 
 already placed at the head of the army still in Lor- 
 raine, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th corps, the Imperial 
 Guard, and the 6th corps just arrived at Metz, was 
 nominated, on the 12th of August, Commander-in- 
 Chief of the whole French army, including the 
 corps of Macmahon, Failly, and Douay, the 1st, 
 5th, and 7th, on their way to Chalons. Every 
 allowance ought to be made, in justice, for a general 
 who, at a moment's notice, received a command in 
 the grave straits in which the Marshal was even 
 now placed, that is, who undertook to direct a 
 defeated army, threatened by an enemy in over- 
 powering strength, and separated from its supports 
 by a wide distance ; and if Bazaine, in the progress 
 of events, was to prove himself the evil genius of 
 France, his first operations are not to be harshly 
 judged. It is remarkable indeed that, at the out- 
 set, the Marshal wished to adopt a course, which 
 might have given the French arms a victory, nay, 
 
142 MOLTKE. 
 
 have had a marked effect on events, had he followed 
 it up with boldness and energy. Moltke, we have 
 seen, had left the First Army on the Nied, and had 
 placed two corps sufficiently at hand, as he thought, 
 to afford it aid in the event of an attack from 
 Metz, 1 but this calculation was not accurate ; had 
 the French army fallen on the enemy, in collected 
 force, on the 13th of August, it ought to have de- 
 feated the First Army before the two corps could 
 have reached the field, 2 and Bazaine contemplated 
 this very movement, though not probably fully 
 aware of the facts, or of the advantage he might 
 have won. 
 
 Indecision, however, and want of firmness of par- 
 pose, combined with indolence and dulness of mind, 
 were the characteristics of Bazaine, as a chief, and 
 he gave proof of these qualities from the first, 
 though we repeat he is not yet to be lightly con- 
 demned. The Emperor, if no longer in command, 
 still had the influence that belongs to a sovereign ; 
 he entreated the Marshal to fall back at once to 
 conduct the army across the Moselle, and, leaving 
 Metz, to hasten on to Verdun, with a view of reach- 
 ing Chalons at last, and it is only just to remark 
 that this was the advice of nearly all the French 
 generals on the spot. The Marshal gave up his 
 
 1 This is very clearly shown by General Derrecagaix, " La Guerre 
 Moderne," ii. p. 57. A fault was, no doubt, left in the German 
 cuirass. 
 
 2 " L'Armee du Ehin " par le Marechal Bazaine, p. 51 ; " Guerre 
 de 1870," par 1'ex-Marechal Bazaine, p. 62. These works, the 
 apologies of the unfortunate Marshal, are of little intrinsic merit, 
 but deserve attention. 
 
METZ. MAES LA TOUR. GBAVELOTTE. 143 
 
 offensive project, he ordered an immediate retreat 
 on Verdun, and, by the morning of the 14th of 
 August, the French army was defiling through 
 Metz, and passing the Moselle on its way to the 
 Meuse. The march was halting and slow in the 
 extreme, the columns were delayed and entangled 
 as they wound through the streets and alleys 
 of the town ; the mass of the impedimenta was 
 immense, but though Bazaine 1 has been severely 
 censured for not having bridged the Moselle more 
 fully to expedite the march of his troops, 2 the charge 
 appears to be not justified. It was otherwise cer- 
 tainly when the army had begun to get clear of 
 Metz and its hindrances, and had crossed the 
 Moselle to continue the retreat. Two main roads 
 led from Metz to Verdun, one by Gravelotte, and 
 thence in two large branches, by Mars La Tour, 
 Woevre, and to the north by Etain, the other still 
 further north, by Briey, and lesser roads ran into 
 these great avenues from many points of the town 
 and the fortress. The Marshal, however, .crowded 
 his whole army on the single main road, forming one 
 line only, until it divides into two at Gravelotte; he 
 made little or no use of the secondary roads, and 
 obviously this was a palpable error, for the retrograde 
 movement was delayed for hours, when celerity was 
 of supreme importance. 
 
 By the afternoon of the 14th of August, consider- 
 
 1 See the Eeport of General Riviere, p. 22. This report, however, 
 is really the official indictment of Bazaine at his trial, and is charged 
 with every kind of accusation, true or not. 
 
 2 " L'Armee du Rhin," p. 48 ; " Guerre de 1870," p. 61. 
 
144 MOLTKE. 
 
 ably less than half of the French army had crossed 
 the Moselle and reached the west of Metz. But 
 the clouds of dust which announced the retreat, 
 and the reports of patrols and perhaps of spies, 
 had attracted the attention of the generals of the First 
 Army placed, we have seen, by Moltke on the Nied ; 
 and just as had happened at Worth and Spicheren, 
 these leaders resolved to attack the enemy before 
 waiting for the direction of the general-in-chief. 
 At about 5 p.m. two Prussian divisions had advanced 
 along the main roads from the Sarre to Metz, on 
 Colombey and Nouilly and the outposts of the 
 French, and an extending line of fire marked the 
 course of a battle along the eastern front of the 
 great neighbouring stronghold. The French seem 
 to have been almost surprised, and the enemy 
 threw them back for a time, taking possession of 
 more than one point of vantage, -but they really 
 were superior in force at first ; and parts of the 
 3rd and 4th corps, commanded by Generals Decaen 
 and L'Admirault, had ere long brought the assail- 
 ants to a stand. A furious conflict now raged for 
 a time, marked by the usual feature of these 
 engagements, the ascendancy of the Prussian guns, 
 and the superiority of the French rifle, and Bazaine, 
 who had hastened to the spot, showed considerable 
 skill in directing his troops, though he did not 
 employ his great reserves at hand. The arrival at 
 last of another Prussian division, and of the ad- 
 vanced guard of one of the two corps which had 
 been placed to support the First Army, compelled, 
 
METZ. MARS LA TOUR. GRAVELOTTE. 145 
 
 however, the Marshal to retreat at nightfall, and 
 the French retired slowly under the guns of Metz. 
 They had not been defeated from a tactical point 
 of view ; the battle in fact was drawn, as a mere 
 passage of arms, and the Germans had suffered far 
 the most heavy loss, 5000 compared to 3400 men. 
 
 Bazaine had been a good soldier in this fierce 
 encounter, and had even inspired his disheartened 
 troops with confidence. But he had shown want 
 of capacity as a general-in-chief, and he had missed 
 an occasion which he might have seized. The 
 Guard, and part of the 2nd French corps, were on 
 the spot, and had he sent this formidable reserve 
 to the aid of the 3rd and the 4th corps he must 
 have defeated the Prussian divisions, and possibly 1 
 have even beaten the First Army in detail. He was, 
 however, a man of weak half measures, like most 
 inert and incompetent chiefs ; he never thought of 
 recurring to his former design, and though he 
 might have attacked with a fair prospect of success, 
 he was satisfied when he had merely kept back 
 the enemy. Moltke, on the other hand, drew 
 fruitful results from this hard-fought and prolonged 
 battle, known as Colombey JSTouilly or Borny. 
 He had not probably wished the blow to be struck, 
 though he had made preparations for an event of 
 the kind, but the conflict had still further retarded 
 the slow retreat of the French from Metz ; and he 
 saw an opportunity, owing to this delay, of inter- 
 
 1 See V. D., Guerre de 1870," p. 215, and authorities cited in 
 note. 
 
 L 
 
146 MOLTKE. 
 
 cepting Bazaine on his march, and of striking him 
 before he could reach Verdun ; success in this 
 operation being a further step in the fundamental 
 scheme of his strategy, to force the enemy north- 
 ward and to expose Paris. By this time a part of 
 the Second Army, the movement masked, we have 
 seen, by cavalry, had taken possession of the line 
 of the Moselle, between Dieulouard and Pont a 
 Mousson, at no considerable distance from Metz, 
 and the remaining corps, save one, was at hand. 
 Moltke's orders were issued on the 15th of August ; 
 the First Army was to approach the Moselle, draw- 
 ing near the southern part of Metz, and leaving one 
 corps in observation in the rear, and the great mass 
 of the Second Army was to press forward west- 
 wards, and, having passed the Moselle, was to 
 endeavour to close on the line of the enemy's retreat 
 and to cut him off from Verdun and the Meuse. 
 
 This contrast between the remissness of Bazaine 
 and the insight and energy of his antagonist must 
 be evident to every student of war. The Germans, 
 meanwhile, had been advancing even before Moltke's 
 arrangements were complete, and throughout the 
 15th of August they had been gathering on the 
 Moselle. By the evening of that day the First 
 Army, the right wing of the immense invasion, had 
 two corps, the 8th and the 7th, near the region 
 between the Moselle and its feeder, the Seille, the 
 attendant cavalry approaching Metz, and one corps 
 only, the 1st, was in the rear. The Second Army, 
 the centre, having a single corps, the 2nd, not yet 
 
METZ. MAES LA TOUR. GRAVELOTTE. 147 
 
 come into line, and communicating on the left by 
 one corps, the 4th, with the Third Army, the left 
 wing, round Nancy, had five corps ready for the 
 great march westwards, the 3rd, the 10th, the 
 Guards, the 9th and the 12th, this colossal force 
 being on either bank of the Moselle ; and everything 
 had been prepared for the decisive movement,' next 
 day, to intercept the retreating enemy. Here, how- 
 ever, a great mistake was made, which might have 
 been followed by evil results. Moltke had wished 
 that the mass of the Second Army should sweep 
 circuitously round on the retiring French, holding 
 the various roads from Metz to Verdun ; in this 
 way they would surely be cut off, and compelled to 
 fight a disastrous battle. Prince Frederick Charles, 
 however, the chief of the Second Army, seems to 
 have thought that this movement would be too late, 
 and that Bazaine was already not far from the 
 Meuse, and, modifying the general orders he had 
 received, he despatched one corps, the 3rd, towards 
 the main road leading to Verdun, by Mars La Tour, 
 and he sent another, the 10th, in the same direc- 
 tion, but at a considerable distance to the left. 
 The object of these operations was, no doubt, to 
 pursue Bazaine, to press on his rear, and to force 
 him to stand at bay and to fight ; and as the Prince 
 communicated, at least in part, the new dispositions 
 he had made to the headquarters at Pont a Mousson, 
 Moltke, in some measure perhaps, was accountable 
 for them. 1 
 
 1 That this is a fairly accurate account of these operations, 
 
 L 2 
 
148 MOLTKE. 
 
 The advanced patrols of the German cavalry, 
 exploring far beyond the bodies in the rear, had 
 approached Mars La Tour on the 15th of August, 
 and had met and defeated some squadrons of French 
 horsemen. By the morning of the 16th the 3rd 
 Prussian corps had drawn near the great road from 
 Metz to Verdun, by Mars La Tour, as had been 
 directed, and the 10th was on the way by Thiau- 
 court, nearly half a march distant. Meanwhile the 
 French army, under Bazaine, had been continuing 
 its retreat from Metz, but its movements had been 
 more than ever slow. The battle of the 14th had 
 greatly retarded its advance ; the masses of troops, 
 collected on a single road, and the huge trains of 
 supplies and munitions had proceeded almost at a 
 snail's pace, and the 4th corps had been compelled 
 to follow the northern road, towards Briey, in order 
 to avoid confusion. The retreat, indeed, had been 
 much more tedious than the German commanders 
 could have supposed, and Prince Frederick Charles 
 had been deceived when he had heard that his 
 enemy was near the Meuse. On the morning of the 
 16th the retiring army was still but a short way 
 from Metz, the left wing and centre, the Guard, 
 the 2nd and the 6th corps being around the great 
 road by Mars La Tour, from Rezonville, and Vion- 
 
 may, we think, be gathered from the " Prussian Staff History," 
 vol. i. pp. 351, 355. Attempts have been made to show that 
 Prince Frederick Charles was in no sense responsible, but these 
 are certainly futile. The responsibility of Moltke is much more 
 doubtful, but may be, we believe, inferred. 
 
METZ. MAES LA TOUE. GEAVELOTTE. 149 
 
 ville, to Verneville northwards, the right wing, the 
 3rd and the 4th corps, being in the rear, north- 
 wards also, and but a few miles distant. The 
 Emperor by this time had left the army he had 
 abandoned the helm of the imperilled ship and his 
 departure had removed the chief influence that had 
 directed the French to seek Verdun and the Meuse. 
 It would be absurd to charge Bazaine with the 
 sinister conduct attributed to him, even at this 
 time, by violent partisans and time-servers ; but he 
 had never approved of the march towards Verdun ; 
 he had a strange longing to stay around Metz, and 
 when his master was gone he began to hesitate. 
 He ordered a general halt for the forenoon of the 
 16th, ostensibly to enable his 3rd and 4th corps to 
 come into line with the rest of the army, and he 
 already looked back with regret, there can be little 
 doubt, to the stronghold he had been induced to 
 leave. The general result was that the French 
 army, about 140,000 strong in the field, was 
 collected within a space comparatively small, while 
 a single Prussian corps, with another far off, was 
 near this formidable mass, and within striking dis- 
 tance. Had Bazaine been a real commander, he 
 ought to have swept his enemy, routed, from his 
 path. 
 
 These operations led to the battle of Mars La 
 Tour, one of the most memorable of the war of 
 1870-1, and perhaps the most glorious to the 
 German arms. On the morning of the 16th of 
 August, a body of Prussian cavalry, detached by 
 
150 MOLTKE. 
 
 the chief of the 10th corps, and supported by a few 
 thousand infantry, fell on a larger body of French 
 horsemen, reconnoitringround the hamlet of Yionville 
 on the great road by Mars LaTour, and put the enemy, 
 discreditably surprised, to flight. Ere long a single 
 division of the 3rd Prussian corps, one of the most 
 distinguished of the Prussian army, had, obeying 
 its orders, reached the scene ; it was preceded by 
 another division of horsemen, and its chief, Alvens- 
 leben, probably in the belief that he was in the 
 presence of an enemy in retreat, attacked the 2nd 
 French corps of Frossard, part of the left wing of 
 Bazaine's forces. The attack was, for a time, re- 
 pelled, but the second division of the 3rd corps had 
 soon come to the aid of its comrades, and, after a 
 protracted struggle, in which, as always, the Ger- 
 man artillery had the advantage, the corps of 
 Frossard, beaten at Spicheren, and diminished by a 
 division left behind at Metz, was driven back on 
 the reserves in the rear, and the villages of Vion- 
 ville and Flavigny were lost. By this time 
 Bazaine had appeared on the spot ; he skilfully 
 withdrew his shattered troops, and filled the gap 
 that had been made in his line, with part of the 
 Imperial Guard left carefully in the rear, and this 
 movement, covered by a fine charge of horsemen, 
 completely restored the Marshal's battle. Alvens- 
 leben, however, persisted in fighting what was 
 evidently an army with his one corps, and before 
 long, Canrobert and the 6th corps had fallen in 
 force on the hard-pressed Germans. The unequal 
 
METZ. MAES LA TOUK. GRAVELOTTE. 151 
 
 contest was nobly maintained, but the approach of the 
 3rd French corps, now under Le Boeuf its former 
 chief had fallen on the 14th compelled the 3rd 
 corps to retreat by degrees, and probably it would 
 have been severely worsted, but for the superiority 
 of its well-served guns, and a magnificent effort 
 made by the cavalry at hand. The Prussian squad- 
 rons, "courageous unto death," like the French 
 at "Worth, charged the enemy drawing near, but 
 more fortunate than the French at Worth, though 
 hardly stricken, they were not destroyed, and they 
 extricated the infantry from what might have been 
 ruin, had the French made a well combined attack. 
 The French army had, at first, been surprised, 
 and the 2nd corps had been fairly beaten. Bazaine, 
 too, had made no attempt to crush the single divi- 
 sion which had dared to assail him, and the 6th and 
 3rd French corps arrived on the field, successively, 
 and in a defensive attitude. At last, however, the 
 French were in line, in overwhelming strength corn- 
 compared to their enemy, and the approach of the 
 4th corps of L'Admirault increased the huge pre- 
 ponderance of force. The Marshal was entreated 
 to give orders for a general attack from Mars La 
 Tour on his right, to Rezonville on his left, and had 
 this been given nothing could have saved Alvensleben 
 from a crushing defeat. 1 Bazaine, however, refused 
 to advance ; he kept the great body of the Guard 
 inactive in the rear ; he insisted that the 6th and 
 3rd corps should remain where they stood, and a 
 1 "La Guerre Moderne," General Derrecagaix, vol. ii. p. 221. 
 
152 MOLTKE. 
 
 great opportunity was, indisputably lost. At about 
 four in the afternoon, the heads of the 10th Prussian 
 corps appeared on the ground and sustained the 
 3rd, and before long the greater part of the main 
 body hastened to the spot with the energetic good- 
 will characteristic of the Prussian commanders, 
 and in some measure redressed the balance of 
 numbers. The 4th French corps, however, had 
 come into line, and once more the pressure on the 
 overmatched Germans became so intense, that 
 they partly gave way, especially on their left near 
 Mars La Tour. Another heroic effort of the 
 Prussian cavalry, in which the French cavalry were 
 driven from the field, succeeded in keeping the 
 enemy back ; but certainly the 10th corps would 
 have been in the gravest peril, had its adversaries, 
 instead of holding their ground, collected their 
 forces for a determined attack. Meanwhile a single 
 division of the 8th Prussian corps, and a fraction of 
 the 9th, had come to the aid of the 3rd, still 
 struggling against superior numbers, and the terrible 
 strain was, to a certain extent, relieved. Night 
 closed on a bloody and protracted conflict, in which 
 a few thousand men, if largely reinforced by degrees, 
 had defied and baffled a whole army for hours, and 
 in which neither side could lay a claim to victory. 
 The losses of the Germans and French were about 
 equal, from 16,000 to 17,000 men. 
 
 The Prussians were not 25,000 strong in the 
 first instance at Mars La Tour, and they seem at 
 last to have been about 75,000. On the other hand 
 
METZ. MARS LA TOUR. GRAVELOTTE. 153 
 
 the French must have had more than 90,000 men 
 on the field, and they might have had fully 120,000.* 
 Yet, if we except the beaten troops of Frossard, 
 the army of Bazaine fought extremely well, though 
 the confidence of Worth had passed away, and had 
 been transferred to the German camp. The reasons 
 that a very superior force failed to defeat, nay to 
 rout, a much weaker enemy, are apparent on a 
 survey of the battle. The daring offensive assumed 
 by the 3rd Prussian corps, the arrival of the 10th 
 corps late, and the noble self-sacrifice of the 
 Prussian cavalry, could not have deprived the 
 French of a victory had Bazaine simply put forth 
 his strength, and boldly attacked with his greatly 
 more powerful forces. Inactive, halting in mind, 
 and ever clinging to Metz, he kept his army 
 passively on the spot, and would not allow it to seize 
 success when before it, and he threw away one of 
 the best chances ever offered to a soldier by fortune. 
 Nothing, on the contrary, could have been finer than 
 the tenacity and daring of the undaunted Germans ; 
 and their leaders displayed their wonted energy, 
 and gave each other, as usual, cordial support. 
 Yet the conduct of Alvensleben in risking the 
 attack, and especially on persisting in it, must be 
 pronounced excessively rash, though it is very 
 remarkable it received the approval of his superiors 
 after the event. In truth he was less to blame than 
 
 1 This estimate has been formed after a comparison of many 
 authorities. The figures given by V. P., " Guerre de 1870," are 
 grossly wrong. 
 
154 MOLTKE. 
 
 Prince Frederick Charles, who, we have seen, 
 had, probably owing to false reports, diverted the 
 3rd and 10th corps from the positions they were 
 intended to take, and had placed them too near 
 the French army, with orders probably to attack, 
 on the supposition that it was far from Metz, and 
 was approaching the Meuse in hasty retreat. 
 Moltke was not responsible, at least at first, for 
 what was an undoubted error, but he seems, we 
 think, to have acquiesced in it, and if he did, all 
 that can be said is that errors of this kind are 
 inevitable in war. 
 
 The French army passed the night on the field, 
 exhausted, and without orders from its chief. The 
 Germans expected to be attacked on the morning 
 of the 17th, and sent forward every available man 
 and horse, and had Bazaine been a capable leader, 
 he might possibly even yet have brushed aside his 
 enemy, and made good his retreat to the Meuse. 
 This operation, however, would have been at best 
 of doubtful, perhaps of disastrous, result, and he 
 might have made a much grander move had he 
 possessed energy, resource and insight. He was 
 still in the neighbourhood of a vast fortress, with 
 ample passages over a large river, an admirable 
 position to make his army secure, and to prepare it 
 for a great offensive effort ; and the communica- 
 tions of the Germans from the Rhine to the Moselle 
 had been left exposed by their rapid advance to cut 
 him off from the Meuse and Verdun. On the 17th 
 of August one corps only of the First Army was to 
 
METZ. MAES LA TOUR. GEAVELOTTE. 155 
 
 the east of Metz, five corps of the Second Army 
 were far to the west, and even the last corps, the 
 2nd, was on the Moselle, with directions to hasten 
 towards the main body, and the Third Army was 
 beyond Nancy, its chiefs thinking of a march on 
 Chalons. Had Bazaine, therefore, withdrawn his 
 forces with secrecy and swiftness into Metz, and 
 issued from the fortress on the 18th of August, 
 along the great roads leading to the Nied and the 
 Upper Sarre, he might have overwhelmed the single 
 hostile corps in his path, have seized, ravaged and 
 cut in two the communications of his foes, and very 
 possibly have raised the siege of Strasbourg. The 
 Germans could not have had time to retrace their 
 steps, and to ward off a tremendous stroke, and the 
 Marshal, grasping the invaders, so to speak, by the 
 back, would probably have gained important success 
 and have retarded the German march for weeks, and 
 would almost certainly have saved himself and his 
 army. 1 By a manoeuvre somewhat analogous, but 
 of far more risk, the youthful Bonaparte turned 
 defeat into victory, when, beaten at Caldiero, he 
 marched through Verona, and, crossing the Adige, 
 fell on Alvinzi's flank, after a fierce struggle on the 
 dykes of Arcola. 
 
 1 This movement occurred to more than one French officer at 
 the time, " Metz Campagne et negotiations," p. Ill, and has been 
 indicated by a series of writers. The problem has been admirably- 
 worked out by General Hamley, " Operations of War," pp. 329, 
 332, ed. 1889. The "Prussian Staff History" and Moltke 
 maintain a most suggestive silence. 
 
156 MOLTKE. 
 
 The buzzard, however, is not the eagle, and 
 Bazaine was not equal to an effort of this kind. He 
 was a soldier, however, of some tactical skill ; he 
 had great confidence, as his writings show, in the 
 power of modern small-arms on the defensive ; and 
 he had, we have seen, a fixed idea to keep fast to 
 Metz. Under these impressions, he drew back his 
 army towards the fortress, on the 17th of August, 
 after being many hours in inaction ; he had 
 abandoned the notion of a retreat on Verdun ; and l 
 there seems to be no foundation for his assertion 
 that this was inevitable from want of munitions 
 and supplies. His next step was to select a strong 
 position in the vicinity of Metz, where he might 
 await the impending onset of the German army, his 
 belief being that, by tactics of this kind, he would 
 repel and ultimately 2 wear out his enemy. Such a 
 position was formed near the west of Metz, along a 
 range of uplands, extending to the left, from the 
 village of Kozerieulles to Eoncourt on the right, 
 and fronting the great roads which lead to the 
 Meuse, by Gravelotte, Doncourt, and to the north by 
 Briey. This line in some respects was formidable 
 in the extreme ; to the left it was protected by 
 Metz ; the stream of the Mance ran like a fosse be- 
 fore it ; it afforded cover to reserves in the rear ; and 
 it was dotted with villages and large farm-houses 
 which, nearly all, could be strongly fortified. 
 Bazaine placed his four corps along this ground of 
 vantage, a front of seven or eight miles in length ; 
 1 Riviere, " Report," pp. 36, 39. 2 " L'Armee du Rhin," p. 67. 
 
METZ. MAES LA TOUR. GEAVELOTTB. 157 
 
 the left, the 2nd, on either side of the great road 
 from Metz to Gravelotte, the 3rd and 4th, the 
 centre extending to Amanvillers ; and the 6th, the 
 right, reaching St. Privat and Roncourt. The 
 various resources of the military arfc were employed 
 to increase the means of defence ; batteries were 
 carefully placed to bear on the enemy ; trenches and 
 pits had been formed to shelter the infantry, and to 
 afford ample scope to the deadly rifle ; and every 
 hamlet and building had been made an outwork to 
 repel the weight of the German onset. But the 
 Imperial Guard was reserved in the rear, around the 
 western forts of Metz, with an evident purpose to 
 cling to the place ; and it was separated from the 
 main army, and especially from the right wing, by 
 a long interval of space. 
 
 This position was one of extreme strength for 
 passive defence a bad method in all ages, and 
 especially so in modern war but it had two marked 
 and very grave defects. It afforded little facility 
 for counter attacks at any point of the far extend- 
 ing line ; and it was comparatively weak, at the 
 extreme right, at Roncourt, a danger aggravated by 
 the fact that the 6th corps of Canrobert had arrived 
 from Chalons with but few sappers, and with 
 hardly any tools to make field entrenchments. The 
 Imperial Guard, too, was most wrongly placed, 
 detached around Metz, and far from the army ; and 
 strategically the position of Bazaine was unsafe, for 
 he was about to accept a battle with his back to the 
 Rhine, and his communications with France cut 
 
158 MOLTKE. 
 
 off, and a real defeat would be probably fatal. We 
 pass from the French, to the German camp, and to 
 the operations of Moltke and his lieutenants. They 
 had expected, we have said, an attack on the 17th, 
 and had assembled all their forces at hand ; but as 
 the enemy made no sign, it was resolved to resume 
 again a determined offensive, and to fall on Bazaine 
 and his army as quickly as possible. To effect this 
 purpose five corps of the Second Army were brought 
 together, during the course of the day, and placed 
 near the main road from Metz by Mars La Tour, 
 from Flavigny on the right to Hannonville on the 
 left ; and the 2nd corps in the rear was ordered to 
 come up. Meanwhile two corps of the First Army 
 were collected on the right of the Second Army, and 
 spread from Flavigny to the approaches to Metz ; 
 and one corps was left on the eastern bank of 
 the Moselle, to make demonstrations against the 
 fortress. Nine corps d'armee, therefore, 1 were to 
 take part, more or less directly, in the great on- 
 slaught to be made on the weakened five corps of 
 the French, and to stifle the enemy under sheer 
 weight of numbers. 
 
 By this time, however, as had been seen before, 
 contact with the French army had been lost, except 
 at the point of the line near Metz, and this marked 
 failing in Moltke's strategy was to be attended 
 with grave results. On the morning of the 18th of 
 
 1 The 3rd, 10th, 9th, 12th corps, with the Guards, of the 
 Second Ann j, and the 2nd corps in the rear ; the 7th and 8th 
 corps of the First Army and the 1st beyond the Moselle. 
 
METZ. MAES LA TOUR. GBAVELOTTE. 159 
 
 August the German chiefs did not know where 
 Bazaine was, and they were unable to direct the 
 huge masses that spread along a front of nearly 
 twelve miles, against the enemy, with any kind of 
 certainty. Time, so precious in war, was lost, and 
 Moltke's operations were at first tentative. The 
 Second Army was moved northwards towards Don- 
 court, and even near to Briey, on the supposition 
 that the French were trying to retreat by the 
 northern roads that led to the Meuse, and the 
 First Army was kept where it stood. As it might 
 turn out, however, as was suspected, that Bazaine 
 was still near Metz, orders were given that if this 
 should be proved the case, the Second Army should 
 make a great wheel eastwards, and fall on the 
 enemy when attained ; the First Army being made 
 the pivot for this prolonged and circuitous move- 
 ment. The Second Army was, therefore, at first 
 sent in a direction far away from the French ; and 
 the morning was advanced when it became manifest 
 that these were prepared to accept battle, in front 
 of the west of Metz. Even then a remarkable 
 mistake was made. Bazaine' s right wing, which 
 reached, we have seen, Eoncourt, was reported as 
 extending to Amanvillers only, that is to the ground 
 held in force by the centre ; and part of the Second 
 Army was, at the first instance, directed towards 
 Amanvillers chiefly, to outflank, as was supposed, 
 the enemy. The great sweep was now made, and 
 the German columns, admirably arrayed, marched, 
 at intervals, over the space which separated them 
 
160 MOLTKE. 
 
 from the French army. The movement, however, 
 had been retarded ; and, what obviously might 
 become perilous, the exact position of Bazaine was 
 not yet accurately known. 1 
 
 The great battle of the 18th of August, given 
 the name of Gravelotte by the victors, was the con- 
 sequence of these dispositions on either side. At 
 about noon, the 9th Prussian corps, its chief 
 believing that he had attained the extreme right of 
 Bazaine, had become engaged with the enemy's 
 centre, from La Folie on the left, to Araanvillers 
 on the right ; and an order recommending him to 
 pause in the attack, for the real situation of affairs 
 was being discovered, arrived too late to make it 
 safe to suspend the action. In this, as in so many 
 instances, the French were, at first, surprised ; and 
 the assailants, screened by masses of woodland, 
 gained ground, and captured some petty outposts. 
 But when the Prussians drew near the main position, 
 the result of their error became manifest ; they were 
 not outflanking the right of their foe, but striking 
 his centre strongly entrenched ; and they were 
 engaged, in front, with L'Admirault's 4th corps, 
 and with part of the 3rd corps of Le Boeuf, superior 
 in numbers and well prepared for defence. The 
 9th corps bravely maintained the conflict ; but the 
 French guns, trained to search all vulnerable points, 
 and the murderous fire of the French infantry, 
 
 1 These operations should be carefully studied in the " Prussian 
 Staff History," vol. ii. pp. 1, 19, and in General Derrecagaix, "La 
 Guerre Moderne," vol. ii. pp. 61, 67. 
 
METZ. MARS LA TOUR. GBAVELOTTE. 161 
 
 fighting under shelter, and not to be reached, gave 
 the troops of Bazaine an immense advantage, and 
 the power of the Prussian artillery was not felt for 
 a time. The Prussians in fact, though reinforced 
 by degrees, might have been worsted had the French 
 chiefs endeavoured to strike a bold counterstroke ; 
 and they were only relieved from peril by the 3rd 
 corps, the heroes of Mars La Tour, hastening up from 
 the rear. Meanwhile it had become certain that the 
 right of Bazaine extended to Roncourt, that is miles 
 beyond Amanvillers ; and the Guard and the 12th 
 corps, having come into line with the 9th corps, 
 between 1 and 2 p.m., were directed to make a 
 general movement towards St. Privat and Roncourt 
 beyond, in order to turn and outflank the enemy. 
 This circuitous march, through intricate ground, 
 required several hours to make ; but meanwhile, 
 an outlying post of the French, the village of St. 
 Marie, was successfully stormed by the 12th corps 
 and the Prussian Guard. As nothing decisive, 
 however, could be done until the great turning 
 movement was well advanced, the battle on this side 
 of the scene became for hours merely a contest of 
 guns, in which the Prussian batteries, more 
 numerous and with a better weapon, gained, by 
 degrees, complete superiority over the French. 
 
 Such was the position of affairs, until late in the 
 afternoon, on the left and left centre of the great 
 German line, and on the corresponding right and 
 right centre of Bazaine. Meantime, far away on 
 
 the other side of the battle, a terrible conflict was 
 
 M 
 
162 MOLTKE. 
 
 raging between the French left and left centre and 
 the First Army. The 7th and 8th corps of the 
 veteran Steinmetz, supported by part of the 1st 
 corps, which threatened Metz from the east of the 
 Moselle, and effected l a really powerful diversion, 
 had come into action with the greatest part of the 
 3rd French corps, and the 2nd corps of Frossard, 
 extending along the line of uplands, from La Folie 
 to Hozerieulles. The onset of the assailants was 
 bold and well sustained, but they encountered a 
 stern and tenacious resistance; Frossard, an en- 
 gineer, had made the defences along his front 
 prodigiously strong, and the French infantry, hidden 
 in pits and behind field trenches, wrought frightful 
 havoc with their far-reaching small-arms. At last 
 St. Hubert, an important out-post on the great road 
 from Metz to Mars La Tour, was stormed after a 
 bloody struggle; other fortified points appeared 
 abandoned, and Steinmetz thought that the enemy 
 was about to fall back from the position, beaten. 
 He gave orders for a grand general attack in the 
 close columns of the days of his youth, and it was 
 then seen how tremendous are the effects of arms of 
 precision in the hands of an enemy. The French 
 had never thought of retreating ; and the German 
 masses, as they pressed forward along the main 
 road and on either side of it, were devastated by a 
 crushing fire, which mowed down the assailants in 
 
 1 This was only a demonstration, but sufficient attention has 
 not been directed to it. It made Bazaine cling to Metz more 
 closely than ever, and possibly paralyzed the Imperial Guard. 
 
METZ. MARS LA TOUR. GRAVELOTTE. 163 
 
 heaps. An imprudent attack, in fact, altogether 
 failed; the 7th and 8th Prussian corps were 
 fairly beaten ; 1 and had their enemy at this crisis 
 boldly fallen on, the German right wing would have 
 been imperilled, with results disastrous to the 
 battle as a whole. Ere long, however, the 2nd 
 Prussian corps, which had hastened forward by a 
 forced march, relieved the stress on Steinmetz and 
 his troops ; and a counter-stroke, attempted late 
 by the French, was feebly made and became fruit- 
 less. The position, however, of the First Army 
 was critical until the close of the day, and the 
 French retained their positions until the last moment, 
 along this front of the long line of battle. 
 
 The contest, meanwhile, in the other part of the 
 field, was going on with varying and long uncertain 
 fortunes. After the capture of St. Marie, it had 
 become, we have seen, a duel of guns, in order 
 to enable the German masses to outflank the French 
 right at St. Privat and Eoncourt. At about 
 5 p.m. the battle began to rage again, and the 
 weakened 9th corps made another attempt to 
 advance and beat back the enemy's centre. The 
 attack, however, was not successful ; and, up to the 
 last, the 3rd and 4th French corps had the advan- 
 
 1 The Prussian Staff does not give an accurate or candid 
 account of this episode of the battle. The defeat of the First 
 Army is attested by many impartial witnesses on the spot. In 
 fact Steinmetz, it is believed, at the express instance of Moltke, 
 was dismissed from his command, and sent into honourable 
 retirement. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 MOLTKE. 
 
 tage over their baffled foes. The day was now far 
 spent, and the evening at hand ; the 12th, or Saxon 
 corps, was gathering on Roncourt in its long and 
 far-extending march, and the chiefs of the Prussian 
 Guards deemed the time had come to make a 
 determined attack on St. Privat, and to bring the 
 desperate strife to a close. The effort, however, 
 almost wholly failed ; the assailants were struck 
 down by a destructive fire issuing from all parts of 
 the fortified village ; and Canrobert and his men 
 could boast with truth that the flower of the 
 Prussian army perished under their blows. But, 
 in the interval, the great turning movement was 
 making itself felt on the French right ; and the 
 Saxon columns drew near Roncourt, to outflank 
 Bazaine's position, and to make it untenable. 
 Canrobert had foreseen the danger for hours ; 
 messenger after messenger had ridden to Bazaine 
 entreating the assistance of the Imperial Guard, 
 but the Marshal sent only a few guns, and a division, 
 despatched afterwards, was too late. This conduct 
 caused the loss of the battle ; Canrobert drew back 
 his already shattered corps from Roncourt, known 
 to be a weak point, and, isolated and deserted, he 
 endeavoured, for a time, to make head against the 
 flood of his enemies. But the French were out- 
 numbered more than two to one ; the Saxons and 
 the Guards drawing in towards each other stormed 
 St. Privat after a furious struggle ; Roncourt had 
 already fallen into their hands, and the arrival of 
 the 10th Prussian corps on the scene inclined still 
 
METZ. MAES LA TOUR. GEAVELOTTE. 165 
 
 further the balance of fortune. The French right 
 was turned, as night fell on the scene ; and the 
 army of Bazaine by degrees retired from the 
 positions they could no longer hold. The battle, 
 however, was only just won, and the issue might 
 easily have been very different. The losses of the 
 Germans exceeded 20,000 men ; those of the French 
 were more than 12,000. 
 
 At Gravelotte more than 200,000 l Germans, with 
 from 700 to 800 guns, fought 120,000 or 130,000 
 Frenchmen, with certainly less than 500 guns. 
 
 1 As usual, it is impossible to reconcile the conflicting estimates 
 of the numbers engaged on either side at the battle of Gravelotte, 
 but the above figures are, we believe, tolerably correct. An 
 estimate made by Moltke in his " Precis of the Franco-German 
 War," vol. i. p. 84, English translation, is wholly, nay grotesquely, 
 erroneous. He says that only "seven corps faced the French ;" 
 and he puts their numbers at 178,818 men. But he does not 
 include the 2nd Prussian corps, which reached the field late, but 
 gave valuable support to the 7th and 8th corps, nor yet part 
 of the 1st corps of the First Army, which threatened Metz from 
 the eastern bank of the Moselle ; and he thus omits fully 30,000. 
 His calculations as to the French are even worse. He contends 
 that "more than 180,000 French were engaged," because 173,000 
 were in Metz when the fortress fell. But this figure of 173,000 
 comprises the garrison of Metz, about 29,000 strong, a division of 
 Frossard's corps, which was joined to the garrison, and a con- 
 siderable assemblage of Gardes Mobiles, and franctireurs, not less 
 than 20,000 men ; and none of these troops, probably from 60,000 
 to 65,000 men, took part in the battle of Gravelotte. Even the 
 Prussian Staff estimates Bazaine's forces at from 125,000 to 
 150,000 men only ; Bazaine says they were 100,000 ; and General 
 Ham ley asserts that the French " were outnumbered two to one." 
 The high character of Moltke repels the charge of disingenu- 
 ousness, but statements like these are very unfortunate. The 
 Precis, however, compiled at the age of 87, is a bad book. 
 
166 MOLTKE. 
 
 The ultimate results of the battle were immense ; 
 but the splendour of the triumph that was yet to 
 come ought not to blind the student of war to the 
 character of the operations on either side. The 
 great march of the German masses, in the morning 
 of the 18th, was a very fine movement, remarkable 
 for its precision and skill ; the Prussian leaders 
 supported each other with the energy and zeal 
 habitual to them, and their troops gave proof of 
 devoted courage. But grave mistakes were cer- 
 tainly made : the battle was begun rather too late ; 
 the French centre was assailed, instead of the right$ 
 at first ; the grand attack of Steinmetz was almost 
 reckless ; the first attack on St. Privat was pre- 
 mature, and caused frightful losses; and it was a 
 mere accident that, at the last moment, the great 
 turning movement was attended with success. As 
 the Germans were in overwhelming force, these 
 results cannot be deemed remarkable ; and had the 
 battle been better directed the French should have 
 been utterly routed. The errors, however, of the 
 German leaders run up, more or less, to the first 
 error that Bazaine's army had been lost sight of ; 
 this caused false marches, delay, and precipitate 
 haste ; and it is difficult to say that Moltke was not 
 responsible, in some degree at least, for not having 
 kept his enemy in view, a fault more than once to 
 be ascribed to him. On the other hand, the French 
 army had fought well, although in the first instance 
 surprised, as happened repeatedly in the war ; and 
 the defence of St. Privat by Canrobert and his men 
 
METZ. MARS LA TOUR. GRAVELOTTE. 167 
 
 was an incident glorious to the arms of France. 
 The loss of the battle, beyond question, was due 
 to the incapacity and indolence of Bazaine. Ron- 
 court was the most defenceless point in his line; 
 and he ought to have placed the Imperial Guard 
 near it, as has been justly observed l by the Prussian 
 Staff. He kept, however, this great reserve around 
 Metz, thinking only of his hold on the fortress, 
 and probably alarmed by the demonstrations made 
 by the enemy east of the Moselle; he remained 
 inactive near the forts of Metz, and was not even 
 on the field of battle ; and he refused to send the 
 Guard to the help of Canrobert, until a small re- 
 inforcement was sent too late. Had he made a 
 proper use of this noble force, and despatched it at 
 about 3 p.m. to his endangered right, St. Privafc 
 and Eoncourt would not have been taken, and the 
 Germans could not have gained a victory. The 
 measure of his misdeeds, however, was not yet full ; 
 the cup was to overflow in disgrace and ruin. 
 
 By the 19th of August the army of Bazaine had 
 fallen back from the lines they had held, and had 
 been assembled under the forts of Metz, exhausted, 
 indeed, but not desponding, for the soldiers knew 
 they had fought a good fight against an enemy 
 greatly superior in force. Nevertheless, that brave, 
 but unfortunate army was to leave the fortress only 
 as a mass of captives, victims of criminal neglect 
 of duty and intrigue ; and the curtain had fallen on 
 the second act of the drama of the war of 1870-71. 
 
 1 " Prussian Staff History," vol. ii. p. 7. 
 
168 MOLTKE. 
 
 Moltke had steadily carried out his design, and had 
 achieved more success than he had hoped to achieve ; 
 he had not exactly driven his enemy northwards, 
 but he had compelled him to take refuge under the 
 guns of Metz, whence he was not to make his 
 escape ; and the Third Army stood on the roads 
 to Paris. He had worked out his plan with great 
 strength of purpose, and with remarkable and un- 
 ceasing energy ; he had occasionally shown con- 
 spicuous skill, especially in the flank march to the 
 Moselle ; and his movement to intercept Bazaine 
 and to cut him off from Verdun and the Meuse 
 had been daring and well-conceived. The supe- 
 riority, too, of the German armies, not in numbers 
 only, but in efficiency in the field, had been 
 established by new and convincing proofs, and the 
 German generals had admirably worked together, 
 if more than once they had been extremely rash. 
 
 The operations of Moltke, nevertheless, were not 
 those of the highest genius in war, and were marked 
 by errors that might have been made disastrous. 
 The French army ought to have been crushed after 
 Worth and Spicheren ; it was allowed ample time to 
 effect its retreat, and it would have escaped had it 
 been tolerably led. The disposition of the German 
 corps on the 14th of August gave Bazaine a chance 
 which he might well have seized, and Colombey 
 Nouilly might have been a victory for France. 
 On the 16th a comparatively small German force 
 was opposed to an army at first three-fold in 
 strength, and it is difficult to assert that, to some 
 
METZ. MAES LA TOUR. GRAVELOTTE. 169 
 
 extent at least, Moltke was not responsible for this 
 mistake. The enemy was lost sight of on the 17th ; 
 false movements and delays were the consequence ; 
 an ill-conducted battle was fought, and victory was 
 hardly won at last, large as was the preponderance 
 of the German army ; and here, Moltke, too, was 
 probably in part to blame. Nor can it be forgotten 
 that Bazaine was afforded a chance to sever the 
 communications of his foe ; and if we survey these 
 operations as a whole, Moltke did not give proof 
 during these eventful days of the dexterity, the 
 resource, the art of seizing opportunities, and 
 making the most of them, which are distinctive 
 gifts of the greatest captains ; and his success was 
 largely due to the gross faults of his enemy. Still 
 he rose more than once to a high level in war, and 
 he showed some of the best qualities which cha- 
 racterize the most able leaders of armies. 
 
 Passing to the opposite side, the French army 
 occasionally gave signs of loss of moral power, the 
 natural result of ill leading and defeat, although 
 the stand made by the 6th corps at St. Privat was 
 an heroic exploit. In organization, however, in 
 skill in manoeuvre, in exploring, in military value, 
 in a word, the French were inferior to their enemy, 
 and sometimes they were shamefully surprised. It 
 is unnecessary to dwell on their numerical weak- 
 ness ; and, in fact, had Napoleon been in the place 
 of Moltke, they would have been annihilated, we 
 believe, before Metz had been reached, and they 
 would have never fought Mars la Tour and Gra- 
 
170 MOLTKB. 
 
 velotte. The chief feature, however, of the French 
 operations is the fatal vacillation and weakness of 
 their chiefs. The Emperor advised the true course 
 after the disastrous battles of Worth and Spicheren, 
 but he allowed supposed policy to master strategy ; 
 his ill-fated army was marched to and fro, and it lost 
 the means of effecting its retreat to Chalons, con- 
 ceded to it, so to speak, by Moltke. The conduct 
 of Bazaine was infinitely worse ; immensely inferior 
 as he was in force, he had opportunities which 
 might have saved his army, nay, have secured 
 important success, had he known how to take 
 advantage of them ; but his inactivity, his blunder- 
 ing, his want of strength of character, made in- 
 dignant Fortune turn aside from him, and he had 
 already placed his army on the path to ruin. 
 
 We ought not to blame him for the events of the 
 14th, for he had only just assumed a most difficult 
 command, but he might easily have won a victory 
 at Mars la Tour, and after that indecisive battle he 
 possessed the means of issuing out of Metz and 
 breaking the communications of Moltke and of 
 giving a wholly new turn to the war. His choice 
 of standing at Gravelotte was strategically bad, but 
 had he placed the Imperial Guard in its true 
 position, or sent it in time to the help of Canrobert, 
 he could not have lost that hard-fought battle, and 
 his indolence and negligence on the field were fatal. 
 It is lamentable to observe how he had no insight ; 
 how he wavered from one false move to another ; 
 how aimless and feeble his operations were ; and if 
 
METZ. MAES LA TOUE. GRAVELOTTE. 171 
 
 he had a fixed idea to cling to Metz, this was not 
 to make use of the great fortress, as a real general 
 would have made use of it, but as a mere place of 
 refuge in a tempest he feared. Worse, far worse, 
 was yet to be witnessed ; but already Bazaine had 
 sunk below the Soubises and Clermonts of the 
 Seven Years' War. 1 
 
 1 The " Prussian Staff History," vol. ii. pp. 165-7, very candidly 
 admits the " many errors that were made proceeding from un- 
 certainty as to the enemy's intentions," and enumerates them in 
 detail. As to the operations of Bazaine, the writer observes, 
 " there were phases in the contest, in which, a will on the French 
 side, penetrated with an appreciation of the situation, and ener- 
 getically applied with singleness of purpose, might have secured 
 many advantages." These comments are probably from the pen 
 of Moltke. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The results of Gravelotte Formation of the Army of the Meuse 
 and investment of Metz Inaction of Bazaine Opportunity 
 still perhaps open to him Advance of the Third Army 
 Formation of the Army of Chalons under Macmahon He 
 assents to a project to march on Metz for the relief of Bazaine 
 Folly of this plan The Army of Chalons on the march 
 Fine project of Moltke to intercept this movement Slow 
 progress of the Army of Chalons Macmahon, though aware 
 of the danger, yields to advice from Paris and persists in the 
 march The German armies reach their enemy Action of 
 Nouart Battle of Beaumont Macmahon misses an oppor- 
 tunity of escape The Army of Chalons at Sedan Advance 
 and night march of the German armies Battle of Sedan and 
 destruction of the Army of Chalons Conduct of Moltke at 
 the capitulation Reflections on these operations. 
 
 GKAVELOTTE, we have said, had accomplished more 
 than Moltke had had reason to expect. The French 
 had not been driven towards the north, but, in- 
 decisive as the battle had been, Bazaine and his 
 army had fallen back on Metz, and showed, for the 
 present, no signs of life. The second part, too, of 
 the plan of the German chief was being realized 
 with the fairest promise. The Third Army held 
 the approaches to Paris, and nothing stood between 
 it and the capital of France, but an assemblage of 
 levies being combined with the beaten troops of 
 Macmahon and Failly, in the neighbourhood of 
 
SEDAN. 173 
 
 Chalons and its great camp. A new distribution 
 of the German armies was made, with a view, in 
 the first instance, to an advance on Paris, and to 
 annihilating the army being formed at Chalons ; 
 and Moltke' s arrangements were carried out with 
 the decision and energy characteristic of him. Two 
 corps, the Guards and the Saxon 12th, were de- 
 tached from the forces that had fought at Gravelotte, 
 and, united with the 4th which, we have seen, had 
 been in communication with the Third Army, were 
 given the name of the Army of the Meuse ; and 
 this army, from 80,000 to 100,000 l strong, was 
 ordered to press forward to the Meuse, and, form- 
 ing the right wing of the Third Army, to take part 
 in the intended march on Paris. This was a far- 
 sighted and very able move, attended ultimately 
 with great results ; for the Army of the Meuse, 
 directed in this way, not only secured to the Third 
 Army an irresistible superiority of force, but inter- 
 posed an impassable obstacle to an attempt to 
 relieve the fortress of Metz. It constitutes, in 
 fact, one of the best titles of Moltke to rank among 
 great captains. 
 
 Bazaine, however, was within Metz, at the head 
 of an army still formidable, of a large garrison, and 
 
 1 Moltke, in his " Precis of the Franco- German War," vol. i. 
 p. 86, English translation, says that the Army of the Meuse was 
 " 138,000 strong." This, however, must be an error of the 
 printer ; three corps, two greatly weakened at Gravelotte, could 
 not have attained these numbers. The best estimate is from 
 80,000 to 100,000 men. 
 
174 MOLTKE. 
 
 of other forces, and in possession of a great strong- 
 hold ; and it was necessary to make things safe, 
 with this enemy, before undertaking the march on 
 the capital. Prince Frederick Charles was placed 
 in command of the First Army, and of the remaining 
 part of the Second the other part had formed the 
 Army of the Meuse and Moltke had made pre- 
 parations by the 20th of August for investing Metz, 
 and hemming the French within lines to be thrown 
 around the fortress. The operation was unex- 
 ampled in war ; a force from 150,000 to 180,000 
 strong was to surround a force scarcely inferior in 
 numbers, reckoning all the troops under Bazaine's 
 command, to isolate it, and to prevent its escape, 
 though it held Metz, a vast entrenched camp, and 
 the passages over a great river. 1 Yet the effort was 
 made and proved successful ; it might well have 
 been deemed impossible, and it must have failed 
 against a real general. Five corps d'armee, and 
 part of a sixth, were placed along the western bank 
 of the Moselle, not far from the tract which had 
 been the scene of the terrible battle of the 18th, for 
 Moltke seems to have been convinced that any 
 attempt which Bazaine might make to break out 
 would be made from the western side of the fortress, 
 
 1 Moltke, " Precis of the Franco-German War," vol. p. i. 86, 
 English translation, estimates the investing force at Metz at only 
 150,000 men; but this is much below every other estimate. 
 Counting the garrison and all other forces, besides the regular 
 army, Bazaine, even after Gravelotte, must have disposed of nearly 
 180,000 men at Metz. 
 
SEDAN. 175 
 
 that is, on his natural line of retreat. One corps, 
 however, strengthened by a division from the re- 
 serve, by part of another corps, and by a body of 
 horsemen, was alone placed on the eastern bank, 
 and that over a wide space of from fifteen to twenty 
 miles in extent ; and this comparatively small force 
 was the only obstacle, in this direction, in the way 
 of Bazaine and his whole army. Meantime inces- 
 sant exertions were made to strengthen the lines 
 being drawn around Metz. Thousands of men were 
 employed in breaking up roads, in constructing 
 stockades, in throwing up entrenchments, and in 
 placing batteries at available points, in order to 
 repel an advancing enemy; and rapid com- 
 munication was assured by the telegraph along 
 the whole besieging circle. But the circum- 
 ference of the lines exceeded thirty miles ; and 
 over the greater part of this space they were very 
 weakly occupied. 1 
 
 The investment of Metz, under these conditions, 
 before the event, would have appeared hopeless. 
 Bazaine, we repeat, held a first-rate fortress, and 
 both banks of the wide Moselle ; and, in addition to 
 this immense advantage, he had a central position 
 and interior lines at every point of the sphere of 
 manoeuvre. His army, too, apart from his other 
 
 1 The corps investing Metz on the western bank of the Moselle 
 were the 8th and part of the 7th of the First Army, and the 2nd, 
 10th, 3rd and 9th of the Second. On the eastern bank there 
 were part of the 7th, the 1st, and one division of the reserve. 
 To these should be added large bodies of cavalry on either bank. 
 
176 MOLTKE. 
 
 forces, was still more than 100,000 strong ; 1 it had 
 not lost heart, and was eager to fight ; and it is 
 wholly untrue 2 that it was ill-provided with muni- 
 tions and other requirements for the field. Bazaine, 
 therefore, ought to have been able to hold the enemy 
 in check with part of his forces ; to concentrate the 
 great mass of his army against the Germans spread 
 on a wide circumference ; to break through the 
 investing lines, and to escape from Metz ; and the 
 experience of ages 3 confirms this inference. By 
 this time, however, Moltke had had ample proof of 
 the indolence and incapacity of his foe, and of his 
 persistent resolve to cling to Metz ; and, apart from 
 the fact that it was crowned with success, the ex- 
 
 1 Thia, indeed, is admitted by Bazaine himself, " L' Armee du 
 Rhin," p. 76. General Deligny gives this account of the state of 
 the army : " Armee de Metz," p. 12 : " Son armee, demeuree in- 
 tacte, avait conserve toute sa vitalite* ; sa confiance en sa valeur 
 s'etait meme accrue de ce que, s'etant mesuree avec des forces tres 
 superieures aux siennes, elle etait chaque fois demeuree maitresse 
 du champ de hataille." 
 
 2 Riviere, pp. 99-100: Proces Bazaine, p. 711. 
 
 a One of the most distinguished generals of the British army, 
 who visited Metz after the war, more than once assured me that 
 " 200,000 Germans could not have shut up 100,000 Frenchmen 
 within Metz, had Bazaine done his duty." A very able Belgian 
 military critic, Major Vandevelde, remarks, " La Guerre de 1870- 
 71," " Non-seulement le marechal serait parvenu a se dcgager, mais 
 avec un peu d'intelligence et de savoir faire, il aurait pu prendre 
 1'offensive contre 1'armee dti prince Frederic Charles, et lui faire 
 payer cher la difficile et temeraire enterprise de vouloir, avec une 
 armee de 200 mille hommes en bloquer une de 180 mille dans un 
 camp retranche." The whole of these comments is too long to 
 be quoted, but it deserves attention. 
 
SEDAN. 177 
 
 periment of hemming in Bazaiue, hazardous as it 
 was, may be fully justified. It was one of the 
 occasions when it is legitimate to take liberties with 
 a worthless antagonist. 
 
 Nevertheless, the disposition of the German forces 
 around the fortress has been severely criticized ; 
 and it gave the Marshal a second grand chance, 
 even after Gravelotte, to appeal to Fortune. Five 
 and a half corps barred an exit from Metz along 
 the western bank of the Moselle ; but a force, equal 
 to two corps only, and that spread over a wide 
 space, closed the avenues along the eastern bank ; 
 and the great roads that lead to the Nied and the 
 Sarre remained open for a time, and were never 
 strongly held. Had Bazaine, accordingly, at any 
 moment, before the investment was complete, 
 that is, between the 20th and 27th of August and 
 even afterwards the move was possible marched 
 in this direction with his whole army, he ought 
 easily to have overpowered the weak detachments 
 that stood in his path, and to have made good his 
 way from Metz to the south-east. The consequences 
 must have been very great ; in all probability he 
 would have saved the bulk of his forces from im- 
 pending peril ; he might have fallen on the German 
 communications with success, raised the siege of 
 Strasbourg, and checked the invasion ; he would 
 almost certainly have averted frightful disasters, 
 and he might have changed the whole position 
 of affairs. The opportunity he had on the 
 18th of August, in a word, was given him once 
 
 N 
 
178 MOLTKE. 
 
 more, if the conditions, doubtless, were less 
 promising. 1 
 
 A bold movement, however, of this kind did not 
 cross the mind of Bazaine. He was bound, we shall 
 see, by the strongest pledges that could bind a 
 soldier, to endeavour to make a determined attempt 
 to break out from Metz, in order to join a too gene- 
 rous colleague ; but he maintained his attitude of 
 passive defence, and devoted the week that followed 
 Gravelotte to reorganizing his army, replenishing 
 his magazines, and strengthening the fortifications 
 of the place, which he never really intended to 
 leave. We turn to the operations of the German 
 armies engaged in carrying out the projected inva- 
 sion. The Third Army, we have said, had filled the 
 region around Luneville and Nancy by the middle 
 of August ; it had soon broken up from the Upper 
 
 1 Curiously enough, the Prussian Staff', which passes over with- 
 out notice what Bazaine might have accomplished on the 18th of 
 August, had he broken out from Metz, to the eastward, acknow- 
 ledges that he might have been successful, had he adopted this 
 course, even as late as the 31st, or the 1st of September. " Staff 
 History," vol. ii. p. 533. The passage should be carefully studied. 
 General Hamley, " Operations of War," p. 332, ed. 1889, signifi- 
 cantly observes: "This opinion refers to a time (31st August) 
 when the Germans had been for twelve days investing Metz. If 
 the chances in favour of Bazaine's supposed attempt were, at that 
 time, so great, how much greater would they have been on the 
 17th, when the Germans were scattered, and unprepared for 
 resistance on that side." The simple truth is that the Prussian 
 Staff is not always candid, and will not admit the many oppor- 
 tunities Moltke gave Bazaino opportunities which, in our judg- 
 ment, Napoleon might have made disastrous to the invaders. See 
 also "Metz et negotiations," pp. Ill, 1L2 
 
SEDAN. 179 
 
 Moselle, and by the 19th its foremost divisions had 
 passed the line of the Upper Meuse. This great 
 array composed of five corps and a half, and num- 
 bering probably 160,000 l men, had soon rolled 
 into the plains of Champagne, approaching the 
 valley of the Upper Marne ; and it halted, for a 
 moment, to effect its junction with the Army of the 
 Meuse, which, we have seen, had been formed by 
 Moltke and made its right wing. The two masses, 
 perhaps 240,000 strong, had come into line by the 
 23rd ; and spreading over the wide tract between 
 Verdun on the Meuse, and St. Dizier on the Marne, 
 moved slowly towards the great camp of Chalons, 
 preceded by tens of thousands of horsemen. To 
 overwhelm every hostile force on their path and 
 then to march in triumph on Paris, was almost the 
 only thought of their chiefs ; and Paris, these be- 
 lieved, would, like Jericho, fall at the first blast of 
 an enemy's trumpet. Attempts made to capture 
 Verdun and Toul on the way, had, nevertheless, 
 failed; but the huge waves of invasion rolled far 
 beyond these petty obstacles without let or 
 hindrance. 
 
 Meanwhile the remains of the army routed at 
 Worth, the greater part of the corps of Failly, and 
 
 1 The Third Army was now composed of the 5th, llth, and 6th 
 Prussian, of the 1st and 2nd Bavarian corps, and of the Wurtem- 
 berg division. Moltke, " Precis of the Franco- Grerm an War," 
 vol. i. p. 86, estimates the Third Army and the Army of the Meuse 
 at 223,000 men ; but this is considerably a less number than most 
 other estimates. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 1MOLTKE. 
 
 the 7th corps of Douay, drawn in from Belfort, had, 
 after a series of forced marches, assembled in the 
 well-known camp of Chalons. The Government 
 in Paris, of which the Empress was, for the present, 
 the nominal head she had been named Regent 
 in her husband's absence had, during these days, 
 made earnest efforts to increase and strengthen this 
 shattered force. A new corps, the 12th, composed 
 in some measure of marines, hastily summoned from 
 the fleet, had been formed and despatched from the 
 capital ; and several regiments, largely made up of 
 untrained recruits and raw Gardes Mobiles, had 
 been added. By the 2nd of August the collective 
 array numbered from 130,000 to 140,000 men, with 
 about 380 or 400 guns ; and it was the only army 
 of reserve which, for the time, France could fit out 
 and send into the field, so defective was her organi- 
 zation for war. Macmahon was placed at the head 
 of this force, for he had still power over the hearts 
 of his men ; and the unfortunate Emperor, just 
 arrived from Metz, had become a companion-in-arms 
 of the Marshal, though he made no attempt to direct 
 his counsels. With the enthusiasm characteristic 
 of the race, the troops gathered together in this 
 way demanded to be led against the enemy ; but 
 any skilful observer could have easily seen that 
 they were not equal to bold and decisive movements. 
 The Army of Chalons, as it was called, was a bad 
 army in every sense of the word ; it was a medley 
 of beaten soldiers and of rude levies ; the marines, 
 though good troops, were not accustomed to march- 
 
SEDAN. 181 
 
 ing, and the cavalry, except two or three regiments, 
 were of little value, and had inferior horses. The 
 organization and administration of the army, be- 
 sides, was ill-arranged, and did not fulfil its functions; 
 a deficiency of supplies was, from the first, apparent; 
 and the discipline and temper of the soldiers was 
 such as would not endure the stress of ill-fortune. 
 The army, in a word, as an instrument of war, was 
 feeble and, in every respect, imperfect. 1 
 
 These considerations did not escape the experi- 
 enced eye of the Duke of Magenta, and his first 
 operations were in accordance with the military 
 situation, and with true strategy. By the 20th of 
 August he had become aware that Bazaine had not 
 succeeded in his march on Verdun, and that his 
 retreat was probably cut off; and he had positive 
 information that two great hostile armies were on 
 their way from the Meuse to the Marne. He had 
 almost resolved to fall back on Paris, but as Bazaine 
 might perhaps have got out of Metz, and might be 
 on the march northwards, and as, in any case, it was 
 
 1 The events that led to the catastrophe of Sedan begin from, 
 this point. The narrative of the Prussian Staff is bj far the 
 best ; encumbered as it is with details, it is clear and masterly, 
 and it bears plain traces 6f the hand of Moltke. The evidence 
 given by Marshal Macmahon at the Enquete Parlementaire, 
 should be carefully studied; it reveals in full completeness the 
 character of the man, and his conduct as a general-in-chief. 
 Valuable information will be found in the " Sedan " of General 
 Ducrot, and the " Sedan " of General Wimpffen ; in the work 
 of Prince Bibesco, which especially describes the operations of the 
 7th corps of Douay, in the Apology of Failly, and in Vandevelde's 
 " Guerre de 1870." 
 
182 MOLTKE. 
 
 not advisable to fight a great battle in the plains of 
 Chalons against an enemy immensely superior in 
 strength, the Marshal determined to move on 
 Rheims, where he would at once possess the means 
 of retiring on Paris, would approach Bazaine, should 
 he be on the way from Metz, would avoid a prob- 
 ably fatal conflict, and would hold a favourable and 
 strong position, hanging on the flank of the German 
 invasion. This was judicious and well conceived 
 strategy ; and had Macmahon held to his purpose, 
 France would not have mourned a frightful disaster. 
 On the 21st the Marshal had attained Eheims ; * 
 the march of his army from Chalons had been slow 
 and difficult, and this had given him proof of its 
 inferior quality. His intention was declared 'on the 
 following morning ; he had obtained no intelligence 
 from Bazaine, he was convinced that Metz was 
 being besieged ; the Army of the Meuse and the 
 Third Army were drawing near in irresistible force ; 
 and he " vehemently insisted " that " the only thing 
 fco be done " was to retreat on the capital as soon as 
 possible. He had prepared his orders for the move- 
 ment on the 23rd, a movement which, as Moltke 
 has remarked, was the only judicious step 2 as affairs 
 stood, a movement we will add, which, if carried 
 out, would have completely changed the course of 
 
 1 Enquete Parlemcntaire. 
 
 2 " Precis of Franco-German War," vol. i. p. 90 ; " Prussian Staff 
 History," vol. ii. p. 185. It has been argued that Macmahon ought 
 to have marched southwards, and relieved Bazaine in that direc- 
 tion. But the Army of Chalons was unequal to any such movement. 
 
SEDAN. 183 
 
 the war, and would probably have saved Alsace and 
 Lorraine. But at this momentous juncture the fatal 
 influence, which had already had such disastrous 
 effects, began to interfere with common-sense and 
 prudence ; and an accident completed the resulting 
 mischief. E-ouher, a servant of the Empire, had 
 come to Kheims ; he entreated Macmahon to advance 
 on Metz to relieve Bazaine, and not to approach 
 Paris ; and this evil counsel was probably largely 
 due to fear of the Parisian populace, and to a regard 
 for a government already in peril. Macmahon 
 "resisted stiffly " at first; he gave unanswerable 
 reasons against the proposed movement, and even a 
 message from the men in power at the Tuileries did 
 not affect, for some hours, his purpose, that military 
 rules should not yield to reasons of State. At last, 
 however, a calamitous chance changed a resolve, 
 perhaps even now faltering, that ought to have been 
 inflexibly fixed. Bazaine, we have seen, had not 
 been on the field of battle of the 18th August ; he 
 appears not to have fully ascertained the results 
 even by the next day, and he sent on the 19th a 
 despatch to Macmahon, announcing, though in 
 ambiguous terms, " that he hoped " to retreat 
 northwards to reach Montmedy, and "thence to 
 descend from Mezieres on Chalons." This message 
 was received by Macmahon late on the 22rid ; the 
 Marshal saw in it a clear announcement that his 
 colleague was on his way to join him ; he was 
 already divided in mind and wavering, and, in an 
 evil hour for France and himself, he countermanded 
 
184 MOLTKE. 
 
 his previous orders, and directed his army to move 
 eastwards, in the hope of meeting Bazaine on the 
 Meuse. Napoleon III., it is only just to add, in no 
 way interfered with the misguided chief. 1 
 
 This project of Macmahon may be described as 
 one of the most fatal ever made in war. At this 
 moment the Army of the Meuse and the Third 
 Army were spread along a front of nearly fifty miles 
 in width, on the edge of Champagne : they were in 
 numbers almost two-fold the Army of Chalons ; 
 they were infinitely superior in military worth ; 
 and the Army of the Meuse was much nearer the 
 river than the French, while the Third Army was 
 only three marches distant. Macmahon, therefore, 
 in advancing to the succour of Bazaine and he 
 was well informed of his enemy's strength and posi- 
 tions proposed to execute a march along an arc of 
 from eighty to a hundred miles in extent, of which 
 his adversary held at most points the chord, and 
 was, even now, almost within striking distance ; and 
 he proposed to do this with a bad army, completely 
 unable to cope with its foe, and in a situation in which 
 a defeat would probably force it over the Belgian 
 frontier. Speaking technically, this was a flank 
 march of the most perilous and reckless kind to be 
 attempted with all the chances against it, and to be 
 attempted, too, when even a check would almost 
 
 1 The conduct of Macmahon, at this memorable crisis, appears 
 fully from his own evidence in the Enquete Parlementaire. It 
 is a striking illustration of the old confession, " Video ineliora 
 proboque, deteriora sequor." 
 
SEDAN. 
 
 185 
 
 certainly involve ruin. Except on the absurd 
 assumption that the German commanders were 
 shallow fools, who could not deal with an insensate 
 movement, the prospect of success was almost hope- 
 less, and the prospect of disaster was self-evident 
 to any one versed in the operations of war. 1 
 
 Yet even these were not the chief reasons why this 
 calamitous movement ought not to have been made. 
 The Army of Chalons was the last hope of France ; 
 ill-organized as it was, it might become the nucleus, 
 if husbanded, of very large forces, should France be 
 given time to collect her strength ; and it could be 
 really formidable in a good defensive position. 
 Every consideration, therefore, should have com- 
 pelled the Duke of Magenta to retreat on Paris, as 
 he had first intended; the capital was already a 
 powerful fortress, and could easily be made a great 
 entrenched camp ; it was the centre on which the 
 national levies could be most readily and quickly 
 assembled ; and the Army of Chalons could hope 
 to resist the Germans behind its forts and its 
 ramparts. Had the Marshal taken this, the only 
 rational course Moltke has pointed this out with 
 repeated emphasis we shall not assert that he 
 
 1 One or two soldiers, carried away by Crimean sympathies, 
 have attempted to justify Macmahon's march ; but their argu- 
 ments cannot bear examination. The weight of well-informed 
 opinion against this fatal movement is overwhelming ; and I can 
 say, for myself, that the moment I was apprised of it, a week 
 before Sedan, I telegraphed to one of the best judges, of men 
 and things, in Europe, "That army is lost." Prince Bibesco 
 condemns the march as "insane," pp. 80, 81. 
 
186 MOLTKD. 
 
 would have moved with the success of the youthful 
 Bonaparte around Mantua, or have made Paris a 
 Torres Yedras ; but the events of the war entitle 
 us to say that the capital of France would not have 
 fallen, and the treaty of Frankfort would have 
 never been signed. 1 
 
 Macmahon, however, a hero in the field, was 
 essentially a weak man of Quixotic nature; and 
 partly from a generous wish to assist a comrade, 
 and partly from a desire to support the Govern- 
 ment, he " consented, saying he would not consent," 
 and began the calamitous advance to the Meuse. 
 
 o 
 
 Celerity, he knew, was his only chance ; and the four 
 corps of the Army of Chalons, the 1st under Ducrot, 
 the 5th of Failly, the 7th of Douay, and the im- 
 provised 12th of Lebrun, were directed on the 23rd 
 by a forced march to the line of the Suippe, a 
 tributary of the Aisne. The movement, through a 
 comparatively open country, was 2 rapid in the ex- 
 treme and full of promise, and officers and soldiers 
 looked joyfully forward to a speedy junction with 
 the Army of Bazaine. At this point, however, the 
 bad organization of the Army of Chalons became 
 
 1 Some of the authorities against Macmahon's march will be 
 found in General Picrron's work, " Strategic et grande Tactique," 
 vol. i. pp. 79, 80. The opinion, however, ascribed to " un ofticier 
 general anglais," is almost a verbatim copy of an extract from 
 "The Campaign of 1870-1," republished from The Times, by 
 Bentley ; and this work was written by a civilian. 
 
 2 Bibesco, p. 84 : " Nous avions en deux jours franchi une 
 detour d'au moins 60 kilometres, ce qui est enorme pour une 
 agglomeration aussi nornbreuse." 
 
SEDAN. 187 
 
 apparent, and the absence of preparation for a great 
 movement eastwards had a disastrous effect on 
 the operations in hand. 1 The forced march had 
 fatigued and harassed the troops, the plains were 
 crowded with stragglers and impedimenta in the 
 rear, and there was a deficiency of supplies of almost 
 every kind. Macmahon was compelled to turn 
 northwards, to halt at Rethel in order to rally his 
 men and to find the means to give them support, 
 and two days were almost wholly lost. By the 
 25th of August the Army of Chalons was but a 
 short distance from the Aisne, filling the country 
 between Rethel and Vouziers, and still nearly fifty 
 miles from the Meuse. The bearing of the soldiery 
 was of evil omen ; short-lived excitement had died 
 away, disorder and confusion were seen everywhere, 
 and signs of insubordination and even of mutiny 
 were visible among the young levies. The region 
 to be passed through was, besides, difficult ; it was 
 intersected by good main roads, but it was dense 
 with masses of forest and woodland, and made 
 intricate in places by long defiles. 
 
 "While the Army of Chalons was being thus 
 delayed the two German armies had continued their 
 march. The cavalry exploring the great plains in 
 their front had ascertained, by the 24th of August, 
 that the French had left Chalons and had moved 
 on Rheims ; a letter had been intercepted disclosing 
 the news that Macmahon was on his way to Metz, 
 and a general officer of rank had expressed his 
 1 Enquete Parlementaire. 
 
1S8 MOLTKE. 
 
 opinion at a Council of War, that the Army of 
 Chalons was on its way to relieve Bazaine. This 
 intelligence was confirmed by various reports and 
 by the telegraph on the following day ; and Moltke, 
 though still doubting whether the enemy would 
 venture on an operation of reckless folly, gradually 
 made up his mind l " that political requirements 
 might have outweighed all military considerations/' 
 and that the French were on their way to the Meuse. 
 It had thus become necessary to guard against 
 the supposed junction of Macmahon and Bazaine, 
 and Moltke's plan was formed with that decision 
 and insight of which he repeatedly gave ample proof. 
 Assuming that the French had marched from 
 Rheirns on the 24th, and had advanced rapidly, 
 they might have crossed the Meuse before they 
 could be reached ; but the Germans held the shorter 
 lines on the theatre, and the enemy could not 
 descend on Metz, nay, might be placed in extreme 
 danger if precautions were taken to arrest his pro- 
 gress. To attain the object he had in view Moltke 
 proposed that the Army of the Meuse, already gathered 
 around the river, should cross it and move to the 
 eastern bank ; in the meantime, two corps were to 
 be detached from Metz, 2 and to join hands with the 
 Army of the Meuse ; and the united forces were to 
 take a position on the table-lands between the Meuse 
 and the Moselle, between Damvillers and Longuyon 
 
 1 "Prussian Staff History," vol. ii. p. 205. 
 
 2 In theory this move would have been extremely hazardous; 
 but Moltke had taken the measure of Bazaine. 
 
SEDAN. 189 
 
 and to fall on the approaching Army of Chalons. 
 Meanwhile the Third Army was to advance north- 
 wards to occupy the roads between Rethel and 
 the Meuse, and to attain the flank and rear of 
 Macmahon ; and thus while the Marshal would be 
 assailed in front by an army at least equal to his 
 own in numbers, and very superior in real strength, 
 his retreat might be completely cut off by an enemy 
 in irresistible force. As, however, the facts were 
 not yet quite known, orders were not issued for 
 carrying out this plan, until the situation had been 
 fully ascertained, as it, doubtless, would be on the 
 26th of August. 
 
 This design was masterly and admirably con- 
 ceived, if extravagant praise has been lavished on 
 it. It was rendered possible, it should be observed, 
 by the direction given to the Army of the Meuse, 
 after Gravelotte, in the first instance, and it is here 
 that we perceive the foresight of Moltke. The 
 German leader had not long to wait for the intel- 
 ligence required to confirm his purpose. By the 
 26th of August the Army of Chalons had advanced 
 some way into the intricate region that lies between 
 the Aisne and- the Meuse, and spread from Tourteron 
 to Le Chene and Vouziers ; but the cavalry had not 
 explored the country, and Douay's corps, the 7th, 
 was around Vouziers, its flank covered on the right 
 by a few horsemen only. The German squadrons, 
 scouring the surrounding tracts, reached a hostile 
 outpost not far from Grand Pre, and they had ere 
 long ascertained that a large hostile army was in 
 
190 MOLTKE. 
 
 the neighbourhood on the march eastward. The 
 position of affairs had now been made clear ; carrying 
 out his project, Moltke directed two corps from 
 Metz on Etain and Briey, and the 12th corps of 
 the Army of the Meuse was pushed forward to seize 
 the passages of the river at Stenay and Dun. At 
 the same time the masses of the Third Army were 
 moved northwards on a wide front by St. Mene- 
 hould and Clermont en Argonne, to strike the line 
 of Macmahon's march and fall on his exposed flank, 
 the object of these movements being to intercept 
 the Marshal upon his way to Metz, to defeat and, 
 if possible, to destroy his army. On the 27th the 
 German armies were in full motion, the telegraph 
 connecting their operations as a whole, and their 
 advance, if not rapid, was admirably arranged. In- 
 deed, that they were able to execute an immense 
 change of front in a few hours, and at a moment's 
 notice, and that their huge columns, with their im- 
 pedimenta in their train, succeeded in threading 
 their difficult way through the wooded hills, the 
 ravines, and the defiles of the Argonne the theatre 
 of the campaign of Valmy is a most striking 
 instance of the wonderful excellence their organiza- 
 tion for war had attained, of the energy of the 
 chiefs, and of the power of the soldiery. 
 
 While the Germans were approaching their foes, 
 the Army of Chalons had made scarcely any pro- 
 gress. The apparition of hostile cavalry on his 
 flank, followed by two or three sharp skirmishes, 
 had alarmed Douay and brought him to a stand ; 
 
SEDAN. 191 
 
 and Macmahon had ordered part of his army to 
 descend on Vouziers, and support the 7th corps. 
 As the enemy, however, made no attack in force, 
 the Marshal countermanded the movement, and by 
 the evening of the 27th his four corps, divided into 
 two main columns, and at wide distances, were again 
 on their way. They had not made, it should be 
 observed, more than twenty miles from Rethel in 
 nearly four days; "erratic marches," as Moltke 
 grimly remarked, " had been the result of counter- 
 orders," and they were still nearly thirty miles from 
 the Meuse, and eighty or ninety by the present 
 route from Metz. On the night of the 27th Mac- 
 mahon was convinced that the enterprise could only 
 lead to disaster, and l he has acknowledged that the 
 situation was plainly before him. He knew by this 
 time that Bazaine was still within Metz ; the last 
 despatches, indeed, 2 received from the Marshal 
 rather discountenanced the idea that he could join 
 his colleague ; he knew that the Army of the Meuse 
 had crossed the river and was already barring his 
 way to the fortress, and he knew that the Third 
 Army was gathering on his track not less than 
 " 150,000 strong." In these circumstances the 
 Marshal came to the only rational conclusion that 
 
 1 Enquete Parlementaire. Bazaine, " Guerre de 1870," p. 135. 
 Macmahon, with all his faults, is an honourable gentleman; and 
 his evidence is transparently candid. 
 
 ~ This appears from Riviere, " Report/' pp. 57, 59. Bazaine was 
 deeply guilty, as we shall see, but many of the charges heaped 
 upon him are far-fetched and absurd. He never meant, as has 
 been insinuated, to attract Macmahon to Metz by false reports. 
 
192 MOLTKE. 
 
 could be formed; he could not expect to reach 
 Bazaine, and he was even now in imminent danger, 
 and he gave orders for a retreat on Mezieres next 
 day, for he might hope to descend from that place 
 by the valley of the Oise, with his army on Paris, 
 Once more, however, the ill-fated chief succumbed 
 to the influence which had proved so fatal to France 
 in this disastrous war, and which he ought to have 
 boldly spurned. A telegraphic message from Paris 
 reached him at midnight ; the Government adjured 
 him to proceed to the Meuse, " for the desertion of 
 Bazaine would cause a revolution;" he counter- 
 manded the movement on Mezieres, and, perfectly 
 aware that it was a fatal step, he undertook to 
 attempt to continue the march on Metz. History 
 can scarcely show another such instance of l 
 criminal weakness on the part of a chief and of the 
 disregard of military prudence to gain a political 
 end. 
 
 Bellona, who brooks no rival, had been madly 
 provoked, and a frightful catastrophe was to mark 
 her vengeance. Macmahon, conscious that haste 
 
 1 This may appear harsh language; but let us hear Napoleon on 
 the subject, " Comment./' vol. i. p. 4'20, ed. 1867: "Un general- 
 en-chef n'est pas a couvert par un ordre d'un ministre, ou d'un 
 prince eloigne* du champ d'operations, et connaissant mal, ou ne 
 connaissant pas du tout, le dernier etat des choses. Tout gcneral- 
 en-chef qui se charge d'executer un plan qu'il trouve mauvais et 
 desastreux, est criminel." Macmahon required no inspiration 
 but that of common sense ; but he must have known how 
 Napoleon had refused to obey the orders of the Directory to 
 divide his army in Italy, and he may have read of Turenne's 
 conduct in 1646. 
 
SEDAN. 193 
 
 was more than ever needful, gave orders for a 
 forced march on the 28th, and, leaving his army in 
 their present formations, directed his four corps to 
 speed to the Meuse. But the weather had become l 
 rainy and severe ; conflicting orders had led to 
 endless confusion ; the French troops were in a 
 dangerous mood, and the roads, strewn with im- 
 pedimenta and disbanded men, gave presage already 
 of coming disaster. The army divided into two 
 great masses, made in the first instance for Mouzon 
 and Stenay, by the main and other roads which 
 traverse the district ; the left wing, the 1st and 12th 
 corps, moving by Le Chene, Stonne, and La Besace, 
 the right wing, the 7th and 5th corps, advancing 
 by Boult aux Bois and Belval ; and Macmahon, it 
 is said, became hopeful after he had made his throw 
 of a desperate gambler. Spite of every effort, 
 however, the march was not rapid ; the enemy had 
 not appeared in strength, but he was known to be 
 closing in on all sides, and the two French columns, 
 already widely apart, began to separate at an in- 
 creasing distance, for the 5th corps was harassed 
 by hostile cavalry, and the 7th was burdened by an 
 immense train of impedimenta extending 2 for miles. 
 This interval was enlarged because Macmahon, 
 having learned that the Germans held Stenay, had 
 ordered the whole army to turn northwards towards 
 
 1 " Prussian Staff History," vol. ii. p. 220. The tone of scorn in 
 the passage is evident. 
 
 2 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 243. The train is said to have been nine 
 miles long. 
 
194 MOLTKE. 
 
 Kemilly, Raucourt, and Mouzon ; and l Failly, still 
 on his way to Stenay, had not been apprised of 
 this change of purpose. The 12th corps crossed 
 the Meuse on the evening of the 29th, the 1st 
 being not far in the rear ; and thus the left wing 
 of the Army of Chalons was for the time compara- 
 tively safe. But the right wing, that which was 
 next the enemy, was isolated, unsupported, and 
 exposed on its flank, and the 5th corps was running 
 into its adversary's mouth. 
 
 The slow and tortuous march of the Army of 
 Chalons had, in a certain measure, perplexed 
 Moltke, 2 who had expected to strike it east of the 
 Meuse. By the 29th of August, however, it had 
 become evident that the enemy was still to the west 
 of the stream, and new orders were issued to the 
 German armies. The 12th corps of the Army of 
 the Meuse was directed to return across the river, 
 and to join the two corps which had not crossed it ; 
 the two corps detached from Metz were sent back ; 
 and the march of the Third Army was continued 
 northward. A great battle was, perhaps, expected 
 on the 30th or 31st, as the Germans were drawing in 
 on their foes ; but the movement of the 5th and of 
 the 7th French corps, inclining towards the enemy, 
 and away from their supports, precipitated the con- 
 test, and gave a new turn to affairs. On the 29th 
 Failly had been sharply attacked by a hostile 
 
 1 " Prussian Staff History," vol. ii. p. 230. The officer bearing 
 Macmalion's order to Failly was taken prisoner. 
 
 2 Ibid, vol. ii. p. 222. 
 
SEDAN. 195 
 
 division near Nouart. This warned him not to 
 advance on Stenay, and he fell back on Beaumont, 
 a small town near the banks of the Meuse, and not 
 far from Mouzon. The place is an oasis amidst 
 dense woodland ; and on the morning of the 30th 
 the French were surprised and assailed by the 4th 
 corps of the Army of the Meuse, which had pressed 
 forward. Failly, 1 not more to blame than other 
 French chiefs repeatedly surprised in the same way, 
 called his troops to arms, and made a stout defence ; 
 but Beaumont was before long captured, and the 
 5th corps was driven at last towards Mouzon, 
 having narrowly escaped being forced into the 
 Meuse. Its situation, indeed, had become so 
 critical that part of the 12th French corps, which, 
 we have seen, had got over the Meuse and lay 
 around Mouzon, recrossed it, and tried to give aid 
 to its comrades. A fierce struggle took place for a 
 time, but the French at last were completely routed, 
 and with difficulty fought their way across to 
 Mouzon. Meanwhile, the 7th corps of Douay had 
 been running the gauntlet of enemies gathering on 
 its flank and rear. The troops, kept back by their 
 great convoy, and losing men in hundreds, advanced 
 slowly, and by nightfall on the 30th August they 
 had only just reached the Meuse, seething with 
 discontent, exhausted, and famished. 
 
 Macmahon, by this time, was east of the Meuse^ 
 
 1 Failly was unjustly made a scape-goat. His retreat from 
 Bitche showed presence of mind and skill, and he fought well at 
 Beaumont. 
 
 2 
 
196 MOLTKE. 
 
 and had been contemplating a descent on Mont- 
 medy, and a march from that place to relieve 
 Bazaine. His 1st corps had got safely over the 
 Meuse, a few hours only, after the 12th, and he had 
 pushed forward part of this corps to Carignan, in 
 the valley of the Chiers, a long march from Monfr- 
 medy. Extraordinary as it may appear, the French 
 commander 1 believed that important success was 
 at hand ; and the unfortunate Emperor, who had 
 followed in his train, sick, broken down, and letting 
 things drift, 2 but taking no part in military affairs, 
 had sent a message to his wife " that we are on the 
 eve of victory." It is a proof how weakness can 
 deceive itself that such a notion could have been 
 entertained. The Army of Chalons was fifty miles 
 from Metz, its retreat imperilled by the Third 
 Army ; the Army of the Meuse was hanging on its 
 flank, and part actually on the way to bar its 
 progress; the Army of Prince Frederick Charles 
 stood in its way at Metz ; and all this was perfectly 
 well known by Macmahon. The terrible news of 
 the rout of Failly and of part of the 12th and 7th 
 French corps, soon known, dispelled the Marshal's 
 delusion, and he gave immediate orders for a general 
 retreat. Sedan, a fortress of the fourth order, on 
 the Meuse, lay a few miles to the rear, and Mac- 
 
 1 The emotional and somewhat shallow nature of Macmahon 
 was exactly that which Napoleon has declared unfits a general for 
 a great command, and was strikingly exemplified on this occasion. 
 
 2 Napoleon III., however, had expressed his disapproval of the 
 reckless march on the 28th. 
 
MARSHAL MACMAHON. 
 
 To face page 197. 
 
SEDAN. 197 
 
 mahon directed the Army of Chalons to assemble 
 round the place as a harbour of refuge. Through- 
 out the night of the 30th, and the early morning of 
 the 31st, the French columns were toiling painfully 
 on their way, and they were drawn together near 
 Sedan long before noon. The aspect of the army, 
 however, was pitiable in the extreme; the 1st corps, 
 still intact, had a martial bearing, but the appearance 
 of the other three corps was alarming. There was 
 a deficiency of supplies, and many men were 
 starving; whole regiments were broken up and 
 confused, stragglers spread over miles around in 
 thousands, and sounds of mutiny and fear were 
 heard in more than one camp. 1 Nevertheless, that 
 army, as a whole, could fight, and could certainly 
 march, if well directed. 
 
 It is at crises like these that a great chief, espe- 
 cially if he commands a French army, can do much 
 to avert impending disaster. Not later than the 
 early afternoon of the 31st Macmahon had his 
 whole army in hand ; and a French corps, the 13th, 
 under General Yinoy, sent forward from Paris to 
 
 1 An eye-witness gives this description of part of the army, the 
 part, no doubt, that had suffered most. Wimpffen, "Sedan,'' 
 p. 137 : "Un nombre considerable de fantassins marchaient sans 
 ordre, et eornme des tirailleurs, en grandes bandes, occupant une 
 vaste surface. Je me hatai de descendre dans la plaine pour ar- 
 reter ce desordre et interpeller ces fuyards. J'eu de la peine a 
 m'en faire comprendre. En vain je leur criais : ' Mais, malheureux, 
 regardez done derriere vous, le canon de 1'ennemi est encore loin. 
 Vous n'avez rien a redouter.' Us ne m'ecoutaient pas dans leur 
 course haletante. 
 
198 MOLTKE. 
 
 support the Marshal, was near Mezieres, only a 
 march distant. At this time the Army of the 
 Meuse was, in part, on the eastern bank of the 
 river, in order to prevent a descent on Montmedy ; 
 the other parts were far off, on the western bank, 
 and the Third Army was still a long way from 
 Sedan, divided, too, from the place by the Meuse, 
 the heads only of a Bavarian corps being near the 
 fortress. The Germans, therefore, had not their 
 enemy in their grasp; a retreat to the westward 
 was still partly open, and had Macmahon formed at 
 once a bold resolve, abandoned his bad and most 
 enfeebled troops, left his heaviest impedimenta in 
 Sedan, and broken down the bridges on the Meuse, 
 he would probably have made good his way to 
 Mezieres, at the sacrifice of 20,000 or 30,000 men, 
 but having saved three-fourths of his army. Napo- 
 leon, at the Beresina, was in a far worse plight ; 
 and yet history has recorded how that mighty 
 warrior rescued his stricken troops from the ex- 
 treme of peril, and baffled, by his marvellous resource, 
 his astounded foes. ISTor did the movement to 
 Mezieres escape the notice of judicious observers 
 in the camp of the French ; it was suggested, 
 at least, by Napoleon III., and Ducrot, the leader 
 of the 1st corps, a very able and experienced 
 soldier, 1 had prepared for it even on the night of 
 the 30th. 
 
 Genius and insight, however, were wanting to 
 France in that calamitous hour of her destiny. 
 1 Ducrot, " Sedan," pp. 10, 11. His remarks should be studied. 
 
SEDAN. 199 
 
 Macmahon l knew that he could not stay long at 
 Sedan, but he did not wish to fall back on 
 Mezieres ; he believed that he had time to give a 
 day's rest to his troops. He thought the Germans 
 more distant than they were, and his real intention 
 was to resume, if possible, the march on Montrnedy. 
 He threw, therefore, away his one chance of safety ; 
 he lost the precious hours of the 31st; the roads to 
 Mezieres, and even to Sedan, were left open to the 
 approaching enemy, for the chief bridges on the 
 Meuse were not destroyed. A council of war that 
 clear token of weakness in command came to no 
 decision, and it was finally resolved to wait on 
 events round Sedan. Vacillation and disregard of 
 every principle of war were the characteristics of 
 this fatal conduct, to be soon visited by a tremendous 
 penalty. The only decided step taken by Macmahon 
 was to replace Failly in his command by- Wimpffen, 
 an officer who had been despatched from Paris to 
 succeed the Marshal in the event of his fall ; and the 
 choice was to prove, in many respects, unfortunate. 
 During all this time the two German armies had 
 been gradually approaching Sedan. The great 
 masses, however, had moved somewhat slowly, and 
 until late on the 31st Moltke, who had not brought 
 
 1 These conclusions follow from an impartial review of Mac- 
 mahon's evidence at the Enquete Parlementaire. See also 
 "Bibesco," p. 105; Wimpffen, " Sedan." The "Prussian Staff 
 History " is in error in intimating, vol. ii. p. 292, that Macmahon 
 wished to retreat on Mezieres. The Marshal said exactly the 
 reverse. 
 
200 MOLTKE. 
 
 his enemy to bay, as lie had, perhaps, hoped to do 
 before, hardly expected that he could accomplish 
 more than to drive Macmahon 1 over the Belgian 
 frontier that is, to disarm the Army of Chalons in 
 a neutral's country. By the evening of the 31st the 
 Army of the Meuse had completely closed the roads 
 to Montmedy, and, having crossed the Meuse with 
 all its divisions, held the tract between the river and 
 the Chiers ; but the Third Army was half a march 
 from Se*dan, though it had gradually drawn near 
 the course of the Meuse, standing from the right to 
 the left on a broad space, 2 and threatening Mac- 
 mahon' s retreat to Mezieres. Moltke certainly 
 expected that the French commander would attempt 
 to effect his escape that way, and he had made 
 preparations to cross the Meuse and to endeavour 
 to force him, we have said, into Belgium, an 
 event, however, by no means probable had Mac- 
 mahon been a capable chief. But hours passed and 
 the French made no sign ; the advanced corps of 
 the Third Army seized the principal bridges on the 
 Meuse, left intact, we have seen, by neglect, and 
 
 1 " Prussian Staff History," vol. ii. p. 290. The movements of 
 Macmahon had puzzled the German commanders ; they were so 
 contrary to common sense. " I cannot understand," General 
 Blurnenthal, Chief of the Staff of the Third Army, said to a by- 
 stander, " what the Marshal is at." A very able military critic, 
 equally perplexed, hazarded the surmise that Macmahon would 
 march into Belgium, violate neutral territory, and re-enter France 
 near Givet, making his escape in this way. 
 
 2 The 6th corps of the Third Army was leagues in the rear, and 
 west of Mezieres. 
 
SEDAN. 201 
 
 as the Army of Chalons did not move from Sedan, 
 Moltke saw that his enemy was within the toils, and 
 that he could be hemmed in on Sedan and destroyed. 
 Orders were issued for a great night march. The 
 Army of the Meuse was to advance on the fortress, 
 and to attack the French on its eastern front ; the 
 Third Army was to cross the Meuse, and, leaving a 
 large force on the southern front, was to close on 
 the enemy from the west ; and the uniting masses 
 were, like a huge serpent, to envelop and crush 
 their doomed prey. By the early dawn the great 
 columns were in motion, well led, well directed, and 
 advancing steadily; and this movement, one of the 
 most decisive ever made in war, was indisputably 
 that of a great captain. 
 
 Macmahon, meanwhile, had arranged his army in 
 a defensive position around Sedan, ready, if neces- 
 sary, to meet the attack of his enemy. Strategically, 
 the situation could hardly be worse ; the French 
 were close to the Belgian frontier, and a lost battle 
 would entail ruin. But tactically the position was 
 extremely strong, unless, as at Gravelotte, the 
 Germans were in overwhelming force ; and there is 
 reason to think that the Marshal believed a large 
 part of the Third Army distant. The fortress itself 
 gave little protection ; but north of it a tract 
 extends, covered on every side by difficult obstacles, 
 and the Army of Chalons held this ground of vantage, 
 drawn up in a great semi-circle to resist an attack. 
 The brook of the Givonne, with the adjoining villages 
 of Bazeilles, La Moncelle, Daigny, and Givonne, 
 
202 MOLTKE. 
 
 opposed a barrier on the east to the Germans, and 
 Macmahon held this front with his 1st and 12th 
 corps, the best parts of his enfeebled army. Few 
 troops were needed on the southern and south- 
 western fronts, for, not to speak of the artillery of 
 Sedan, the Meuse ran along this whole space, form- 
 ing a huge bend like a great double fosse, and 
 the approaches on this side were made very intricate 
 for miles by masses of dense woodland. On the 
 northern and north-western fronts the ground was 
 more open ; but the hamlets of Floing, St. Menges, 
 and Fleigneux afforded valuable points of defence ; 
 and the 7th corps was placed on this part of the 
 field, assembled in a comparatively narrow space. 
 The centre of the circumference thus closed or 
 occupied was filled by the shattered 5th corps, the 
 reserve of the three corps outside, and the position, 
 we repeat, was, as a whole, formidable against an 
 enemy not in immense numbers. But it afforded no 
 facilities for counter attack, and hardly any means 
 of retreat; it was "cramped," confined, and for 
 this reason dangerous ; it was commanded on the 
 north by the heights of Illy, and should the Germans 
 once gain this point of vantage, and especially should 
 they unite upon it, a frightful disaster would cer- 
 tainly follow; the French army would have no 
 power to escape, and would be precipitated into the 
 lowlands around Sedan. 
 
 The memorable 1st of September had come ; a 
 day of woe and despair for France. It was still 
 dark when the 1st Bavarian corps attacked Bazeilles, 
 
SEDAN. 203 
 
 a suburb of Sedan, near where the Givonne falls into 
 the Meuse. The 12th Saxon corps had soon come 
 into line, and assailed the hamlets of La Moncelle 
 and Daigny, and the thunder of battle rolled along 
 the space which extends before the south-east of 
 the fortress. The French made a most stubborn 
 defence, the marines of Lebrun displaying heroic 
 courage, and the chassepot made its superiority felt 
 in what was, in a great measure, a combat in streets. 
 An unfortunate incident had already occurred ; 
 Macmahon, who had ridden to the front of the line, 
 still hoping to find his way to Carignan, had been 
 struck by the splinter of a shell, and he handed over 
 the chief command to Ducrot, a lieutenant, in whom 
 he justly placed confidence. Ducrot, we have seen, 
 as far back as the 30th of August, had judged 
 correctly that a retreat on Mezieres was the only 1 
 chance of safety for the endangered French, and he 
 instantly gave orders 2 that the whole army should 
 fall back to the heights of Illy, and endeavour to 
 force its way westwards. This movement could not 
 have conjured away a disaster, but it might have 
 saved a large part of the Army of Chalons ; yet, at 
 the supreme moment, it was arrested by interference, 
 unwise and calamitous. 
 
 Wimpffen believed, like Macmahon, that the true 
 
 1 " Operer sa retraite sur ses renforts un des trois grandes regies 
 de la guerre." Napoleon. 
 
 2 The " Prussian Staff History," vol. ii. pp. 323-4, does not 
 explain this clearly. Moltke, ( ' Precis of Franco- German War," 
 vol. i. p. 119, is quite accurate. 
 
204 MOLTKE. 
 
 course to adopt was to attempt to break through 
 the enemy in front, and, by Oarignan, to advance on 
 Montmedy ; and, assuming the chief command after 
 the Marshal's fall, he countermanded Ducrot's 
 orders and directed the army to hold its gronnd. 
 At this time the French still maintained their posi- 
 tions ; they made repeated and vigorous efforts to 
 fall on the Bavarians and Saxons, and so to force 
 a passage and escape eastwards. But the 4th corps 
 of the Army of the Meuse had reached the field about 
 9 a.m. ; the Guards, who had had a long way to 
 march, through a difficult and thickly wooded 
 tract, had speedily joined in a general attack; the 
 crushing fire of the Prussian batteries told decisively 
 as the battle developed, and the pressure on the 
 French proved impossible to withstand, as the line 
 of fire became more intense, and spread on all sides 
 as far as Givonne. By noon the line of the Givonne 
 was lost ; the hamlets on it had been stormed or 
 abandoned; and the 1st and 12th corps were driven 
 backward into the valley to the south and east of 
 Sedan. They rallied in this position on a second 
 line, but their situation was already critical in the 
 extreme. 
 
 Ere long a tremendous storm had burst on the 
 north-western front of the French ar my. The mass 
 of the Third Army had marched through the night, 
 and by the early morning the 5th and llth corps, 
 the Wlirtembergers being some distance to the left, 
 had reached the Meuse, and were crossing the river. 
 Besides the principal bridge of Donchery, artificial 
 bridges had been made a , striking contrast to 
 
SEDAN. 205 
 
 Macmahon's negligence for celerity was of supreme 
 importance; and the Germans were arrayed on 
 the northern bank at between 7 and 8 a.m. The 
 march, however, to reach the position of the French 
 was long, and retarded by many hindrances ; the 
 great bend of the Meuse closed part of the way ; 
 the country was thickly covered by wood, and it was 
 nearly 11 a.m. before the first troops of the llth 
 corps had reached St. Menges and Fleigneux, 
 advanced posts of the 7th corps of Douay. Batteries 
 were pushed forward to support the infantry, but 
 the 5th corps was not yet on the scene ; the 
 Wiirtembergers were far distant, observing the roads 
 that led to Mezieres, and this indicates that had 
 Ducrot's orders, given between 7 and 8 a.m., 
 been speedily and thoroughly carried out, the Army 
 of Chalons might have, in part, escaped, even if 
 assailed in flank by a victorious enemy, and probably 
 in the rear by the Army of the Meuse. The 7th 
 French corps met the enemy boldly, and even 
 attempted counter attacks, but St. Menges and 
 Fleigneux were scarcely defended, and after a fierce 
 and protracted struggle, Floing was captured, and 
 the triumphant Germans pressed towards and seized 
 the heights of Illy, nearly joining hands with the 
 advancing Guards, who had occupied, we have seen, 
 Givonne. An iron circle was closing round the 
 French, but their disaster was ennobled by a fine 
 feat of arms. The few good cavalry of the Army of 
 Chalons made a magnificent 1 effort to beat back the 
 
 1 King William, who witnessed these heroic charges from a 
 distant hill, exclaimed, " What splendid troops." The " Prussian 
 
206 MOLTKE. 
 
 enemy, and, though they failed, some hundreds of 
 these gallant horsemen contrived to effect their 
 escape into Belgium. 
 
 It was now three in the afternoon, and nothing 
 could save the defeated French from the coming 
 doom. To the east and south-east, the troops of 
 the 1st and 12th corps were gradually forced from 
 their new positions, and were driven back on the 
 ramparts of Sedan. To the north and north-east, 
 the uniting columns of the Prussian Guards and of 
 the 5th and llth corps spread over the space from 
 which Illy rises ; and the routed 7th corps was 
 scattered into the valley below. The south of the 
 French position was closed by the Meuse and by the 
 2nd Bavarian corps, detached in the morning from 
 the Third Army ; and the converging enemies 
 gathered in on the ruined host, pent in a narrow 
 enclosure, like a flock for the slaughter. The 5th 
 French corps shared in the universal wreck, and by 
 five in the afternoon a huge coil had been drawn 
 around an army still of 110,000 men. Every avenue 
 of escape was barred ; the cross-fire of 500 guns 
 at least carried death and despair into shattered 
 masses fast dissolving into chaotic multitudes ; and 
 the lost battle became a massacre. Yet even in 
 this hour of appalling woe noble hearts rose superior 
 
 Staff," vol. ii. p. 375, and Moltke's " Precis of the Franco-German 
 War," vol. i. p. 130, join in the tribute of admiration. General 
 Gallifet, one of the leaders of these noble squadrons, survives, 
 and is one of the most distinguished chiefs of the new army of 
 France. 
 
SEDAN. 207 
 
 to Fortune. Wimpffen hastily collected a few 
 thousand men and made a frantic effort to break 
 through by Bazeilles ; and little knots of fugitives, 
 eluding their foes, made their way over the adjoin- 
 ing frontier. It is useless, however, to dwell on 
 the struggles of caged animals caught in the trap of 
 the hunter. The Army of Chalons soon ceased to 
 exist, 1 and became a horde filling the approaches to 
 Sedan, and crowding its streets with wounded men 
 and stragglers. Scenes of hideous insubordination 
 and fury closed a catastrophe without a parallel in 
 war. 
 
 Napoleon III. had visited the field of battle on 
 the morning of this great and terrible day. He was 
 suffering, however, from a cruel disease, and was 
 unable to keep his seat on horseback, and he 
 witnessed from the interior of Sedan the appalling 
 rout of the Army of Chalons. Towards the close of 
 the day, when all hope had vanished, he very pro- 
 perly rejected the advice of Wimpffen, to put him- 
 self at the head of a handful of men and to endea- 
 
 1 General Ducrot, " Sedan," p. 48, gives us this description of the 
 appearance of the town at the close of the struggle : " A 1'interienr 
 de Sedan, le spectacle e"tait indescriptible ; les rues, les places, les 
 portes etaient encombrees de voitures, de chariots, de canons, de 
 tous les impedimenta et debris d'une armee en deroute. Des 
 bandes de soldats, sans fusils, sans sacs, accouraient a tout 
 moment, se j etaient dans les maisons, dans les eglises. Aux 
 portes de la ville on s'e'crasait. Plusieurs malheureux perirent 
 pie"tmes. A travers cette foule, accouraient des cavaliers ventre a 
 terre, des caissons passaient au galop, se taillant un chemin au 
 milieu de ces masses affalees." 
 
208 MOLTKE. 
 
 vour to escape from a scene of horror, and he 
 rightly ordered the white flag to be raised as a 
 sign that all resistance had ceased, and that the time 
 had come to stop useless and murderous car- 
 nage. Negotiations had soon begun at Donchery ; 
 Wimpffen, much against his will, represented the 
 French, and Bismarck and Moltke were the envoys 
 of the King of Prussia to treat for victorious Ger- 
 many. The interview, a great scene of history, 
 brought out clearly one side of Moltke' s character. 
 Bismarck spoke of the cession of Alsace and Lorraine, 
 but was generous to the defeated enemy, and seemed 
 willing to discuss conditions of peace. Moltke did 
 justice to the courage of the French, but was harsh, 
 peremptory, and stiff in his manner, and his 
 language showed that he rather desired to annihilate 
 foes already crushed. He was not to blame for 
 insisting that the French troops should lay down 
 their arms and become prisoners of war, and he was 
 within his right, when, a few hours afterwards, he 
 rejected a proposal of the ill-fated Emperor, that 
 they should march into Belgium, pledged not to 
 fight again. War is not an affair of sentiment, and 
 there were special reasons, in the existing state of 
 France, when the Empire evidently was on the brink 
 of ruin, and there could be little hope of a stable 
 government, that concessions should not be lightly 
 granted. But Moltke' s bearing was unnecessarily 
 severe, and in the hour of his triumph he ought not 
 to have sneered at " the presumption and shallow- 
 ness " of the French people, an expression which 
 
SEDAN. 209 
 
 wounded French nature to the quick. The con- 
 duct of Maryborough to Tallard, after Blenheim, and 
 of Napoleon to the Austrian officers at Ulm, pre- 
 sents a striking and painful contrast, 1 and the atti- 
 tude of Moltke on this great occasion reveals a dis- 
 like and scorn of France, and a want of tact and of 
 knowledge of men, to be noticed in more than one 
 passage of his career. 
 
 The German armies on the field of Sedan were 
 about 180,000 or 190,000 strong, with from 600 to 
 700 guns ; the Army of Chalons had about 350 
 guns, and numbered, in the morning, 120,000 men. 
 Defeat could not have been averted, yet this fright- 
 ful disaster should not have occurred. When the 
 Germans, indeed, had encircled their prey, it was 
 impossible to resist or escape ; the French, placed 
 in positions from the first too confined, were driven 
 in a multitude against a worthless fortress ; all 
 avenues of retreat were effectually shut, and the 
 German batteries had free play on the mass of 
 routed soldiery. But had Ducrot's advice been fol- 
 lowed, a considerable part of the Army of Chalons 
 would, in all probability, have reached Mezieres, 
 and it would have been better to have tried to break 
 out for Carignan, before the German armies had 
 met at Illy, than to wait to be caught in a deadly 
 trap, even if this movement must have led to defeat. 
 
 1 How different was the policy of the chiefs of conquering Rome, 
 expressed in the noble lines of Virgil: 
 
 " Hae tibi sint artes ; pacisque imponere morem, 
 Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos." 
 
 P 
 
210 MOLTKE. 
 
 Nothing can excuse such a calamity as Sedan, 
 and the responsibility largely falls on "Wimpffen, 
 for interfering with Ducrot at a most critical 
 time, and for insisting on adopting a most unwise 
 course. 1 The scenes that followed the capitulation 
 of Sedan form one of the darkest pages in the 
 annals of France. In view of the birth-place of 
 Turenne we may fancy the shade of that great 
 warrior indignant at the events of the preceding 
 days and on plains thickly strewn with the ravages 
 of war, 85,000 disarmed and captive men, the re- 
 mains of the lost Army of Chalons, were huddled 
 within enclosures near the Meuse, until their con- 
 querors should obtain the means to transport them 
 beyond the Rhine and the Elbe. The unhappy Em- 
 peror had already gone ; confusion had waited on 
 his banners, and it was, indeed, idle to state that the 
 heir of Napoleon went into exile, attended by a 
 brilliant escort of the soldiery whose fathers had 
 witnessed Jena. The bearing of the French was 
 characteristic of the race ; imprecations fell from 
 many passionate lips, cries that " We are betrayed 
 and abandoned" were loudly heard; and the fool 
 
 1 For the chances of the escape of the Army of Chalons had 
 Ducrot's orders been carried out, see Ducrot's " Sedan," pp. 27, 28. 
 The general is too sanguine, but his view is remarkable. It may 
 fairly be said that had he commanded in chief on the 30th of 
 August, the army would have got to Me"zieres, and Sedan would 
 not have been fought. The arguments of Wimpffen are quite 
 untenable. We shall notice the observations of Villars and Napo- 
 leon on disasters of this kind, when we come to the surrender 
 of Metz. 
 
SEDAN. 211 
 
 fury of Paris blended with the sullenness of despair. 
 Yet the attitude of thousands was manly and noble ; 
 the martial port, the undaunted countenance of the 
 disciplined veteran were not changed, and eye- 
 witnesses have told how, even in this hour of woe, 
 brave hearts still beat high with hope for France. 
 The vast material of the Army of Chalons fell a 
 trophy of war into the hands of the victors. 
 
 Sedan forms the third act in the drama of the 
 war ; it was the prelude to the fall of the French 
 Empire, and to the renewal of the struggle under 
 changed conditions. The Imperial armies of France 
 had been swept from the open field, and all that 
 remained of them was the army of Bazaine, immured 
 around Metz, and soon to become captive. Such 
 disasters had never been witnessed before ; they 
 surpassed Austerlitz, Jena, and Friedland, and the 
 idolaters of success, it is needless to say, have 
 extolled the victories of the Germans as miracles 
 of war, and have described Moltke as the first of 
 strategists. Impartial history pronounces a different 
 judgment, though she gives the meed of de- 
 served eulogy. The operations of Moltke in this 
 episode of the campaign were very superior to 
 those around Metz, which have been rightly sub* 
 jected to adverse comments. The formation and 
 direction of the Army of the Meuse, the invest- 
 ment of Metz, as affairs stood, and above all, 
 the admirable night march on Sedan, exhibit, 
 almost in the highest degree, decision, promptness, 
 
 and clear insight, and they were undoubtedly 
 
 p 2 
 
212 MOLTKE. 
 
 the moves of a great commander. The immense 
 superiority, too, of the German armies in essential 
 elements of military power, over the ill-organized 
 Army of Chalons, was illustrated in the fullest 
 completeness ; it naturally exceeded all that had 
 been seen before, in the case of the more efficient 
 Army of the Khine. But when it is alleged that the 
 advance on Sedan was even finer than the advance 
 on Ulm, in the memorable campaign of 1805, and 
 that the victory of Sedan shows more genius than 
 Ulm, a fair inquirer must express an emphatic 
 protest. It is one thing to move armies a few 
 leagues, towards an object already almost within 
 sight, and quite another to move armies from 
 Hanover and Brittany to the Upper Danube, 
 and if Sedan was a " bigger thing " than Ulm, it 
 does not give proof, on the part of the conquerors, 
 of equal forethought or strategic power. Moltke 
 showed in many passages of his career great resolu- 
 tion and force of character, and he could deal most 
 ably with what was at hand and before him. But 
 he did not possess the imagination that sees into 
 the unknown, or the supreme genius that regulates 
 grand movements, at immense distances, and re- 
 mote in time ; in this, as in many other respects, he 
 is not to be compared with Napoleon, and, spite 
 of the telegraph and appliances of the kind, 
 the strategy of Ulm and Mareugo surpassed his 
 achievements. It should be added that, at Sedan, 
 as throughout the war, he had an overwhelming 
 superiority of force, and Macrnahon played into 
 
SEDAN. 213 
 
 his hands even more completely than Mack played 
 into those of Napoleon. 
 
 As for the operations of the French, ending at 
 Sedan, they were at least as faulty as those of 
 Bazaine, although for very different reasons. Mac- 
 mahon was a brave and intelligent soldier, his cap- 
 ture of the Malakoff, his march to Magenta, were 
 dashing, brilliant and well conceived exploits, but a 
 general of division, Napoleon has remarked, is very 
 different from a general-in- chief , and Macmahon 
 was unfit for supreme command. His march to the 
 Meuse admits of no excuse ; he knew that he ought 
 to fall back on Paris ; he was perfectly aware of his 
 enemy's movements ; and yet he consented to a fatal 
 course to assist a colleague, and to prop up a 
 government. Still more unpardonable was his 
 resolve to advance eastwards on the 28th of August, 
 and to give up the retreat to Mezieres ; this was a 
 deliberate sacrifice, for supposed reasons of state, 
 of the most obvious principles of war ; and, we re- 
 peat, this conduct was well-nigh criminal. Nothing, 
 too, could be more unwise and feeble than the 
 inactivity of the 31s b of August, the indecision in 
 not moving on Mezieres, the neglect to break down 
 the bridges on the Meuse ; and Macmahon's idea, to 
 which he clung to the last, that he might be able to 
 reach Carignan and Metz, proves that he had no 
 knowledge of the higher parts of war. Vacillation, 
 hesitation, and want of purpose, were the faults of 
 the Marshal during these woful days, and he showed 
 himself to be without the strength of character 
 
214 MOLTKE. 
 
 which Napoleon has called the best quality of a chief. 
 He was, no doubt, an honourable and high-minded 
 man, and it is to his credit that, in an inquiry on 
 Sedan, he took the whole responsibility on himself, 
 and blamed neither the Government nor his lieu- 
 tenants. But he was utterly in error in hinting, as 
 he did, that his fall may have changed the fortunes 
 of the day; he would have rejected the advice of 
 Ducrot; Wimpffen obstinately carried his ideas, out, 
 and a tremendous catastrophe was the result. It is 
 unnecessary to dwell on the bad condition of the 
 Army of Chalons compared to its enemy ; this cir- 
 cumstance alone should have induced Macmahon to 
 avoid the calamitous march eastwards, and that he 
 did not retreat on Paris was one principal cause 
 that France succumbed, and was compelled to bow- 
 to the will of the conqueror. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Advance of the Army of the Meuse and of the chief part of 
 the Third Army through France The Germans in front of 
 Paris Confidence of Moltke His miscalculation in suppos- 
 ing that France would yield in a short time Revolution of 
 4th September The Government of National Defence 
 Paris resolves to stand a siege Resources of the capital in 
 material and in military force Investment of Paris by the 
 German armies Trochu and Ducrot The zone of investment 
 The zone of defence Sorties made by the Parisian levies 
 Gambetta The rising of France against the invaders 
 Organization of the defence Extraordinary ability and 
 energy of Gambetta Formation of provincial armies 
 Erroneous views of Moltke as to the reality of the defence 
 of France Fall of Laon, Toul, Strasbourg, Soissons, and 
 other places First defeats of the French provincial armies 
 The resistance continues Conduct of Bazaine after the 
 investment of Metz The 26th of August at Metz The 
 battle of Noisseville Criminal negligence and intrigues of 
 Bazaine The fall of Metz Reflections on these events. 
 
 SEDAN had engulphed, as if in an earthquake, the 
 last army of France in the field, and the Army of 
 the Rhine was immured at Metz, a circle of iron 
 thrown around it. All that seemed required to 
 bring the war to a close was to march on Paris at 
 once, to witness its fall, and to dictate the terms of 
 a triumphant peace. Moltke had accomplished more 
 than he had deemed possible, and in the serene 
 confidence of speedy success, he directed an im- 
 
216 MOLTKE. 
 
 mediate advance on the capital, carrying out the 
 design he had formed from the first. Two corps l 
 were left to watch the captives of Sedan, with orders 
 to follow in the wake of the conquerors, and within 
 three days after the great surrender, the Army 
 of the Meuse and the Third Army, now composed 
 of six and a half corps, 2 had uncoiled themselves 
 from around the fortress which had been the scene 
 of the 1st of September, and were on their way for 
 the plains of Champagne, through the difficult 
 region of the Argonne. The invaders moved on an 
 immense front, the Army of Meuse spreading over 
 the valley of the Aisne, pushing detachments north- 
 wards, as far as Laon, and descending into the valleys 
 of the Ourcq and the Oise; the Third Army filling 
 the valley of the Marne, and extending to the dis- 
 tant valley of the Aube. Historic towns and strong- 
 holds were passed on the march, and scenes 
 illustrated by the genius of Turenne, and by the 
 immortal exploits of 1814 ; but France seemed 
 unable to lift up her head, and the German masses 
 rolled steadily onwards, encountering no resistance 
 on their path. By the 16th and 17th September, 
 the two armies, drawing towards each other, had 
 entered the region of forest and hill, of winding 
 river and of fertile plain, of which Paris, girdled 
 
 1 The llth Prussian and 1st Bavarian corps. 
 
 2 The Army of the Meuse was still composed of the Guards and 
 the 4th and 12th corps ; the Third Army was composed at this 
 time of the 5th and 6th Prussian corps, of the 2nd Bavarian, 
 and of the Wurtembergers. 
 
THE GEUMAN ADVANCE ON PARIS. 217 
 
 by her dependent villages and suburbs, forms the 
 imposing centre, and thousands of peasants, flock- 
 ing in with their household stuff, had given the 
 capital almost the only sign of the approach of the 
 all-mastering enemy. One incident only had ruffled 
 the calm of a movement that seemed a huge triumphal 
 progress. The 13th corps of Vinoy, which, we 
 have seen, had been sent to Mezieres to support 
 Macmahon, had rapidly fallen back, at the close of 
 the battle, and the 6th Prussian corps, even now 
 in its rear, had made an attempt to cut off its 
 retreat. Vinoy, however, skilfully making forced 
 marches, had succeeded in effecting his escape by 
 Laon ; and his troops, increased by numerous 
 fugitives from Sedan, reached Paris in safety 
 before the invaders. 
 
 Probability is the rule of life, and you must act 
 quickly on probabilities in war. Moltke is not to 
 be blamed, if tried by this test, for advancing on 
 Paris, with a full conviction that the city would 
 fall and France succumb in a few days, or, at most, 
 a few weeks. The armies of the Empire had been 
 swept from the scene ; the Empire itself had become 
 a phantom, and could a nation under the heel of a 
 conqueror resist the omnipotent hosts of Germany ? 
 Not a soldier beyond the Rhine, and very few in 
 France, believed that Paris, although fortified, could 
 hold out against a victorious enemy ; and France had 
 yielded, in 1814 and 1815, when the example had 
 been set by the capital. A Prussian commander, 
 too, might reasonably suppose that, after disasters 
 
218 MOLTKE. 
 
 surpassing Jena, the French would imitate the 
 Prussian people, especially as Austria and Italy had 
 abandoned France, and her misfortunes had left her 
 without a friend in Europe. All the chances, there- 
 fore, seemed on the side of Moltke, and if we 
 accept the criterion of success, his strategy was 
 altogether justified, for Paris and France were sub- 
 dued at last. 
 
 The march on Paris was, nevertheless, a mistake, 
 founded on calculations that proved false, and that 
 very nearly changed the fortunes of the war. Like 
 most soldiers, Moltke had little faith in moral power 
 in conflict with material force ; he had a rooted 
 dislike and contempt for Frenchmen, and he did 
 not believe that France would make a real effort 
 to vindicate her great name, and to oppose the 
 invader. This, however, was a complete error, 
 and there were other considerations that might have 
 made the Prussian leader pause in his march of 
 conquest. Paris had more than once resisted an 
 enemy; it had now become a gigantic fortress; 
 over and over again, in her splendid history, France 
 had risen Phoenix-like from her ashes; and, 
 " stamping her proud foot had called legions out of 
 the earth," which had discomfited even the Leagues 
 of Europe. Metz, too, had not fallen as yet; the 
 German armies, in the march to Paris, were only 1 
 150,000 strong, and could not be largely increased 
 for a time ; a net- work of strongholds stood in their 
 rear, and not even one of the great railway lines to 
 
 1 " Prussian Staff History," Part ii. pp. 1, 32. 
 
FALSE CALCULATION OF MOLTKE. 219 
 
 the capital had been completely mastered. Was it 
 wise, therefore, under these conditions, to plunge 
 into the interior of France, a country, which, 
 prostrate as it was, was rich in elements of power 
 for war, and with communications, so to speak, 
 strangled, to attack an immense and fortified city, 
 which could not be assaulted, or regularly besieged, 
 for a period of many months at least ? Moltke, 
 however, took the hazardous course ; and, as the 
 result, Paris resisted stubbornly. France rose, 
 almost to a man, to arms ; the invaders were placed 
 in grave peril, the resources of Germany were cruelly 
 strained, to an extent that, perhaps, will be never 
 known ; she triumphed after a protracted contest, 
 owing to accidents mainly, on which she could not 
 reckon ; and if France was at last vanquished, she 
 assuredly taught her foes a lesson, not to advance 
 hastily to the Loire and the Seine, and she inscribed 
 another grand page on the national annals. It is 
 not difficult, after the event, to see that Moltke 
 might have obtained all that Germany obtained 
 at last, without running enormous risks, and setting 
 fortune on the hazard of the die. But if he was in 
 error, he made the mistake made by Napoleon, 
 when he advanced on Moscow, and omniscience is 
 not given to the children of men. 
 
 During the march of the German armies through 
 France, a revolution had broken out in Paris. The 
 Government of the Regency had done much to 
 increase the national resources for war, and 
 especially to strengthen the menaced capital ; but 
 
220 MOLTKE. 
 
 the Empire had been long undermined ; Palikao, 
 the Imperial War Minister, had insisted on the 
 fatal advance to the Meuse, and at the intelligence 
 of the disaster of Sedan, Paris rose up in fury 
 against the men in office. Scenes, too like those of 
 1792, were witnessed ; mobs broke into the As- 
 sembly of the State, clamouring for the " deposition 
 of the Man of Sedan ;" the Empress, to her honour, 
 retired into Belgium, in order to avert a civil war ; 
 and at a tumultuous meeting at the City Town 
 Hall, the leaders of the party which, since 1851, 
 had always been sworn foes of the Empire, declared 
 that Napoleon III. had forfeited his crown, and set 
 up a Republic in his stead. A Provisional Govern- 
 ment was quickly formed ; it had seized the reins 
 of power by the 4th of September, and it proclaimed 
 itself a " Government of National Defence," pledged 
 to resist the invader to the last. The nominal head 
 of the new power was Trochu, a general of some 
 parts and distinction, for years neglected under the 
 Empire ; but its master spirit was Leon Gambetta, 
 a lawyer little known, but a man of genius, of a 
 rash and domineering nature, indeed, yet endowed 
 with the supreme gift of command ; and if the 
 Government had no lawful origin, it represented 
 the convictions of Paris, and, as was soon to appear, 
 of the nation, both resolved to defend the soil of 
 France. The ministry entered on its functions at 
 once, and while the veteran statesman, Thiers, 
 went on a mission to the Courts of the Great 
 Powers, to plead for France and to invoke their 
 
J5ISMARCK. 
 
 Tu fact; j>ui/e 221. 
 
THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE. THE SIEGE OF PARIS. 221 
 
 sympathy, it addressed itself to the gigantic task 
 of preparing to withstand the German invasion. 
 Negotiation, indeed, was tried for a moment ; but 
 as Bismarck insisted on harsh conditions, which 
 Favre, the new Foreign Minister, would not accept, 
 it failed, and war was the only alternative. Spite of 
 the cynical scoffs of politicians and soldiers, who 
 believed further resistance hopeless, Paris girded 
 up her loins for the contest, declaring that France 
 would yield " neither her lands nor her fortresses ;" 
 and the whole nation proved by heroic deeds, that the 
 noble cry of patriotism was no vainglorious boast. 
 
 The enemy, however, was at the gates of Paris, 
 and how was it to resist his efforts ? As early as 
 July the Imperial Government had taken precau- 
 tions for the defence of the city, and, after "Worth 
 and Spicheren, the Regency, we have said, had ac- 
 complished much to secure this object. Immense 
 stores of provisions were laid in ; heavy guns were 
 brought from the great naval arsenals ; large bodies 
 of marines and sailors and of Gardes Mobiles were 
 gathered together within the capital ; munitions of 
 war of all kinds were collected, and attempts were 
 made to strengthen the fortifications of the place, 
 by constructing earthworks, redoubts, and entrench- 
 ments. The new Government owed much to these 
 labouz^s, but the Revolution, which had just taken 
 place, undoubtedly quickened into intense activity 
 the exertions of the world of Paris, patriotic and 
 w arlike in all ages, though on the surface given to 
 ease and pleasure. Local committees were formed 
 
222 MOLTKE. 
 
 by the citizens themselves, connected with a great 
 Central Committee of Defence, composed of 
 Trochu, and other men in power, and the work of 
 obtaining supplies, of forming and drilling troops, 
 of clearing ramparts, of repairing forts, of making 
 improvised armed lines, and, in short, of turning 
 the city into a real fortress, capable of enduring a 
 protracted siege, went on with marvellously rapid 
 and fruitful results. 
 
 By the second week of September Paris was in 
 a state of preparation to resist the Germans, far 
 more complete than was generally supposed. For 
 the time, indeed, it was really safe, for Moltke had 
 never thought of trying to assault a city which 
 could be made a mass of barricades, not to refer to 
 its walls and forts, and the invaders did not 
 possess any artillery for a siege. In fact, the 
 capital was already prodigiously strong, and the 
 only present defect in its armour was the absence of 
 an effective military force. Vinoy's corps, indeed, 
 had fortunately returned, and a new corps, the 14th, 
 had been formed and placed under the command of 
 Ducrot, the ablest of the French chiefs at Sedan ; 
 but these arrays, though fully 70,000 strong, were 
 composed for the most part of rude levies, of troops 
 from depots, of men of the untried reserves, and 
 contained only two trained regiments. There were 
 also about 115,000 Gardes Mobiles, youths without 
 discipline or experience in war, and to these should 
 be added a huge assemblage of about 300,000 l 
 
 1 The "Prussian Staff History," Part ii. p. 30, is incorrect 
 
THE SIEGE OF PARIS. 223 
 
 National Guards, traders, artisans, and partly the 
 scum of the populace, as a whole little fit for the 
 work of soldiers. The administrative services, too, 
 required for armies, were deficient, or in a most 
 embryonic state, and, in short, of the half million of 
 men who were to defend Paris, not 20,000 were 
 real troops. Intelligence, energy and devoted 
 courage can, nevertheless, do much behind armed 
 walls, and the city was to give a noble example of 
 this truth to the world. 
 
 Moltke had never hesitated as to the true method 
 of operating against and reducing Paris, an event 
 which he believed not distant. His orders were 
 given on the 16th and 17th of September, and on 
 the following day the Army of the Meuse began to 
 close round the city to the east and the north. 
 The advancing masses met no resistance, and by 
 the 19th they had traced a great investing line, 
 extending from Neuilly on the Marne to the Seine 
 beyond Paris. Two fronts of the capital were thus 
 hemmed in, and meanwhile the Third Army had 
 addressed itself to the task of surrounding the 
 southern and western fronts. The Seine was 
 crossed between Villeneuve Saint Georges and 
 Corbeil, and the invaders advanced along the 
 heights overlooking the capital from Clamart and 
 Chatillon, towards Sevres, Marly, and -Versailles, in 
 
 in estimating the entire number of the men employed at first in 
 defending Paris at 300,000 only. General Ducrot, in his elaborate 
 work, " La Defense de Paris," livre ii. chap, i., computes them at 
 nearly half a million. 
 
224 MOLTKE. 
 
 order to complete the investing circle. They were 
 not, however, unmolested on the march, and on the 
 19th the first engagement took place between the 
 conquerors and the Republican levies. Trochu, a 
 cautious and able, but not a daring man, had wished 
 to confine Paris to a passive defence, but Ducrot, a 
 chief of a higher order, had persuaded him to allow 
 the 14th corps to fall boldly on the flank of the 
 Germans, as they wound round this side of the city, 
 especially as Clamart and Chatillon were points of 
 vantage, if possible not to be won by the enemy. 
 A brisk and well contested encounter followed, but 
 a panic seized a part of the untrained French 
 troops, and Ducrot was ultimately forced to retreat. 
 The views of Trochu seemed thus justified; the 
 French refrained from offensive movements, and 
 indeed, for a time, showed few signs of life, and 
 the Germans had soon made their way to Versailles. 
 Having gained the positions they sought around 
 Paris, the invaders proceeded to strengthen their 
 lines of investment, and by these means to besiege 
 the city. 1 The capital of France has been made by 
 
 1 For the second phase of the war, beginning with the Siege of 
 Paris, the " Prussian Staff History " should, of course, be consulted. 
 But this part of the work is not so valuable as the first part ; it 
 abounds in suppressions and occasionally in misrepresentation ; it 
 is far from candid, and it is pervaded by a spirit of contempt for 
 the efforts of France. Moltke's Precis exaggerates these faults ; 
 and the same may be said of all the works on the German side 
 which have come under my notice. The French authorities are 
 numerous and good, and deserve careful attention. General 
 Ducrot's book, and an admirable volume by M. Viollet Le Due, 
 should be studied, with General Vinoy's resume, for the Siege of 
 
THE SIEGE OF PARIS. 225 
 
 nature an extremely formidable centre of defence, 
 offering many obstacles even to the most powerful 
 enemy. To the east the converging streams of the 
 Marne and the Seine, running into each other at 
 Charenton, present a great double fosse to a hostile 
 army, compelling it to divide and to secure its rear, 
 and the united rivers, now known as the Seine only, 
 after passing through Paris, form a series of bends 
 extending for miles, as far as Poissy, and protecting 
 in three great folds the city to the west. To the 
 north-east rises a great tableland, stretching from 
 near Vincennes to Montreuil and Romainville, and 
 opposing a barrier to attack ; and the wide plain of 
 St. Denis to the north is commanded by a succes- 
 sion of heights, La Villette, Belleville, and Mont- 
 martre, points of vantage against an advancing 
 enemy. To the south a long range of uplands 
 and hills, spreading from St. Cloud to the Seine 
 eastwards, by Versailles, Meudon, Sceaux and 
 Villejuif, and offering to the sight from the heights 
 of Chatillon magnificent scenes of grandeur and 
 beauty, covered Paris for ages from that side, and 
 though this was l always the vulnerable front, and 
 
 Paris. The war in the provinces has been well described by M. 
 de Freycinet, by Generals D'Aurelle and Faidherbe, and especially 
 by the illustrious Chanzy, as regards the operations in which they 
 took part. The elaborate and careful analysis of General Derre- 
 cagaix should also be perused. Riistow's History, though written 
 from a German point of view, is tolerably impartial. 
 
 1 Edward III. advanced against Paris from the heights of 
 Chatillon in 1360 ; so did Henry IV. to begin the celebrated 
 siege which ended the 'War of the League. Bliicher, too, 
 threatened the capital in 1815 from the south. 
 
 Q 
 
226 MOLTKE. 
 
 modern artillery, from many points of these eminences, 
 can ravage the city, still they are not in any sense to 
 be easily mastered if there is a trained military force 
 to support the defence. In the midst of this 
 immense circle of engirdling rivers, of heights rising 
 into natural bastions, of highlands difficult to ascend 
 and subdue, Paris, shielded from hostile approach, 
 lies cradled ; a huge world of buildings stretching 
 out for leagues, decked with edifices of historic 
 renown, running out into petty towns and hamlets, 
 and animated in all its parts by intense life and 
 passion. 
 
 In the ages of Barbarism, and the Middle Ages, 
 Paris, like all cities, was rudely fortified, and, as 
 Napoleon has remarked, it often owed its safety to 
 its walls. Louis XIV., in the plenitude of his power, 
 removed the ancient ramparts to enlarge his chief 
 town, but Vauban a fact not generally known- 
 proposed a scheme of new defences not unlike that 
 adopted ultimately in the present century. Napoleon 
 always wished to fortify Paris, but incessant war 
 interfered with his purpose, and it was not until 1 
 the Hundred Days that he threw up a few entrench- 
 ments around the city, a precaution rendered fruit- 
 less by the defeat of Waterloo. The design was 
 renewed under Louis Philippe, and between 1840 
 and 1845 a regular system of fortifications was 
 planned arid completed. The city was surrounded 
 by a wall and ramparts, made difficult to assail by a 
 
 1 Napoleon's observations on the fortification of Paris will be 
 found in his " Commentaries," vol. v. pp. 104-9. E<1. 
 
THE SIEGE OF PARTS. 227 
 
 broad ditch, and ninety-four bastions were added 
 to protect this inner circle of defence with their fire. 
 But Paris was not to be exposed to the horrors of 
 an assault, and fifteen forts were constructed beyond 
 the enceinte, to increase the strength of existing 
 obstacles, to guard and cover vulnerable points, 
 and to keep away the approach of a hostile army. 
 One fort was at the confluence of the Marne and 
 the Seine ; three, combined with the old chateau of 
 Vincennes, extended to the east and the north-east, 
 commanding from the tableland along this front the 
 valley of the Marne, and the adjoining lowlands ; 
 and five more closed the plain of St. Denis, and 
 shielded the historic town of that name. To the 
 west there was only one fort, for an attack on that 
 side was not probable, and the triple coil of the 
 Seine formed a powerful defence, but this was in 
 itself a fortress, and the great work of Valerien 
 could sweep with its fire the peninsula next to the 
 Bois de Boulogne. Not less than five forts covered 
 the southern front, but these were commanded by 
 the heights above, and 1 this vice in their position 
 had been pointed out long before artillery possessed 
 its present range and power. The south of Paris, 
 therefore, remained its weakest point, and yet art 
 added immensely to the strength of a spot strongly 
 defended by nature. The engineers who fortified 
 the French capital believed that a period of sixty 
 days would be the extreme limit of its power of 
 resistance ; it held out considerably more than 
 
 1 Clarke, " Fortification," p. 59. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 MOLTKE. 
 
 double that time under conditions of the worst 
 possible kind. 
 
 In the presence of the colossal fortress around 
 which they had already gathered, the first care of 
 the Germans was to secure the circle they had 
 formed from attack. For this purpose, the methods 
 were followed already adopted before Metz ; roads 
 were broken up, batteries carefully laid, entrench- 
 ments thrown up, and stockades made ; and inun- 
 dations were formed on several. lowlands to prohibit 
 access to an assailant. The villages, the buildings, 
 the forests, the woodlands, which spread along every 
 side of the city, gave facilities to the besiegers' 
 work; these were strongly fortified, or made 
 impassable, and the fairest scenes that adorned the 
 adjoining tract were turned into barriers to resist 
 the enemy. In a very short time, a huge line of 
 investment, on a circumference of more than fifty 
 miles, was drawn nearly around the whole capital, 
 and the German masses were placed behind this 
 immense zone, to hold Paris in .their grasp, and to 
 defy their foes. The invading armies had gradu- 
 ally closed in, and the Army of the Meuse now held 
 positions, though still beyond the range of the 
 forts, from the Marne to beyond Argenteuil north- 
 wards, in the second peninsula formed by the 
 Seine to the west. A narrow gap was left in the 
 investing line on this front ; for the besieged, it 
 was believed, would not be able to cross the bends 
 of the Seine on that side, before the besiegers could 
 force them back ; but along the whole southern 
 and south-eastern fronts, the Third Army, ere long 
 
THE SIEGE OF PARIS. 229 
 
 reinforced by the two corps left? behind at Sedan, 
 extended from St. Ger mains to the far-distant 
 points where it joined hands with the Army of the 
 Meuse, holding Marly, Versailles, Chfitillon, Sceaux, 
 Bonneuil, Bry, and all the other adjoining villages, 
 and thus completing the besiegers' circle. Outside 
 this zone, detachments of troops were sent to secure 
 the passages of the rivers around, and to put down 
 any hostile gatherings ; and an external zone, for 
 the present imperfect, was thrown beyond the zone 
 that engirdled the city. Paris was thus isolated 
 and cut off from the world ; and Moltke, at the 
 head of the German armies, and entrenched behind 
 his impenetrable lines, calmly awaited the hour of 
 its approaching fall. The revolutionary follies, he 
 thought, of the citizens, would accelerate a con- 
 summation which, in any event, famine would 
 render certain in no long space of time. 
 
 Paris had not been inactive during these days, 
 when a kind of Chinese wall was being built 
 around it. But a master-mind was wanting to the 
 defence ; and this deficiency continued to the last 
 moment, even if it did not affect the final result. 
 There were no discords between the chiefs in com- 
 mand, but there was a strongly marked divergence 
 of views, and conflicting projects distracted energies 
 which ought to have been concentrated on a single 
 purpose. Ducrot, the more original and able man, 1 
 believed that the only chance for the capital was to 
 
 1 Ducrot, "La Defense de Paris," vol. i. pp. 316-319. This 
 plan is noticed in the " Prussian Staff History," but without 
 comment, a tolerable proof that it was a good one. 
 
230 MOLTKE. 
 
 break the investing circle by its own efforts. He 
 was convinced that France did not possess the 
 means of creating a real army of relief; and, differ- 
 ing from Trochu in this respect, he had formed a 
 plan of operations on these assumptions. Having 
 carefully surveyed the German lines, he thought 
 they presented one weak point at the gap left, we have 
 seen, to the west ; and he proposed to make prepara- 
 tions to force a passage by the second peninsula 
 formed by the bends of the Seine. A large army 
 was to be collected in the first peninsula, and, under 
 the protection of the fire of the great work of 
 Valerien, and of other works thrown up for the 
 purpose, it was to cross the river at Carrieres and 
 Bezons, to establish itself in the second peninsula, 
 overpowering any enemies in its path ; and escaping 
 by Argenteuil to the north a false attack was to 
 keep the Germans in check here it was to make 
 its way into the valley of the Oise. Having thus 
 cut through the investing zone, it was to occupy 
 Rouen, and make the sea its base ; and having 
 strengthened itself, and secured supplies, it was to 
 summon to its aid the provincial levies, to march 
 again on Paris, and to attack the enemy in the rear, 
 the movement being seconded by great sorties from 
 the capital. 
 
 This operation offered some hopes of success, and 
 Trochu allowed Ducrot to have his way, and to take 
 the first steps to give effect to his enterprise. But 
 Trochu did not approve of the project at heart, he 
 did not give it earnest support ; and as no deter- 
 
THE SIEGE OP PARTS. 231 
 
 mined attempt was made to complete it, the only 
 result was to weaken and hamper the defence. 1 
 The ideas of Trochu, in fact, were altogether 
 different from those of his more daring colleague ; 
 
 O O 7 
 
 and as he was invested with supreme command, he 
 naturally insisted on carrying them out. He be- 
 lieved the Germans intended to assault Paris; and 
 his first care, therefore, was to seek to make the 
 capital impregnable to this mode of attack. When 
 this had been effected he thought that the lines of 
 the invaders might be, perhaps, weakened by push- 
 ing out counter approaches to them ; and he was 
 willing to try the effects of sorties, in order at once 
 to harass the enemy, and to inure the armed masses in 
 Paris to war. But he thought that the capital could 
 never save itself, and that an army of relief would 
 be required to cause the raising of the siege ; and 
 he looked to France to supply this force from out- 
 side. He regarded Paris, in a word, as a fortress, 
 to be defended and assisted in the ordinary way ; 
 and his ideal was the defence of Sebastopol, a siege 
 at which he had gained distinction. 
 
 Acting on these notions Trochu proceeded to 
 secure the city, in the first instance, from assault ; 
 and if divided counsels were not without mischief, 
 he was admirably seconded by the armed bodies in 
 Paris, and especially by the citizens as a whole. 
 The forts, largely garrisoned by the marines and 
 
 1 For the evil results of the want of complete unity in direction 
 and of divergent views on the defence of Paris, the reader may 
 consult the admirable work of M. Viollet le Due in every chapter. 
 
232 MOLTKE. 
 
 sailors, were manned in force, and received the best 
 gunners to be found ; the enceinte was occupied by 
 the National Guard, and was strengthened and 
 improved in different ways, and the spaces between 
 the forts were, at different points, filled by redoubts 
 and entrenchments armed with powerful batteries. 
 A zone of defence, which defied the enemy, was 
 thus opposed to the zone of investment, both con- 
 nected throughout, as at Metz, by the telegraph ; 
 and this barrier in the besiegers' way became even 
 more impenetrable than their hastily constructed 
 lines. This gain, however, was only trifling ; 
 Moltke, we have seen, had never contemplated an 
 assault, and obviously if Paris could not do more 
 than this, its surrender was only a question of time. 
 Trochu's operations failed at this point, and it can- 
 not be said that at any part of the siege he dis- 
 played the qualities of a great captain, even if Paris 
 could not have averted its fall. Nevertheless, the 
 city made immense exertions on the principles of 
 defence laid down by its rulers. A system of 
 counter approaches was begun, and a series of 
 vigorous sorties was made against the enemy's lines 
 in many directions. These attacks, protected by 
 the fire of the forts, were ultimately repelled in every 
 instance, but two were, for a time, successful ; they 
 were most honourable to the Parisian levies, and, in 
 fact, they were much more effective than the 
 wretched demonstrations made about this time by 
 the army of Bazaine enclosed in Metz. Meanwhile, 
 Trochu and his lieutenants continued the work of 
 
THE SIEGE OF PAEIS. 233 
 
 organizing and forming into soldiers the armed 
 multitudes within the capital, and, all things con- 
 sidered, the results were wonderful. Two bodies, 
 deserving in some measure the name of armies, 
 were by degrees arrayed, and even the National 
 Guards did good service. Yet one great and im- 
 portant mistake was made ; after the bad fashion 
 of a revolutionary time, the Gardes Mobiles and 
 the National Guards were allowed to elect their own 
 officers, and this not only greatly injured the defence, 
 but proved a cause of frightful disasters afterwards. 
 The close of October was now at hand, and, 
 though besieged for nearly six weeks, Paris re- 
 mained defiant, and showed no signs of yielding. 
 The defences of the city could resist any attack; 
 the levies within the walls were acquiring, by degrees, 
 something like military discipline and worth, and 
 had given proof of this in more than one encounter. 
 The positive results were not, perhaps, very great, 
 and yet they had begun to attract the attention of 
 thousands of observers in many lands. The attitude 
 of the great mass of the citizens was the most distinc- 
 tive feature of this period. Men of all ages had 
 taken up arms ; the elders held watch on the ram- 
 parts and walls ; the youths filled the ranks of the 
 quickly increasing armies. Every calling, profession, 
 and trade ministered to the great duty of maintain- 
 ing the defence ; and the energy and intelligence 
 that were displayed in supplying the innumerable 
 requirements for the levies and troops, were, in the 
 highest degree, admirable. The activity of 1793 
 
234 MOLTKE. 
 
 was witnessed again, but without the crimes of the 
 Keign of Terror, and Paris exhibited a truly heroic 
 aspect. Sounds of revolutionary passion were 
 heard, of discontent, of fretful impatience ; but 
 these had no real or lasting effect, and the world of 
 the capital rallied round the Government, despising 
 privations already severe, and resolved to fight and 
 to endure to the last. An ebullition of anarchy, 
 caused by the failure of Thiers to obtain assistance 
 for France, 1 was put down without the least diffi- 
 culty ; Jacobinism had no hold on the heart of the 
 city. 
 
 While Paris, in spite of divided counsels and of 
 military resources imperfect* in the extreme, was 
 thus holding the invaders at bay, a great change 
 had almost transformed France. Three members 
 of the Government of National Defence had gone to 
 Tours to arouse the provinces, and to call on the 
 nation to take part in the war ; but their mission 
 had been almost wholly fruitless. It was otherwise 
 when a man of real power appeared on the scene, 
 and made his presence felt. Gambetta, escaping 
 from Paris in a balloon, had joined his colleagues 
 in the first days of October ; he addressed himself 
 to the herculean task of organizing France against 
 the conquerors, and the results he achieved astounded 
 Europe. The mass of Frenchmen, accustomed for 
 years to repose, and subjected to a despotic cen- 
 
 1 The account of this petty outbreak by the Prussian Stall' is 
 thoroughly unfair. " History," part ii. vol. i. pp. 261, 262. 
 " General Ducrot," vol. ii. pp. 39, 70, is accurate and impartial. 
 
THE NATIONAL RISING OF FRANCE. 235 
 
 tralized government, had scarcely lifted up a hand 
 to attack the enemy ; they showed the apathy of 
 1814-15 ; they had looked listlessly on while the 
 German armies were overrunning the natal soil. 
 And if the nation appeared to be wanting to itself, 
 the means of prolonging the war seemed equally 
 absent. A few thousand men of the Algerian army, 
 some thousands of troops, still in their depots, and 
 a mass of young recruits and of Gardes Mobiles, 
 were the only materials of military power at hand 
 which remained to France in the hour of her agony. 
 To compose armies that could take the field out of 
 these feeble elements might have been deemed im- 
 possible ; l there was an immense deficiency of 
 trained officers, of artillery, of small-arms, of horses, 
 of trains, of all the equipment essential to organized 
 force ; and the many departments of which the ser- 
 vice is required to maintain troops on foot, to 
 make them efficient, and to support war, being 
 confined by the Empire to two or three large centres, 
 were not to be found generally in the provinces 
 of France. The new levies, too, would, even in 
 mere numbers, be very inferior to the German 
 hosts, if they could not be enormously increased. 
 Gambetta, however, did not hesitate ; he pos- 
 sessed the creative genius of Italy, an indomitable 
 
 1 For these details, and for the results of Gambetta's efforts, 
 the reader should consult M. de Freycinet's "La Guerre en 
 Province." This able man was Gambetta's best support, and has 
 played a conspicuous part in reorganizing the military power of 
 France. Riistow's History may also be studied, vol. ii. chaps. 30-4, 
 
236 MOLTKE. 
 
 will, and a strong nature ; and extraordinary success 
 attended his efforts. His first care was to summon 
 into the field all the existing military forces of 
 France, and to form corps d'armee, or lesser divi- 
 sions out of the bodies of men bound by law to 
 serve. At the same time the wealth and the 
 credit of France were employed in obtaining the 
 material of war from all parts of the civilized 
 world ; and as the Germans had no fleets at sea, 
 stores of munitions of war and supplies of all kinds, 
 hundreds of cannon, and rifles in tens of thousands, 
 were poured rapidly into the French ports. Gam- 
 betta turned his attention next to organizing and 
 preparing the levies thus raised ; he found old 
 soldiers to fill the place of officers ; he sought com- 
 manders in men in retreat, or passed over by the 
 Imperial Government, and especially in officers 
 drawn from the fleets ; and the civil service yielded 
 hundreds of recruits to assist the military service 
 in its different branches. By these means, in an 
 incredibly short time, the elements of armies were 
 put together, and in less than a month more than 
 90,000 men were in the field, ready to fight for 
 France, and not devoid of real military power. 
 T hese forces, however, were quite inadequate ; and 
 Gambetta made a passionate appeal to the patriot- 
 ism and energy of the French people. The nation, 
 which in every phase of its history, has always 
 required a great leader to bring out its noblest and 
 best qualities, shook off its lethargy like an 
 evil dream. Frenchmen flocked in multitudes from 
 
THE NATIONAL RISING OF FRANCE. 237 
 
 Brittany to Provence, to draw their swords in the 
 defence of their country ; the impulse effaced divi- 
 sions of class ; peer and peasant stood up in arms 
 together, and enormous levies en masse were formed 
 in the provinces, in eager response to the demands 
 of the Government. The movement was sponta- 
 neous, universal, amazing ; it surpassed even the 
 rising of 1793, and it proved that France had not 
 fallen from her high estate. 
 
 In this way, a prodigious addition was made to 
 the troops already combined and prepared. The 
 new levies were placed in camps of instruction to 
 be made fitted for the work of war ; and France was 
 divided into a set of districts to furnish what was 
 required for her young soldiers. Meanwhile sup- 
 plies from the outer world continued to flow in ; 
 England, the United States, and many other lands 
 became, in fact, arsenals for the needs of France ; 
 and Gambetta actually raised and equipped an 
 armed force of 600,000 men, and put into the field 
 1400 guns within three months from his first 
 appearance at Tours. Extraordinary means were 
 adopted to make the levies capable of playing a real 
 part in the war. Men of promise were advanced 
 and made officers ; the customary rules of promotion 
 were annulled in favour of merit wherever found, 
 and soldiers from foreign lands were invited to join 
 in a crusade for the defence of France. Nor were 
 irregular forces wanting to supplement the impro- 
 vised armies ; bands of free-shooters were raised and 
 armed in every district fit for a guerilla warfare ; 
 
238 MOLTKE. 
 
 and thousands of these marksmen swarmed in the 
 passes of the Vosges, or in the woods and forests 
 around Paris. 
 
 Even the best of these levies, it is unnecessary 
 to say, were not to be compared to the German 
 armies. They contained comparatively few soldiers ; 
 their officers were not in sufficient numbers, and, 
 in many instances, were bad and unskilful ; they 
 wanted cohesion, experience, and self-reliance ; and 
 much of their material was of an inferior kind. 
 But they exhibited the peculiar fitness of French- 
 men for war ; they had thousands of gallant men in 
 their ranks, and the elements of the armed strength 
 of France were being combined and made effective 
 beyond what had been deemed possible. Towards 
 the close of October there were three bodies in the 
 field that had some pretensions to the name of 
 armies. The first, the 15th corps, called the Army 
 of the Loire, had been formed in the region around 
 Orleans ; the second, known as the Army of the 
 East, was gathering in Burgundy, and Franche 
 Comte ; and the third, the Army of the North, 
 was collected in Normandy. These arrays, how- 
 ever, were but the first line of the immense masses 
 being assembled from all parts of the territory of 
 France, and being made ready to appear in the field. 
 
 The resolution and firmness shown by Paris, and 
 the universal rising of France were treated at first 
 by Moltke with scornful contempt. He was con- 
 vinced, we have seen, that the city would soon 
 yield ; and France, he believed, had no real means 
 
THE NATIONAL RISING OF FRANCE. 239 
 
 of resistance. Disliking, as he did, the French 
 character, he laughed at the phrases of Parisian 
 rhetoric, and he failed to perceive the depth and 
 the strength of the national movement against the 
 invaders. In his eyes the Provisional Government 
 was an illegal junta without right or power; the 
 defence of Paris was wicked foolishness, causing 
 havoc and waste to no purpose ; the provincial 
 armies and the levy en masse were partly mythical 
 and partly worthless. There was no real patriotism 
 or sense of duty in France ; and the immense masses 
 summoned to take up arms were droves of unwilling 
 peasants and artisans, compelled by tyranny and 
 imposture to shed their blood to no purpose. He 
 judged France in a word, as the Yorks and Ooburgs 
 had judged France eighty years before, as Napo- 
 leon had judged the insurrection of Spain; the 
 efforts of folly and Jacobin boasting would be easily 
 put down by organized force ; and a prolonged 
 struggle was riot possible. Nor had success ceased 
 to attend the arms of Germany, though France was 
 making a useless parade of war. 1 The sorties of the 
 
 1 The sentiments of Moltke as to the absurdity and hopeless- 
 ness of the resistance of Paris and of France, and as to the real 
 character of the national defence, will be found in letters to his 
 brother Adolf, vol. ii. pp. 49-76, English translation. We can 
 only quote a few passages: "La France, ' qui est plus forte que 
 jamais,' even under these circumstances, talks big as usual. Any 
 army in the field has ceased to exist, but they still have JVI. 
 Kochefort, ' prof esseur de barricades ' and * la poitrine des patriotes 
 invincibles.' ... I cherish a private hope that I may be shoot- 
 ing hares at Creisau by the end of October. . . . France has no 
 longer an army, and yet we must wait till the Parisians, who are 
 
240 MOLTKE. 
 
 Parisians had failed ; they had made no impression 
 on the German lines. The forts daily broke out in 
 a cannonade ; but their volleys were almost a waste 
 of powder. The situation outside the capital had 
 even improved ; Laon, Toul and Soissons had 
 opened their gates ; the railways of the provinces 
 were being mastered ; and the communications of 
 the invaders to the Rhine were being enlarged and 
 opened. The great prize, too, of Strasbourg had 
 been seized ; the Landwehr were joyfully flocking to 
 the war, and the numbers of the armies in the field 
 were kept up, nay increased. A 14th corps had 
 been formed to besiege Belfort, and to overrun the 
 eastern provinces ; and one incident was of the 
 happiest omen. The young Army of the Loire had 
 advanced to Artenay, as if to threaten the besiegers' 
 lines around Paris, and it had been driven in rout 
 beyond the river. 
 
 The position of the Germans, nevertheless, was, 
 even now, not without peril. The calculations of 
 Moltke had proved to be mistaken ; and he was 
 committed to an enterprise on which he had not 
 reckoned. Paris was more powerful, and had 
 
 rising in delirium, give up this hopeless resistance. ... It is 
 frightful to see the havoc wrought by the mob in power, and 
 
 laughable too The terrorists drag every man, up to the 
 
 age of forty- six, from house and farm, from home and family, to 
 follow the flag. . . . Only the Advocates' reign of terror can suc- 
 ceed in getting such armies together, badly organized, without 
 trains for supplies, and exposed to the inclemency of the weather 
 . . . The terrorism of the Provisional Government has continued 
 to work on all the good and bad qualities of the French nation. . ." 
 
THE NATIONAL RISING OP FRANCE. 241 
 
 ampler resources than he had, at first, been led to 
 suppose, and the city steadily defied the enemy. 
 France had sprung to arms, to fight to the death ; 
 a great national rising was gathering on all sides, 
 and was harassing and weakening the German 
 armies. The Army of the Loire had been defeated ; 
 but in a few days it had renewed its strength, its 
 numbers were before long doubled. The Army of 
 the North had become menacing ; the Army of the 
 East was so formidable that the enemy could hardly 
 make head against it. The huge tumultuary levies 
 were as yet feeble, but they were gradually ac- 
 quiring discipline and power ; and the irregular 
 bands that were seen flitting hither and thither, 
 had become so annoying, and had done such havoc 
 by cutting off small hostile bodies of men, and by 
 injuring communications, and breaking up railways, 
 that stern measures had been taken against them, 
 and villages had been burned by way of reprisals. 
 Thick clouds of war were slowly rolling up, and 
 lowering upon the still exulting conquerors ; and 
 the contest which had been one of armies, was 
 becoming that of a race against its invaders. The 
 German armies, too, were comparatively weak in 
 most parts of the country overrun by them ; the 
 sieges of Metz and Paris absorbed their forces ; and 
 as long as these places continued to hold out, they 
 were spread around, and confined to, two immense 
 circles, and were most dangerously exposed to attack. 
 The invaders, so to speak, were girt round by 
 
 fires, which might kindle into a vast conflagration. 
 
 R 
 
242 MOLTKE. 
 
 At this conjuncture, another immense disaster 
 seemed to announce to France that she was to 
 cease to hope. We turn to the operations of Bazaine 
 at Metz, and to the results that flowed from his 
 conduct. As we have seen, 1 he had informed 
 Macmahon, if the language, it is fair to say, was 
 ambiguous, that he hoped to be able to join hands 
 with him, by a movement from the north, by 
 Montmedy, and this had, in part, caused the march 
 that had ended at Sedan. His despatches, however, 
 it is only just to add, became day after day less 
 hopeful; 2 he spent the week after the great fight 
 of Gravelotte, as we have said, in restoring his 
 army, and in strengthening the fortifications of 
 Metz ; and it is impossible to doubt that he was 
 still clinging to the fortress, as he had clung from the 
 first. It has been confidently alleged that, on the 
 23rd of August, 3 a message came to him from 
 Macmahon, informing him of the advance to the 
 Meuse ; but the fact, if sustained by some evidence, 
 
 1 Ante, p. 191. 
 
 2 Riviere Report, pp. 57, 66. This report, and the proceedings, 
 in " le Proees Bazaine," should be studied with attention, as regards 
 the conduct of Bazaine after Gravelotte. Many of the charges, 
 however, we repeat, are far-fetched and strained, and exhibit the 
 bad animus, and the too great ingenuity common in prosecutions 
 in France. The Marshal's apology, " Guerre de 1870," should be 
 read ; but it is a feeble book. An exhaustive review of the facts 
 will be found in the Times of 6th, 9th and 12th December, 1873. 
 
 3 Riviere, pp. 80, 87. There is much to be said for this view : 
 but an accused man should always huvo the benelit of u dmilit, 
 and it is better to accept the German view, " Prussian >StuH' 
 History," vol. ii. p. 490, that the message from Macmahon is not 
 shown to have reached Ba/,;iinr. 
 
THE FALL OF METZ. 243 
 
 has been distinctly denied by Bazaine ; and though 
 he still lingered inactive at Metz 3 he probably had 
 no thought of betraying a colleague. On the 26th, 
 however, he gave orders for a great demonstration 
 against the enemy ; if we are to accept his state- 
 ment, 1 his purpose was to break out from Metz, 
 and to endeavour to march northwards ; but if this 
 was so, all that can be said is that his operations 
 were as ill-conceived as possible. 2 
 
 He made no attempt to surprise the Germans ; 
 he did not throw bridges over the Moselle; the 
 delays of the 14th and 15th were repeated ; and, in 
 a word, the Marshal made no use of his central 
 position, and interior lines, against the besiegers 
 spread over a wide circumference, and weak in the 
 extreme, on the eastern bank of the river. A 
 singular incident now occurred. Bazaine convened 
 a council of war, and asked his lieutenants their 
 advice, and these unanimously recommended that 
 the Army of the Rhine should not make an attempt 
 to escape, but should remain in its positions round 
 Metz. This conclusion, however, was founded on 
 the assumption that there was not a sufficient 
 supply of munitions, 3 and the commandant of 
 Metz urged besides, that the forts were not in a 
 state to resist an attack. The assumption, never- 
 theless, was untrue, and untrue to the Marshal's 
 
 1 " Guerre de 1870," p. 163. The Marshal's own language, how- 
 ever, shows that he was hesitating. 
 
 " "Metz Campagne et negociations," pp. 129, 137. 
 3 Rivere, pp. 93, 97. Bazaine, " Guerre de 1870," pp. 164, 167. 
 
 E 2 
 
244 MOLTKE. 
 
 knowledge. Bazaine had received an official report, 1 
 that the store of munitions was abundant ; and the 
 excuse as regards the forts was almost baseless, 
 even if it could be deemed an excuse, which, in 
 any case, it was certainly not. Bazaine evidently 
 caught at opinions which fell in with his own ideas ; 
 and it is a clear proof of this, that he suppressed 
 the truth as to the fact on which the advice was 
 founded, and did not inform the Council that there 
 was no want of munitions. The order for an 
 offensive movement was countermanded ; and the 
 French army remained in its camps, greatly to the 
 indignation of officers and men, who described the 
 26th of August as a second " Day of Dupes." 
 
 Had Bazaine been a real commander, nay, had 
 he had the heart of a true soldier, he would, after 
 his first despatch to Macmahon, have left nothing 
 undone to get away from Metz, and to effect his 
 junction with the Army of Chalons. His word was 
 pledged ; the issues at stake were immense ; and 
 success, we have said, ought to have been probable. 3 
 He was, however, a worthless and dull-minded man, 
 without a clear conception of his plain duty ; but 
 though he was gravely to blame for still holding 
 on to Metz, it is not likely that, on the 26th of 
 August, he deliberately intended to do nothing from 
 the first, to desert Macmahon, and to deceive his 
 comrades, even if he was guilty of double dealing 
 
 1 Riviere, pp. 99, 100. " Proces Bazaine," pp. 107, 112. 
 
 2 Referring to a memorable passage in the history of France. 
 
 3 See ante, p. 177. 
 
THE FALL OF METZ. 245 
 
 in accepting counsels given upon assumptions, 
 which he knew were without genuine warrant. 
 The next passage in his conduct was of a piece with 
 the last, but it exposes him to more decided censure. 
 On the 29th he certainly received a despatch, 
 announcing that Macmahon was on the Meuse ; 
 and he has maintained that he made a real effort, 
 to leave Metz, and to join the Army of Chalons. 1 
 He, no tloubt, gave orders that the Army of the 
 Rhine should advance to the north-eastern front of 
 the place, and endeavour to force the German lines, 
 where the table-land of St. Barbe rises from the 
 hamlets of Failly, Servigny, and Noisseville ; and 
 his intention, he has written, was to push on to 
 Thionville, and from that point to draw near his 
 colleague. 
 
 His dispositions, however, were so bad, that it 
 is not easy to suppose this was his settled purpose ; 
 at best he was weak, remiss, and half-hearted. The 
 movement began on the morning of the 31st ; at 
 that moment, two whole French corps were con- 
 fronted by a few thousand men only, near St. Barbe, 
 on the eastern bank of the Moselle, 2 and yet the 
 Marshal did not direct an attack. The faults of the 
 26th, too, were committed again, and aggravated 
 in a deplorable manner. 3 No effort was made to 
 surprise the enemy ; the Moselle was so inadequately 
 
 1 " Guerre de 1870," p. 169. 
 
 2 " Metz Campagne et negotiations," p. 146. 
 
 3 All this is very well pointed out in " Metz Campagne et 
 negotiations/' pp. 147, 148. 
 
246 MOLTKE. 
 
 bridged, that the movement of the corps on the 
 western bank, across the stream, was lamentably 
 slow ; no feinfc was made to perplex the Germans, 
 and nothing was done to turn the hostile positions ; 
 the artillery reserves were not brought up ; the 
 troops were crowded together, on a narrow front, 
 in which their numbers were of little use ; and, 
 worse than all, perhaps, it was late in the afternoon 
 before an attempt to assail St. Barbe began. Yet, 
 notwithstanding these grievous errors, the advantage 
 of the Marshal's central position and interior lines 
 became clearly apparent. The French stormed 
 Noisseville and two or three other villages ; and 
 though the German leaders made the greatest ex- 
 ertions to bring every available man to the spot, 
 their troops were outnumbered, 1 nearly three to 
 one, at the decisive point, the uplands of St. Barbe. 
 The artillery of the besiegers gave them, indeed, an 
 advantage, and their lines had been already con- 
 structed ; but, with this immense superiority of 
 force, the Army of the Rhine, if even honestly led, 
 ought to have been able to overcome all obstacles, 
 and to make its way through the investing circle. 
 
 Bazaine renewed the attack on the 1st of Sep- 
 tember, but the effort was a demonstration only; 
 it is far from clear that it was not a pretence. By 
 this time the Germans had retaken one of the lost 
 villages, and as Prince Frederick Charles and his 
 lieutenants had toiled hard, through the night, to 
 draw a powerful force to the positions menaced the 
 1 " Prussian Staff History," vol. ii. p. 531. 
 
THE FALL OF METZ. 247 
 
 day before, the chances against their enemy had 
 been increased. The Germans fell on the French 
 boldly, taking the initiative in the true spirit of 
 war, and, at the first sign of a repulse of his right 
 wing, the Marshal withdrew his whole army from 
 the field, and was soon again under the forts of 
 Metz. Still, even on this day, the French had a 
 large preponderance of force on their side ; l the 
 besiegers had not been able to array against their 
 concentrated enemy an equal number of troops, so 
 large was the circle they held ; and Bazaine might 
 even yet have conquered had he been a straight- 
 forward and determined soldier. The battle of 
 Noisseville, as it has been called, was discredit- 
 able to him in the highest degree. His incapacity 
 was made more than ever manifest, and perhaps 
 more than incapacity may be laid to his charge. 
 The occasion was one of supreme importance, and 
 he should have made a strenuous, persistent, and 
 continuous effort to get out of Metz and to join 
 Macmahon. He assuredly did not do this ; if he 
 had thought of breaking the German Hues, he soon 
 recurred to his old purpose, and slunk back 
 ignobly to Metz ; and even if treachery was not in 
 his heart, his conduct must be sternly condemned, 
 as we look back at the events of these .two days. 
 The most conclusive proof, perhaps, that he was 
 not in earnest, appears from the fact that in a 
 struggle, in which he ought to have risked every- 
 thing and fought to the last, he lost not much 
 1 "Prussian Staff History," vol. ii. p. 531. 
 
248 MOLTKE. 
 
 more than 3000 men ; * and charity itself must 
 admit that in his case, an impotent Priam wielded 
 the spear of Hector. 
 
 A few days after these demonstrations at Metz, 
 Bazaine was apprised of the disaster of Sedan, of 
 the captivity and fall of Napoleon III., and of the 
 establishment of the Government of National 
 Defence. The duty of the Marshal was now 
 evident ; the Army of Chalons had disappeared ; 
 he had not to try to extend a hand to Macmahon, 
 and he was obviously bound to seek to break out 
 from Metz, and to place the Army of the Rhine in 
 the field. How to attempt, and perhaps to accom- 
 plish this, was perceived by many able men in the 
 camps of the French. Bazaine, as affairs stood, 
 was not to look northwards, and to endeavour to 
 escape in that direction, a dangerous and the most 
 difficult course ; but he had still a chance, and a 
 reasonable chance, of being able to get out to the 
 south-east, along the great roads towards the Nied 
 and the Sarre. The effort, no doubt, would be 
 more arduous than it would have been a few days 
 before ; the lines of investment had been com- 
 pleted, and Prince Frederick Charles had at last 
 strengthened the small force on the eastern bank 
 
 1 French "writers are naturally, and very properly, indignant 
 at the conduct of Bazaine, on this and other occasions. The 
 Germans, on the other hand, palliate his faults as much as they 
 can, for, if not wilfully, he really played into their hands. 
 Nevertheless, the Prussian Staff (" History," vol. ii. p. 534) is 
 severe on the Marshal for his operations on the 31st of August 
 and the 1st of September. 
 
THE FALL OF METZ. 249 
 
 of the Moselle, and had increased the risks of an 
 attack from that side. Yet the experience of 
 Noisseville had already proved, what indeed ought 
 to have been plain beforehand, that it was possible 
 to collect a great superiority of force against the 
 Germans at almost any point. At this very time, 
 full a fifth part of the besieging army was disabled 
 by fever and other diseases ; and it was by no 
 means impossible that a real chief would have 
 succeeded in breaking out from the south-east of 
 Metz. 1 Success in this operation would have had 
 effects as marked, and perhaps more decisive, than 
 would have been the case had the movement been 
 made on the 18th of August, or a few days after- 
 wards. Not only would the communications of 
 the enemy with the Ehine have been seized, and 
 the besiegers round Paris have been in peril, but 
 the Army of the Rhine would have been set free 
 to give the consistency and power to the pro- 
 vincial levies of which they were in special need, 
 and the war would have taken a different turn. 
 Bazaine's duty, therefore, was to make the 
 
 1 We have already referred, ante pp. 177-8, to the opinion of 
 General Hamley, and to the remarkable admission of the Prussian 
 Staff, as to the probability of the French being able to escape 
 from Metz, between the 17th of August and the 1st of September. 
 For views, on the French side, on this all-important subject, 
 see again "Metz Compagne et negociations," pp. Ill, 112. A 
 very few days could not have made a complete difference in the 
 military situation at Metz ; and to the last moment two generals, 
 at least, of Bazaine's army believed it was possible to break out 
 from the south-east. 
 
250 MOLTKE. 
 
 attempt ; and even if it had failed, another course, 
 beside inactivity at Metz, was open to him. Trained 
 officers, he must have known well, were one of the 
 chief requirements of the new improvised armies ; 
 his army could provide an abundant supply of 
 these, and he might have despatched parties of 
 officers at night, from time to time, to give valuable 
 aid to the forces being raised for the defence of 
 France. Many of these officers would have, 
 perhaps, been captured ; but hundreds would have 
 probably got through the German lines, and this 
 reinforcement would have been of the highest 
 importance. It should be added that the Army of 
 the Rhine was still capable of most vigorous 
 efforts ; it was suffering less at the time than the 
 German army, and it had not lost the confidence 
 it had acquired at Gravelotte. 
 
 Bazaine, however, had no notion of undertaking 
 operations of this kind ; he believed that the end 
 of the war was at hand ; he continued to recognize 
 the fallen Empire as the only lawful Government 
 of France; and on the 12th of September he 
 informed his lieutenants l " that he would not run 
 the risk of the fate of Macmahon, and that he 
 would not make a great sortie from Metz." Dis- 
 astrous and palpable as had been his faults, we 
 may ascribe them, perhaps, up to this-point of tin it 1 
 to dulness, vacillation, and incapacity for command ; 
 
 1 '* Metz ot negociations," p. 205. This conversation is not 
 specially noticed in the prosecution of Bazaine, but it certainly 
 took place. 
 
THE FALL OF METZ. 251 
 
 he had clung to Metz, all through, probably for his 
 own safety, and not from a sinister motive to gain 
 power for himself, or to abandon and betray Mac- 
 mahon, as has been alleged by partisan accusers. 
 But thenceforward his conduct admits of no ex- 
 cuse ; it became, in no doubtful sense, criminal. 
 As his intention had been perhaps from the first, 
 to remain with the Army of the Rhine at Metz, 
 it was his bounden duty to do all that in him 
 lay to store provisions for the support of the 
 garrison, of the population, and of his own troops, 
 and to husband them with the most scrupulous 
 care, to enable him to hold out for as long a time 
 as possible. This duty, however, he did not fulfil, 
 not even after he had made it known that he would 
 not try to break out from Metz ; he did not procure 
 the supplies of food from the neighbouring villages, 
 which he might have obtained ; he took no care to 
 distribute these with a strict regard to the neces- 
 sities of the place ; and this was an unpardonable 
 offence. Not only were crops and cattle not brought 
 in from the surrounding farms and hamlets, as 
 might have been done, but the soldiery were 
 allowed to consume everything they could buy; 
 the people of Metz were not put on rations; and 
 thousands of tons of corn were wasted in feeding 
 horses which had become useless, as it had been 
 arranged that the army was not to move. Even 
 on the wretched system of passive defence, adopted, 
 in reality, from the first, the Marshal was guilty of 
 the worst misconduct ; and the results were in the 
 
252 MOLTKE. 
 
 highest degree calamitous. Had he made the best 
 use of the resources of Metz, from the time when 
 he first assumed the command, 1 the place which 
 held out for nine weeks only, might have held out 
 for nearly five months ; had he done this, even after 
 the 1st September, it might have held out for more 
 than three ; and this culpable negligence was, 
 perhaps, fatal to France. 
 
 This, however, was not the full measure of 
 Bazaine' s guilt ; he became, virtually, if not of set 
 purpose, a traitor. After Sedan, he issued a pro- 
 clamation to his troops, insisting upon their duty 
 to France, 2 but containing ominous allusions to 
 late events in Paris. The German leaders probably 
 caught at the hint; and towards the close of 
 September, 3 a spy of the name of Regnier was 
 conveyed through the German lines into Metz, and 
 began to sound the Marshal on conditions of peace. 
 Bazaine, to do him justice, called in two of his 
 lieutenants to hear what wa.s said by the spy, who 
 pretended to be an envoy from the Empress ; and, 
 extraordinary as the fact may appear, Bourbaki, 
 the chief of the Imperial Guard, left Metz to confer 
 
 1 "Riviere," p. 260. " Proces Bazaine," p. 113 seqq. An 
 impartial observer will probably be of opinion that Bazaine's 
 conduct, as regards supplies at Metz, was, by many degrees, the 
 worst feature in his case. 
 
 2 " Guerre de 1870," p. 178. 
 
 3 That Regnier was a spy seems established by incontrovertible 
 evidence, " Guerre de 1870," pp. 179, 185. A trick of the 
 same kind was played by the Prussians at the siege of Mayerice 
 in 1793. See the " Life of Kleber," by Pajol, pp. 20, 21. 
 
THE FALL OF METZ. 253 
 
 with the late Regent. The Empress instantly dis- 
 avowed Regnier ; but these crooked intrigues did 
 not end with his mission. On the 10th of October, 
 when it had become evident that the fall of Metz 
 could not be long delayed, Bazaine called another 
 council of war ; and after the customary talk on 
 occasions of the kind, of " the honour of arms, and 
 holding out to the last," one of the Marshal's aide- 
 de-camps was allowed to leave Metz, and to make 
 proposals at the German headquarters at Versailles, 
 " for honourable terms for the Army of the Rhine." 
 The aide-de-camp arrived with a written note from 
 Bazaine, apparently not made known to his col- 
 leagues, 1 which plainly stated that France could 
 resist no longer ; that she was the prey of anarchy 
 and revolution, and that the army could be made 
 an instrument " to restore order and to protect 
 society." Bismarck evidently perceived what this 
 implied, and informed the aide-de-camp that all 
 might be well, 2 if the army at Metz would declare 
 for the Empress; and that if Bazaine would secure 
 its support for the Regent, a treaty of peace would 
 probably follow. The aide-de-camp immediately 
 returned to Metz. Another council of war was 
 called, and it was agreed that the aide-de-camp 
 should see the Empress, and try to obtain terms 
 for the Army of the Rhine, all questions of State 
 being left to the Empress alone. Throughout this 
 
 1 "Guerre de 1870," p. 210. This letter of Bazaine's con- 
 demns him, even under his own hand. 
 
 2 Guerre de 1870," p. 223. 
 
254 MOLTKE. 
 
 whole time Bazaine had stood aloof from the 
 de facto Government of National Defence; he had 
 scarcely any communication with it, though this 
 was possible in different ways ; he did not make it 
 aware of his dealings at Versailles ; and little doubt 
 can exist that he would have at least tried to 
 employ his army to restore the Empire, to put 
 down the men in power in Paris and at Tours, and 
 to compel France to accept an ignominious peace. 1 
 The Empress, however, acting as she did, with a 
 high and delicate sense of honour, in all that related 
 to France and her fortunes, refused to have any- 
 thing to do with negotiations of the kind, and gave 
 Bazaine' s messenger only a few words of sympathy. 
 The chief motive of Bazaine in these sorry 
 intrigues was, possibly, the impulse of a desperate 
 man, to save, by any means, himself and his army. 
 He could hardly suppose that he would be master 
 of the situation, after what had occurred at Metz ; 
 that he could induce his troops to betray France, 
 and to force upon her a disgraceful peace. Nor is 
 it likely that Bismarck believed that negotiations 
 would be successful ; he probably saw in them, in 
 the main, a way to diminish the power of resistance 
 
 1 The report of General Riviere, and the statement of the 
 prosecutor in the u Proccs Bazaine," set forth these intrigues and 
 negotiations in detail v/ith as adverse comments to Bazaine as 
 possible. It is safe, as has been done in this brief narrative, to 
 rely mainly on the unfortunate Marshal's own admissions and 
 statements, and they are ample to convict him. The " Prussian 
 Staff History " discreetly passes over this episode in the war, or 
 touches it* very lightly. 
 
THE FALL OF METZ. 255 
 
 at Metz, and to injure the existing government of 
 France. But be this as it may, the fault of Bazaine 
 is manifest, and has rendered his name infamous. 
 He doubtless had, to a certain extent, the counte- 
 nance of his lieutenants at Metz; he did not positively 
 declare that he would employ his army in order to 
 set up the Empire again, to put down the existing 
 regime in France, and to dictate terms to her at the 
 bidding of Germany. But he had already wasted 
 the resources at Metz with consequences of the 
 worst kind ; and his evil dealings directly tended to 
 increase this waste, to distract his officers, to perplex 
 their men, to encourage negligence ; in a word, to 
 paralyze and impair the defence. His conduct, 
 too, proved that the leader, at least, of the only well- 
 organized army of France was an enemy of her 
 present rulers ; and this not only added to the 
 power of the Germans, but weakened and em- 
 barrassed Gambetta and Trochu, and made the 
 strength of the nation for resistance less. Nor 
 should we forget that if he had not the power he 
 had the will to provoke civil war in France, in the 
 face of her foes, in the heart of her provinces ; and 
 he was ready to be the author of a shameful 18th 
 Brurnaire, which would have been her ruin and 
 not her safety. Some of the charges against him 
 are not true, others are exaggerated and over- 
 strained ; but he was rightly condemned for his 
 negligence at Metz, and for trafficking with the 
 national invader in the field, and withholding the 
 fact from the men actually in power. When we 
 
256 MOLTKE. 
 
 look back at his incapacity, his guilt, and his treason, 
 and the terrible consequences of his misdeeds, we 
 cannot feel surprised that he has been deemed the 
 curse of France by the generation of Frenchmen 
 that beheld the war. 
 
 The intrigues with Versailles having come to 
 nothing, or probably served the ends of the 
 Germans, the fall of Metz was ere long to follow. 
 Bazaine had more than once spoken of attempts to 
 break out, after his declaration of a few weeks 
 before, but all that was done was to make a few 
 weak demonstrations against the German lines to 
 the north, the very direction that should not have 
 been taken. Yet more than one of these efforts 
 were, in part, successful, so decisive was the advan- 
 tage of the positions of the French, a significant 
 proof of what might have been the result had the 
 Army of the Rhine had a real commander. After 
 fruitless and timid councils of war, the Marshal 
 accepted the terms of his conquerors, not improbably 
 circumvented in the dishonourable game of double 
 dealing he had badly played. 173,000 l men, 
 including the army, the garrison of Metz, a great 
 body of irregular levies, and the sick and wounded 
 who had borne arms, defiled, on the 29th of October, 
 1870, under the eyes of the exulting Germans ; the 
 great bulwark of Lorraine had fallen, and even the 
 unexampled disaster of Sedan was surpassed by a 
 more ignominious surrender. The attitude of the 
 
 1 For the real numbers of the French troops at Metz, see ante, 
 note, p. 165. 
 
THE FALL OF METZ. 257 
 
 captive soldiery was, nevertheless, becoming ;* they, 
 at least, knew they had done their duty; they 
 had not been subdued in fair fight, but had been 
 the martyrs of criminal misdeeds ; and, unlike the 
 captives of Sedan, they maintained a haughty 
 silence. Bazaine was of a piece with himself to the 
 last ; his demeanour was one of stolid indifference ; 
 he had even neglected to destroy the eagles which 
 had flown at Borny, Mars La Tour, and Gravelotte, 
 and which now hang their wings in many a town in 
 Germany ; and he went on his way without a 
 thought of the execrations of the townsmen of 
 Metz denouncing him as a false-hearted traitor. It 
 is characteristic of the want of insight and blunder- 
 ing stupidity of the man, that he had the effrontery 
 to compare the defence of Metz to Kleber's defence 
 of Mayence and Massena's defence of Genoa, noble 
 instances of skill and heroic endurance ; and, at 
 his trial in 1873, he was so devoid of perception as 
 to appeal to Prince Frederick Charles as a witness 
 in his behalf, as though Napoleon had not warned 
 French officers to beware of the interested praise of 
 an enemy. 2 
 
 The surrender of Metz, long before the time when 
 the place might be expected to fall, threw a pro- 
 
 1 " Prussian Staff History," Part ii. vol. ii. p. 201. 
 
 2 The capitulations of Sedan and Metz are events that ought 
 never to have occurred, and reflect disgrace on the arms of France. 
 It may be interesting to observe what great French commanders 
 thought of disasters similar in kind, though very different in 
 degree. Villars wrote thus of the surrender of the French right at 
 
 S 
 
258 MOLTKE. 
 
 digious weight into the scale against France, and 
 had an immense influence in deciding the war. It 
 was an accident on which Moltke could not calcu- 
 late; he was justified, we believe, in investing the 
 fortress, even with a force scarcely larger than the 
 besieged, after his experience of the incapacity of 
 Bazaine; but he could not anticipate that the 
 Marshal would squander his resources, and betray 
 his trust. The result, in a great degree, rectified 
 his mistake in hastily advancing on Paris ; but for 
 this he had to thank Fortune, and not his own fore- 
 thought. The Imperial armies of France had now 
 
 Blenheim, " Memoirs," vol. ii. p. 330, the genuine Vogue edition : 
 "C'estdans ses occasions ouil faut repondre aux imbeciles, qui 
 disent que pouvait on faire de mieux." 
 
 " Qu'il mourust 
 
 " Ou qu'un beau desespoir alors le seeourust." 
 "L'infanterie espagnole aRoeroyn'aima-t-elle pas mieux perir que de 
 demander quartier ? Le soldat et 1'officier ne doit-il pas preferer une 
 mort glorieuse, cherchant a se faire jour la bayonette au bout du fusil, 
 a rignominie de perir de faim et de misere dans les prisons ? Je 
 suis honteux et penetrepour la nation d'une reddition aussi lasche." 
 Napoleon has thus referred to the capitulation of Maxen in the Seven 
 Years' War ; he was probably thinking of the capitulation of Dupont 
 at Baylon. " Comment.," vol. vi. p. 402 : "Mais que doit done 
 faire un general qui est cerne par des forces superieures ? Nous ne 
 saurions faire d'autre reponse que celle du vieil Horace. Dans une 
 situation extraordinaire, il faut une resolution extraordinaire ; 
 plus la resistance sera opiniatre, plus on aura de chances d'etre 
 secouru ou depercer. Que de choses qui paraissent impossibles ont 
 etc faites par des hommes resolus n'ayant plus d'autre ressource que 
 la mort ! Plus vous ferez de resistance, plus vous tuerez de monde 
 a 1'ennemi, et inoins il en aura, le jour meme ou le lendemain, 
 pour se porter centre les autre corps de Parmee. Cette question ne 
 nous parait pas susceptible d'une autre solution sans perdre Pesprit 
 militaire d'une nation, et Pexposer aux plus grands malheurs." 
 
REFLECTIONS. 259 
 
 wholly disappeared, and the annihilation of the 
 Army of the Rhine, which had kept Prince Frederick 
 Charles round Metz, let loose prematurely, and at 
 an opportune moment, another host of invaders to 
 subdue France. The results of the war had been 
 astounding, surpassing all that had been seen in 
 history; and if not the idol he has been made by 
 the courtiers of success, Moltke deserves high 
 honour for what he had achieved. He had, doubt- 
 less, missed opportunities and given chances ; he 
 had not shown the dexterity and the perfect skill 
 of Napoleon in moving masses of men, in more than 
 one conspicuous instance ; he had repeatedly failed 
 to strike a defeated enemy, and his sudden march 
 on Paris was to prove perilous. But he had carried 
 out, most ably, a well conceived plan ; and some of 
 his operations had been those of a daring and 
 admirable master of war. Nevertheless, the extra- 
 ordinary success of the Germans was not due in the 
 main to Moltke' s faculties ; it should be ascribed, 
 for the most part, to other causes. The superiority 
 of their forces was so decisive in numbers, organiza- 
 tion, and military worth, that it was difficult for the 
 French to contend against them ; the unparalleled 
 triumphs of Sedan and Metz are to be ascribed to 
 Macmahon's weakness and levity, and to the 
 vacillation and guilt of Bazaine. The paramount 
 cause, however, of the disasters of France was the 
 disregard of military for political objects ; this led 
 to the first defeats on the frontier ; this prevented 
 the retreat from the Sarre to Chalons ; this con- 
 
 Q O 
 
 *J 
 
260 MOLTKE. 
 
 tributed to the ruinous march to the Meuse ; and 
 this, too, prompted Bazaine to neglect his duty, and 
 to dabble in the treason which ended in the fall of 
 Metz many weeks before this should have been 
 possible. Once more France seemed about to 
 succumb, and the German leaders believed that all 
 would soon be over. Yet Paris and France were 
 again to deceive them, and to make efforts so 
 intense and amazing that the contest was protracted 
 for months, and its issue seemed almost to the last 
 uncertain, so grave was the stress placed on the 
 invaders. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Advance of the First and Second Armies into France after the 
 fall of Metz The besiegers' lines around Paris strengthened 
 and reinforced Mistake of Moltke as to the position of affairs 
 outside Paris The external zone The Army of the Loire 
 restored and largely increased The Battle of Coulmiers 
 Alarm at the German headquarters at Versailles Moltke 
 makes preparations to raise the siege Accidents which 
 prevented the Army of the Loire from gaining the full 
 results of its victory Disastrous effect of the fall of Metz on 
 the military situation as regards France D'Aurelle falls back 
 on Orleans, and places the Army of the Loire within lines 
 Moltke again mistaken in the distribution of the German 
 forces The Grand Duke of Mecklenburg sent to the West 
 Prince Frederick Charles near Orleans Immense increase 
 of the Army of the Loire Prince Frederick Charles directs 
 a general concentration of his own and the Grand Duke's 
 forces Views of Chanzy Fatal mistakes made by Gambetta 
 The Battle of Beaune la Kolande Ill-directed advance of 
 the Army of the Loire, in the hope of relieving Paris It is 
 defeated and driven back on Orleans Great sortie from 
 Paris combined with false attacks The Battle of Villiers 
 The sortie ultimately fails Reflections on these events, and 
 on the situation. 
 
 THE fall of Metz concurred with the outbreak in 
 Paris in putting an end to parleys, perhaps insincere, 
 between Bismarck and the new French Government. 
 The forces of the invaders had been almost doubled 
 by the extinction of the Army of the Rhine, before 
 
262 MOLTKE. 
 
 that event should have been possible ; and opinion 
 in Europe again announced that France had no 
 choice but to lay down her arms. Moltke steadily 
 proceeded to turn to advantage the immense favour 
 bestowed by Fortune, on which, we repeat, he could 
 not have reckoned when he ventured to risk an 
 advance on Paris, a fact to be kept in mind when we 
 examine his strategy on established principles of 
 the art of war. The First Army was withdrawn 
 from the great stronghold of Lorraine, and while 
 part of it was sent off to reduce the fortresses which 
 still barred the Moselle and the Meuse Mezieres, 
 Montmedy, Thionville and Verdun the other part 
 was marched to the valley of the Oise, to strengthen 
 the external zone of the forces besieging Paris. 
 Yerdun was mastered in a few days ; but the remain- 
 ing places held 'out for a time, and some weeks 
 passed before the invading host, retarded by bad 
 weather and the bands of the rising, attained the 
 verge of Picardy and the Isle of France. Of the 
 Second Army, one corps l was despatched to Paris, 
 to take part in the work of the siege; and the 
 remaining 2 three corps were moved southwards, in 
 order to put down the provincial levies gathering 
 between Berri and Franche Cornte, and especially to 
 crush the French Army of the East, 3 which, as we 
 have seen, had become menacing. The troops, 
 
 1 The 2nd corps. 2 The 9th, 3rd and 10th corps. 
 
 3 "Prussian Staff History," Part ii. vol. ii. p. 225. The real 
 strength of this army was long underrated at the German 
 headquarters. 
 
THE DOUBLE GERMAN ZONE. 263 
 
 joyous at their release from Metz, though their 
 ranks had been largely thinned by disease, moved 
 steadily on a wide front, through the broad and 
 vine-clad plains of Champagne, and they had soon 
 reached the line of the Upper Seine and the Aube, 
 approaching the great table-land of Langres. Their 
 march, however, even in this open country, had been 
 harassed in places by the swarms of free- shooters, 
 which buzzed around them and occasionally stung. 
 The resistance of France, at this juncture, how- 
 ever, seemed chiefly confined to the great centre of 
 Paris, and Moltke's main object was to secure his 
 position around the beleaguered city. He still 
 believed that its fall could not be distant ; but 
 its defences, he knew, had been immensely 
 strengthened; its defiant attitude had changed by 
 degrees his sentiments of derisive contempt ; and he 
 had resolved that assurance should be made doubly 
 sure, in a contest on which he had risked every- 
 thing. The work of fortifying and improving the 
 zone of investment had gone on since the first 
 moment ; by this time it had, perhaps, been made 
 impassable by the Parisian levies ; and the idea of 
 bombarding the capital had been entertained, 
 though, owing to the absence of the huge siege train 
 required, this could not be attempted for two or 
 three months. The first care of Moltke was to add 
 largely to the numbers of the besieging armies, 
 originally, we have seen, comparatively small, but in- 
 creasing since the beginning of the siege. The two 
 corps, left at Sedan, had come up long before, as 
 
264 MOLTKE. 
 
 we have had occasion to point out; 1 another, marched 
 from Germany to the camps round Metz, had, after 
 a halt of a few days only, been directed upon the 
 French capital ; a third, we have said, was just 
 arriving ; and the forces of the besiegers had, by 
 degrees, been augmented by large bodies of 
 Landwehr hastening eagerly to a war which had 
 become national. The besieging armies, which in 
 September were not more than 150,000 strong, ex- 
 ceeded 250,000 by the second week of November; 
 and a force of 40,000 or 50,000 men was joined to 
 the masses already spread behind the lines drawn 
 around Paris. By these means the investing circle 
 was made much more able to resist attack ; and the 
 gap at the west, though still weakly occupied, was 
 closed by a choice veteran body, the Landwehr of 
 the renowned Prussian Guard. 
 
 The external zone beyond the besiegers' lines 
 became the next object of Moltke's attention. This 
 girdle, composed of many detachments, placed 
 irregularly along an immense circumference, had 
 been, we have said, from the first incomplete ; but 
 this weakness had not appeared dangerous, as long 
 as France had remained prostrate. It had become 
 necessary to add to its strength, as the national 
 rising developed itself; and the bodies of troops, 
 which had scoured the districts around Paris and 
 put down resistance, especially of horsemen, had been 
 increased. Considerable reinforcements were sent 
 
 1 The 13th corps, composed of a regular and a Landwehr 
 division. 
 
THE DOUBLE GERMAN ZONE. 265 
 
 to these ; and if ominous sounds of incessant war 
 gathered on every side round the German camps, 
 Moltke thought the situation of affairs secure, for he 
 still underrated the power of France, and was scep- 
 tical as to her patriotic purpose. To the east the 
 German communications were safe ; the 14th corps, 
 led by Werder, occupied Alsace ; the Second Army 
 was on the verge of Tranche Comte, and would 
 overwhelm resistance along that frontier. There 
 were assemblages of armed men in the northern 
 provinces, and these had been called an Army of the 
 North ; but the First Army would soon dispose of 
 these, and in any case would keep them away from 
 Paris. There seemed nothing to apprehend from 
 the south ; the Army of the Loire had, we have 
 said, been routed., and forced to seek refuge beyond 
 the river, and the 1st Bavarian corps, which had 
 won this victory, after having been detached from 
 the siege of Paris, held Orleans and the whole 
 adjoining region, with the roads and railways that 
 led to the capital. The west and the north-west 
 were the only points from which danger appeared 
 possible : forces, large in numbers, at least, it was 
 rumoured, were gathering together in the wide tracts 
 extending between the Eure and the Mayenne, and 
 obviously it was from this direction, the most 
 remote from the main German armies, that an 
 attempt to assail the besiegers of Paris and to fall 
 on their rear might be deemed probable. Two con- 
 siderable divisions were, therefore, placed in the 
 fertile country around Chartres, in order at once 
 
266 MOLTKE. 
 
 to oppose an enemy coming from the west and to 
 cover the investing circle on this front ; and cavalry 
 was sent in every direction to overrun the adjoining 
 provinces, and to bring in to the besiegers supplies. 
 The external zone was thus strengthened at one of 
 its parts, but the Bavarians at Orleans were left 
 without support, and almost isolated along the 
 Loire. 1 
 
 These dispositions appeared sufficient to render 
 the besiegers of Paris secure, and to lead to the 
 defeat of the provincial armies. They were 
 founded, however, on false assumptions, and they 
 were the prelude of a reverse for the arms of 
 Germany, which might easily have ended in a grave 
 disaster. Moltke, at his headquarters, which had 
 been placed at Versailles, had been misinformed as 
 to the true positions and numbers of the new 
 French levies; the insurrectionary bands, the hard- 
 
 1 It is very difficult to estimate, even approximately, the 
 strength of the German armies around Paris and in the adjoining 
 districts at this period. The Army of the Meuse, when the siege 
 began, consisted of the 4th and the 12th corps and of the Guards, 
 the Third Army of the 5th and 6th corps, of the 2nd Bavarian 
 corps, and of the Wiirtemberghers. To these should be added the 
 llth and 1st Bavarian corps of the Third Army, marched from 
 Sedan within a few days: the 13th Corps, composed of two 
 divisions, and the 2nd corps of the Second Army moved, on 
 different occasions, from Metz, and the Landwehr of the Guard, 
 with other bodies of Landwehr. The " Prussian Staff History " 
 passes lightly over these reinforcements, perhaps in order to conceal, 
 as much as possible, the risk incurred in the great march on Paris. 
 But they probably were more than 100,000 men, and as the 
 besiegers were at first 150,000 strong, they must now, it is likely, 
 have exceeded 250,000. 
 
THE ARMY OF THE LOIRE. 267 
 
 ships of winter, and the obstacles of an enclosed 
 country had made the exploring of the German 
 cavalry much less perfect than it had previously 
 been, 1 and he was mistaken as to the real situation 
 of affairs. On strategic principles he had rightly 
 judged that danger was most to be feared 
 from the west and the north-west, but the French 
 Army of the West was, as yet, a phantom, a mere 
 collection of the rudest levies, and he had made no 
 provision to meet an attack from the direction 
 where it had become imminent. Gambetta had 
 placed the Army of the Loire, after its late defeat? 
 into the experienced hands of D'Aurelle, a distin- 
 guished veteran ; and under the care of a chief 
 endowed with the faculty of command and organizing 
 power, the beaten force quickly acquired consistency, 
 self-reliance, and real military worth. Meanwhile, 
 the energy of the new ruler of France, and the 
 prodigious exertions of the French people, had 
 succeeded in increasing the Army of the Loire to 
 an extent not even suspected at Versailles. A new 
 corps, the 16th, had been formed, and this body, 
 about 80,000 strong, and partly composed of good 
 soldiers, was entrusted to Chanzy, a young general 
 of brigade, who was to prove that France still 
 had a great commander. The Germans were thus 
 really menaced from the south, and the position of 
 
 1 " Prussian Staff History," Part ii. vol. i. pp. 264, 266, 283. 
 " Even as late as the middle of November," it is acknowledged 
 that " no success had attended the endeavours to gain a clear idea 
 of the positions and intentions of the adversary." 
 
268 MOLTKK. 
 
 the Bavarians, spread around Orleans and com- 
 pletely exposed, invited attack. The main part of 
 the Army of the Loire, originally called, we have 
 said, the 15th corps, was moved from the camps 
 where it had been reformed ; it crossed the Loire 
 and joined the 16th, and towards the close of 
 October a plan was combined for falling upon the 
 Bavarians in force, and for retaking Orleans in the 
 event of success. The movement was to be made 
 by D'Aurelle and Chanzy, advancing along the 
 northern bank of the river, with their united forces; 
 and it was to be seconded by a part of the 15th 
 corps, which was to descend the Loire from above 
 Orleans, and to close on the rear of the enemy 
 when assailed in front. 
 
 This operation was ill-designed in one essential 
 point, and was retarded by unfortunate delays ; but 
 it was, nevertheless, to a large extent successful. 
 By the 7th of November, D'Aurelle and Chanzy, 
 having marched from the tract around Mer and 
 Beaugency, had reached the forest of Marchenoir, 
 not far from the plains to the east of Orleans, and 
 a skirmish with a hostile detachment was fought. 
 Tann, the Bavarian general, a skilful officer, had 
 been already put on his guard owing to the time that 
 had been lost by the French, and that had deprived 
 them of the advantage of a surprise ; and having 
 learned that the enemy was in force before him, 
 and that a French division was approaching his 
 rear, he evacuated Orleans with praiseworthy quick- 
 ness, and drawing all his available troops together, 
 
COULMIERS. 269 
 
 made preparations to accept a defensive battle. 
 He had from 20,000 to 23,000 men in hand ; and 
 he chose a strong position, protected by a brook, and 
 by villages and buildings hastily fortified, which 
 extended from Baccon, an outpost on the left to 
 Coulmiers, and St. Sigismund on the right, points 
 in front of a wood not far from Orleans. He was 
 attacked on the 9th by D'Aurelle and Chanzy, at 
 the head of, perhaps, 1 50,000 men, and the young 
 Army of the Loire, which had been supplied with 
 artillery of a superior kind, gave proof 2 of real 
 excellence on the field and gained a complete, if not 
 a decisive, victory. The Bavarians were driven 
 from Baccon and Ooulmiers ; their line which, as if 
 in contempt of their enemy, had been spread over 
 too wide a distance, was broken through on their 
 left and centre ; and it was a mistake only of a 
 French cavalry chief that prevented their right from 
 being defeated, and their whole army, perhaps, 
 
 1 The account of the Battle of Coulmiers in the " Prussian Staff 
 History," Part ii. vol. ii. 271-79, is not candid or accurate. It 
 estimates the French at 70,000 men ; but this includes the isolated 
 division of the 15th corps, which did not get near the field. By 
 far the most complete and impartial account will be found in 
 General Derrecagaix's work, vol. ii. 292, 322. He rightly says 
 that the French were about 50,000 strong. 
 
 2 M. de Freycinet, " La Guerre en Province," p. 98, gives us this 
 extract from a letter written by a Bavarian officer taken prisoner 
 at Coulmiers : " II n'y a plus d'armee de La Loire disait on, les 
 forces de 1'ennemi sonfe epuisees, et maintenant je trouve tout un 
 corps bien organise avec une artillerie formidable, une cavalerie 
 admirablement monte, et une infanterie qui nous a prouve ce dont 
 elle etait capable a la bataille de Coulmiers. " 
 
270 MOLTKE. 
 
 from being cut off from its line of retreat, the main 
 roads of Paris. Tann ably drew off his shattered 
 forces, having lost more than 3000 l men, including 
 prisoners taken at Orleans and on the field, and his 
 escape must be pronounced fortunate. But if the 
 French had unquestionably won the day, an unto- 
 ward incident had occurred that deprived them of 
 the best fruits of victory. The division which had 
 descended the Loire, and was to have fallen upon 
 the enemy's rear, had not been able to take part in 
 the battle, another, among repeated instances, how 
 hazardous it is to attempt to unite widely separated 
 forces on a given field, though under peculiar con- 
 ditions, as at Sadowa, this course may be justified, 
 nay, may be the best. 2 
 
 The Battle of Coulmiers, as it was called, would 
 have ended in the annihilation of the 1st Bavarian 
 corps, but for a tactical mistake on the field, and 
 for the false strategy which kept a whole division 
 irom it. The consequences, however, were real and 
 striking. The apparition of the Army of the Loire 
 had surprised and discomfited the German leaders; 
 
 3 "The Prussian Staff History," Part ii. vol. ii. 279, states that 
 the loss of the Bavarians at Coulmiers was only " about 800 men." 
 D'Aurelle and Chanzy mention that the prisoners alone were from 
 2000 to 2500. Major Adams' " Great Campaigns," p. 582, puts 
 the Bavarian loss at " 4000 men and two guns." It was certainly 
 more than 3000. 
 
 2 This is well pointed out by General Derrecagaix, *' La Guerre 
 Moderne," vol. ii. 315. His observations, however, are little more 
 than a repetition of what Napoleon has over and over again laid 
 down. 
 
ALAEM OF THE GERMANS. 271 
 
 the external zone that covered the besiegers' lines 
 had been broken by a victorious enemy, whose 
 strength had not been even suspected; and the 
 dangerous position of the German armies thrown 
 around Paris, on a vast circumference, and liable to 
 attack, had become manifest. Something like con- 
 sternation prevailed at Versailles ; a message was 
 despatched to Prince Frederick Charles to hasten 
 by forced marches to the aid of Tann ; the two 
 divisions near Chartres, which had been placed under 
 the command of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, 
 were ordered to hurry off in the same direction; 
 and amidst exclamations in the German camp that 
 the siege was " a gigantic mistake," Moltke made 
 preparations, it is all but certain, 1 to raise the siege 
 and to abandon his lines, should the Army of the 
 Loire appear near the city. This event probably 
 would have occurred, had. D'Aurelle overwhelmed 
 his foe at Ooulmiers ; and even as affairs stood, it 
 
 1 The evidence that Moltke intended to raise the siege of Paris 
 at this conjuncture is very strong. The fact was asserted by 
 several writers at the time, notably by the correspondent of The 
 Times, " Campaign of 1870, 191 ;" and it has been repeated by 
 Major Adams, " Great Campaigns," p. 583. It is remarkable, too, 
 that a German journal, believed to have been under Moltke's in- 
 fluence, referred, at this very time, to Napoleon's raising of the 
 siege of Mantua in 179$, at the approach of Wiirmser; and the 
 silence of the " Prussian Staff History " after these statements, is 
 significant in the extreme. The only evidence the other way is a 
 declaration by Moltke himself, " Precis of Franco-German War," 
 vol. ii. 303, English translation, that it " never entered anybody's 
 head to leave Versailles ; " but this distinctly refers to a sortie from 
 Paris, and to a different occasion. 
 
272 MOLTKE. 
 
 might, perhaps, have happened. Tann had fallen 
 back on Artenay and Toury, covering the roads to 
 Paris, after his defeat ; but his troops had lost heart 
 and had greatly suffered, and he could not have 
 stopped the march of the Army of the Loire, now 
 joined by its late absent division, flushed with 
 victory, and nearly fourfold in numbers. The 
 Bavarians, too, were without support; even the 
 heads of one corps of Prince Frederick Charles were 
 leagues distant on the 14th of November; only a 
 few troops of the Grand Duke had reached Tann 
 on the llth and 12th; and had D'Aurelle, there- 
 fore, pressed boldly forward, he might have beaten 
 both his adversaries in detail, and gained a signal 
 and most important triumph. 1 In that case he 
 would doubtless have advanced on Paris, and 
 Moltke, we believe, would have raised the siege. 
 
 D'Aurelle, however, did not adopt the course, 
 which, hazardous certainly as it would have been, 
 might, as affairs were, have been, perhaps, the 
 wisest. Had he routed Tann and the Grand Duke, 
 
 1 This operation is indicated by Chanzy, one of the most truth- 
 ful and modest of men : " La Deuxieme Armee de la Loire," p. 35 : 
 "Ileut peutetre etc possible en mettant a profit Fenthousiasme 
 produit par la victoire du 9, d'atteindre et d'achever de battre 
 Parmee du General de Tann, avant qu'elle cut pu etre secourue 
 par celle du grand due, sur laquelle on se serait porte ensuite, et de 
 prendre ainsi les Allemands en detail." Major Adams, " Great 
 Campaigns," p. 581, though an ardent admirer of the Germans, 
 says ; " A little more judgment and decision on D'Aurelle's part 
 would have involved Von der Tann in a signal disaster, and 
 perhaps have seriously affected the German investment." 
 
CONDUCT OF D'AURELLE. 273 
 
 he would, in all probability, have pressed on to Paris, 
 under the stress of opinion in his camp ; but he 
 paused after Coulraiers, for two or three days, and 
 he made no attempt to draw near the capital. With 
 the possible exception of the chief of his staff, 1 none 
 of his lieutenants, not even the gifted Chanzy, whose 
 powers were already becoming manifest, proposed, 
 it is just to say, a bold march northwards ; and it 
 is impossible to deny that considerations of weight 
 existed against an operation of the kind. Though 
 the Second Army was still out of reach, the most 
 advanced corps of Prince Frederick Charles was 
 now only three or four marches distant, the two 
 corps in the rear only seven or eight marches ; and 
 obviously there would have been grave peril in 
 moving on Paris, with a certain prospect of having 
 to assail an enemy in front, while a second enemy 
 was threatening the assailants in flank. D'Aurelle 
 fell back on Orleans with the Army of the Loire ; 
 the Bavarians and the Grand Duke gave him little 
 alarm; but it was the approach of the Second Army 
 endangering his right, which, he 2 tells us himself, 
 was the principal cause that he did not endeavour 
 to press forward, and that he made a retrograde 
 movement. This proves, with a clearness not often 
 observed, how fatal to the cause of France was the 
 untimely and shameful surrender of Metz. Had 
 
 1 M. de Freycinet, "La Guerre en Province," p. 102. This 
 statement is flatly contradicted by D'Aurelle, p. 142. 
 
 2 D'Aurelle, " La Premiere Arme'e de la Loire," p. 134. The 
 passage is too long to be quoted, but deserves attention. 
 
 T 
 
274 MOLTKE. 
 
 the fortress held out a few weeks longer, as, beyond 
 question, ought to have been the case, Prince 
 Frederick Charles would have been far away from 
 the theatre of the war on the Loire ; and, in that 
 event, Coulmiers might have changed the whole 
 course of the struggle. But for the guilt and 
 treason of Bazaine, the Army of the Loire, despite 
 other mishaps, would very probably have reached 
 Paris ; and if so, Moltke would have raised the siege, 
 with results which must have powerfully made for 
 France. " The capitulation came in the very nick 
 of time," is an admission made by a German writer. 
 Owing to a series of accidents, of which the most 
 disastrous was the premature and unexpected fall 
 of Metz, Coulmiers had not had the decisive 
 results which probably might have flowed from it. 
 It had shown, however, as if by a sudden flash 
 of light, how, notwithstanding their prodigious 
 success, the position of the Germans had become 
 precarious, and how colossal were the efforts of 
 France, 1 and Moltke thenceforward had no illusions 
 
 1 The change in Moltke's views as to the war is most remark- 
 able. We have seen what these were in September and October. 
 He wrote in the following strain after Coulmiers, though he 
 still held the false belief that Frenchmen were dragooned into the 
 defence of their country : "Letters," vol. ii. p. 66, English 
 translation : " After Sedan and Metz it may have seemed to 
 you in Berlin that all was over; but we have been having 
 a very anxious time. The greater part of our forces i\n*. 
 detained round Paris, and the obstinate endurance of Bazaine's 
 army though he is now proclaimed a traitor hindered the 
 earlier advance of fresh troops. . . . Surrounded as we are by 
 
VIEWS OF MOLTKE AFTER COULMIEBS. 275 
 
 as to the nature of the tremendous contest. 
 Opinion, too, in Europe veered round once more ; l 
 after having scoffed at the efforts of France 9 it 
 began to speculate on her prospects of success, and 
 it did not pronounce against her again, the scales 
 of Fate were so long in suspense. It is no idle task, 
 as has been suggested by more than one of the 
 courtiers of Fortune, to conjecture what might have 
 been the results, had the Army of the Loire, as 
 might well have happened, compelled the abandon- 
 ment of the siege of Paris. It is easy to say that 
 Moltke would have crushed D'Aurelle and Chanzy 
 with a single stroke, and would have drawn his 
 lines round the capital again before Trochu and 
 Ducrot would have known what had happened, and 
 it is easy to say that the German armies would 
 have suffered a tremendous disaster, assailed from 
 within and without as they moved off from the city. 
 The truth probably lies between either extreme. 
 
 hostile bands of armed men, within the circle we have had to 
 face desperate sorties, and treachery and surprises from without. 
 Now when the whole French army has migrated, as prisoners to 
 Germany, there are more men under arms in France than at the 
 beginning of the war. Belgium, England and America supply 
 them with weapons in abundance, and if a million were brought 
 in to-day, within a few days we should have a million more to 
 deal with." 
 
 1 Even a cursory reader of the Press of Europe, before and after 
 Coulmiers, will be convinced of the truth of this sentence. 
 The following telegram, from the Daily News Correspondent of 
 Berlin, sent at the close of November, is very significant : "The 
 war news from the front is confused and contradictory. Much 
 uneasiness is felt here." 
 
 T 2 
 
276 MOLTKE. 
 
 Had the siege been raised, the leaders in Paris could 
 not have failed to be informed of the fact ; in that 
 case they would, almost certainly, have destroyed 
 a large part of the besiegers' lines, and have brought 
 in the immense supplies accumulated by the enemy 
 for weeks ; Ducrot, there is every reason to Suppose, 
 would have conducted an army outside the capital, 
 and in this state of affairs the resumption of the 
 siege would have been difficult in the extreme, if 
 not impossible. In that event a complete change 
 would have passed over the scenes of the war, and 
 France might have obtained an honourable peace. 
 Military considerations, however, are not sufficient, 
 as elements of a judgment on this subject ; higher 
 considerations must be taken into account. Denain 
 saved France from impending ruin, and sent her 
 again on the path of victory ; Valmy rescued her 
 from the yoke of the conqueror, and gave her her 
 first triumph over old Europe, and such an event 
 as the raising of the siege of Paris might have led 
 to results not less wonderful. 
 
 Having fallen back, we have said, on Orleans, 
 D'Aurelle placed the Army of the Loire in a series 
 of camps in front of the city. His purpose was to 
 await the attack of the German armies in these 
 positions, an event which he believed at hand, and 
 should he succeed in beating the enemy, he thought 
 that he would be able to advance on Paris, and 
 effectually to assist the beleaguered capital. To 
 strengthen his camps, a double set of lines was 
 constructed round Orleans to the north ; heavy 
 
THE ARMY OF THE LOIRE ROUND ORLEANS. 277 
 
 batteries were mounted with large ship guns, and 
 thousands of peasants took part in the work ; and 
 the defences, extending on a two-fold arc, the first 
 along the edge of the Great Wood of Orleans, the 
 second at some distance beyond, became formidable 
 in a few days. D'Aurelle, in a word, sought to 
 make a Torres Vedras near the Loire ; when the 
 barrier had broken the power of the Germans, he 
 would then, and only then, assume the offensive. 
 He was confident that, under these conditions, his 
 army l was equal to great achievements ; and if this 
 strategy of passive defence was probably not the 
 very best, it is to be regretted, in the interests of 
 France, that he was not permitted to carry it 
 out. It deserves notice, however, that it was not 
 approved by Chanzy, a chief of a much higher type, 
 though he faithfully obeyed his superior's orders. 
 Chanzy, for many reasons, wished that his corps 2 
 should be moved at least to the line of the Conie, 
 a small river still further to the north; it was 
 to hold a menacing attitude from this position, and 
 
 1 D'Aurelle's estimate of the quality of the Army of the Loire 
 was somewhat exaggerated ; but it was far nearer the truth than 
 the accounts that represented it as an assemblage of rude levies : 
 p. 278. " Le General D'Aurelle a toujours eu la ferme conviction, 
 partagee par tous les officiers generaux sous ses ordres et par tous 
 les gens du metier, que cette armee de la Loire, animee d'un 
 ardent patriotisme, et d'un courage eprouve, pouvait, etant rcunie 
 culbuter 1'armee prussienne." 
 
 2 See this remarkable despatch of Chanzy: "La Deuxieme 
 Armee de la Loire, p. 49. Every line written by this great general 
 should be carefully studied. 
 
278 MOLTKE. 
 
 to interpose between the enemy's forces, at this 
 moment widely apart ; and had this advice been 
 followed, the events of the next few weeks would 
 have certainly taken a different turn. While 
 D' Aurelle was thus fortifying his lines near Orleans, 
 a new v direction had been given to the German 
 armies. Prince Frederick Charles, indeed, whose 
 foremost troops had reached Fontainebleau by the 
 14th of November, was ordered to advance and 
 hold the country between Orleans and the main roads 
 to Paris ; he was to close the external zone where 
 it had been broken. But the Grand Duke, who had 
 just joined Tann, a few days after D'Aurelle's 
 success, was again moved away to the west ; his 
 forces and those of Tann were united, and they 
 were placed once more in the tract around Chartres, 
 in order to cover the siege on this front, to collect 
 supplies, and to resist the enemy. This eccentric 
 movement was another mistake, due to a strange 
 ignorance of the operations of the French. 1 Moltke 
 had never ceased to believe in a French Army of the 
 "West, he had, as we have often seen before, lost 
 contact with a not distant foe ; beset by hindrances 
 still on the increase, he did not possess, in the 
 
 1 This is admitted by the "Prussian Staff History," part ii. 
 vol. i. pp. 283, 291. " All observations pointed to the impending 
 attack of the enemy from the west. . . . The proceedings of the 
 French Army of the Loire after the engagement at Coulmiers 
 had led the German Head-quarters Staff to believe that that 
 Army would unite with the troops assembled at Nogent Le 
 Rotrou and behind the Eure, and after this junction press forward 
 from the west towards Paris." 
 
MOVEMENTS OF THE GERMAN ARMIES. 279 
 
 highest degree, the extraordinary gift of Napoleon 
 in divining the movements of an opponent, and, 
 despite the telegraph and mechanism of the kind, 
 he had come to a conclusion, absolutely wrong, that 
 the Army of the Loire had broken up from Orleans, 
 and had come into line with the Army of the West, 
 and that both were advancing upon the capital. 
 The Grand Duke and Tann were, therefore, sent 
 in a direction completely away from the enemy ; 
 there was nothing like a real Army of the West ; 
 D'Aurelle was in his camp at Orleans, and this 
 movement of Moltke was altogether false. The 
 error was discovered ere long, and the Grand Duke 
 and Tann had soon spread their troops over the rich 
 tract between the Eure and the Sarthe, levying con- 
 tributions, and waging, with increasing fierceness, 
 the war of reprisals already begun. But a wide 
 gap existed between their forces and those of Prince 
 Frederick Charles, and, as affairs stood, this was 
 even now perilous. 
 
 The Second Army, meanwhile, had reached its 
 positions, between Orleans and the chief ways of 
 Paris ; by the 2 1st of November it stood on a line 
 from Angerville to Pithiviers, and, on the east, to 
 Montargis. Its three corps, wasted by sickness 
 and hardship, did not probably exceed 60,000 
 men, 1 and Prince Frederick Charles had little 
 doubt of the coming fate of the untrained Army 
 
 1 According to the " Prussian Staff History," Part ii. vol. i. 313, 
 the infantry of the Second Army did not, at this time, exceed 
 45,000 men. 
 
280 MOLTTCE. 
 
 of the Loire. He contemplated an immediate 
 advance on Orleans, with the victors of Mars La 
 Tour and Gravelotte, and reserving this exploit 
 for himself, he sent the Grand Duke, who had 
 become his subordinate, still further west, to 
 descend from Le Mans, on Tours, the seat of the 
 Republican Government, despised and detested 
 in the Prussian camps. But, in the meantime, 
 Gambetta had made preparations for a new and 
 mighty effort. 1 With wonderful energy and 
 administrative power, he had formed a 17th 
 corps on the Loire, near Blois, and an 18th 
 far higher up, at Nevers ; he had, with admirable 
 secrecy and skill, moved a 20th corps from the 
 Army of the East ; these arrays had been drawn, 
 by degrees, towards the Army of the Loire, and 
 the uniting masses, 2 from 150,000 to 200,000 
 strong, were being combined on a front extending 
 from the eastern verge of the Great Wood of 
 Orleans to the Forest of Marchenoir on the west. 
 A concentrated force, largely superior in numbers 
 at least, was being thus opposed to a widely 
 scattered force, and though the new levies were 
 by no means equal in quality to the troops of 
 D'Aurelle, still the Army of the Loire, thus 
 
 1 Even the Prussian Staff cannot withhold its admiration of 
 the " surprising activity " of the French, and the "indomitable 
 will " of Gambetta. 
 
 2 These numbers cannot be even nearly ascertained. M. de 
 Freycinet speaks of 250,000 men, the Prussian Staff of 200,000. 
 D'Aurelle acknowledges " 145,000 effectives" only. 
 
THE FRENCH AND GERMANS ROUND ORLEANS. 281 
 
 immensely increased, was, in its present position, 
 a grave danger to the separated and disseminated 
 German armies, nay, even to the besiegers of 
 Paris. About the 24th of November, Prince 
 Frederick Charles became aware, for the first 
 time, of a situation before unknown, and unsus- 
 pected once more at Versailles ; he drew his three 
 corps more closely together, and he directed the 
 Grand Duke to hasten to his aid, sending cavalry 
 westward to join his colleague. The Grand Duke, 
 however, who had been moving in many columns, 
 in all directions, from near Le Mans to Nogent le 
 Rotrou, and Vendome, and who had been ordered 
 by Moltke to advance on Beaugency, required 
 time to collect his forces ; and he was not on the 
 Loir an affluent of the much greater Loire 
 on a line between Bonneval and Chateaudun, 
 until the 27th and 28th of November, at a consider- 
 able distance still from the Second Army. 
 
 The position of the armies around Orleans was 
 now one of peculiar interest. On the 28th of Novem- 
 ber, the Second Army, which had been gathering 
 together for some days, was on a front extending 
 about forty miles from Beaune La Bolande on the 
 east, to Orgeres westwards, covering the avenues 
 to Paris from the Great Wood of Orleans. But 
 the Grand Duke, though a thin line of horsemen, 
 brought him in contact with Prince Frederick 
 Charles, was still only just moving from the Loir 
 if, indeed, he was in motion at all there was still 
 a gap between his force and his colleague, a gap, 
 
282 MOLTKE. 
 
 too, by no means easy to close, and one which, 
 had Chanzy held the Conie, as he had recom- 
 mended, could not have been closed without 
 running the risk of a most hazardous battle. On 
 the side of the French, the 18th and the 20th 
 corps, the right wing of the Army of the Loire, 
 held positions around Maizieres and Boiscommon, 
 not far from the German left at Beaune La 
 Kolande ; the centre composed of the 15th corps, 
 lay between Chevilly and Chilleurs sur Bois, at 
 the edge of the Great Wood of Orleans ; Chanzy 
 and the 16th corps were about Peravy, in communica- 
 tion with D'Aurelle and the 15th; and the 17th corps, 
 the extreme French left, which had been threaten- 
 ing the Grand Duke, was closing in from Marche- 
 noir towards Chanzy. The whole Army of the Loire 
 was thus concentrated on a front much shorter 
 than that of the Germans ; its columns were near 
 each other at all points, and it was assembled in 
 camps behind formidable lines, which alone gave it 
 a great advantage. Strategically its position was, 
 beyond comparison, superior to that of its divided 
 foes; for the defensive it was admirably placed, it 
 might even hope to take the offensive, to defeat the 
 enemy in its front and to reach Paris, and this 
 had been due, in the main, to Gambetta, who had 
 drawn together this immense array of forces, and 
 had concealed the operation from Moltke at 
 Versailles. 
 
 The military situation, so in favour of France, 
 was suddenly changed by a disastrous incident. 
 
FAULTS OF GAMBETTA. 283 
 
 Gambetta was a greater man than Danton, but 
 he had the temper of an imperious Dictator, and 
 he had too much in common, in the conduct of 
 war, with the delegates of the Convention who, 
 in 1793-4, imposed their rule on reluctant generals. 
 He had been in communication with Trochu and 
 Ducrot ; he was feverishly impatient to relieve Paris, 
 and he had already urged D'Aurelle to advance 
 northwards, to try to reach Pithiviers, and to march 
 on the capital. D'Aurelle had succeeded in putting 
 a stop to an enterprise he deemed too hazardous, 
 though in order to please the discontented minister 
 he had sent part of the 15th corps to Chilleurs sur 
 Bois ; but in a few days Gambetta resolved to 
 attempt an operation on which he had set his heart. 
 His eagerness to go to the assistance of Paris was 
 quickened by a desire to protect Tours, threatened, 
 we have seen, by the Grand Duke's forces, and he 
 took on himself to order a movement, which, he was 
 convinced, would at least promote his objects. He 
 peremptorily directed the 18th and 20th corps, the 
 right wing of D'Aurelle's army, to push forward to 
 Beaune La Eolande, and to fall on the 10th German 
 corps, the extreme left of the Second Army ; he 
 hoped thus to gain a position from which to march 
 on Paris, and also to compel the Grand Duke to 
 draw off from Tours. The movement, if undertaken 
 at all, ought obviously to have been made by the 
 whole French army, especially as Chanzy, at this 
 moment, had still a chance of thrusting himself 
 in between the Grand Duke and Prince Frederick 
 
284 MOLTKE. 
 
 Charles, but, attempted as it was, it naturally failed, 
 and the blame for the failure must fall on Gambetta. 
 On the 28th of November, the 18th and 20th corps 
 attacked the 10th at Beaune La Rolande ; the French 
 stormed some petty villages, but the Germans had 
 entrenched themselves in fortified posts. Although 
 greatly inferior in numbers, they steadily maintained 
 their ground for hours, and the arrival of a division 
 of the 3rd corps at last turned the scale in their 
 favour. The battle was in no sense decisive, but a 
 premature and ill-conceived effort had shattered the 
 right wing of the Army of the Loire, and the Ger- 
 man leaders had been thoroughly aroused. 1 
 
 The Grand Duke was now approaching the 
 Second Army, being concentrated in front of the 
 Great "Wood of Orleans. Chanzy 2 beheld, with an 
 anguish he could not suppress, his enemy defiling 
 within striking distance, and exposing his flank to 
 a formidable attack, and an opportunity was lost 
 to the French. The position, however, of the Army 
 of the Loire, though the 15th corps was somewhat 
 too divided, and the 18th and 20th had suffered 
 much, was, nevertheless, excellent for the defensive ; 
 the Grand Duke and Prince Frederick Charles had 
 probably not 100,000 men, and they could hardly 
 
 1 The " Prussian Staff History," part ii. vol. i. 291, 321, gives 
 an inadequate account of this whole series of operations. They 
 should be carefully studied in D'Aurelle and M. de Freycinet's 
 volumes. The Prussian Staff states that the three brigades of the 
 10th corps engaged at Beaune La Rolande were only 11,000 strong. 
 If so, they must have been terribly reduced by disease and other 
 
 ises. 
 
 2 "La Deuxieme Armee de La Loire," p. 56. 
 
FAULTS OF GAMBETTA. 285 
 
 have defeated a much more numerous force strongly 
 entrenched behind well fortified lines. At this 
 crisis the fair hopes of France were injured by Gam- 
 betta for the second time. With powers of organi- 
 zation of the highest order, he had not the sagacity 
 and calm judgment which have enabled some great 
 men, though in civil life, to indicate generally what 
 ought to be done in war, and his impatience had 
 now overpassed all restraints. He had been 
 informed by a balloon, which had dropped in 
 Norway, and had therefore sent the intelligence 
 late, that Ducrot was about to attempt to break 
 out from Paris, and, on the 30th of November, he 
 insisted through M. de Freycinet, his subordinate, 
 at a council of war, convened for the purpose, 
 that the Army of the Loire must march on 
 Pithiviers, attack the enemy, and try to reach the 
 capital. The operation was to begin next day, and 
 D'Aurelle and Chanzy protested in vain against a 
 movement which each declared would be fatal. 
 The orders of the young Dictator, however, were 
 final, and the two chiefs thought they were bound 
 to obey. 1 
 
 The movement began on the 1st of December ; it 
 was inevitably ill-combined and precipitate. Chanzy 
 and the 16th corps, with the 17th in the rear, ad- 
 vanced from the left against the Grand Duke ; the 
 15th corps, the French centre, scarcely stirred, for it 
 
 1 This obedience, however, to the ruler de facto of France, prac- 
 tically on the spot, was very different from Macmahon's weak 
 compliance before Sedan. 
 
286 MOLTKE. 
 
 was the pivot on which the army would turn in 
 making to the north-east for Pithiviers, and the 
 French right, the 18th and 20th corps, was left in- 
 active, and, as it were, out of sight, owing, it is to be 
 feared,to a dispute between D'Aurelle and Gambetta. 
 Not one half, therefore, of the Army of the Loire was 
 employed in an effort against an enemy completely 
 united by this time, and disaster could be the 
 only result. On the 1st Chanzy attacked the 
 Grand Duke, and gained at Villepion promising 
 success, but when he attempted on the following 
 day to assail his adversary, who had fallen back on 
 Loigny, and placed his troops in very strong posi- 
 tion, the event was altogether different. He ably 
 directed, indeed, a hard fought battle, and the losses 
 of the Germans, who in numbers seem to have been 
 nearly equal to the French, at least, in the first part 
 of the day, scarcely fell short of his loss on the 
 field, a clear indication of the skill in tactics, for 
 which he was to become conspicuous. But his 
 young troops were no match for their veteran foes, 
 standing on the defensive, in fortified posts, a 
 panic fell on his right wing, and he was only extri- 
 cated from defeat at hand, by a part of the 15th 
 corps hastening to his aid. 
 
 This reverse checked the advance of the Army of 
 the Loire, engaged prematurely, and nearly half 
 paralyzed. The operations of Moltke, up to this 
 time, had been marked by ignorance of the facts, 
 and had been, in a great degree, mistaken. He had 
 wrongly sent the Grand Duke to the west ; he had 
 
DEFEAT OF THE ARMY OF THE LOIRE. 287 
 
 really been surprised by the enormous addition 
 made by Gambetta to the Army of the Loire. It 
 was by accident only that the Grand Duke and 
 Prince Frederick Charles had effected their junction ; 
 and bad the forces of the French been well directed 
 he might have seen another defeat of the arms of 
 Germany, and perhaps been compelled to raise the 
 siege of Paris. He was now, however, to have his 
 revenge, and his decision was formed with charac- 
 teristic energy. When informed by the telegraph of 
 the check of Chanzy, 1 he ordered Prince Frederick 
 Charles instantly to attack, and his orders were 
 carried out with decisive results, largely owing to 
 disastrous mistakes of the French. The Prince, 
 leaving the 18th and 20th corps, which had remained 
 motionless during all this time, and, quickly drawing 
 his forces together, swooped in irresistible might on 
 D'Aurelle's centre, the 15th corps, already divided 
 and the success of the German onset was complete. 
 The French, indeed, gave proof of heroic courage; 
 they fought stubbornly for nearly two days, and 
 retreated at first in excellent order, but they were out- 
 numbered at the decisive point. The young soldiers 
 of the 15th corps could not endure the incessant strain, 
 and gradually the French centre gave way and was 
 broken. The double line of entrenchments was 
 carried, 2 and the Germans ere long had entered 
 
 1 " Prussian Staff History," part ii. vol. i. p. 344. 
 
 3 The bravery displayed by the French in this retreat is attested 
 by many eye-witnesses. All Frenchmen had joined to defend 
 their country. The Prince de Joinville had come from exile, and 
 
288 MOLTKE. 
 
 Orleans again, in the flush of hard bought but un- 
 doubted victory. Yet D'Aurelle conducted the 
 retreat ably; Chanzy fell off to the left with the 
 16th and 17th corps, and Bourbaki, who had not 
 returned to Metz after his mission to the Empress, 
 referred to before, drew off the 18th and 20th corps 
 on the right, having been made their chief at the 
 last moment. 
 
 Superficial writers, following the worshippers of 
 success, have interpreted these operations, from 
 first to last, as the necessary result of a conflict 
 between trained and regular troops and rude levies. 
 This, nevertheless, is a complete mistake, though it 
 is not pretended that the Army of the Loire could 
 be compared, as an instrument of war, to the armies 
 of the Grand Duke and Prince Frederick Charles. 
 But it was in no sense a force to be despised ; it 
 was greatly superior to its foes in numbers, and its 
 disastrous defeat is to be mainly ascribed to faulty 
 direction, ill-starred and manifest. It had a distinct 
 advantage on the field of manoeuvre, owing to the 
 separation of the enemies in its front, until Gambetta 
 recklessly interfered ; and had Chanzy been at this 
 moment its chief he might perhaps have beaten the 
 Grand Duke and led his victorious troops to the 
 capital. Even after the battle of Beaune La 
 Eolande the French around Orleans were pro- 
 bably safe; and it was the fatal movement which 
 Gambetta commanded that almost inevitably proved 
 
 was in the lines of Orleans ; Charette, a descendant of the hero of 
 La Vendee, fell on this occasion. 
 
THE SIEGE OP PARIS. 289 
 
 ruinous. That operation itself would not have been 
 so calamitous as it soon became, had not the French 
 right wing been left wholly useless; this really was 
 the principal cause that Prince Frederick Charles 
 was enabled to attack the centre of D'Aurelle in 
 overwhelming force, to break it, and to gain a 
 decisive triumph. This series of reverses was chiefly 
 due to presumptuous interference with the French 
 chiefs, leading to a number of disastrous errors ; 
 and it may safely be asserted that it would not have 
 occurred had Chanzy had the supreme command, or 
 had D'Aurelle been allowed to carry out his pro- 
 jects. As for the operations of the Germans, they 
 were marred by misconceptions of many kinds, but, 
 when made thoroughly aware of the facts, Moltke 
 sent his thrust home with remarkable skill, and was 
 admirably seconded by Prince Frederick Charles. 1 
 
 We pass from the banks of the Loire to the Seine, 
 where Paris remained erect and defiant. The belli- 
 gerents had gone on, since October, in strengthening 
 the investing and defensive zones, spread in a double 
 circle round the beleaguered capital. The besiegers, 
 we have seen, had been largely reinforced ; the gap 
 on the western front had been filled, and the lines 
 drawn to repel attacks from the city had been made 
 more than ever impassable. The besieged, how- 
 
 1 The real causes of the defeats of the French before Orleans 
 are set forth by the Correspondent of the Times, " Campaign of 
 1870-1," pp. 201-9. Major Adams, "Great Campaigns," pp. 586, 7, 
 has evidently had this book in view, in his comments, but he does 
 not refer to it ; he merely says it was the work " of an excellent 
 
 pen." 
 
 U 
 
290 MOLTKE. 
 
 ever, had been not less active ; they had slightly 
 enlarged the positions they held behind the forts ; 
 they had multiplied batteries and entrenchments, so 
 that the enceinte was completely shielded ; and they 
 had placed gunboats on the Seine, and long lines of 
 waggons, armed with cannon and clad with iron, 
 which formed movable points for attack and defence. 
 Meantime extraordinary progress was made in the 
 formation and training of the Parisian levies. The 
 National Guards were now a huge army in them- 
 selves, and, though partly composed of bad elements, 
 especially in their elected officers, they were, never- 
 theless, animated by patriotic fervour, and were 
 amply" sufficient to defend the walls, and even to 
 furnish a contingent for sterner duties. The assem- 
 blages of regular troops, of Gardes Mobiles, of 
 veterans, and of choice volunteers, which had been 
 acquiring military power by degrees, had long 
 ceased to be an armed multitude ; they had become 
 two armies in a real sense, of course far from equal 
 to the Germans in their front, but capable of daring 
 and persistent efforts. These armies were now 
 170,000 strong; one, called the Second Army, 
 under the command of I)ucrot ; the other, the 
 Third, under that of Vinoy. The incessant exer- 
 tions of the citizens had supplied their needs in 
 horses and other material, and, recollecting the 
 situation, the results were wonderful. In addition 
 to the garrisons of the forts, composed largely of 
 marines and sailors, the National Guards were more 
 than 200,000 men, and had as their leader Clement 
 
THE GREAT SORTIE. 291 
 
 Thomas, one of the victims of the Communist 
 Eeign of Terror. 
 
 During these weeks Ducrot had matured the 
 project for endeavouring to break out from Paris, 
 to which we have already referred. The first 
 peninsula made by the bends of the Seine had 
 been covered with strongly armed works, of the 
 nature of solid counter approaches, and, protected 
 by the batteries of Valerien, had become an en- 
 trenched camp of prodigious strength. Ducrot had 
 everything prepared for a determined effort to force 
 his way, to the west, through the German lines 
 established around the second peninsula, and then 
 to make northwards for Rouen and the sea ; and, if 
 the operation was to succeed at all, this probably 
 was the best course to adopt. But Moltke had by 
 this time closed the aperture on the western front, 
 and, though this was still the most assailable point, 
 Ducrot had gradually abandoned the hope of being 
 able as he had intended to carry out a really 
 large army with him. He had become convinced 
 that he could not expect to break through the in- 
 vesting circle with more than 50,000 or 60,000 men, 
 assembled rapidly for a sudden attack, and this 
 force would not, in itself, suffice to hold the field or 
 to relieve Paris. He looked, therefore, to the pro- 
 vincial armies, and he earnestly demanded that the 
 Arrny of the Loire should, after Coulmiers, march 
 swiftly westwards, and, co-operating with the levies 
 of the north, should ascend to the line of the Eure 
 
 and the Seine, and join hands with the force led out 
 
 u 2 
 
292 MOLTKE. 
 
 from the capital. This plan, he has maintained, 
 could have been carried out ; and if so, this proves 
 that, if mistaken in fact, Moltke was in theory 
 right in his belief, that the best chance for the 
 relief of Paris was by armies uniting from the 
 west; and, doubtless, it was on this assumption 
 that he persisted in keeping the Grand Duke near 
 Chartres, false as the course was, in the actual state 
 of affairs. 
 
 Ducrot had convinced Trochu of the merits of 
 his plan, and had received valuable assistance from 
 him. The resources of Paris had, in fact, been 
 employed for some time in making arrangements for 
 the great sortie from the western front, and for a 
 march to the course of the Oise, when the intelli- 
 gence of Coulmiers interfered with what was 
 probably Trochu's unsettled purpose. Opinion in 
 the capital turned to a project of breaking out to the 
 south or the south-east, and joining hands with the 
 Army of the Loire, supposed to be on the way from 
 Orleans, and Trochu, who had always believed that 
 the siege of Paris could only be raised by the arrival 
 on the spot of an army of relief, began to yield to 
 the popular demand. Gambetta 1 seems to have 
 taken no part in the decision ultimately formed in 
 the city, but messages passed between him. and 
 
 1 Gambetta had much to answer for, and not unreasonably was 
 severely condemned by several French generals for his pre- 
 sumptuous dictation. But a remarkable letter from his pen, cited 
 by General Ducrot, " La Defense de Paris," vol. ii. p. 117, certainly 
 lends to show that ho did not mar Ducrot's plan, but rather 
 approved of it. 
 
 
THE GREAT SORTIE. 293 
 
 Trochu, and it was finally agreed that the project 
 of Ducrot should, in existing circumstances, be 
 given up, that the besiegers' lines were not to be 
 assailed from the west, and that the Army of the 
 Loire was not to march in that direction to the aid 
 of the city. The sortie was to be made, therefore, 
 from the south or the south-east, and to be 
 supported by D'Aurelle pressing forward from the 
 Loire ; and this had been the cause of the disastrous 
 movements, due to Gambetta's most unwise med- 
 dling, which had led to the defeats of the French 
 before Orleans. Ducrot was enjoined to carry out 
 the new arrangement in direct opposition to his 
 hopes and views, and he proceeded to the task with 
 a heavy heart. His first intention was to endeavour 
 to break out from the southern front, in order to 
 join the Army of the Loire as quickly as possible ; 
 but the great strength of the besiegers' lines pro- 
 tecting the German communications with Versailles, 
 compelled him to abandon this plan, and at the 
 suggestion of a young officer, 1 now the rising hope 
 of the Army of France, he resolved to make the 
 attempt from the east. This, next to the west, 
 was the best direction, as affairs stood, at the 
 present moment. The defensive zone bristled here 
 with whole tiers of batteries, the windings of the 
 Marne afforded protection to an advancing army on 
 both flanks ; if once the besiegers' lines were forced 
 the country beyond was easy to traverse, and the 
 enemy on the spot was not in gresit numbers. But 
 1 General Miribel. 
 
294' MOLTKE. 
 
 precious time was inevitably lost in changing tte 
 dispositions for the sortie, and in 'massing troops 
 and the material .required from one side of Paris to 
 the other, *and this was probably turned to account 
 by the German commanders. 
 
 On the? 28th of November,' at night, the forts and 
 their supporting defences burst out in thunder, to 
 cover the first great effort 'of Paris to break forth 
 from her chains. By this time the army of Ducrot 
 had been assembled around Vincennes, and the 
 troops, fired with enthusiastic ardour, eagerly waited 
 for the dawn to obtain the means of passing the 
 course of the Marne hard by. A sudden rise, 
 however, in the waters of the stream prevented the 
 necessary bridges being laid ; the effort was put off 
 for a whole day, and this gave the Germans an 
 immense advantage, for it enabled them to collect 
 large masses of troops for the defence of the point 
 that was being menaced, and it deprived the French 
 of all they -could gain by a surprise, and from a 
 central position and interior lines. Demonstrations, 
 nevertheless, were made on the 29th at parts of the 
 investing circle, but these false attacks were with- 
 out result, except that the upland of Avron, an 
 important* point, commanding a section of the 
 German lines on the ' Marne, was captured and 
 occupied by French batteries. On the 30th the 
 effort was made at last, and the Marne having 
 been rapidly bridged, Ducrot's men advanced 
 against the Wurtembcrgers, and two bodies of the 
 Saxons, entrenched in his front, between Noisy Le 
 
THE GREAT SORTIE. 295 
 
 Grand and Coeuilly, their centre holding the hamlet 
 of Villiers, the key of a position of prodigious 
 strength. The onset of the French, covered by a 
 terrific fire from the forts and batteries along the 
 river, was attended at first with marked success ; 
 the villages of Champigny and Bry were stormed, 
 but when the assailants reached the main German 
 lines, they were arrested by the defences of Villiers, 
 a mass of walls and buildings almost impregnable. 
 The battle raged confusedly for some hours, Ducrot 
 awaiting the support of his left wing, which had 
 been directed to turn the position of Villiers the 
 guns from Avron were here to take part persisted 
 in continuing the onset in front, and his troops were 
 mown down in heaps by the fire from an enemy 
 who suffered comparatively little behind his en- 
 trenchments. The long-hoped-for reinforcement 
 appeared at last, but the general in command, by a 
 fatal mistake, attacked Villiers, in turn, in front, 
 arid the effort, after a protracted struggle, which 
 cost an immense waste of life, was fruitless. Mean- 
 while an attack on Coeuilly, on the French right, 
 had been at last repulsed, and the line of the 
 Germans, though severely tried, had proved sufficient 
 to keep back the enemy. Ducrot fell back, at night- 
 fall, on Champigny and Bry, still hoping to renew 
 the fight on the morrow. 
 
 While this battle had been raging along the 
 eastern front, a part of Ducrot 1 s forces had been 
 engaged in making a demonstration on Montmesly, 
 in order to keep the enemy in check to the south-east, 
 
296 MOLTKE. 
 
 and Vinoy had employed the Third French Army in 
 different attacks on Choisy Le Roi to the south, 
 and on Epinay, to the north of the investing circle. 
 These efforts, made under the continuous fire of the 
 forts and batteries, and of the gunboats on the 
 Seine, were attended here and there with partial 
 success ; they relieved the pressure on the Second 
 French Army, and prevented reinforcements being 
 sent to Yilliers. But if the battle of the 30th was 
 indecisive, this was equivalent to a defeat for the 
 French ; the zone of the besiegers had not been 
 forced, and the gain of Champigny and Bry was 
 worthless. Characteristically true to his favourite 
 method, 1 Moltke resolved to assume the offensive 
 again ; parts of the 2nd and the 6th corps were 
 marched to the aid of the defenders of Yilliers ; 
 Fransecky, a hero of Sadowa, was placed at their 
 head, and at the dawn of the day of the 2nd 
 December, the Germans pressed forward to storm 
 Champigny. The French, who, without any means 
 for encampment, had cruelly suffered from cold and 
 privations, were driven at first out of part of the 
 village, surprised, as had so often happened ; but 
 Ducrot had strongly entrenched his position, and 
 Champigny was regained after a protracted conflict. 
 Nearly the same results were witnessed at Bry; 
 
 i " Prussian Staff History," part ii. vol. i. p. 381. This account of 
 the great sortie, and of the battles of the 30th November and the 
 2nd December, is jejune and inadequate. General Ducrot's account, 
 " La Defense de Paris," vol. ii. p. 80, 289, iii. p. 103, is more com- 
 plete and impartial. General Vinoy's book too should be read. 
 
THE GllEAT SORTIE. 297 
 
 and wherever the defensive zone was approached, 
 the power of its fire overcame everything, and the 
 Germans were forced back defeated and baffled. 
 The struggle of the 2nd was again indecisive, but 
 it was not the less a reverse for Ducrot ; the lines 
 of the besiegers had proved impregnable, and he had 
 no choice but to recross theMarne, and to fall back 
 with his army on Paris. The retreat was made in 
 good order on the 3rd ; but the losses and hard- 
 ships of the French had been terrible. 
 
 In this fierce and prolonged contest Ducrot had 
 proved himself a skilful and resolute soldier. 1 But 
 the enterprise was undertaken against his will ; he 
 had little faith in a successful issue ; he wished the 
 sortie to be made from the western front, and the 
 change in the operation was of evil omen. Ducrot, 
 too, had been badly treated by Fortune ; the sudden 
 
 1 An unwarrantable charge, afterwards withdrawn, was made 
 that Ducrot broke his parole after Sedan ; and he has been ridi- 
 culed for a rhetorical expression in an address to his troops before 
 the sortie. But he was a very able and valiant warrior, and he 
 rightly insisted that France should fight after Sedan. He inter- 
 preted the judgment of History more accurately than Thiers, who 
 wished to temporize, and make an ignominious peace. " La 
 Defense de Paris," vol. ii. p. 76 : " ' General,' dit M. Thiers, ' vous 
 parlez comme nn soldat, c'est tres bien, mais vous ne parlez pas 
 eomme un homme politique.' ' Monsieur, je crois egalement parler 
 en homme politique ; une grande nation comme la France, se 
 releve toujours de ses mines materielles, elle ne se releve jamais 
 de ses ruines morales. En continuant a defendre pied a pied le 
 sol de la Patrie, notre generation souffrira peutetre davaiitage, 
 mais nos enfants beneficieront de 1'honneur que nous aurons 
 suuveV " Noble words, uttered amidst the scoffs and scepticism 
 of what was called European opinion, but amply confirmed. 
 
298 MOLTKE. 
 
 rise of the Marne had delayed the attack on Villiers 
 for twenty-four hours at least, and this alone almost 
 assured the defeat of the French arms. He was 
 badly seconded, besides, by his left wing, which, 
 having arrived on the field late, assailed the main 
 position of the Germans in front, instead of endea- 
 vouring to turn it, as had been directed, and two or 
 three lesser mistakes were made. But a study of 
 these engagements induces us to think that Ducrot 
 could hardly have succeeded in any event ; the zone 
 of the besiegers was too strong to be broken ; and 
 even if it had been forced the French would have 
 been pursued, and probably defeated in the open 
 country. It deserves notice, too, that though 
 Ducrot' s army was much more numerous than the 
 enemy it assailed, it was so confined to a narrow space 
 that the French were not more than 55,200 1 against 
 45,000 men at the decisive points, the attacks on 
 Villiers and Coeuilly ; and these figures almost prove 
 that success was hopeless, bearing in mind the 
 strength of the German positions. In the battle of 
 the 2nd, according to Ducrot, the numerical supe- 
 riority was reversed ; the Germans were 72,000 to 
 62,000, 2 and yet, in their efforts against the zone of 
 the defence, they too were, on the whole, worsted. 
 
 1 " La Defense de Paris," vol. ii. p. 286. 
 
 2 Ibid. vol. iii. p. 55. The " Prussian Staff History " is silent 
 on the subject, and must be presumed to acquiesce in these 
 figures, as it is partly compiled from General Ducrot's work. It 
 is unnecessary to refer to German writers, who have described 
 the sortie as the defeat of 100,000 Frenchmen by 20,000 
 Germans. 
 
THE GREAT SORTIE. 299 
 
 It is probable, in fact, that by this time the lines of 
 the besiegers and the lines of the besieged had 
 become impregnable to attack, save through ap- 
 proaches made by the art of the engineer, a possible 
 exception being the western front, covered at this 
 moment by formidable works, where a sortie, com- 
 bined with a determined effort made by an army of 
 relief from without, might, both Moltke and Ducrot 
 thought, have had some chances of success. But 
 though they failed, the French had been not un- 
 worthy of their martial race in this desperate 
 struggle, aod they lost more than 9000 men, a 
 result in striking contrast with the trifling of 
 Bazaine. 1 The losses of their enemy were not 2000, 
 such was the protection afforded to the defence at 
 Villiers ; the Germans had borne themselves as 
 became good troops, still upheld by the renown of 
 Metz and Sedan. 
 
 The arms of Germany had once more triumphed ; 
 the Army of the Loire had been rent in twain ; the 
 great sortie from Paris had failed; the efforts to 
 relieve the capital had been frustrated. Yet there 
 was little exultation in the German camp; an 
 uneasy feeling of anger pervaded Germany ; 
 opinion in Europe refused to predict another suc- 
 cession of German victories. The fall of Metz, a 
 caprice of fortune, had alone saved the besiegers 
 from the gravest perils ; the Army of the Loire 
 might, perhaps, have raised the siege; the invaders 
 
 1 The total losses of the French in all these sorties exceeded 
 12,000 men. 
 
300 MOLTKE. 
 
 were thrown upon the defensive ; they were exposed 
 to attacks of a formidable kind as long as the 
 capital should hold out ; and all this had become 
 distinctly manifest. The prodigies, too, of the first 
 part of the war had been followed by a second 
 prodigy, the gigantic national resistance of France ; 
 she had risen from the depths of misfortune to 
 show how great was her power ; her hastily 
 gathered levies had done wonders, and the chariot- 
 wheels of the once boastful conquerors " drave 
 heavily" through ever-increasing obstacles. Yet 
 Moltke maintained his undaunted attitude ; if he 
 tacitly admitted that he had made mistakes in ad- 
 vancing on Paris before the time, and in undervaluing 
 the resources of France, he left nothing undone to 
 repair these errors, and while many around him 
 doubted and feared he manfully stood up against a 
 sea of troubles. His position around Paris was, for 
 the moment, safe ; D'Aurelle had been defeated on 
 the Loire ; events in the north, which we shall 
 glance at, had been favourable to the German arms, 
 and the great city was, for the present, in eclipse. 
 He continued steadily to forge the chains which, he 
 was convinced, would yet subjugate France stern, 
 resolute, able, and self-reliant. The besiegers' lines 
 were still further strengthened ; the armies which 
 formed the external zone were reinforced in every 
 direction ; the severest measures were taken to put 
 down the national resistance where it raised its 
 head ; and the march of the invaders was often lit 
 up by the flames of hamlets, revealing the ghastly 
 
THE WAll AT THE END OF NOVEMBER. 301 
 
 spectacle 1 of peasants hung and shot for being 
 found in arms and for striking a blow to defend 
 their country. To sustain him in his task, Moltke 
 could look with confidence to devoted lieutenants of 
 proved skill and to admirably organized military 
 power ; and Germany, aflame with national passion, 
 went forth to uphold a mighty conflict which had 
 become an internecine strife of races. The youngest 
 recruits and the oldest men of the Landwehr had 
 been already called into the field, and a fierce impulse 
 sent tens of thousands of warriors, like their Gothic 
 fathers in the distant past, to descend on the lands 
 beyond the Rhine. The final issue of the contest 
 was determined as much, perhaps, by this universal 
 movement as by the regular armies of Germany. 
 
 If we turn to the opposite side, the efforts of 
 France had scarcely had a parallel even in her 
 history. Nearly a million of men had been enrolled 
 in arms in Paris and in the provincial levies, and 
 this after the Imperial armies had been carried into 
 Germany captive. The result had been characteristic 
 of an heroic .race, and, to a certain extent, it had 
 been successful. The Germans had been decidedly 
 checked ; Coulmiers had been a real, if not a 
 fruitful victory; a series of mischances had alone 
 saved the invaders from defeat, perhaps from 
 
 1 These executions are not to be too harshly condemned ; they 
 were in accordance with the laws of war. But the franctireurs 
 of France were treated as Napoleon treated the Spanish guerillas ; 
 and the sufferings of the one class of victims were disregarded, 
 while the other class was extolled as heroes and martyrs. 
 
302 MOLTKE. 
 
 disaster. The issue of events was still doubtful ; and 
 France, deprived of her organized forces, had risen 
 from under the heel of a conqueror, and had, in a 
 few weeks, made the national defence so power- 
 ful, so general, so unyielding that the scales of 
 fortune hung in even balance. But unity and 
 subordination in command were wanting to France at 
 this supreme crisis, not less than well-ordered military 
 force. Gambetta had destroyed as well as created ; 
 the defeat of the Army of the Loire is to be ascribed 
 to him; the best chance for the relief of Paris, 
 difficult as it would have been in any event, had 
 been lost by divided counsels and by compliance with 
 thoughtless and idle opinions. Chanzy and D'Aurelle, 
 each of whom could have done much, had been reck- 
 lessly crossed and thwarted. France did not possess 
 a single uncontrolled leader to make the most of 
 her resources of war, and to carry out operations in 
 the field with a definite aim and a settled purpose ; 
 and the armed strength of the nation, inferior as it 
 was to that of an adversary well prepared for years, 
 was wasted unwisely and misdirected. The exer- 
 tions of France, therefore, grand as they were, were 
 spasmodic, ill- regulated, and, in a great degree, 
 paralyzed ; and she was in a death struggle with a 
 gigantic foe, whose military power was perfectly 
 matured, and was directed with admirable energy 
 and skill ; who had hundreds of thousands of trained 
 soldiers on foot, and who was animated by passions 
 as ardent as her own. The evil influences that 
 weakened the strength of France were to produce 
 
THE WAR AT THE END OF NOVEMBER. 303 
 
 their effects up to the last moment, and contributed 
 largely to her ultimate defeat. The end, however, 
 had not yet come ; she was yet to show that she 
 had not lost the illustrious breed of her great sol- 
 diers ; she was yet to fight with such intense 
 earnestness, that the invaders remained in continual 
 peril ; and she was to give proof of such inherent 
 power, that she was to be formidable even in adverse 
 fortune. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The First Army in Picardy Indecisive battle near Amiens 
 Advance of the First Army into Normandy Retreat of the 
 French Army of the North Rouen captured Fall of Thion- 
 ville, Montmedy, and, before long, of Mezieres These suc- 
 cesses strengthen the position of the Germans round Paris 
 and in France Preparations for the bombardment of Paris 
 Werder in Burgundy and Franche Comte The siegeof Belfort 
 Werder at Dijon The French Army of the East Garibaldi 
 and Cremer The Germans in the east reinforced by part of 
 the First Army The prospect becomes gloomy for France 
 Sudden change effected by Chanzy on the Loire Events on 
 this theatre of the war since the fall of Orleans Chanzy 
 attacked by the Germans Protracted and desperate conflict 
 of four days Great ability of Chanzy His skill and com- 
 manding influence over his troops and their officers His 
 retreat to the Loire His masterly arrangements baffle the 
 German commanders They concentrate their forces against 
 him He retreats to the Sarthe, occupies Le Mans, and resumes 
 the offensive The Grand Duke and Prince Frederick Charles 
 fall back Heavy losses of their armies The French Army 
 of the North marches towards the Somrne Indecisive battle 
 on the Hallue Ineffectual sortie from Paris The military 
 situation, if unfavourable to France, is still doubtful- 
 Gradual and immense additions to the numbers of the 
 German troops The efforts of Franco continue Reflections 
 on these operations. 
 
 THE defeat of the Army of the Loire at Orleans, 
 and the failure of the great sortie from Paris, 
 were not the only ominous signs at this conjunc- 
 ture, and during the next few weeks, of disaster 
 
THE WAR AT THE BEGINNING OP DECEMBER. 305 
 
 for the arms of France. Part of the First Army, 
 after the fall of Metz, had, we have seen, been 
 moved towards the valley of the Oise; and, by 
 the last days of November, it had entered Picardy 
 and the flourishing region around Amiens. It was 
 here opposed by part of the French Army of the 
 North, raised by Gambetta in Artois and Picardy, 
 and given the name of the 22nd corps ; and it had 
 passed from Bourbaki's hands, when he had been 
 sent to the Loire, into those of General Farre, a 
 distinguished soldier. The hostile forces encoun- 
 tered each other near Villers Bretonneux, just to 
 the east of Amiens ; a fierce and indecisive battle 
 was fought, most honourable to the French 1 levies, 
 but Farre ere long fell back behind the Somme, and 
 Amiens capitulated a few days afterwards. The 
 invaders now overran Normandy, meeting little 
 resistance from a motley force of 40,000 or 50,000 
 men, the remaining part of the Army of the North ; 
 they had soon seized Rouen and the mouths of the 
 Seine, and, like Csesar's Italian soldiers, they saw, 
 for the first time, the waves of the Channel. La 
 Fere, a petty fortress that molested their rear, was 
 taken before the end of November ; and the First 
 Army spread over a vast arc, extending from the 
 Upper Oise to the Eure westwards, covered the 
 
 1 On the French side General Faidherbe's " Campagne de 
 PArmee du Nord " is our best guide. This experienced and able 
 soldier thus describes the conduct of the French levies at the 
 battle near Amiens : " La bataille d' Amiens avait ete tres honorable 
 pour une armee aussi rapidement improvisee que 1'Armee du Nord." 
 Farre's retreat, indeed, was mainly caused by want of munitions. 
 
 X 
 
306 MOLTKE. 
 
 Army of tlie Meuse before the n or them front of 
 Paris, from hostile efforts made in that direction. 
 The external zone of the besiegers' forces received 
 thus new additional strength, and, menacing as was 
 the position of the French Army of the North behind 
 the fortresses between the Somme and the frontier 
 famous in the great wars of Louis XIV. the 
 Army of the Meuse was thenceforward secure. 
 
 Thionville and Montmedy had, ere long, suc- 
 cumbed to the part of the First Army that had been 
 left in the rear, and Me*zieres surrendered some time 
 afterwards. The fall of these fortresses gave the 
 Germans possession of several railway lines from 
 the east ; and as they had mastered Lorraine, and 
 nearly the whole of Alsace, their communications, 
 dangerously straitened at first, were made perfectly 
 open and secure. This enabled the armies besieging 
 Paris, not only to obtain vast stores of supplies, 
 and reinforcements even now needed, but to bring 
 up the immense siege train required for the bom- 
 bardment ; and the transport of the heavy guns and 
 other material which had been in progress for 
 several weeks, in order to compel, as was hoped in 
 the German camp, the speedy submission of the 
 proud city was accelerated, and protected from 
 attack. 
 
 Meanwhile, Moltke addressed himself to strength- 
 ening the external zone in the east, and quelling 
 the efforts of the French levies between the Or- 
 leanais and Franche Comte. The French Army 
 of the East had, we have seen, been consider- 
 
THE WAR AT THE BEGINNING OP DECEMBER. 307 
 
 ably weakened along this line by the removal of 
 the 20th corps to the Loire ; and at present it con- 
 sisted of two masses, one under Garibaldi, the 
 renowned Italian, who had brought his sword to 
 the assistance of France, and the other under 
 Gremer, an unknown soldier. These bodies, sup- 
 ported by bands of irregulars, and in communica- 
 tion with levies gathering in the south, held the 
 tract between Besangon and the Upper Yonne, 
 sending occasional detachments to the Army of the 
 Loire ; and as the chief part of the Second Army 
 had been suddenly moved on Orleans, at the intelli- 
 gence of the fight at Coulmiers, they held a threaten- 
 ing position upon the extended flank of the German 
 invasion from the Rhine to Paris. Werder, accord- 
 ingly, and the 14th corps, increased by many 
 thousands of men, had been directed to press the 
 siege of Belfort, almost the last stronghold of the 
 French in Alsace, and he had established himself 
 firmly around Dijon, repelling, from this great cen- 
 tral position, the desultory attacks of the Army of 
 the East. A gap, however, existed between the 
 divisions of Werder and the Second Army, and 
 Moltke filled this towards the close of November with 
 the 7th corps of the First Army, detached from Metz, 
 and the fortresses of the Moselle, placing it between 
 Dijon, the Yonne, and the Loing, and in contact 
 with Prince Frederick Charles. Some partial skir- 
 mishes were fought along this line, in several 
 instances favourable to the French ; but Werder and 
 
 the chief of the 7th corps successfully maintained 
 
 x 2 
 
308 MOLTKK. 
 
 the ground they held, and kepfc back the ever 
 advancing enemy. 
 
 Having secured his position in the north and the 
 east, and made his communications easy and broad, 
 Moltke turned next to the west and south. The 
 external zone along these fronts of the siege ap- 
 peared at first, in all respects, safe, and able to defy 
 the provincial armies. On the west, indeed, it was 
 only composed of bodies of cavalry and a small 
 force of infantry, the Grand Duke having set off 
 for Orleans ; but though levies were being raised 
 in multitudes, in Normandy, Brittany, Maine, and 
 Anjou, these were, as yet, in a backward state, and 
 had not ventured to draw near the capital. The 
 situation for the invaders, after the complete defeat 
 of the Army of the Loire, before Orleans, was 
 deemed, at Versailles, perfectly safe in the south ; 
 in fact, all that was to be thought of was to gather 
 in thoroughly the fruits of victory. Prince Frede- 
 rick Charles and the Grand Duke were in fall force 
 in the region between the large bend of the Loire, 
 on both sides of Orleans ; they had taken the city, 
 we have seen, again ; they held both banks of the 
 great river; they had sent detachments into the 
 Sologne, and they occupied the course of the Loire 
 from Gien to near Meung, the chief body of their 
 troops being on the northern bank. On the other 
 hand, the defeated Army of the Loire had given, for 
 a moment, not a sign of life. The routed centre, 
 the 15th corps, had fled to Salbris, far south of the 
 Loire, and D'Aurelle had been deprived of his com- 
 
THE WA AT THE BEGINNING OP DECEMBER. 309 
 
 mand by a gross act of wrong on the part of Gam- 
 betta. The right wing, the 18th and 20th corps, 
 left idly " in the air," after Beaune La Rolande, had 
 made its escape, by Gien, far away ; before long it 
 had joined the 15th, and the collected force, in a 
 pitiable state, having been placed in Bourbaki's 
 hands, was ultimately rallied around Bourges. As 
 for Chanzy, and the 16th and 17th corps, it was 
 not exactly known where he was ; but the con- 
 querors assumed that the French left wing was a 
 horde of fugitives, like the centre and right, and its 
 speedy annihilation was hourly expected. In the 
 first days of December, the Grand Duke and the 
 Prince were directed " to crush the defeated enemy," 
 and this result seemed easy and certain alike. 
 
 By these operations the external zone, originally 
 restricted and feeble in the extreme, had been spread 
 over an immense circumference, and made an almost 
 impassable line ; and Paris was enclosed within a 
 double rampart of foes, the one defying the efforts 
 of the besieged, the other keeping back the provin- 
 cial armies. The communications of the invaders 
 had, too, been assured ; the attack on Paris was 
 soon to begin, and the citizens to pass through the 
 ordeal of fire, and outside the capital little seemed 
 to be done but to destroy the remains of the 
 Army of the Loire. And should Paris even stand 
 a bombardment, she would necessarily yield before 
 long to famine ; and meanwhile, as her power of 
 resistance slackened, Moltke, now in possession of 
 interior lines, and of a central position amidst his 
 
310 MOLTKE. 
 
 foes, would be able to detach troops from the be- 
 sieging armies to send them to every point menaced 
 in the external zone, and to defeat in detail the pro- 
 vincial levies. The mistake of the original advance 
 on Paris, which, we have said, had been largely 
 averted by the unexpected surrender of Metz, had 
 by this time been almost wholly corrected, owing in 
 part to Moltke's unbending constancy, in part to 
 the misdirected efforts of France, chiefly, perhaps, 
 to the gigantic onset of Germany, and he could 
 look forward to the result hopefully. The prospect, 
 in truth, had become dark for France, but a light 
 suddenly shone out at one point of the scene, to 
 the discomfiture of her astounded foes, and this 
 revealed to the world a great captain, showed 
 how prodigious was yet her essential strength, illus- 
 trated admirable feats of her arms, and proved the 
 issue of the strife to be still uncertain. 
 
 Chanzy had, we have seen, fallen back to the left 
 during the disastrous retreat of D'Aurelle on 
 Orleans. He had endeavoured in vain to join his 
 colleague, and on the 5th of December he was in 
 positions considerably to the south-west of the city, on 
 a line between Beaugency on the Loire and Josnes. 
 He was here informed that the Army of the Loire 
 had been divided into two great parts, the one com- 
 posed of the centre and right, entrusted, we have said 
 before, to Bourbaki, and the second, the 16th and 
 17th corps, placed under his command as General-in- 
 Chief, and he found himself unexpectedly reinforced 
 to an extent that might have been deemed impos- 
 
CHANZY ON THE LOIRE. 311 
 
 sible. With characteristic energy and resource Gam- 
 betta had moved the best divisions of the Army of 
 the West, called the 21st corps, to the aid of Chanzy, 
 and had pushed forward a strong detachment from 
 Tours, and the chief of the new Second Army of the 
 Loire, owing to this extraordinary and well- concealed 
 effort, was at the head of 80,000 or 90,000 men. 
 These troops, however, for the most part, were mere 
 levies ; and the 16th corps, the soldiers ofCoulmiers 
 and Loigny, had suffered such losses, and had been 
 so weakened, that a fragment only of it could remain 
 in the field. The army, however, had good artillery, 
 obtained by Gambetta from abroad ; its far-reaching 
 small-arms could be made most destructive in a 
 region of plains; some excellent officers were in its 
 ranks, notably Jaureguibbery, a distinguished sea- 
 man, and, above all, it was in the hands of a com- 
 mander of most remarkable powers. Chanzy resolved 
 to make head against the enemy, and to defend, where 
 he stood, the valley of the Loire ; and with this 
 object he chose a strong position, extending from 
 the Forest of Marchenoir on his left, to Meung and 
 Beaugency on the extreme right, and covered in 
 front by many villages, affording excellent points for 
 defence. Behind this line, difficult to turn on the 
 flanks, bristling with obstacles to a direct attack, 
 and giving spaces for offensive returns, Chanzy drew 
 up his army of recruits, and sternly awaited the 
 German onslaught. 
 
 At this juncture the Grand Duke and his army, 
 from 30,000 to 40,000 strong, were approaching 
 
312 MOLTKE. 
 
 Meung, on the northern bank^of the Loire ; and of 
 the three corps of the Second Army, one was around 
 Gien observing Bourbaki, another was holding 
 Orleans and the adjoining tract, and the last was 
 marching down the southern bank of the Loire, 
 divided from the Grand Duke by the river. The 
 German leaders were not aware that Chanzy 
 and his army were at hand, and had no idea that he 
 had received a reinforcement, great in numbers, at 
 least ; and they had placed their forces on either side 
 of the Loire in order easily to pounce on Tours, and 
 to crush, in its seat, the Republican Government. 
 Their boastful hopes were rudely dispelled, and an 
 astonishing passage of arms was witnessed. On 
 the 6th of December a slight encounter took place 
 between an advanced guard of the Grand Duke and 
 a detachment of Chanzy near Meung, and as the 
 French were, on the whole, beaten, the Germans 
 pressed forward with increased confidence. The 
 result was very different when they had come before 
 the admirably chosen positions of their foes. A 
 desperate contest raged for four days ; the Grand 
 Duke searched every part of Chanzy's line, and 
 assailed it in front and on both flanks, but he not 
 only failed to overwhelm his enemy, but was com- 
 pelled to seek the assistance of the corps at Orleans, 
 and of the corps on the opposite side of the Loire ; 
 and his army lost many thousands of men, while 
 some of his divisions were cut to pieces. 1 At the 
 
 1 The German account of these battles, " Prussian Staff History,'* 
 Part ii. vol. ii. 47, 63, is quite inadequate, and far from candid. 
 
GENERAL CHANZY 
 From photograph by F. Etienne Caiiat, Paris 
 
 To face page 313. 
 
CHANZY ON THE LOIRE. 313 
 
 close of this extraordinary struggle the right wing 
 of Chanzy Lad lost some ground, owing chiefly to a 
 surprise by night, but the centre and left wing had 
 scarcely fallen back ; and though his young levies 
 had cruelly suffered, they had successfully kept 
 their well- trained adversaries in check. Had the Ger- 
 man chiefs had the least notion of Chanzy's position 
 and of the strength of his army, they would never 
 have divided their forces on the Loire, perhaps would 
 not have attacked at all ; and they were baffled in 
 this fierce and protracted conflict. 1 Yet the success 
 
 The writer, indeed, does not deny the losses of the Grand Duke, 
 but he asserts that the French had " a fourfold superiority of 
 strength." This calculation can only be arrived at by suppressing 
 the facts that the 9th Prussian corps, on the southern bank of 
 the Loire, assisted the Grand Duke by keeping a large French 
 division in check, and that two divisions of Chanzy's 16th corps 
 were not engaged at all. The French could hardly have been 
 much more than double the number of the Germans, unless the 
 Grand Duke had suffered more losses before these days than has 
 ever been suspected. 
 
 1 How well contested and terrible these battles were has been 
 attested by many eye-witnesses, especially by a correspondent of 
 the Times, writing with German sympathies from the German 
 camp. One passage from Chanzy's most valuable work, " La 
 Deuxieme Armee de la Loire," p. 447, will suffice here : " Pendant 
 les rudes journees de Josnes, un officier superieur allemand fait 
 prisonnier, ne dissimulait rien de 1'etonnement que lui causait 
 la resistance de nos jeunes troupes, comparait ces batailles de la 
 Beauce a celles de 1866 auxquelles il avait pris part, et avouait 
 que ces dernieres n'etaient qu'un jeu d'enfants aupres de ces 
 luttes acharnees et incessantes qu'il lui fallait de nouveau soutenir 
 pour reduire un pays qu'ils croyaient a bout de ses ressources apres 
 ses desastres. C'est la le plus bel eloge de ces armees nouvelles 
 que la volonte et le patriotisme de la France ont fait surgir." 
 
316 MOLT'KE 
 
 The German corps on the southern bank of the 
 Loire was moving down the river, and menacing 
 Blois ; two of the divisions of the 16th .corps, which 
 had not taken part in the late battles, were at Mer 
 and Blois on the northern bank; and Chanzy 
 directed the commander of one of these to hold 
 Blois to the last extremity ; and if the enemy should 
 force the passage, to retreat further down the river 
 to Amboise, and to withdraw attention from the 
 main army. At the same time lie sent repeated 
 messages, entreating Bourbaki to make an effort to 
 attack the corps on the southern bank ; and thus 
 he not only screened his projected movement, but 
 sought to have a diversion made on the rear of the 
 Germans, and perhaps to place them in grave danger. 
 These admirable moves completely succeeded; 
 and Chanzy made good his way to the LoirL and J 
 occupied the two points of FreteVal and Vendome, 
 almost unmolested by the hostile armies. The 
 Grand Duke and Prince Frederick Charles, indeed, 
 lost sight of the French for nearly two days ; and 
 they then pursued, in the wrong direction, not 
 following Chanzy's line of retreat, but making cir- 
 cuitous movements on Freteval and Vendome. The 
 German corps, no doubt, on the southern bank of 
 the Loire, contrived to effect the passage at Blois, 
 and thus to join its supports late ; and Bourbaki's 
 army was not in a state to make a demonstration 
 in its rear ; l but at every other point of the field of 
 
 1 Bourbaki had not Chanzy's capacity and resource, and the 
 chief of the Imperial Guard naturally had no confidence in mere 
 
CHANZT ON THE SARTHE. 317 
 
 manoeuvre, the German leaders had been out- 
 generalled. Prince Frederick Charles, when made 
 aware at last of the position taken by Chanzy on 
 the Loir, resolved, if possible, to destroy his ad- 
 versary; he had already summoned his only 
 remaining corps from Gten and Orleans to join in 
 the contest ; and he attacked Chanzy at Vendome 
 on the 15th of December, hoping in a day or two to 
 crush him with his whole united forces. The battle 
 was indecisive, but the French lost ground ; and 
 Chanzy with perfect judgment fell back on the 
 Sarthe, and spread his wearied army in camps round 
 Le Mans, a strategic point of the first importance. 
 By this time, the German corps 'in the rear had 
 come up ; but the German commanders did not 
 pursue ; the Grand Duke had ere long retired on 
 his former positions around Chartres ; the Prince 
 fell back on the tract near Orleans, and only 'a 
 single corps of the Second Army was left beyond 
 the Loir to observe Chanzy. That indefatigable 
 chief was soon in the field again, sending out flying 
 columns to hold his enemy in check ; and one of 
 these was engaged, not without success, with a 
 hostile detachment near Vendome. 
 
 These operations of Chanzy form a striking episode 
 in the drama of the war of 1870-1. His retreat on 
 the Loir and the Sarthe, a more remarkable feat 
 
 levies. But he was a gallant and loyal, if afterwards a most 
 unfortunate, soldier, and his army was not at this moment fit to 
 move. See a remarkable letter by Gambetta, " La Deuxieme 
 Ariuce de la Loire," p. 517. 
 
318 MOLTKE. 
 
 than the retreat of Moreau through the Black Forest, 
 was really a great strategic movement, successful in 
 the main objects aimed at; and equal to one of the 
 fine marches of Turenne. In the first contest he 
 had baffled his confident foes, who had attacked 
 him with forces unwisely divided ; he had out- 
 manoeuvred them as he fell back on Vendome and 
 Le Mans ; he had carried out his original design, 
 had drawn near his supports in the west and the 
 north, and stood menacing the investing circle 
 round Paris ; * he had inflicted immense injury on 
 the German armies ; and he had done these great 
 things with, an assemblage of levies, not a fourth 
 part of them being trained soldiers. The nature 
 of the situation, in fact, created by him, was made 
 evident 2 in the alarm which prevailed at Versailles, 
 where it was thought that, impregnable as it had 
 appeared, the external zone might be even now 
 broken ; but it was best proved by the operations of 
 the Germans themselves. At the intelligence of 
 the fierce struggle with Chanzy, Moltke had urged 
 the Grand Duke and Prince Frederick Charles nob 
 to press forward too far towards the west, and 
 especially to keep an eye on Bourbaki, who might 
 slip past them, and march on the capital. The 
 pursuit of Chanzy, therefore, was soon given up ; 
 
 1 See the very intelligent reports of a correspondent of the 
 Times, quoted by Chanzy, ' ' La Deuxieme Armce de la Loire," 
 pp. 522, 525. 
 
 2 See a number of report? quoted by Chanzy in the same work, 
 pp. 526-7. 
 
SKILL OF HIS OPERATIONS. 319 
 
 and a mere demonstration made by Bourbaki, in the 
 hope of assisting his hard-pressed colleague, had 
 caused the German commanders to fall back, the 
 one towards Chartres, the other on Orleans. These 
 operations, however, were timid in the extreme ; 
 and had the Grand Duke and Prince Frederick 
 Charles been able at this juncture to keep the field, 
 assuredly Moltke would have spared no effort, to 
 strike down the still invincible foe, who had really 
 discomfited his perplexed lieutenants. But the 
 forces of the invaders had been half destroyed, 
 in the late bloody and exhausting contest ; the 
 Bavarians alone, it has been asserted, were reduced 
 to 5000 or 6000 men ; and the Germans were so 
 broken down, in heart and courage, that it had 
 become necessary to give them repose. In fact, 
 but for the large reinforcements which fortunately 
 had been provided for them, these divisions of the 
 great conquering host would, perhaps, have been 
 unable to fight again ; and had Bourbaki, at this 
 moment, possessed the means of making a great 
 offensive movement, the Germans in the south would 
 have been in the gravest peril. The great com- 
 mander, in a word, who had suddenly appeared, 
 had, imperfect as his resources had been, very 
 nearly changed the position of affairs. 1 
 
 1 " The Prussian Staff History," Part ii. vol. ii. pp. 39, 97, con- 
 tains a very meagre and deceptive account of Chanzy's operations. 
 It cannot, however, altogether conceal the discomfiture of the Grand 
 Duke and Prince Frederick Charles, and the great losses sustained 
 by their armies. It should be confronted at every point by 
 
320 MOLTKE. 
 
 Chanzy had establisliecl his army firmly at 
 Le Mans, as 1870 was about to close. Meanwhile 
 operations, not without interest, had taken place on 
 the theatre of war in the north. After the inde- 
 cisive battle near Amiens, the invaders, we have 
 seen, had overrun Normandy ; and having occupied 
 Rouen, and other towns, were menacing even the 
 great port of Havre. But Gambetta had added 
 another corps, the 23rd, to the 22nd in the north, 
 and had placed at their head the ablest chief after 
 Chanzy, seen on the side of France ; and Faidherbe 
 had made the Army of the North capable of appear- 
 
 Chanzy's narrative " La Deuxieme Armee de la Loire," pp. 101, 
 222 ; and by General Derrecagaix's excellent epitome, " La Guerre 
 Moderne," vol. ii. pp. 444, 465. For the real state of the situation 
 after the retreat to Le Mans, see Chanzy, p. 222. I quote the fol- 
 lowing striking passage : " La deuxieme armee venait encore d'operer 
 une retraite tout aussi difficile que les precedentes et qui, corame 
 elles, lui fait honneur. L'ennemi, contenu partout, etait devenu 
 de moms en moins entreprenant ; il etait facile de voir que, pas 
 plus que les notres ses troupes n'avaient pu resistor a la fatigue ; 
 ses hommes etaient, eux aussi, grandement demoralises par cette 
 persistance d'une lutte qui se reprodnisait constamment, alors 
 qu'ils la croyaient terminee : le desordre se mettait parfois dans ses 
 colonnes, malgre sa solid e organisation et sa discipline. Un 
 officier d'ordonnance du gencral-en-chef egare dans le brouillard 
 en portant un ordre, avait trouve les convois allemands dans la 
 plus grande confusion dans les ravins d'Azay, et les troupes qui 
 les escortaient completement debandees ; les memes renseignements 
 ctaient donne par les gens du pays. II y avait dans ces circon- 
 stances les chances d'un succes certain, si nous avions eu alors, 
 sur nos derrieres, quelques troupes fraiches, et une reserve 
 solidement organisee, ou bien s'il cut etc possible an general Bour- 
 baki de faire une diversion qui eut maintenu sur la Loire une 
 partie des corps avec lesquels le prince Frederic Charles s'acharnait 
 centre la deuxieme armee." 
 
FAIDHERBE IN THE NORTH. 321 
 
 ing in the field towards the end of December. 
 Advancing from the great fortress of Lille, he pushed 
 forward to the line of the Somme, in order to reach 
 the flank of the German invasion ; and this skilful 
 movement compelled the enemy to evacuate part of 
 Normandy, and even Amiens. Manteuffel, now the 
 leader of the First Army, marched rapidly to strike 
 his adversary down, but Faidherbe had chosen a very 
 strong position behind the Hallue, an affluent of the 
 Somme; and the battle that followed did high 
 honour to the hastily organized levies of the 
 French. The Germans l tried to turn the right of 
 Faidherbe, as at Gravelotte, by an out-flanking 
 movement, and fell in force on his well-protected 
 centre, but both attacks were without success, and 
 the French army retained its positions. The essen- 
 tial difference, however, between troops inured to 
 
 1 The "Prussian Staff History," Part ii. vol. ii. p, 110, asserts 
 that Faidherbe' s army consisted of " some 43,000 men and eighty- 
 two guns." It was composed of three divisions only; and General 
 Derrecagaix, " La Gurre Moderne," vol. ii. p. 389, after a care- 
 ful calculation, estimates the force of the Germans at 28,000 men 
 and 108 guns, and that of the French at 35,000 men and sixty-six 
 guns. This excellent writer and critic thus clearly indicates one 
 of the chief distinctions between an army of recruits and of trained 
 soldiers : " Meme avec les armes modernes, des soldats impro- 
 vise"s animes du sentiment de devoir, enflammes par 1'amour de 
 la patrie, peuvent resister a de vielles troupes, quand ils ont pour 
 chefs des officiers de valeur et pour theatre de leurs efforts un 
 terrain de combat favorable. Mais pour depasser ce but, pour 
 prendre 1'offensive et obtenir des succes decisifs, il faut, on le voit, 
 des soldats exerces, une organisation solide, une cohesion, et une 
 discipline que les armees longuement preparees peuvent seules 
 
322 MOLTKE. 
 
 war, and mere young soldiers, convinced Faidherbe 
 that he had not the power to resist the enemy's 
 second effort ; and he fell back behind the strong- 
 holds of the north. He had not contemplated an 
 attempt to relieve Paris, and he had probably accom- 
 plished all that he had hoped ; Normandy was for 
 the present freed to some extent from the enemy. 
 But he had abandoned the offensive, and was com- 
 pelled to retreat, and Moltke's great object had 
 been secured; the external zone shielding the 
 Army of the Meuse, on the northern front of the 
 siege, had not been even shaken. 
 
 We turn to Paris, the chief centre of the intermit- 
 tent but gigantic struggle, now raging from the 
 Vosges, and the Jura, along the Loire to the verge of 
 Brittany. After his retreat behind the Marne on the 
 3rd December, Ducrot had intended to renew the con- 
 test within two or three days at most, in order to sup- 
 port the Army of the Loire, supposed to be on its way 
 to fche capital. A letter from Moltke, however, in- 
 forming Trochu of the complete defeat of D' Aurelle, 
 at Orleans, prevented an attempt to renew the sortie ; 
 and a fortnight was devoted to the necessary task 
 of restoring the Second Army of Paris, shattered 
 frightfully, we have seen, in the contest on the 
 Marne. Preparations were completed in the third 
 week of December, for another great effort against 
 the German lines ; and on this occasion the northern 
 front of the investing circle was the chief point of 
 attack, probably because Faidherbe and the Army 
 of the North were known to be only a few marches 
 
INEFFECTUAL SORTIE FROM PARIS. 323 
 
 distant. The sortie was made at daybreak on the 
 21st, on as vast a scale as that of November ; a 
 formidable attack on the plain of St. Denis, and 
 thence on Bondy, and towards the line of the 
 Marne, was combined with demonstrations against 
 the lines to the west ; but it failed, after a brief 
 struggle, and it became evident that the besiegers' 
 zone was not to be broken by mere assaults, and 
 that the Parisian levies were losing their former 
 confidence. Vinoy, indeed, covering his troops by 
 the fire of numerous batteries placed on the hill of 
 Avron, captured two or three outposts to the north- 
 east ; and Ducrot gained some partial success in an 
 advance between Drancy and the Wood of Bondy. 
 But the main attack, 1 conducted by Eonciere de 
 JSToury, a distinguished chief of the French Navy, 
 was repelled with little difficulty by the Prussian 
 Guard ; the onset of the French broke in fragments 
 against Le Bourget, a strongly fortified village, and 
 though Eonciere was not sustained on his right, 
 there is no reason to believe that, in any event, the 
 issue of the conflict would have been different. The 
 Parisian armies fell back at all points, suffering again 
 severely from cold and hardship ; but their losses in 
 the field had not been great, an indication that 
 their courage had flagged ; and there are grounds 
 for an opinion expressed by Ducrot, that the Ger- 
 mans had been informed beforehand of the projected 
 sortie through their numerous spies. 
 
 1 The armour-clad waggons seem to have done good service 
 with their guns on this occasion. 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 MOLTKE. 
 
 The easy discomfiture of this effort provoked 
 irritation and anger in Paris. The Government, 
 sprung from revolution itself, was little able to quell 
 revolutionary clamour, and exhibited alarming signs 
 of weakness. The Ministry, too, was divided in 
 mind; a minority, supported in this by Ducrot, saw 
 in Moltke's letter a pacific overture, and thought 
 that the time to treat had come ; but the majority 
 including Trochu, and led by Gambetta, who 
 though absent, bowed his colleagues to his will- 
 insisted on prolonging the struggle. The reins of 
 power were held with increasing slackness; and this 
 was not only injurious to the defence, but strength- 
 ened the evil and noxious elements abounding at all 
 times in the capital of France. Vile demagogues 
 eager to gain cheaply applause for themselves, by 
 appeals to the multitude, denounced the Govern- 
 ment as false and worthless; a Press, valiant on paper, 
 echoed their cries ; noisy clubs of Jacobins pro- 
 nounced for a rising ; the hideous figures, which, 
 before long, were to become the infamous leaders of 
 the Commune, began to make their influence felt ; 
 and faction and disorder raged in parts of the city. 1 
 The attitude, nevertheless, of Paris, as a whole, 
 continued to be, as it had been from the first, un- 
 daunted, patient, calm, and heroic. The work of 
 the defence went steadily on ; arrangements were 
 made for another great sortie, and no signs of yield- 
 
 1 For all these details see Ducrot's " La Defense de Paris," 
 vol. iii. pp. 189, 232. 
 
STATE OF PARIS. 325 
 
 ing appeared, though the bombardment, it was 
 known, was at hand, and the batteries of Avron 
 were soon to be destroyed by siege guns brought 
 up by the Germans after Vinoy's late ineffectual 
 effort. The citizens, unawed, still sternly held 
 out ; and this, though the sufferings of all classes 
 had already become intense, nay terrible. The mass 
 of- the population had been placed on rations, and 
 had no sustenance but a worthless compound that 
 scarcely deserved the name of bread. Domestic 
 animals and the vermin of the sewer had for weeks 
 been eagerly consumed for food ; and the spectre of 
 famine was even now visible. The death-rate was 
 increasing with frightful speed; the mortality of 
 the young had become appalling, and the gay, 
 animated, and resplendent city wore the aspect of a 
 plague- stricken space, cut off from the world, left in 
 outer darkness, and frozen by the cold of an Arctic 
 winter, for light and fire had almost vanished. Yet 
 the population which, two centuries before, had 
 defied Conde and Anne of Austria in their boasts 
 that Paris could not do without the delicacy of the 
 " bread of Gonesse," proved that its courage had 
 not declined, and still kept more formidable enemies 
 at bay. 1 
 
 1 Ducrot was an Imperialist and had no sympathy with the 
 population of Paris ; but he describes its conduct in this language : 
 "La Defense de Paris," vol. iii. p. 217 : "A part le groupe des 
 factieux, des revolutionnaires, qu'il ne peut jamais compter quand 
 il s'agit de devoir, de sacrifice, a part cette populace sans nom, sans 
 foi, sans patrie, ecume cosmopolite qui salit toutes les grandes 
 
326 MOLTKE. 
 
 Moltke had not made his influence felt decisively, 
 in the field, in this passage of the war. He had 
 left his lieutenants to do their work in the provinces, 
 and had only interposed in a single instance, 
 with the Grand Duke and Prince Frederick Charles. 
 But, confining himself to the great labour of the 
 siege, and of the operations depending on itj he had 
 so strengthened the double zone around Paris, and 
 far beyond in France, that he might expect success 
 in the near future. He had continued to make the 
 best use of the huge reinforcements ever coming in; 
 and he had largely increased of late the armies in 
 the field, enormously reduced by the never-ending 
 contest. His grasp was even now on the throat 
 of the capital, for its power of resistance was 
 visibly on the wane ; and while he could defy all 
 that the besieged could do, he could always array 
 imposing forces against the provincial armies, 
 
 villes, on peut dire qu'a Paris toutes les classes, riches ou pauvres, 
 tons les ages, jeunes ou vieux, rivaliserent d'ardeur, de devoue- 
 ment. Chacun mettant de cote efc ses affections et ses esperances, 
 ne songea qu'au pays menace ; devant la Patrie en peril, il n'y out 
 plus qu'un grand parti, celui de la Patrie." M. Viollet Le Due is 
 equally a trustworthy witness from an opposite point of view in 
 politics : " Memoire sur la Defense de Paris," p. 32 : " Oui 
 1'attitude de la population de Paris est faite pour toucher prof onde- 
 ment les ames vraiment fra^aises. A part quelques echauffourees 
 ridicules autant qu'odieuses, et trop bien annoncees par Tennemi 
 pour n'etes pas un pen son ouvrage, cette population, signalee dans 
 le monde comme futile, legere, tcute a son bien etre et ego'iste et 
 toute a ses plaisirs, a donn un example, peut-etre unique dans 
 1'histoire, de Constance, de fermete, d'abnegation, et de charite 
 delicate." 
 
THE WAR AT THE END OF DECEMBER. 327 
 
 spread as these were on a vast circumference of 
 which he held the centre. He could now easily 
 send detachments from the besieging circle to the 
 external zone; and he had, besides, this immense 
 advantage : he could flash his orders to all parts of 
 France from the Rhine to the Loire, and thence to 
 the Seine, while the communication between Paris 
 and all her armies of relief was tardy and precarious 
 in the extreme. The balance was turning against 
 France, and the invasion, at first a broken current, 
 had become a destructive and far- spreading flood. 
 Her exertions, however, were still worthy of her; 
 the patriotic movement was as strong as e.ver; 
 Glambetta still created new armies; Faidherbe re- 
 mained unconquered in the north ; the illustrious 
 Chanzy had reduced two hostile armies to impotence 
 for a time, and was menacing the besiegers' lines ; 
 Bourbaki, Garibaldi and Cremer were in the field ; 
 and armed levies were on foot in still growing 
 multitudes. Strong as it was, the external zone 
 might yet yield to well applied pressure ; so long as 
 the invaders were kept around Paris their position 
 could not be deemed safe, nor would the fall of the 
 capital necessarily lead to the defeat and the sub- 
 jugation of France. If, at this supreme moment, 
 her armed strength were ably directed and husbanded 
 with care, the ultimate issue of the gigantic strife 
 of infuriated races was still far from certain. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Retrospect of the military situation since Sedan Position of 
 affairs on the theatre of war at the end of 1870 What the 
 operations of the French ought to have been Wise views of 
 Chanzy Gambetta directs Bourbaki and the First Army of 
 the Loire towards the east Keekless imprudence of this 
 strategy in existing circumstances The Grand Duke and 
 Prince Frederick Charles advance against Chanzy and 
 the Second Army of the Loire Skilful operations of 
 Chanzy Battle of Le Mans The Germans held in check all 
 day The capture of one point in the line of defence at night 
 compels Chanzy to retreat He falls back on Laval and 
 reorganizes his troops Campaign in the north Faidherbe 
 successful at Bapaume He moves on St. Quentin, and 
 retreats after an indecisive battle Campaign in the east 
 Bad condition of Bourbaki's army He advances against 
 Werder, and is successful at Villersexel He loses a great 
 opportunity, chiefly owing to the state of his troops 
 Werder retreats behind the Lisaine. Battles of Hericourt, 
 and retreat of Bourbaki Paris isolated The external zone 
 of the Germans intact Bombardment of the forts -and the 
 enceinte of Paris The city bombarded Complete failure of 
 the attack Sortie of the 19th January It fails Sufferings 
 of the population of Paris Its heroic attitude The 
 armistice Bourbaki's army excepted Views of Chanzy in 
 the event of hostilities being resumed His masterly arrange- 
 ments and unshaken constancy Advance of Manteuffel and 
 the German Army of the South against Bourbaki Skill 
 of Moltke in directing this operation Bourbaki tries to 
 commit suicide Catastrophe of his army, chiefly owing to a 
 misunderstanding as to the armistice It is forced to cross 
 
THE WAR AT THE END OF DECEMBER. 329 
 
 the frontier of France, and to retreat into Switzerland Fall 
 of Belfort and other French fortresses Chanzy is still for 
 war The Assembly at Bordeaux pronounces for peace 
 The Treaty of Frankfort Part taken by Moltke in the 
 conditions imposed on France Reflections on the war, with 
 special references to events after Sedan. 
 
 THE end of December was now at hand ; we may 
 rapidly glance back at the course of the struggle 
 colossal, and still of varying fortunes which had 
 raged in France since the catastrophe of Sedan. 
 Moltke had marched on Paris with a comparatively 
 small force, leaving his communications almost 
 closed, and not to speak of Bazaine and his army 
 with a series of fortresses in his rear ; and he had 
 taken this step because he believed, in common with 
 all in the German camp, that France and her 
 capital would not dare to resist. Like Diebitsch, 
 praised in his " Letters on the East," he had 
 pressed boldly forward to bring the war to a close, 
 but unlike Diebitsch, Moltke had to deal, not with 
 the effete Turk, but with the French people. Paris 
 had shut her gates, and France rose to arms. The 
 invaders, bound to the investing circle they had 
 drawn round the defiant city, were for months ex- 
 posed to the incessant attacks of levies formidable 
 in numbers and power ; the Germans were placed in 
 grave peril, and their operations, which had been a 
 succession of triumphs, became for a time feeble, 
 uncertain, tentative. Moltke had emerged safe from 
 this sea of troubles partly because Metz had fallen 
 before its time, partly because Gambetta, with 
 
330 MOLTKE. 
 
 extreme unwisdom, had misdirected the arms of 
 France, but chiefly, perhaps, because the whole 
 German nation had passionately joined in a war of 
 races, and had made gigantic efforts to support its 
 armies. 
 
 But if Moltke had been mistaken in the first 
 instance, his firmness, his energy, his clear insight, 
 had done much to incline the balance of fortune, as 
 the strife progressed, to the side of Germany. He 
 had taken the true course for reducing Paris ; he 
 had written, indeed, thirty years before, that 
 " Towns of half a million of men do not fall by 
 force of arms," * and dangerous as the situation had 
 been, he could almost count on the fall of the city. 
 Meanwhile, with steadfast aim and unchanging 
 purpose, he had devoted himself to the two-fold 
 task of making his communications with the Rhine 
 secure, and opening a broad way for the invasion, 
 and of so strengthening the external zone he had 
 thrown from the first around the besiegers, that 
 it would be able to resist the French in the field ; 
 and in this he had at last succeeded, having made 
 the best use of the huge reinforcements placed 
 unreservedly in his hands by Germany. By this 
 time many of the fortresses in their way had fallen ; 
 the German armies occupied France from the Saone 
 and the Loire to the Oise and the Somme ; thrown 
 on the defensive during the first months of the 
 siege, they could now generally take a bold 
 offensive, and Moltke, fortunately given an un- 
 1 The Kussians in Bulgaria and Rumelia, p. 435. 
 
THE WAK AT THE END OF DECEMBER. 331 
 
 divided command, was at last able to make their 
 immense power felt. He could with safety send 
 detachments from Paris, to add to the force of the 
 external zone, for the strength of the besieged was 
 failing ; he could direct the invading armies, at a 
 moment's notice, from a central position, and on 
 interior lines, against enemies scattered along a 
 huge circle, and scarcely able to transmit a message 
 to Paris ; and these conditions, as we have already 
 pointed out, gave him a great, if not a decisive 
 advantage in the final contest about to begin. 
 Moltke, in a word, had been like a mariner, whose 
 craft, struck by a sudden gust of wind, had been 
 nearly thrown on its beam ends, but who, having 
 averted shipwreck by courage and skill, could now 
 look forward to a prosperous voyage. 
 
 If we turn to France, her complete prostration 
 after Sedan had seemed to invite the Germans to 
 dictate peace in the midst of the capital. But 
 Paris and the nation had sprung to arms, and the 
 vast elements of military power in France, combined 
 and arrayed by Gambetta's genius, had been suddenly 
 formed into huge levies, which had checked and 
 imperilled the amazed conquerors. The besieged 
 city held the invaders to the spot, and the waves 
 of an immense and universal rising, gathered in on 
 all sides, on the German hosts, and more than once 
 seemed about to engulph them. The premature 
 surrender of Metz, however, had removed many of 
 the dangers at hand ; the Army of the Loire, which 
 could have done great things, had been recklessly 
 
332 MOLTKE. 
 
 wasted in the field ; the vigorous sortie of Ducro.t 
 had failed, and after these reverses the provincial 
 armies had, on the whole, been undoubtedly 
 worsted, and Paris, which, in any event, would have 
 to yield to famine, if not relieved, was exhibiting 
 signs of increasing weakness. The military situa- 
 tion had become of evil omen for France, and the 
 position of the armies in Paris, and of the armies 
 outside, was, as we have pointed out, unfavourable 
 in the extreme. The prospect, nevertheless, was 
 by no means desperate, if the prodigious resources 
 of the nation for war were even now employed with 
 real skill and judgment. So long as Paris continued 
 to hold out, the invaders were more or less in- 
 secure ; Moltke's external zone might even yet be 
 broken, exposed as it was to far spreading attacks, 
 and, in that event, the result would bode ill for 
 them. Nor was France vanquished, though Paris 
 should yield ; half of her territory was not yet 
 occupied, and the national rising had been so 
 powerful that it might yet weary the Germans 
 out, if conducted on a wise defensive system. 
 France, too, had still large armies in the field; 
 Chanzy had done wonders with his young levies ; 
 Faidherbe was by no means a contemptible foe ; 
 Gambetta had added 1 four new corps to those he 
 had already raised, and behind them was an in- 
 exhaustible supply of armed men, eager to fight for 
 their country. Opinion in Europe, even at this 
 great crisis, refused to predict the course of fast- 
 1 The 19th, 24th, 25th and 26th corps. 
 
THE WAR AT THE END OF DECEMBEK. 333 
 
 coming events, as can be seen by referring to the 
 Press of the day. 
 
 A few words will describe the positions of the 
 belligerents on the theatre of war. Swelled by rein- 
 forcements, of which the estimate has varied from 
 half a million to 300,000 men, 1 the Germans in 
 France were fully 800,000 strong, this immense 
 total including a mass of non-combatants. The 
 besiegers of Paris had been reduced from some 
 250,000 to 200,000 men, and the rest of the vast 
 invading host was divided into garrisons of the 
 captured fortresses, troops holding the communica- 
 tions to the east, and the armies actively engaged 
 in the field. The Grand Duke and Prince Frederick 
 Charles were, the one at Chartres, the other at 
 Orleans, having received large additions to their 
 
 1 The " Prussian Staff History " scarcely alludes to these rein- 
 forcements ; the writer, no doubt, wishes to keep out of sight the 
 tremendous strain put on the resources of Germany, and does not 
 like to admit how much a half-despotic military monarchy owed to a 
 great national movement. In an appendix, indeed, vol. v. p. 106, a 
 statement is introduced to the effect that the reinforcements sent 
 to the German army, from the beginning of the war to March , 
 1871, were about 240,000 men; but this seems to include only 
 troops sent to the armies round Paris and in the field, and not to 
 refer to the troops that covered the communications and held the 
 fortresses of France. This estimate, it may be affirmed, falls far 
 short of the truth, as ascertained by many authorities. A corre 
 spondent of the Times wrote these significant words at this junc- 
 ture ; they tell more than carefully-arranged statistics : " That 
 the whole country (of Germany) is being fast drained of its able- 
 bodied male population is becoming terribly evident. The contrast 
 since my visit in October is very striking. The number of men 
 in the prime of life seems fearfully diminished." 
 
334 MOLTKE. 
 
 shattered forces, and they were observing Chanzy 
 and Bourbaki alike, each supposed to be trying to 
 march to the relief of the capital. To the north 
 Manteuffel was watching Faidherbe, and sending 
 detachments to overrun Normandy ; and Werder, 
 with an army ever on the increase, was occupying 
 Burgundy and Franche Comte, and endeavouring to 
 hasten the siege of Belfort, which was making a most 
 stubborn defence. At the south-eastern part of the 
 external zone Moltke had raised a new barrier 
 against the enemy ; he had brought back to Paris 
 the 1st Bavarian corps, almost ruined by the efforts 
 of Chanzy, but he was despatching from the siege 
 the 2nd corps, to give support to the 7th, which, 
 we have seen, was extended upon a long line con- 
 necting Prince Frederick Charles with Werder. 
 
 On the French side, the armies in Paris had been 
 greatly reduced in numbers 100,000 men had pro- 
 bably disappeared and the fighting power of the 
 city, we have said, was failing, while a month would 
 see the end of the store of provisions. As for the 
 provincial armies, Chanzy was at Le Mans, his 
 troops not reinforced as fully as he had hoped ; 
 Bourbaki had, in some measure, restored his army, 
 now given the name of the First Army of the Loire, 
 and both commanders were in positions that enabled 
 them to try to advance on Paris by a direct and well- 
 combined movement. For the rest, Faidherbe was 
 threatening the enemy on the Somme ; a large array 
 of levies was filling the region between the Lower 
 Seine, the Eure, and the Mayenne ; Garibaldi and 
 
THE WAR AT THE END OF DECEMBER. 335 
 
 Cremer were still opposing Werder; and a new 
 army, which had been formed in the south, was on 
 the way from Provence to Eranche Comte'. Not- 
 withstanding her losses, France had still at least a 
 million of men in arms, and these prodigious num- 
 bers were yet growing. These improvised forces, 
 however, we need scarcely repeat, were not trained 
 or well-organized soldiers; they were ill-furnished 
 with many kinds of appliances needed for great 
 movements, and, as it was now the depth of a severe 
 winter, they were especially unfit for operations 
 that required celerity, endurance, and power of 
 manoeuvre. 
 
 In these circumstances common sense pointed out 
 the course of operations for the arms of France. 
 An attempt to relieve Paris was the necessity of the 
 hour, for the city could not hold out much longer, 
 and this could be accomplished only by an imme- 
 diate advance of the provincial armies on the 
 beleaguered capital. As the effort, too, would not 
 improbably fail, it was absolutely essential, with a 
 view to the defence of France in the near future, 
 that the armies of relief should run as little risk as 
 possible, and should possess lines of retreat open, in 
 order to maintain and prolong the contest. All 
 this was perfectly seen by Chanzy, the one com- 
 mander on' the side of France who gave proof of 
 real strategic insight, and was an adversary fit to 
 cope with Moltke ; and, at this juncture, be en- 
 treated Gambetta in despatches which should be 
 carefully studied to give direction to the conduct of 
 
336 MOLTKE. 
 
 the war, which alone promised success or safety. He 
 clearly perceived the prodigious value of Moltke's 
 central position and interior lines, and the facilities 
 they gave the German commander to keep his hold 
 on the Parisian forces, and to defeat the armies 
 outside in detail,, and he did justice to the skill and 
 resource of his enemy. But, like a true soldier, he 
 had not ceased to hope, and he thought that victory 
 might yet be plucked from danger. A concentric 
 march of all the provincial levies from their present 
 positions on the besiegers' lines, combined with 
 determined sorties from Paris, might yet, he believed, 
 cause the siege to be raised, nay, lead to a reverse 
 for the German arms, and, in any event, an opera- 
 tion of the kind would enable the French to fall 
 back and renew hostilities in the still intact pro- 
 vinces. He proposed, therefore, that, at a given 
 time, he should advance from Le Mans to the 
 Seine; that Bourbaki, from the Loire, should make 
 a corresponding movement ; that Faidherbe should 
 press forward from across the Somme ; that armed 
 levies should march in second line ; and that, when 
 the occasion had come, the armies in Paris should 
 make desperate efforts to join in the attacks of all 
 the armies uniting from without, and thus endeavour 
 to force the zone of investment. Were this once 
 effected, the Germans around Paris would obviously 
 be placed in the gravest peril. 1 
 
 1 Charizy's views will be found in "La Deuxieme Armee de la 
 Loire," pp. 234, 254. We have only space for a few words : 
 " Dispose comnie il Test 1'ennemi cherche evidemment a se pro- 
 
MASTERLY VIEWS OF CHANZY. 337 
 
 This project of Chanzy was, from every point of 
 view, the best that could be formed as affairs stood ; 
 even if it had failed, as we think would have hap- 
 pened, it was not hopeless, and it was at least safe, 
 and it was the one that Moltke expected and 
 feared. 1 Most unhappily for France, Gambetta had 
 lent an ear to the counsels of a theorist ignorant of 
 war, and had already committed himself to a grand 
 scheme of operations on an imposing scale, in which 
 his fervid imagination beheld a glorious prospect. 
 He had been forcibly impressed by the success with 
 which he had recently moved large masses from the 
 Saone to the Loire, and had unquestionably sur- 
 prised the German commanders ; he had organized, 
 we have seen, a new force in the South, which had 
 been named the 24th corps ; he had called into 
 being the 25th, near the Loire ; and opinion in 
 France was eager for the relief of Belfort, defended, 
 we have said, heroically for months, and for a 
 
 senter successivement, et en forces, devant chacune de nos armees ; 
 il manoeuvre tres habilement. . . . Nos trois principales armees 
 une fois sur les positions indiquees, se mettre en communication 
 avec Paris et combiner des-lors leurs efforts de chaque jour pour se 
 rapprocher de 1'objectif commun avec des sorties vigoureuses de 
 1'armee de Paris, de f a9on a obliger les troupes ennemis d'investisse- 
 ment a se maintenir tout entieres dans leurs lignes. Le resultat 
 sera des-lors dans le sucees d'une des attaques exterieures, et si ce 
 succes est obtenu, si 1'investissement peut-etre rompu sur un point 
 un ravittaillement de Paris peut devenir possible, 1'ennemi peut-etre 
 refoule et contraint d'abandonner une partie de ses lignes et de 
 nouveaux efforts combines entre les armees de 1'exterieur et de 
 1'interieur, peuvent dans la lutte supreme aboutir a la delivrance." 
 1 "Prussian Staff History," Partii. vol. ii. p. 143; "The Franco- 
 German War," vol. ii. pp. 87, 88, English translation. 
 
 Z 
 
338 MOLTKE. 
 
 great effort to give succour to Paris. With these 
 facts before him, and knowing besides that Bour- 
 baki had a large army round Bourges, and that 
 Garibaldi and Cremer held their own in Burgundy, 
 at the head of forces in considerable strength, Gam- 
 betta, yielding to shallow advice, thought that he 
 possessed the means of compassing at once the various 
 objects he had in view, and he had devised a plan 
 which, as he conceived, would alike ensure the 
 raising of the siege of Belfort, would compel the 
 besiegers to draw off from Paris, and would, perhaps, 
 cause the invasion to collapse. Fired with this 
 vision of splendour, he had taken on himself, with- 
 out consulting a single French chief, to order Bour- 
 baki to break up from his camps, and to move, not 
 directly on the Seine, but into Franche-Comte', far to 
 the east and this operation, which was to be con- 
 ducted rapidly, and carefully concealed, was to be 
 combined with a general advance of the 24th corps 
 from Lyons and the south, and of a considerable 
 detachment led by Cremer ; these bodies uniting 
 with Bourbaki, and joining in a decisive movement 
 against Werder, standing alone in their path, and 
 thence into the heart of Alsace. By these means 
 Werder would be overpowered, attacked by an im- 
 mensely larger force ; the siege of Belfort would be 
 abandoned ; and Bourbaki, having seized and held 
 the long line of the German communications with the 
 Rhine, would force Moltke to give up the siege of 
 Paris and to endeavour to gain contact with Ger- 
 many again, and would, perhaps, obtain most 
 
UNWISE PEOJECT OF GAMBETTA. 339 
 
 important successes. Garibaldi was to cover the great 
 march on the left ; and the 25th corps was to make 
 demonstrations on the Loire which would probably 
 detain Prince Frederick Charles round Orleans. 
 
 This plan of Gambetta was as ill-conceived, at 
 least, as that which sent the Army of Chalons to 
 its fate. A great concentric movement of the pro- 
 vincial armies was the only rational way to relieve 
 Paris ; this was an eccentric movement, which 
 could hardly succeed, and which would, perhaps, 
 lead to immense disasters. As a question of pure 
 strategy, the direction of Bourbaki and his Army, 
 to the east, would, almost certainly, enable Prince 
 Frederick Charles and the Grand Duke to attack 
 Chanzy, and to defeat him, greatly reinforced as 
 they were ; and even if Bourbaki, Cremer, and the 
 corps from the South, should effect their junction 
 in Franche-Comte, it would be a waste of time to 
 attempt to raise the siege of Belfort. Nor was it 
 obvious that Werder would be crushed ; and even 
 if all these results were attained, the occupation of 
 Alsace, and the seizure by the French of the com- 
 munications of the enemy, on that line, would not 
 even probably force the Germans away from Paris, 
 and make them abandon the investing circle, for 
 they were masters of the railways and roads that 
 led into Lorraine from the Palatinate and the 
 Rhenish Provinces, and besides, they could obtain 
 supplies in France, that would suffice until the fall of 
 the city was at hand. The stroke at the communi- 
 cations, in a word, would be at too remote a point 
 
 z 2 
 
340 MOLTKE. 
 
 to prove decisive, or even important ; l and, on the 
 other hand, the operation would, from first to last, 
 be inevitably pregnant with many perils, especially 
 if Garibaldi should not be able to throw back the 
 forces, which might be despatched, from the external 
 zone, on the flank and rear of Bourbaki's army as 
 he approached Alsace. This strategy, therefore, 
 was, even in theory, false; but the question was 
 not one of pure strategy ; it was that of the 
 execution of an ambitious design, under existing 
 conditions well-nigh impossible, and all but certain 
 to prove disastrous. The means of transporting 
 the First Army of the Loire into Franche-Comte 
 were very imperfect ; nearly all the troops to be 
 engaged in an enterprise which, in order to have a 
 chance of success, required soldiers inured to war, 
 equal to forced marches, and well organized, were 
 little more than an assemblage of recruits ; the 
 movement was to be made under an Arctic climate, 
 in a mountainous, intricate, and barren country; 
 and no preparations had been made beforehand to 
 secure for the great host that was to be combined, 
 the munitions, the food, and the other supplies 
 absolutely necessary to enable it to march or to 
 fight. To commit rude levies, in circumstances 
 like these, to a task beyond their powers, and itself 
 most dangerous, was recklessness that deserves 
 the severest censure. 2 
 
 1 See on this point Hamley's " Operations of War," p. 128. Ed. 
 1889. 
 
 2 Writers have been found, who have compared this project of 
 
MARCH OF BOURBAKI TO THE EAST. 341 
 
 In the last week of December, the First Army of 
 the Loire, the 18th and 20th corps, followed by the 
 15th, had set off on its march to Franche-Comte. 
 Gambetta had all the advantage of a surprise, 1 for 
 the German commanders, as had so often happened, 
 had lost sight of their enemy's movements ; and 
 they thought Bourbaki was about to advance on 
 Paris. But the difficulties of the enterprise were 
 apparent from the first : the railways between the 
 Loire and the Saone were inadequate to convey 
 large masses of men ; the troops had begun to 
 suffer from cold and privations, and hundreds sank 
 under contagious diseases ; and the progress of the 
 Army was slow in the extreme. Meanwhile, the 
 Grand Duke and Prince Frederick Charles had left 
 their camps to assail Chanzy, the adversary most 
 dangerous to the arms of Germany. Their armies 
 were now about 90,000 strong; but a strategic 
 mistake which might have cost them dear they 
 left a large detachment to observe the Loire, being 
 ignorant that Bourbaki was far distant; and they 
 
 Gambetta to Napoleon's magnificent conception of the Campaign 
 of 1800. It resembled it as the fancy of a lunatic resembles the 
 ordered imagination of Dante. Of the execution of the two plans 
 not a word need be said : Gambetta had nothing ready ; Napoleon's 
 preparations were matured with the greatest care. For myself, 
 when apprised of Bourbaki's fatal march, I telegraphed to the 
 correspondent before referred to, " This will be another Sedan." 
 
 1 Surprises, in these days of telegraphs, are probably more 
 difficult than they were in the age of Napoleon. Gambetta, 
 nevertheless, surprised the Germans on two and even three 
 occasions. The " plans d'avocat " have been rightly condemned ; 
 but justice should be done to a man of real genius. 
 
342 3VIOLTKE. 
 
 marched on Le Mans, in the first days of the new 
 year, converging against Chanzy, with some 75,000 
 men, by a double movement from Chartres and 
 Orleans. They had hoped to surprise and over- 
 whelm their enemy; but they were disappointed 
 in this from the outset ; and another fine passage 
 of arms was the result. 
 
 Chanzy, we have seen, had fallen back on Le 
 Mans after the memorable stand he had made on 
 the Loire. Le Mans is a strategic point of the 
 greatest value, for a series of railways meets on the 
 spot, especially from the north, the south, and the 
 west, by which reinforcements can be easily brought 
 up ; and it affords admirable positions for defence. 
 The French chief had led his army to the place in 
 the hope of strengthening it greatly with new levies, 
 and of ultimately directing it to the relief of Paris, 
 when it had been made equal to renewed efforts. 
 He had expected 60,000 men to join him ; but these 
 numbers had dwindled down to about 15,000, for 
 the Army of the West was still incomplete ; and the 
 recruits, drawn for the most part from Brittany, 
 and largely composed of peasants of La Vendee, 
 were not inclined to leave their native province, 
 and had traditional feelings against a French Ee- 
 public. The Second Army of the Loire, however, 
 had been made about 90,000 or even 100,000 strong ; 
 Chanzy had placed it in positions around Le Mans, 
 which he had fortified with forethought and skill ; 
 and he stood, with the mass of his forces, on either 
 bank of the Huisne, ready to encounter the German 
 
THE GEEMANS ADVANCE AGAINST CHANZT. 343 
 
 attack. But lie eschewed, as always, a passive 
 defence ; he had, we have said, sent flying columns, 
 before his retreat, as far as the Loir ; and these 
 detachments now filled the tract between the Braye, 
 the Huisne, and the Loir, in order to confront and 
 throw back the enemy. As the Grand Duke and 
 Prince Frederick Charles advanced through the 
 intricate region that extends between Nogent Le 
 Eotru, and Vendome, and ends, in an angle, at Le 
 Mans, they had to fight their way through bodies 
 of foes that held them in check, still falling back ; 
 and it became evident that they had no chance of 
 taking their able adversary unawares. A long 
 succession of combats followed between the 4th 
 and the 9th of January ; the Germans steadily made 
 their way forward by La Ferte Bernard, St. Calais, 
 and Bouloire, drawing towards each other on 
 Chanzy's lines ; and the young French soldiers, 
 as was sure to happen, showed signs of weakness and 
 loss of heart, as they retreated before their trained 
 antagonists. The invaders, nevertheless, were 
 greatly harassed, and suffered no inconsiderable 
 loss, as they toiled through the district of thickets 
 and streams, of infrequent roads, of passes and 
 defiles, which divides the Loir from the Sarthe 
 and the Huisne ; and the mitrailleuse, an inferior 
 weapon, was made to do good service, for the first 
 time, in this close and difficult country. The 
 general result of their first operations was that 
 Chanzy's levies had been worsted, and part of his 
 right wing had been isolated, and was unable to 
 
344 MOLTKE. 
 
 join the main army. But the Germans had also 
 been severely stricken ; 1 and the 10th corps of 
 Prince Frederick Charles was considerably, in the 
 rear, on his left. 
 
 By the evening of the 9th of January, the 
 Germans had converged on Chanzy's positions be- 
 fore Le Mans. The army of the Grand Duke, called 
 again the 13th corps, comprising the divisions he 
 had led for months, stood on the right, on the 
 eastern bank of the Huisne ; the centre, the 3rd and 
 the 9th corps, held the main road that led from 
 Vendome to Le Mans, but the left, the 10th corps, 
 we have seen, was distant. The leaders, on both 
 sides, had wished to assume the offensive, but 
 Chanzy, who had acutely felt the growing demorali- 
 zation of his immature troops, took care to be the 
 first to attack, in order to restore in some degree their 
 confidence. On the 10th 2 another succession of 
 engagements took place ; at the centre the French 
 were driven fairly back, and the 3rd corps stormed 
 the hamlet of Change almost on the verge of 
 Chanzy's lines. But on the German right little 
 progress was made ; the Grand Duke, indeed, suc- 
 cessfully crossed the Huisne, and placed part of his 
 
 1 " La Deuxieme Armee de La Loire/' 307 : " Tous les ren- 
 seignements recueillis depuis, de la bouche ineme des officiers de 
 i'ctat major prussien pendant leur sejour au Mans, confirment 
 1'etat de decouragement auquel cette lutte opiniatre et pied a pied 
 avait reduit leurs troupes." 
 
 2 As in the case with all the operations of Chanzy, the " Prus- 
 sian Staff History," Part ii. vol. ii. p. 139-219, contains an imperfect 
 and misleading description of this episode of the war. The real 
 
THE BATTLE OF LE MANS. 345 
 
 troops on the western bank ; but he was held in 
 check by the enemy in his front, and he failed to 
 execute the turning movement against the French 
 left which had been his purpose. By nightfall 
 Chanzy had drawn in his hard-pressed army within 
 its lines, and made ready for a great fight on the 
 morrow. His divisions, covered on part of their 
 front by entrenchments, batteries, and obstacles of 
 all kinds, affording a vantage ground to the fire of 
 his infantry, were extended in a line of about ten 
 miles in length, from the confluence of the Sarthe 
 and the Huisne, to the villages of Chanteloup and 
 Lombron, north of Le Mans, on the western bank 
 of the Huisne ; and they formed a semicircle 
 around Le Mans, shielding the ancient town from the 
 enemy's efforts. Chanzy's right, composed of part 
 of his 16th corps part, we have seen, had not come 
 into line held the roads that meet at Pontlieu, 
 before Le Mans, the certain avenues of attack ; and 
 he had reinforced this wing with a body of Gardes 
 Mobiles, despatched lately to his camps from Brit- 
 tany. The 17th corps, his centre, was ranged 
 along a series of uplands, known by the name of 
 Auvours, the key of his position in front ; and his 
 left wing, the 21st corps, with other divisions, was 
 placed on the western bank of the Huisne, to make 
 head against the Grand Duke's forces. Chanzy 
 
 character of the battle of Le Mans especially is not placed correctly 
 before the reader. The narrative of Chanzy, " La Deuxieme 
 Armee de la Loire," pp. 223-371, is more complete and far more 
 trustworthy. It deserves attentive study. 
 
346 MOLTKE. 
 
 firmly held the passages of the Huisne, where his 
 centre came in contact with his left ; and his troops 
 could support each other along the whole line, and 
 had facilities for making counter-attacks. He had 
 from 80,000 to 90,000 men in his hands, with be- 
 tween 300 and 400 guns. 
 
 The German leaders disposed of about 70,000 
 men, and rather more than 300 guns, to attack the 
 French levies in this position. The general idea 
 of their operations was this : the Grand Duke was 
 to turn the left wing of Chanzy, by a great out- 
 flanking movement west of the Huisne, while Prince 
 Frederick Charles was to assail the French centre in 
 front. On the morning of the llth the German 
 columns marched on the points selected for attack ; 
 and the 3rd Corps, always foremost in the fight, 
 which, as we have said, had seized Change, advanced 
 boldly against the heights of Auvours. The false 
 tactics of Worth were, however, repeated ; the effort 
 of the 3rd Corps was premature ; the troops were 
 exposed to their foes, so to speak, piecemeal, and 
 the resistance of the French was so successful, 
 that the 9th and even the 10th Corps, still in the 
 rear, were summoned to take part in the frontal 
 attack. The battle raged on for several hours ; 
 the spell of Chanzy 's example and presence inspired 
 his lieutenants and his best troops ; he had terrified 
 the weak and cowardly with severe menaces ; the 
 position of Auvours was taken and then retaken ; 
 and ultimately it remained in the defenders' power. 
 Meanwhile the Grand Duke had been baffled ; his 
 
THE BATTLE OF LE MANS. 347 
 
 divisions proved unable to pass Chant eloup and 
 Lombron, on the extreme French left ; and the turn- 
 ing movement was stopped on this part of the line. 
 By nightfall the French still held the positions they 
 had fought for throughout a fiery trial ; and Chanzy, 
 who had been the soul of a masterly defence, direct- 
 ing his troops to every threatened point, and taking 
 the offensive when the chances offered, looked 
 forward at last to victory at hand. 1 Ere long, 
 however, a disastrous incident changed the issue of 
 the battle at the last moment. The 10th Corps, 
 advancing towards Pontlieu, over whelmed the Breton 
 Mobiles in their path ; the important point of La 
 Tuilerie was lost ; and Chanzy 's right centre was 
 pierced through by an enemy fast approaching Le 
 Mans. Jaureguibbery, now the chief of the 16th 
 Corps, as gallant a seaman as ever trod a deck, made 
 a desperate effort to throw the Germans back ; but 
 the 10th Corps stubbornly held its ground, and 
 though the French remained in their camps through 
 the night, the position of Chanzy had become unten- 
 able. 
 
 It had now become necessary to retreat from 
 Le Mans, and to resist the invaders on another line 
 of defence. Had the Germans retained their effici- 
 
 1 "L'action dura sur taute la ligne jusqu'a six heures du soir. 
 La nuit etait venue, nous etions restes maitres de toutes nos 
 positions, de ce cote comme au plateau d'Auvours, et sur la voie 
 droite de 1'Huisne. Notre seul echec serieux avait ete 1'evacuation 
 momentanee d'Auvours, mais il avait ete rapidement et brillamment 
 reparee." La Deuxieme Armee de la Loire, pp. 318-19. Not a 
 word of this appears in the Prussian accounts. 
 
348 MOLTKE. 
 
 ency and power, they ought to have annihilated the 
 defeated army ; but they had been hardly stricken in 
 the late battle ; l they had suffered from privations 
 and forced marches, and their pursuit of the enemy 
 was slow and feeble. 2 Thousands of Chanzy's recruits, 
 indeed, disbanded, and he lost nearly a fourth part 
 of his levies, but he drew off the mass of his army 
 intact, and except a combat in the streets of Le Mans, 
 and two or three insignificant skirmishes, he was 
 scarcely molested in his retreat. Always steady in 
 his purpose to relieve Paris, he intended at first to 
 march on Alen^on, where he would be nearer the 
 capital than at Le Mans, and he probably could have 
 attained his object, though the Prussian staff has 
 condemned this strategy. 3 Gambetta, however, 
 directed him to diverge westwards, in order to 
 obtain reinforcements at hand, and to avoid an 
 
 1 " The Prussian Staff History," Part ii. vol.ii. p. 200, 205, 210, 
 cannot conceal how much the Germans had suffered : " The Grand 
 Duke had but few full battalions at his disposal ; the exhaustion 
 of his troops was great. . . . The effective of the 3rd Corps had 
 become extremely weak, the loss on the last day, especially in 
 officers, having been considerable. . . . Many of the companies 
 were commanded by sergeant-majors." 
 
 2 " La Deuxieme Armee de la Loire," pp. 347, 367 : 
 L'ennemi ne s'etait montre entreprenant nulle part. ... Us 
 avaient du reste considerablement souffert pendant les trois 
 derniers jours ; leurs soldats etaient cpuise's. . . . Ces instructions 
 furent executees en tout point et sans que 1'ennemi cherchat de 
 nouveau a" inquieter la retraite." 
 
 3 " Prussian Staff History," Part ii. vol. ii. p. 200. This view 
 is, no doubt, in theory right ; and Chanzy was aware of the danger 
 of a march on Alen9on. But he probably would have reached 
 the place ; the pursuit was so ineffectual. 
 
RETREAT OF CHANZY TO LAVAL. 349 
 
 operation apparently rash : and by the 16th January 
 he had reached the Mayenne, and had taken posi- 
 tions around Laval, another important strategic 
 point, where he could easily receive aid from the 
 north and the west. He was ere long strengthened 
 by the 19th Corps, another of Gambetta's new 
 creations ; and, in a few days, he had to a great 
 extent, reorganized and restored the Second Army 
 of the Loire, with characteristic skill and energy. 
 From Laval he still turned an eye on Paris, hoping 
 against hope that he might yet reach the Seine ; 
 but though disasters were thickening all round, he 
 continued to insist that the fall of the capital ought 
 not to involve the submission of France, and he 
 prepared himself for renewed efforts. Meanwhile 
 the German leaders had given up a pursuit which 
 had really been one only in name. The Grand 
 Duke had been sent off into Normandy, the 
 movements of the enemy in the north requiring 
 assistance to be given to the First Army. The 
 apparition, too, of the 25th Corps on the Loire had 
 compelled Prince Frederick Charles to detach the 
 9th to observe and keep back this new hostile 
 force ; and Chanzy at Laval was only confronted 
 by the 3rd and 10th Corps of the Second 
 Army, not sufficiently strong to venture to 
 attack. 
 
 In this brief and indecisive contest Chanzy had 
 withstood trained and well-organized armies, which, 
 but for the detachment left behind at Orleans, 
 might have been nearly equal to his own in numbers, 
 
350 MOLTKE. 
 
 with an army composed, in the main, of recruits. 
 He had been defeated, no doubt, in a pitched battle, 
 but the defeat only fell short of a victory ; and, 
 after his admirable defence of Le Mans, he had 
 effected his retreat, and had been scarcely pursued, 
 if panic and desertion had deprived him of some 
 20,000 of his young soldiers. The result does him 
 the highest honour ; the strategy and tactics of his 
 antagonists, in truth, were very far from good, 
 especially on the day of Le Mans ; and his superiority 
 as a leader became again manifest. But he had 
 not the less been forced away from Paris ; he had 
 not a chance of relieving the capital now; the 
 object of Moltke had been gained ; the Grand Duke 
 and Prince Frederick Charles had advanced from 
 the external zone, and had driven their ablest adver- 
 sary back, and they held a central position and 
 stood on interior lines against Chanzy and his army 
 on the Mayenne. 
 
 We pass on to the theatre of war in the 
 north, where the ubiquitous contest was being 
 still prolonged. After the indecisive battle on the 
 Hallue, Faidherbe had fallen back, we have seen, 
 northwards ; and Peronne, the " virgin fortress " 
 of the seventeenth century, had been besieged by 
 part of the First Army. In the first days of 
 January, Faidherbe advanced again, perhaps in the 
 hope of relieving the place, which gave him a 
 passage over the Somme, and on the 3rd he en- 
 countered a hostile force at Bapaume, not far to 
 the south of Arras. The French were largely 
 superior in numbers, and endeavoured to surround 
 
FAIDHERBE IN THE NORTH. 351 
 
 and overwhelm their enemies; but the Germans 
 made a stubborn defence, entrenched in the villages 
 around Bapaume, and the combat remained for 
 hours doubtful. At last, however, the assailants 
 fairly won the day ; their adversaries drew off from 
 Bapaume, and signs of weakness and fear, it is 
 said, 1 appeared not only among the troops, but 
 even among some officers in command. The French, 
 nevertheless, were so exhausted a common failing 
 with boyish soldiers that they could not follow up 
 their success; and Bapaume was ultimately re- 
 gained by the enemy. Meanwhile Peronne had ere 
 long fallen ; the Germans did not attempt a regular 
 siege, but the old and small fortress was quickly 
 reduced, as was seen repeatedly in the war, by 
 bombardment, a cruel but effective method, in the 
 case of fortresses of this kind. 
 
 A greater and more important battle was fought 
 on the 19th of January. The last days of the 
 great siege had come, and Gambetta entreated 
 Faidherbe to make a diversion in the north in the 
 hope of assisting a final sortie from the falling 
 capital. The French commander thought that his 
 best course was to threaten the German communi- 
 cations eastwards, and he marched with his two 
 corps on St. Quentin, a name of ill-omen in the 
 annals of France. By this time Manteuffel had 
 been replaced by Goeben, in the command of the 
 
 1 Faidherbe quotes from a Berlin correspondent of the Daily 
 Telegraph, referring to the engagement at Bapaume : "General 
 von Goeben . . . demands from the commanders of regiments a list 
 of officers who fled, that they may be instantly cashiered." 
 
352 MOLTKE. 
 
 First Army, and the new chief, a very able man, 
 followed his adversary along both banks of the 
 Somme. An opportunity, perhaps, 1 was given to 
 Faidherbe to turn back and try to defeat his pur- 
 suers in detail, but probably he felt that his rude 
 levies were not equal to an operation of the kind, 
 and he was close to St. Quentin on the 18th. Goe- 
 ben, however, was at hand and ready to attack ; 
 and Faidherbe had no choice but to accept battle in 
 defensive positions around the town. Moltke had 
 long ceased to apprehend danger from attacks made 
 by the Parisian armies ; he had diminished, we have 
 seen, the besieging forces, and he had just sent a 
 detachment from the Army of the Meuse, to co- 
 operate with Goeben in the impending conflict. 
 The opposing armies were nearly equal in numbers, 
 about 32,500 Germans to 40,000 French ; and the 
 result, therefore, was almost assured. Faidherbe 
 indeed, showed skill and resource, and his levies 
 made a gallant defence ; but superior discipline 
 and training prevailed, and he was forced to retreat 
 again on the stronghold of the north, after losing 
 6000 or 7000 men. His attempt to give aid to 
 Paris had, in a word, failed ; and in his case, as in 
 that of Chanzy, Moltke had successfully accom- 
 plished his task. The First Army had issued from 
 the external zone, and driven away the approaching 
 enemy ; and Moltke, from the centre where he 
 stood at Versailles, had been able to throw back 
 
 1 " Prussian Staff History," Part ii. vol. ii. p. 263. Chanzy 
 would probably have made the attempt. 
 
BOURBAKI IN THE EAST. 353 
 
 the provincial levies at another point of the vast 
 circumference, on which they were compelled to 
 advance. It should be added that the war in the 
 north came to an end after the fight at St. Quentin ; 
 the Grand Duke, who had arrived at Rouen, and 
 the First Army effectually kept down resistance 
 between the Somme and the Seine. 
 
 We turn to the east to follow the course of Gam- 
 betta's ambitious, but ill-starred, enterprise. 1 The 
 First Army of the Loii^e, pursued by no enemy, but 
 retarded, on its way, and already weakened, had 
 accomplished the first part of its mission ; it had 
 come into line with Cremer's troops and with the 
 24th corps, under Bressoles, of the south ; and by 
 the 2nd of January, the uniting forces were ex- 
 tended upon a long line, stretching from Dijon to 
 Auxonne and Besan^on. Bourbaki was now at 
 the head of 150,000 men, and he advanced on a 
 broad front, through Franche-Comte, . to attack 
 Werder, and to raise the siege of Belfort. The 
 German chief was not 50,000 strong, and evacuated 
 Dijon, Gray, and Vesoul ; and the French com- 
 mander began to look forward with hope to success, 
 with his immensely more numerous forces. The 
 
 1 The memorable and important operations of the belligerent 
 armies in the east, most unfortunate for France, but honourable in 
 the extreme to Germany, are fully, and on the whole, fairly 
 described in the "Prussian Staff History," Part ii. vol. ii. 287, 361, 
 and Part ii. vol. iii. 1, 179. I am not aware that any of the French 
 commanders have written on the subject. But the evidence of 
 Bourbaki, and of Generals Borel and Clinchant given in the 
 Enquete Parlementaire, is very valuable and full of interest. 
 
 A a 
 
354 MOLTKE. 
 
 march of his army, however, became very slow, as 
 it reached the wooded and hilly region between the 
 Saone, the Ognon, and the Doubs ; the left wing 
 under Oremer was far in the rear ; the line of march 
 was already crowded with disbanded men, and 
 perishing horses, and ominous signs of distress were 
 apparent. Nevertheless Fortune treacherously 
 smiled at the outset on the ill-conceived adventure. 
 Bourbaki encountered part of the army of "VVerder 
 at Yillersexel on the Ognon, on the 9th of January ; 
 the French levies, encouraged by their superior 
 numbers, fought well and threw the enemy back ; 
 and after a long and well-contested struggle, the 
 Germans retreated, beyond dispute, beaten. 1 
 
 A great opportunity, at this moment, was possi- 
 bly afforded to the French chief. Werder had 
 hastily moved northwards ; Yillersexel is a point on 
 the main road to Belfort, hardly three marches 
 distant, and Bourbaki was as near the fortress as 
 his defeated enemy. Had Bourbaki, therefore, 
 pressed boldly forward, he might, perhaps, have 
 raised the siege of Belfort before Werder could have 
 interfered ; and success, such as this, would have 
 been most important. He made, however, a long 
 halt of four days, and though his " inactivity " has 
 been censured by the Prussian Staff, 2 his army, ill- 
 
 1 The " Prussian Staff History/' Part ii. vol. ii. 318, does not 
 admit this defeat, but it cannot be really questioned. Bourbaki 
 deposed at the Enquete Parlementaire : " L'ennemi fut mis en 
 complete deroute, et laissa un grand nombre de prisonniers dans nos 
 mains." 
 
 2 " Prussian Staff History," Part ii. vol. ii. 322. 
 
BOURBAKT IN THE EAST. 355 
 
 provided, and depending for supplies on the rail- 
 way line from Eesangon only, appears to have been 
 unable to move. 1 The alarm of Werder was, never- 
 theless, great ; he contemplated, perhaps, a further 
 retreat ; but Moltke, taking the bolder and wiser 
 course, sent a message from Versailles by the tele- 
 graph, directing his lieutenant to " await attack, 
 and to accept battle in the strong positions" 2 
 before Belfort. Werder, accordingly, marched 
 across the front of the French army still fixed to 
 its camps ; and he found the point of vantage he 
 sought behind the rocky banks of the Lisaine, a 
 small river just west of Belfort. The position was 
 one of great natural strength, though capable of 
 being turned on both flanks. Three eminences 
 protected a defender's front, the chateau and little 
 town of Montbeliard afforded strong shelter on the 
 left, and along the line from Hericourt, to the right 
 
 1 Moltke had foreseen that the movements of Bourbaki must 
 be retarded from this cause. " Prussian Staff History," Part ii. 
 vol. ii. appendix, 168: " The operations of the enemy's forces, owing 
 to generally defective organization of the commissariat and ammu- 
 nition train, are tied to the railways." General Derrecagaix " La 
 Guerre Moderne,"ii. 331, acquits Bourbaki of making an unneces- 
 sary delay, and remarks : ' ' Le general Bourbaki avait alors a sur- 
 monter de grandes diffieultes pour le ravittaillement de son armee ; 
 et craignant de s'eloigner du chemin de fer de Besan9on a Mont- 
 beliard qui etait sa base d'approvisionnements, il fut force, pour 
 avoir des vivres de perdre les 10, 11, 12, et 13 Janvier." Still 
 Bourbaki did not lay stress on this cause of his halt before the 
 Enquete Parlementaire ; and possibly he might have done more 
 than he did. 
 
 2 " Prussian Staff History," Part ii. vol. ii. appendix, 176. 
 
 A a 2 
 
356 MOLTKE. 
 
 a series of villages, of farm-houses, and of petty 
 hamlets, present formidable obstacles to attack. 
 Werder fortified this position with skill and care ; 
 heavy guns were detached from the siege of Belfort, 
 and placed in battery at vulnerable points, and 
 precautions were taken to secure cover for the 
 troops, and to give free and ample scope to their 
 fire. He awaited the attack of an enemy threefold 
 in numbers, with some 45,000 footmen and 150 
 guns. 
 
 The battle, or, rather, the series of battles, that 
 followed, 1 were not without honour to France, but 
 honourable in the highest degree to Germany. 
 After preliminary skirmishes of no importance, 
 Bourbaki advanced, on the 15th January, to attack 
 the Germans in their strong lines of defence. He 
 was familiar with the scene of the approaching con- 
 flict and with the numberless difficulties in his path ; 
 and his plan was to assail the enemy in front with 
 the 15th, 24th, and 20th corps, on the space between 
 Montbeliard and Hericourt, and imitating the ma- 
 noeuvre of Gravelotte, to turn his right at Changey 
 and Chenebier with the 18th corps and Cremer's 
 divisions. The French, animated by their late 
 success, fell boldly on, and made their way into 
 Montbeliard ; and though unable to force the 
 
 1 The description in the " Prussian Staff History," Part ii. vol. 
 ii. 331, 358, of the battles on the Lisaine should be compared with 
 the elaborate and exact account of General Derrecagaix, " La 
 Guerre Moderne," ii. 330, 362, and with Bourbaki's evidence at 
 the Enquete Parlementaire. 
 
THE BATTLES OF HtSRICOURT. 357 
 
 centre of Werder, they kept the Germans all the 
 day engaged in their formidable positions around 
 Hericourt. The great out-flanking movement, on 
 which all depended, was, however, delayed, and 
 attempted too late ; and both armies rested on the 
 ground they occupied, Bourbaki expecting great 
 things from the morrow. The battle raged along 
 the whole line on the 16th, and the assailants, swept 
 by a destructive fire, suffered cruelly as they en- 
 deavoured, in vain, to press the frontal attack with 
 their superior numbers. But the turning movement 
 at the French left was successful; Werder' s right 
 was out-flanked, and fell away defeated ; Chenebier 
 was occupied by the troops of Cremer ; the road to 
 Belfort was laid open, and the situation for the 
 Germans became critical. Meantime, however, the 
 defence of Hericourt had proved disastrous to the 
 young French soldiers flung desperately against 
 impassable lines. Cremer, in no sense a capable 
 chief, was held in check by a demonstration on his 
 left, and did not follow up the success he had gained, 
 and, hard pressed as they were, the Germans main- 
 tained their ground. The difference was then con- 
 spicuously seen between a real army and an assem- 
 blage of levies. Bourbaki' s troops were utterly 
 worn out, and brought to a stand by the incessant 
 fighting. A Council of War pronounced against a 
 renewal of the attack, and an immediate retreat was 
 declared necessary. The French columns, weakened 
 by heavy losses, dispirited, and starved by hunger 
 and cold, drew silently off from the fatal field ; and 
 
358 MOLTKE. 
 
 though not pursued by their wearied foes, became 
 almost a fugitive horde, as they toiled painfully on 
 their way to Besancon. The attempt to raise the 
 siege of Belfort had failed, and Gambetta's project 
 had come to nought from the outset. 
 
 Bourbaki was not a chief of the highest order, 
 and he had little faith in an army of recruits ; and 
 Cremer had shown no resource in this protracted 
 conflict. It is useless, however, to conjecture 
 whether the French generals could have done more 
 in the battles of Hericourt, as they have been 
 called ; the broad results need alone be glanced at. 
 On the Lisaine, as at Le Mans and St. Quentin, the 
 external zone had kept back the enemy ; the pur- 
 pose of Moltke had been fulfilled, and, in the case 
 of Bourbaki, it would be well for France should his 
 army escape an immense disaster. Through the 
 successive defeats of the provincial levies, Paris was 
 left isolated and without external aid, and the 
 besiegers had made, before this time, the active 
 attack they had long prepared. On the 27th of 
 December the German batteries opened fire on the 
 highlands of Avron, and the works on the spot, 
 hastily thrown up, were made untenable after a 
 short bombardment. The besiegers turned then on 
 the eastern part of the city, and a tempest of shot, 
 and shell rained for many days on the forts of 
 Nogent, Rosny, and Noisy, and on the long line of 
 the improvised defences extending from the Marne 
 to the table-land of Eomainville. The southern 
 front, however, became the main point of attack. 
 
THE SIEGE OF PARIS. 359 
 
 This, we have seen, was the vulnerable side, and 
 the exposed forts of Issy, Vanves, and Montrouge, 
 with the redoubts and entrenchments along the 
 space between, were swept for more than a fortnight 
 by the concentrated fire of heavy guns placed on 
 the heights commanding the enceinte and the capi- 
 tal beyond. An attempt was next made to destroy 
 St. Denis, and the western front, in fact, was alone 
 spared, covered by the great fortress of Valerien. 
 These attacks, however, altogether failed; the 
 injuries done to the forts and the defensive zone, 
 trivial in themselves, were easily repaired. The 
 losses of the besieged were very small ; two or 
 three of the forts, chiefly manned by seamen, made 
 an admirable and most skilful defence, and the 
 batteries of the besieged, as the struggle progressed, 
 had a marked and daily increasing advantage. The 
 siege train of the Germans, immense as it was, was 
 not nearly sufficient for the gigantic attack, and 
 the operations of their engineers, besides, gave little 
 proof of science or resource. 
 
 Experiments meanwhile were tried to affright 
 the world of the city into submission. Moltke 
 had been averse to bombarding Paris. 1 He pro- 
 bably foresaw the attempt would fail, and Bismarck 2 
 had been of the same opinion. But Germany had made 
 
 1 " I should not wish to be in a hurry to adopt the last cruel 
 alternative of a regular bombardment." (Moltke to his brother 
 Adolf, " Letters/' ii. 61. English Translation,) 
 
 2 " On ne bombarde pas une ville comme Paris, mais peut-etre, 
 cependant, nous faudra-t-il, a un moment donne, en venir a cette 
 derniere extremite," was a remark made by Bismarck to the aide- 
 
360 MOLTKE. 
 
 a great national effort, and felt the savage passions 
 of a war of races ; and the German commanders 
 were forced to leave nothing undone to quell the 
 resistance of France at its fountain-head. While 
 the forts and the enceinte were being attacked, the 
 city was ravaged with flights of shells, and the 
 storm of missiles raged day after day, carrying 
 devastation and death in its course. The noblest 
 edifices seemed marked out for destruction : the 
 churches, the hospitals, the historic buildings the 
 glory of centuries which adorn Paris, were wrecked 
 and marred in too many instances, and the pitiless 
 volleys crashed through peaceful roofs, or broke in 
 fury in stately squares and streets. Yet this in- 
 human and reckless warfare, without a parallel in 
 a civilized age, that recalled the onslaught of the 
 barbarians on Rome, and that might have annihilated 
 treasures above price of science and art, the delight 
 of mankind, proved, as was to be expected, utterly 
 fruitless. Two or three hundred inoffensive towns- 
 men were slain, and considerable material damage 
 was done ; but the bombardment did not hasten by 
 a single hour the impending fall of the suffering 
 city ; and this alone is enough to stamp it with 
 disgrace. On the contrary, it excited indignation 
 and wrath, and roused the population to make new 
 efforts ; and it has left memories behind which will 
 not be forgotten as long as Paris retains life and a 
 heart. The attack, in truth, whether on the armed 
 
 de-camp of Bazaine before referred to. " Guerre de 1870-1," 
 p. 221. 
 
WILLIAM 1., 
 Emperor of Germany. 
 
 To face page 
 
THE BOMBARDMENT. 361 
 
 defences, or on the city, rising from their midst, 
 only showed how prodigious is the strength of the 
 position given by nature to Paris ; how powerful 
 her fortifications were, even against the ordnance 
 of modern times, and how impotent were the 
 besiegers' efforts. 1 
 
 The exasperation caused by the bombardment 
 led to an angry and general demand that another 
 and final sortie should be made. The Government, 
 yielding to popular clamour, weakly consented, 
 against its real wishes, for every general felt the 
 attempt to be hopeless. The points selected for 
 attack were, perhaps, the strongest in the whole 
 circle of the German lines ; and possibly in this 
 instance also the multitude overbore Trochu. 
 King William had just been proclaimed Emperor, 
 to the delight of the whole Teutonic race, in the 
 magnificent hall which had mirrored the splendours 
 for a century of the Bourbon monarchy ; and this 
 exhibition, which may yet prove an illustration of 
 
 1 The " Prussian Staff History," Part ii. vol. ii. 362, 390, describes 
 very imperfectly and uncandidly the bombardment of Paris. The 
 elaborate account of General Ducrot, " La Defense de Paris," iii. 
 232, 312 ; and iv. 1, 27 ; and the excellent volume of M. Viollet 
 le Due, should be carefully perused. See these works especially 
 as regards the bad quality of the German offensive works ; the 
 evident deficiency of the engineers in scientific knowledge ; the 
 complete failure of the attacks on the forts, the enceinte, and the 
 city ; and the feelings of hatred and anger they provoked. These 
 views are confirmed by many English eye-witnesses. Major 
 Clarke, " Fortification," 63, remarks : " In spite of their in- 
 numerable defects, the Paris defences, built before the revolution 
 in artillery, were an unexpected triumph for fortification." 
 
362 MOLTKE. 
 
 the irony of Fate, had so irritated Paris before the 
 event, that a cry had arisen to break out at Ver- 
 sailles. The National Guards insisted that they 
 should take a principal part in a last struggle, and 
 on the 19th of January a huge array of troops, 
 levies, and National Guards was assembled, under 
 the guns of Valerien, in the first peninsula formed 
 by the bends of the Seine, to attack the besiegers 
 from the space that extends between St. Cloud and 
 Malmaison to Versailles beyond. The advance of 
 the columns, however, had been very slow, for there 
 were only two bridges to cross the river. The 
 enemy had had ample time to make preparations and 
 guard against surprise and, as we have said, the 
 German defences at this part of their front were 
 formidable in the extreme. The battle was fierce, 
 and protracted for hours, but the ultimate issue 
 was never doubtful. The French, indeed, gained 
 partial success. Vinoy, on the left, forced the hos- 
 tile outposts at St. Cloud ; Ducrot penetrated into 
 Malmaison on the right ; and Buzenval, in the 
 centre, was stormed and occupied. But the attack 
 was broken against the triple folds of the entrench- 
 ments forming the main defence; the assailants, 
 100,000 fighting men at least, were crowded upon 
 a narrow front that did not give space for 25,000. 
 Unable to deploy and to make their numbers felt, 
 they were struck down by the destructive fire of ene- 
 mies sheltered and almost concealed ; and the scenes 
 that had been witnessed at Villiers were repeated 
 with far more disastrous results. After repelling a 
 
THE LAST SORTIE. 363 
 
 hostile counter-attack and vainly displaying fruit- 
 less courage, the French gradually drew off from 
 the field, and despair had soon mastered the 
 defeated army, little accustomed to the stern reali- 
 ties of war. The bridges and roads were choked 
 by the broken masses hurrying away in precipitate 
 flight ; order, discipline, and military bearing were 
 lost, and the spectacle of its own defenders filled 
 the city with affright. 
 
 This disaster provoked a movement in Paris like 
 that which had been seen before, when the sortie of 
 the 21st of December had failed. The Press of the 
 rabble teemed with angry invectives, clubs were 
 harangued by orators of the mob, denouncing the 
 men in office as knaves and traitors ; a cry went 
 forth that the citizens, in a mass, with their wives 
 and children, should march out and fight, and folly 
 and fury reigned in too many places. A partial 
 rising of the dregs of society was ominous too of 
 impending perils, and the foul creatures, who were 
 soon to strew whole quarters of the city with ashes 
 and blood, began to make their evil influence felt, 
 by villainous appeals to patriotic passion. The 
 Government, terrified, perplexed, and hopeless, made 
 no attempt to exert its authority, and Trochu was 
 removed from supreme command, a scapegoat, 
 indeed, but not unjustly deemed to have been 
 unequal to a most arduous task. Nevertheless, 
 order and obedience to law continued to prevail 
 through the world of Paris, and this though the 
 sufferings of all classes of the population were almost 
 
364 MOLTKI;. 
 
 beyond endurance. By this time the store of pro- 
 visions had dwindled down to the supply of a few 
 days, the whole of the citizens had been put on 
 rations, the most odious kind of food was a 
 welcome repast, death revelled in the train of ever- 
 present want, and every night darkness, that might 
 be felt, fell like a pall over the scenes once gay with 
 exuberant life, and brilliant pleasure, or was made 
 more fearful by the distant gleams that marked the 
 lines of the besiegers' watch-fires. The spirit of 
 resignation and self-sacrifice kept, however, the 
 community together, in the trial ; noble examples 
 of charity and piety were made, and the wit of 
 Paris flashed out to the last, as troops of urchins 
 mockingly offered for sale fragments and splinters 
 of the enemy's impotent shells. But the end of the 
 long defence had come ; the great city, still un- 
 subdued, was forced to yield to famine. Bismarck 
 and Favre, the minister, had two or three interviews, 
 and the terms of the capitulation were arranged, on 
 the 26th of January, 1871. The regular troops, 
 including the Gardes Mobiles, the marines and sea- 
 men, laid down their arms ; the forts were occupied 
 by German garrisons, and the immense material of 
 war on the spot passed into the hands of the 
 exulting conquerors. Meanwhile an armistice of 
 three weeks was agreed to, a National Assembly 
 was to be convened, and France was to pronounce 
 on the question of war or peace. Two provisions 
 of the negotiations require notice ; l for reasons 
 1 This exception, -which involved the ruin of Bourbaki's army, 
 
FALL OF PARIS. 365 
 
 never fully explained, the theatre of military 
 operations in the east was still to remain a scene of 
 hostilities, and the National Guard, too largely 
 composed of elements of the most dangerous kind, 
 and controlled only by officers chosen by itself, 
 was, at the instance of Favre, allowed to retain its 
 arms. 
 
 The defence of Paris will form, for all time, a 
 conspicuous feature in the history of the world. The 
 military operations, indeed, did not give proof of 
 originality or peculiar skill, and they were marked 
 by the want of steadfastness, and the divided 
 counsels, so fatal to France in this part of the war. 
 The project of breaking out by the western front, 
 and conducting an army to the coast, as a base, 
 devised by Ducrot, and not without promise, was 
 abandoned in deference to popular cries; a 
 systematic attempt to force the besiegers' lines by 
 counter approaches was not made, and mistakes 
 occurred in all the sorties. It will always, too, be 
 doubtful in the extreme whether Paris, immense as 
 were its resources, could have set itself free by its 
 own efforts ; whether an army of relief was, not 
 
 has been accounted for in different ways. The te Prussian Staff 
 History," Part ii. vol. ii. 390, says that " both sides anticipated a 
 successful result ; " but Ducrot, " La Defense de Paris," iv. 296, 
 insists that Favre knew, or ought to have known, that Bourbaki 
 was in the gravest peril, and severely blames the minister. Still, 
 he admits, iv. 306, that, even at this time, much was expected 
 from Bourbaki. Bismarck and Moltke were probably aware of 
 the real state of the case, and kept it to themselves, even if it be 
 true that Bismarck gave a broad hint to Favre. 
 
366 MOLTKE. 
 
 necessary to second the attacks of the citizens from 
 within ; and difficult as their position was, the men 
 in power, and especially Trochu, were not capable, 
 and exhibited weakness. These circumstances, 
 however, do not detract from the grandeur of the 
 defence in its true aspect. The world scornfully 
 denied that a luxurious capital, a centre, beyond all 
 others, of frivolous pleasure, would venture to stand 
 the trial of a siege, and yet Paris resisted the 
 mighty power of the German armies for more than 
 four months, and was unconquered, when it was 
 forced to succumb. That such a city should have 
 created great armies in a few weeks, out of levies 
 of recruits, and its own population, was a marvel of 
 energy ; that it should have kept the hosts of the 
 invaders at bay, and made the result of the contest 
 long uncertain, was an extraordinary passage of 
 war ; above all, that during a protracted period of 
 suffering, of privations, and of agony at last, it 
 should have presented, with rare exceptions, the 
 spectacle of heroic endurance, of noble patience, 
 and of social order, was a magnificent instance of 
 patriotic duty. It is deplorable to have to add that 
 this glorious achievement was ere long tarnished by 
 the frightful crimes that disgraced the Reign of 
 Terror of the Commune ; but these should not be 
 laid to the charge of the mass of the citizens. They 
 were the deeds of a few wicked men, who laid hold 
 of elements of disorganization and trouble, that 
 came to a head in a time of disorder and anarchy ; 
 they were largely due to the unwisdom that left 
 
CITANZY AT LAVAL. HIS COUNSELS. 367 
 
 arms in the hands of dregs of the populace, and 
 they were committed at a time when the minds of 
 men were distempered by indignation and passion, 
 as in the case of the massacres of September, 1792. 
 The armistice found Chanzy, at Laval, at the head 
 of an army, still equal to war, and reinforced by a 
 new corps, the 26th, raised by Grambetta's incessant 
 exertions. In arranging the lines of demarcation 
 between the lately contending forces, Moltke had 
 insisted on occupying the southern bank of the 
 Loire; and there can be little doubt that his 
 object was, in the event of hostilities being resumed, 
 to cut Chanzy off from the southern provinces, and 
 to drive him, isolated and beaten, into the west. But 
 the great French chief had anticipated this attack ; 
 and he had thought a plan of operations out, which he 
 confidently hoped, might yet wring apeace honourable 
 to his country, from an exhausted enemy. Within 
 three months France would be able to place more * 
 than 600,000 men in the field, without reckoning 
 Bourbaki's army, and the Parisian levies by this 
 time lost; and Chanzy calculated that with these 
 forces, directed with care by his masterhand, he 
 would be able to maintain a guerilla warfare, with 
 the support of other chiefs, and of the national 
 rising, retreating from point to point, and taking 
 advantage of every position between the Loire and 
 the Pyrenees, 2 and so harassing the Germans that 
 
 1 "La Deuxieme Armee de la Loire," p. 416. 
 
 2 Moltke and the German generals were seriously apprehensive 
 of the consequences of a resistance of this kind ; and no impartial 
 
368 MOLTKE. 
 
 at last, war-worn and fatigued as they already 
 were, they would accept conditions not unfavour- 
 able to France. He proposed, therefore, to lead 
 his army, now more than 200,000 strong, into 
 Poitou, and to await events ; and in letters resem- 
 bling those of Wellington, when the great English- 
 man planned the defence of Portugal, the Du 
 Gruesclin of the war of 1870-1 showed how 
 safety might be plucked from danger, if France 
 would earnestly second his heroic efforts. It is 
 idle to say that his projects were vain, when we 
 bear in mind what he had accomplished in his 
 admirable operations between the Loire and the 
 Mayenne ; and it should be recollected that, by 
 this time, the efficiency of the German armies, 
 largely filled with landwehr and mere recruits, was 
 being diminished day after day. 1 
 
 observer denied, at the time, that it might have been successful. 
 Some courtiers of fortune, and writers inspired from Germany, 
 were found in England, who condemned this kind of warfare as 
 "unfair;" as if Thermopylae, Saguntum, Morat, Valleyforge, 
 Saragossa were not names immortal in history. 
 
 1 Chanzy's views should be carefully studied. They will be 
 found in "La Deuxieme Armee de la Loire," pp. 417, 424. We 
 quote a single passage from his remarkable despatches : " Les 
 troupes, dont nous disposons, il ne faut pas se le dissimuler, 
 n'ont encore ni une organisation assez solide, ni une cohesion 
 snffisante, ni une assez grande habitude de la vie militaire, pour 
 constituer des armees pouvant manoeuvrer et lutter avec Constance 
 et persistance centre celles que 1'ennemi va pouvoir leur opposer 
 en nombre au moms egal. II faut done eviter les engagements 
 qui peuvent etre decisifs. Le but a atteindre est d'affirmer 
 1'idee de la resistance et de la produire sur tous les points a la 
 fois, de fafon a forcer 1'ennemi a se disperser, d'obliger 1'Alle- 
 
ADVANCE OF THE GERMANS AGAINST BOUIIBAKI. 3GO 
 
 Meanwhile, however, an appalling disaster had 
 befallen the army, rashly sent, in ignorance of war, 
 by G-ambetta to the east. Moltke and his lieutenants, 
 we have seen, 1 had remained unaware, during 
 many days, of the march of the Second Army 
 of the Loire; and the first week of January had 
 almost passed, before the direction Bourbaki had 
 taken had been ascertained at the German head- 
 quarters. But Moltke had already, with excellent 
 forethought, 2 despatched, we have pointed out, the 
 2nd Corps to support the 7th, on the long space 
 between the Germans on the Loire and Werder's 
 forces ; and these arrays holding this part of the 
 external zone, were, by the 12th of January, 
 approaching each other, between Chatillon on the 
 Seine, and Nuits on the Arman^on, an affluent of 
 
 ruagne a maintenir en France une armee d'au moins 500,000 
 homines de lui imposer des sacrifices qui finiront par le . lasser, 
 et d'atteindre aussi le moment ou solidement organises nous 
 pourrons, par un supreme effort, entreprendre, dans de bonnes 
 conditions, de refouler 1'ennemi de notre territoire. Ce que 
 les Allemands redoutent le plus, c'est la guerre de detail, la 
 defense du sol pied a pied, la resistance derriere tous les obstacles. 
 C'est ce qu'il faut obtenir du veritable patriotisme de nos popula- 
 tions. Les armees, les corps formes ne doivent etre que des points 
 d'appui, des moyens menages pour profiter habilement des fautes de 
 1'ennemi, desesechecs, et de sa dispersion. II faut done organiser 
 partout la defense locale en faisant appel a tous les gens de cceur, 
 en les groupant autour de personalites influentes dans leur propre 
 pays, habituant la nation a 1'idee des sacrifices qu'elle doit faire. 
 II faut qu'apres avoir dispute le terrain pied a pied on le cede a 
 1'ennemi en faisant le vide autour de lui, en le privant de toute 
 ressource." 
 
 1 See ante, p. 341. 2 See ante, p. 334. 
 
 B b 
 
370 MOLTKE. 
 
 Yonne to the west. When the march of Bourbaki 
 Jiad become fully known, Manteuffel, the chief of 
 the First Army, was sent from the north to lead the 
 7th and 2nd Corps, from 50,000 to (30,000 strong, 
 against the enemy in Franche-Cornte ; and the 
 German commander at once set off bearing quickly 
 down on his still distant quarry. The march of 
 the advancing columns in intense cold, across the 
 barren and wind-swept uplands of Langres, was 
 difficult in the extreme and marked with many 
 hardships, but it was admirably carried out and 
 very quick ; and here we see distinctly the pro- 
 digious difference -between a trained and well- 
 organized army, and an assemblage of levies, ill 
 provided and equipped. Garibaldi, we have said, 
 had been directed to guard against an attempt 
 from this side ; another French division, too, had 
 been thus employed ; but Manteuffel pushed aside 
 his surprised foes, and kept them in check by small 
 detachments; and on the 20th, he was upon the 
 Saone, haying ably made a most arduous move- 
 ment. By this time the battles of Hericourt had 
 been fought; Bourbaki was in retreat southwards ; 
 and Werder was about to pursue his enemy through 
 the intricate country that leads to Besan^on. "With 
 an inspiration worthy of a great captain, Man- 
 teuffel resolved not to join Werder, well able, after 
 his success, to protect himself, but to press on east- 
 ward, without stopping a moment, and falling on 
 Bourbaki' s exposed flank, to cut him off from his 
 line of retreat to the south. By the 21st his 
 
RETREAT OF BOURBAKL 371 
 
 advanced guard was upon the Doubs ; by the 23rd 
 it occupied the main road which descends from 
 Besancon on Lyons; and Bourbaki was already in 
 the gravest peril. Moltke had not ordered, but he 
 highly praised, 1 a movement promising immense 
 results, if certainly in some respects hazardous, a 
 movement, we should add, in keeping with the 
 principles of war he had impressed on the minds of 
 every German chief. 
 
 Eourbaki, meantime, had been effecting his 
 retreat from the Lisaine on Besancon. His march, 
 we have seen, was not molested at first, for the 
 losses of Werder had been severe ; and he 2 suc- 
 ceeded, in some measure, in restoring discipline 
 and in inspiring his troops with hope. But supplies 
 failed the stricken and exhausted soldiery ; thou- 
 sands perished through cold and the ravages of 
 disease, 3 and his army again became a wreck, be- 
 fore Besancon was even approached. At this place 
 the unfortunate chief found himself in a situation 
 strongly resembling that of Napoleon, in 1812, 
 when the Emperor was apprized, at Smolensk, 
 that his famishing host, with Kutusoff hanging on 
 its rear, was intercepted by Wittgenstein and 
 
 1 Moltke made this report to the king on Manteuffel's conduct. 
 "Prussian Staff History," Part ii. vol. iii. 10 : " General v. Man- 
 tenffel's movement is extremely bold, but it may lead to the 
 greatest results ; should he suffer a check he ought not to be blamed, 
 for in order to gain great success, something must be risked." 
 
 2 Bourbaki asserted this at the Enquete Parlementaire, and his 
 evidence bears all the marks of truth. 
 
 3 Small-pox was very destructive in Bourbaki's army. 
 
 B b 2 
 
372 MOLTKE. 
 
 Tchitchakoff, as it was making for the Beresina 
 on its way to Poland. Bourbaki had been promised 
 that at Besancon he would receive an ample store 
 of supplies ; he had been assured that Garibaldi 
 possessed the means of effectually protecting his 
 flank on his march, and of keeping back any enemies 
 on his path. But no magazines had been formed at 
 Besancon ; there were provisions for a few days 
 only ; and Werder was already pressing the French 
 from the north, while Manteuffel was closing round 
 from the south. The situation was well-nigh 
 desperate ; yet Bourbaki probably did all that could 
 be expected from a stout and gallant soldier. He 
 directed his 18th and 24th corps to throw Werder 
 back and to cover the retreat, and he pushed for- 
 ward his 15th and 20th corps, with Cremer, to 
 gain the second main road leading from Besan9on, 
 east of the first, on Lyons. Werder, however, 
 routed his enemy in the rear, the second avenue of 
 escape was barred by Manteuffel's rapidly converg- 
 ing forces; and the French general had no real 
 choice left, but to diverge eastward towards the 
 Swiss frontier, and to seek the means of effecting 
 his retreat, through the defiles between the Upper 
 Doubs and the Jura. By this time, however, his 
 ruined army 1 was scarcely able to keep the field ; 
 
 1 Bourbaki described the state of his army at the, Enqueto 
 Parlementaire in these words : " La demoralisation des troupes 
 ctait profonde, elle etait la consequence des circonstances, des 
 miseres supporte'es, de la satisfaction incomplete des besoins 
 materiels, de la jeunesse se soldats, de leur manque d'habifcude 
 des choses de la guerre, de leur defaut destruction, et surtou 
 
 : 
 
BETREAT OF BOUEBAKI. 373 
 
 winter, hunger, and discouragement had done their 
 work, and despair had taken possession of the ill- 
 fated commander. He had been defeated, and 
 cruelly deceived ; he could scarcely hope to avert 
 another Sedan, and, at this terrible moment, he 
 was recklessly goaded by Gambetta urging him to 
 break out at Auxonne, a movement dangerous in 
 the extreme, in any case, 1 and possible only to a 
 well-equipped army. The reason of the brave 
 soldier suddenly gave way, and in his agony, he 
 made an attempt on his own life. 2 
 
 The command of Bourbaki was taken by Clin- 
 
 d'education militaire, du manque de cadres, et d'anciens soldats 
 fa9onnes au metier .... Ceci ce faisait Messieurs, avec un 
 froid de 15 degres en moyenne, un verglas epouvan table .... 
 Nos chevaux d'artillerie tombaient tous les quatres pas ; il fallait 
 les relever, il retombaient ; on les relevaient ils tombaient encore ; 
 et cela durait toute la journee." 
 
 1 The " Prussian Staff History," Part ii. vol. iii. p. 40, indicates 
 that this movement was conceivable, and undoubtedly Man- 
 teuffel's centre was rather exposed at this point. But Bourbaki 
 insisted at the Enquete Parlementaire that it was impossible in 
 the existing state of his army, and it would at best have exposed 
 the French to be hemmed in between the Doubs, the Ognon, and the 
 Saone. The best proof that he was right is that all his colleagues, 
 with one doubtful exception, concurred in his views ; and his 
 successor, a distinguished soldier, was of the same opinion." 
 
 . 2 Bourbaki's account of this incident is pathetic ; he has long 
 ago disappeared from the army, of which he was an ornament, 
 but we do not know if he is dead: "La crainte de voir mon 
 armee internee en Snisse, le manque de vivres pour mes troupes, 
 1'appreciation injuste que le ministre de la guerre faisait d'efforts, 
 si constants, si soutenus, si desesperes, tentes dans des conditions de 
 temperature affreuses, toutes ces pcnsees m'assaillirent, et alors 
 . 1'acciderit est arrive." 
 
374 MOLTKE. 
 
 chant, an officer who had distinguished himself in 
 the operations of the French from first to last. 
 The new general, without hesitation, followed the 
 dispositions of his late chief; and moved his 
 worn-out army towards Pontarlier, only a few miles 
 from the edge of Switzerland, while he left nothing 
 untried to secure the possession of the one and the 
 only road still open to the south. It was now the 
 28th of January ; and but for an unhappy incident, 
 the greater part of the First Army of the Loire 
 might, perhaps, have escaped along this line, a 
 defile, we have said, between the Jura and the 
 heads of the Doubs. The approach is closed from 
 the side of Franche-Comte, by hills impassable, save 
 at two points ; and Clinchant pushed forward horse- 
 men to occupy these, and so to bar an hostile 
 advance, his purpose being to conduct the mass 
 of his forces, from Pontarlier along the defile 
 towards Lyons. But on the 29th, a despatch 
 arrived informing the French commander that a 
 cessation of arms had been arranged between the 
 belligerent Powers, but leaving out the all-important 
 fact that this did not extend to operations in the 
 East of France ; and this fatal blunder seems to 
 have been due to the negligence of Favre, who had 
 almost lost his head. 
 
 Clinchant claimed the benefit of the armistice ; 
 but Manteuflfel, made aware of the truth, refused to 
 suspend hostilities beyond a few hours, and this 
 sealed the doom of the French army. Even before 
 the armistice had been announced, a small detach- 
 
HIS ARMY CUT OFF. 375 
 
 ment of German cavalry had seized one of the two 
 passes, but so weakly that it might have been 
 easily dislodged ; and the rearward corps of the 
 retiring army had been defeated not far from 
 Pontarlier. Escape nevertheless was still possible, 1 
 had not Clinchant stopped the march of his columns, 
 in the belief that the contest had come to an end, 
 and had not the exhausted soldiery made a halt, 
 along the whole line, at the news of the armistice, 
 and generally shown reluctance to stand to their 
 arms. 2 The Germans had soon closed in on all 
 sides : a few thousand men and a number of officers 
 contrived to make their way through the defile 
 southwards, but the remains of the French army, 
 80,000 fugitives, had no choice but to break up 
 from Pontarlier and to find a refuge in the neutral 
 ground of Switzerland, where they were lost to 
 France should the war be prolonged. The arms of 
 France had thus, for the second time, met a disaster 
 like that of the Array of Chalons ; and the project 
 of Gambetta, ill-conceived in principle, but in- 
 
 1 This at least was Bourbaki's judgment at the Enquete Parle- 
 mentaire : " Cette armee courait le risque d'etre internee en 
 JSuisse. Les evenements ont prouve depuis cette necessite meme 
 n'aurait pas ete subie par la l re armee, si 1'armistice n'avait pas eu 
 lieu, ou s'il n'avait ete donne a mon successeur aucun ordre de 
 1'observer avant que la commandant des forces ennemies eut reu 
 les memes instructions." 
 
 2 Evidence of General Clinchanfc at the Enquete Parle- 
 mentaire : " La nouvelle de 1'armistice avait acheve de detruire 
 le moral." 
 
 " Pourquoi nous batterons nous," disaient les soldats, " si nos 
 camarades des autres armees ne se battent plus 1 " 
 
376 MOLTKE. 
 
 sensate, under existing conditions of climate, and 
 military organization and force, had ended in an 
 immense catastrophe. Yet this result would not 
 have been obtained had not the arms of Germany 
 been directed with ability and energy both con- 
 summate. The operations of Manteuffel deserve 
 the highest praise ; they were worthy of Moltke's 
 best teaching ; Werder seconded Manteuffel with 
 vigour and effect ; and in the movements which 
 annihilated Bourbaki's army, we see again the self- 
 reliance, the well-concerted action, the boldness, 
 the resolution, the well-prepared efforts conspicuous 
 on the side of Germany in the first part of the war, 
 but seldom exhibited in the second part. 1 
 
 The catastrophe of Bourbaki's army was soon 
 followed by the fall of Belfort, after a protracted 
 and admirably-sustained defence. Many other 
 fortresses had been captured, besides those already 
 referred to, and the whole interior of France, 
 between the Loire and the Seine, had been laid 
 open to the invaders. These sieges had exhibited 
 the same features : a bombardment had had decisive 
 effects, where the places attacked were old and 
 
 1 In addition to the authorities before referred to, a good analysis 
 of these operations in the East of France will be found in General 
 Pierron's work, *' Strategic et Grande Tactique," vol. i. pp. 122, 
 158. General Ducrot, " La Defense de Paris," vol. iv. pp. 346, 
 355, contends that, but for the mistake respecting the armistice, 
 Clinchant would have saved the largest part of the army, and 
 indicates how this was on the point of being accomplished. 
 Ducrot, however, disliked Favre and throws as much blame on 
 him as is possible. 
 
CHANZY STILL FOE WAE. 377 
 
 small, but regular operations had, in most instances, 
 been feebly conducted, with tardy success, even 
 against garrisons of mere levies, and the Germans 
 had shown little skill in the art of the engineer. 
 The succession of disasters which had reached a 
 climax in the surrender of Paris, and the calamity 
 in the east, broke down the spirit of resistance in 
 France, and the National Assembly, that had met 
 at Bordeaux, virtually accepted the terms imposed 
 by the conquerors. Chanzy, however, maintained 
 to the last moment, that the war might be con- 
 tinued with good hopes of success, on the system 
 of which he had laid down the lines ; and if we 
 bear in mind the resources still possessed by France, 
 the great deeds of her illustrious soldier, and that 
 his judgment was formed under the gravest sense 
 of responsibility incurred by himself, and in the 
 presence of immense dangers, few will venture to 
 say that he was wholly in error. He recorded 
 his convictions in weighty words, at which the 
 worshippers of success have scoffed, but of which 
 history will form a very different estimate. " No 
 doubt we must seek for the causes of our defeats, 
 in the weakness and insufficiency of our organization 
 for war, seduced as we were for some years by false, 
 ignorant, or factious opinions, and in the want of 
 unity, fatally conspicuous in all our strategic com- 
 binations; but, in our judgment, we, who had 
 found again, in our improvised armies, the great 
 military qualities, which are the inalienable heritage 
 of our nation, the chief cause of our final disasters, 
 
378 MOLTKE. 
 
 was our want of confidence in ourselves. Our fine 
 armies had been lost, our capital had fallen after 
 glorious and heroic efforts ; and we ceased to 
 believe that success was possible, when it was still 
 within our reach." 1 2 
 
 The Treaty of Frankfort set a seal to the results 
 of the war of 1870-1. German horsemen rode 
 under the Arch of the Star, a monument raised to 
 the Grand Army, as Napoleon's Guards had passed 
 through Berlin ; and Germany glories in Metz and 
 Sedan, as France gloried in Jena and Austerlurz. 
 A ransom was extorted from the vanquished 
 nation, unexampled in the annals of war ; it 
 was stripped of two of its most loyal provinces ; 
 and Alsace and Lorraine have been held ever since 
 by force, a trophy of conquest that will be hardly 
 lasting. It has been generally understood, that 
 unlike Bismarck, Moltke insisted on this territorial 
 cession ; but to do him justice he had no sympathy 
 with noisy pedants, who, as in the case of Schleswig 
 
 1 " La Deuxieme Armee de la Loire," p. 448. 
 
 2 Moltke is somewhat chary of merited praise when he merely 
 remarks, " The Franco-German War," vol. ii. p. 46, English 
 Translation, that " General Chanzy was certainly the most' capable 
 of all the leaders, whose duty it became to fight the invaders in 
 the open fields." It is gratifying to know that the real hero of 
 the second part of the war of 1870-1 was received, during a visit 
 to Berlin, some years afterwards, with the greatest cordiality 
 and distinction by the Emperor William, his adversary Prince 
 Frederick Charles, and Moltke himself. The " stetimus tela 
 aspera contra, contulimusque manus " should create a brotherhood 
 in the noble profession of arms, as in the cases of Turenne and 
 Conde, of Eugene and Villars, of Soult and Wellington. 
 
THE TKEATY OF FBANKFO.RT. 379 
 
 Holstein, fabricated a claim for Prussia, to posses- 
 sions to which she had no shadow of a right. With 
 Kadetski, he thought that Imperial rule was best 
 secured by a strong frontier, whatever animosities 
 this might provoke ; and, with a marked aversion 
 to the French character, and little real experience 
 of mankind, he caused the Tricolor to be torn down 
 from Metz and Strasbourg, indifferent to the tradi- 
 tions and feelings of Frenchmen. Yet the Austrian 
 eagle has disappeared from the Adige and the 
 Mincio, in the course of events which prove that 
 the sword does not rule the world ; and, in the 
 negotiations of 1871, Moltke gave no proof of 
 Wellington's forethought, who warned the allies 
 that a discontented France, with her vast elements 
 of military power, would permanently endanger the 
 repose of Europe. The peace dictated by victorious 
 Germany has already had many evil results, and is 
 pregnant with future and general troubles. A 
 second Poland has been formed on the Rhine ; and 
 clumsy attempts to win the hearts of a people 
 justly devoted to France, have ended in conspicuous 
 failure. The Continent has become a huge armed 
 camp, for every State has been compelled to imitate 
 the Prussian military system to protect its interests ; 
 alliances have been formed against France, in the 
 hope of averting universal war ; and France herself, 
 renewing her strength, with the elastic energy of 
 life she has always displayed, has become more 
 formidable on land and at sea, than she has been 
 since the days of Napoleon, and is only biding her 
 
380 MOLTKE. 
 
 time to take vengeance on an enemy she deems a 
 hateful despoiler. In this position of affairs peace 
 must be precarious ; and uneasiness, and a sense of 
 ever-impending danger, pervades the public mind in 
 five-sixths of Europe. Yet the worst feature of the 
 situation is this : the Triple alliance combined 
 against France, has necessarily caused France to 
 draw near to Russia ; and this ominous conjunc- 
 tion may lead to a contest, to which history can 
 show no parallel. In the irony of Fate, Napoleon's 
 prediction may be realized in a not distant future ; 
 and if Europe, in the progress of events, shall 
 become half Republican and half Cossack, this 
 will be largely ascribed to the unwise Peace of 
 Frankfort. 
 
 The second part of the war of 1870-1 was not, 
 like the first, a great drama of well connected and 
 defined acts, leading, in quick succession, to a 
 tragic conclusion. It was rather a long and event- 
 ful epic, abounding in episodes of profound interest, 
 ending in a mighty struggle of race, but grand and 
 heroic in its highest aspects. We have endeavoured 
 to describe the part played by Moltke in this magni- 
 ficent spectacle of human action, and we shall not re- 
 peat what we have already written. His figure stands 
 out in supreme prominence, in the earlier scenes of 
 the great contest. He conducts hosts, largely 
 fashioned by himself, from the Vistula and the 
 Elbe to the Rhine and the Meuse, and, steadily 
 carrying out a preconcerted plan, directs them 
 against the weak armies of France ; and, if in the 
 
REFLECTIONS ON MOLTKE. 381 
 
 conflict that follows lie does not display military 
 genius of the very highest order, if he triumphs 
 mainly through the errors of his foes, and his own 
 overwhelming superiority of force, he astonishes the 
 world by his prodigious success, and he shows that 
 he has many of the gifts of a great warrior. In the 
 second phase of the strife, he is suddenly beset by 
 unforeseen and immense obstacles ; he is arrested in 
 his course of victory, and is troubled and perplexed 
 for a time ; and his personality loses its command- 
 ing place, in view of the resistance of Paris, and 
 the wonderful national rising of France. He, 
 nevertheless, remains conspicuous, giving proof of 
 grand constancy, and strength of will ; and when, 
 owing to accidents, and his enemy's mistakes, and 
 the passionate support of a united Germany, he 
 extricates himself from surrounding perils, he shows 
 remarkable military skill, and directs operations 
 that deserve the highest praise. Yet the figures of 
 Gambetta, with all his failings, and of Chanzy, 
 superior in defeat to Fortune, will probably fill as 
 large a space q on the page of history, as that of 
 
 1 Mr. Fyffe, " History of Modern Europe," vol. iii. 452, 
 truly remarks : " Whatever share the military errors of Gambetta 
 and his rash personal interference with commanders may have 
 had in the ultimate defeat of France, without him it would nevor 
 have been known of what efforts France was capable. The proof 
 of his capacity was seen in the hatred and fear with which down 
 to the time of his death he inspired the German people. Had 
 there been at the head of the armv of Metz a man of one-tenth 
 of Gambetta's effective force, it is possible that France might have 
 closed the war, if not with success, at least with undiminishcd 
 territory." 
 
382 foOLTKE. 
 
 Moltke, in the later passages of the war of 1870-1 ; 
 and the noble and patriotic efforts of France will 
 certainly be their most striking feature. For the 
 rest Germany did not exhibit in a movement, which 
 had some things in common with the great move- 
 ment of 1798-4, the recklessness, the folly, and 
 the lust for war, exhibited by Revolutionary France ; 
 but she made a bad use of the rights of conquest, 
 and Nemesis seldom fails to avenge injustice. 
 
 The war, we should add, like all great wars, 
 brought clearly out, the essential qualities, and 
 historical antecedents of the Powers in conflict. 
 Prussia, a state long of the second order, and 
 trodden under foot in 1806-12, but conscious of 
 her inherent strength, and chafing at the inferior 
 position she held, submitted patiently to a severe 
 discipline to make her able to cope with France ; 
 and when her military resources had become so 
 vast, that ultimate success was almost assured, she 
 obtained the aid of a dependent Germany, engaged 
 in the conflict with steadfast purpose, and persisted 
 in it, with unflinching firmness, enormous as was 
 the strain on her energies. Taught by adversity 
 not to be rash, stern, resolute, and determined to 
 make their influence felt, the hitherto divided 
 German races joined in the crusade against their 
 ancient foe ; and, thoroughly prepared and ready 
 for war, never relaxed their efforts until they had 
 gained their end. France, on the other hand, 
 proud of her renown in arms, and carelessly relying 
 on mere traditions, enfeebled by a corrupt and 
 
WAR BRINGS OUT QUALITIES OF FRANCE & GERMANY. 383 
 
 unstable government, and devoted for years to the 
 pursuits of peace, had allowed her military power 
 to dwindle and decay ; and she rushed thought- 
 lessly into a gigantic struggle, in which she had 
 hardly a chance of real success. The result was 
 soon seen by an astounded Europe ; the armies of 
 the effete empire, and their worthless and incap- 
 able leaders, went down like leaves before the 
 autumn blast ; and the first victories of Germany 
 were beyond example. France, however, refused 
 to confess defeat ; the heroism of the race was 
 shown in its noble resolve to defend the natal soil ; 
 and hopeless as the situation was deemed, the 
 conflict that followed was so desperate, so well sus- 
 tained, so fierce, so prolonged, that Germany was 
 tasked to the very utmost, to obtain the success 
 that had seemed secure. Yet in that final struggle 
 organized force, trained military power and wise 
 direction, prevailed at last over all the efforts 
 pf patriotic valour and passion often misguided, 
 and thrown away ; and in this supreme crisis 
 France displayed the failings repeatedly seen in her 
 chequered history, misplaced energy, discordant 
 counsels, and a proneness to follow the first leader, 
 who has the audacity to assume a dictator's part. 
 
 France could have obtained a less onerous peace, 
 had she submitted to the terms of her conquerors, 
 after the defeat of her Imperial armies. The 
 circumstance has been made a pretext for con- 
 demning her heroic resistance ; but only weak 
 heads or corrupt hearts will accept a cowardly and 
 
384 MOLTKE. 
 
 false argument. A nation's most precious posses- 
 sion is its honour ; and France would have forfeited 
 this great heritage, had she tamely bowed her neck 
 to the yoke, after "Worth, Spicheren, Gravelotte and 
 Sedan. She took the wiser and nobler course ; and 
 if she has suffered in the result, the gain has been 
 infinitely more important. By the defence of 
 Paris and the great national rising, she has blotted 
 out the disgrace that fell on her arms ; Metz and 
 Sedan did not leave her degenerate ; she justified 
 her claim to stand in the rank of the ruling Powers 
 and races of mankind. Nay, from a mere material 
 point of view, her perseverance in the contest did 
 her immense benefit. It was not in vain that 
 rustic and noble, that men of science and art, and 
 men of trade, took up arms to fight for the natal 
 soil ; that Paris endured the agony of the siege ; 
 that France sent her sons in hundreds of thousands 
 to do battle with a revengeful but alarmed enemy. 
 The struggle proved how gigantic is her power ; 
 how she succumbed mainly through mere accidents 
 that probably will not occur again ; that in spite of 
 the cant of the courtiers of Fortune, she has far 
 more inherent strength than Germany ; that she is 
 a great and formidable Power of the first order. 
 A German commander will hardly venture to 
 advance hastily on Paris again, whatever may have 
 been his triumphs in the field. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Welcome given to Moltke on his return from the war in France 
 Honours and distinctions conferred on him He resumes his 
 post as Chief of the Staff His dislike of flattery His de- 
 clining years Celebration of his sixtieth year of military 
 service His work with the General Staff Preparation for 
 war Speeches in the Reichstag and Prussian Chamber 
 Jealousy of France Life at Creisau Moltke retires from the 
 post of Chief of the Staff Celebration of his ninetieth birth- 
 day His death Reflections on his career. 
 
 MOLTKE had passed his seventieth year by some 
 months when his splendid but brief career in the 
 field closed. Germany instinctively felt that her 
 extraordinary success was due to him more than to 
 any other leader, and gave him a national greeting 
 on his return from Erance. On the day when the 
 victorious soldiers of Prussia defiled through the 
 exulting streets of Berlin, after a long march from 
 the Seine to the Spree, thousands of eyes turned on 
 the impressive figure of the veteran who had 
 directed the arms that had gained triumphs with- 
 out a parallel, and thousands of voices rang out a 
 joyous acclaim. Deserved honours fell thick- on 
 the illustrious warrior. His sovereign and friend 
 relaxed in his behalf rules that excluded him from 
 certain high grades and dignities. He received the 
 
 C 
 
386 MOLTKE. 
 
 staff of a Field Marshal, the special distinction of a 
 commander-in-chief, a rank he had not technically 
 attained ; the Prussian Chambers voted him a large 
 sum of money, and cities vied with each other to 
 give him their freedom. Yet Moltke cared little 
 for these things, and quietly resumed the duties of 
 Chief of the Staff, which had been for years his 
 task and his delight. The real head of the great 
 hosts of Prussia, surrounded by colleagues formed 
 by his hand, and directing younger men to tread in 
 their steps, he went steadily on in the incessant 
 work of military organization, which was his pe- 
 culiar excellence, and of elaborating to still higher 
 perfection the mighty instrument of war of which 
 he had been a chief creator. Mistakes made in the 
 late war were noted ; defects in the army and its 
 dependent services were carefully examined and set 
 right ; and the great " Staff History " of the events 
 of 1870-1 was compiled under Moltke's own 
 auspices spite of many faults, a remarkable work. 
 The famous Chief of the Staff, however, was not a 
 recluse, as he had not been in any part of his life ; 
 he was naturally a grand- figure at Court, where he 
 was loved and esteemed by the Royal Family ; and 
 though, as age advanced, he had become taciturn 
 and austere in manner except to real friends here, 
 again, the opposite of Napoleon he was the charm 
 of the social hour with those who knew him well. 
 But for the herd of flatterers who hung on his foot- 
 steps he felt, and did not conceal, his dislike. " I 
 detest," he wrote, " the adulation of which I have 
 
HIS HONOURED OLD AGE. 387 
 
 become an object. I hear it, and make this reflec- 
 tion : ' What would they have said if success had 
 not attended our arms ? J These ill-deserved praises 
 would have been changed into as many unjust cen- 
 sures and stupid invectives." 1 
 
 Twenty years of honoured life were still vouch- 
 safed to Moltke ; and like Turenne, Eugene of 
 Savoy, and Wellington, it was his good fortune to 
 read in a nation's eyes that he was a pillar of one 
 of the great Powers of Europe. In his case, it 
 would be more than superfluous to enumerate all 
 the distinctions he obtained ; he had nothing in 
 common with the boaster Villars, who sets his 
 achievements out in the style of a herald. A man- 
 of-war and one of the forts of Strasbourg were 
 named after him at the command of the Emperor ; 
 a statue was raised to him at his birth-place, 
 Parchim, and a trophy in front of his home in 
 Silesia. The anniversary of the sixtieth year of 
 his service was celebrated at Berlin with military 
 state ; stars of noble orders were gratefully 
 bestowed ; and the Royal House of Prussia joined 
 in the tribute of honour. During this period the 
 still hale veteran was usually present at the great 
 manoeuvres which form part of the training of the 
 Prussian army, and his keen criticism and attention 
 to details showed that time had not yet weakened 
 the force of his intellect. He visited also, with his 
 
 1 " Revue Militaire Suisse. Le Feld-Marechal Moltke." By 
 Abel Veuglaix. This, too, is characteristic : " We do not exactly 
 know what our army is worth ; it has not suffered reverses." 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 MOLTKE. 
 
 imperial master, the famous battle-fields around 
 Metz; and he gave considerable attention to the 
 German navy, for he had been strongly impressed 
 by the advantage possessed by France in the late 
 war through her command of the sea, which had 
 enabled her to arm her levies for the field. 
 
 The multifarious work of the Staff, however, 
 remained the great occupation of its renowned 
 chief, and he found ample scope for his energy and 
 care in duties multiplying in the state of the world 
 around him. The progress of events which had so 
 changed the resources of States and the conditions 
 of war since the first half of the present century, had 
 been going on with accelerated speed ; population 
 and civilization were growing ; material discovery 
 was, year after year, producing new inventions and 
 destructive weapons of the first importance in the 
 military art. And, at the same time, every Power 
 on the Continent had doubled, trebled, nay, quad- 
 rupled its armies ; and France especially, rising, as 
 it were, from the dust, had given her frontiers of 
 defeat such prodigious strength, and had armed 
 such huge masses behind the Vosges, that she could 
 be terrible in war at any moment. Moltke grasped 
 the situation in its full significance ; never ceased to 
 impress on the staff and the Emperor the necessity 
 of keeping up the armed strength of Germany at 
 the highest point of numbers and efficiency in the 
 field ; and went steadily on with preparations for 
 war, following in this Prussia's traditional policv. 
 He gave expression more than once to his views 
 
HIS LIFE AT CEEISAU. 389 
 
 in the Reichstag and the Prussian House of Peers, 
 of both of which he had been long a member, and 
 his sentiments and language were characteristic. 
 He showed how the military supremacy of a United 
 Germany was an object of alarm and suspicion, and 
 how every State on the Continent was armed to 
 the teeth. But like the Roman Cato, his voice was 
 chiefly raised against the ancient enemy alike hated 
 and feared. He dwelt on the gigantic resources of 
 France ; pointed out how the events of 1870-1 
 were no proof she would be vanquished again, arid 
 maintained that she might arise once more to afflict 
 the world with a war of revenge. The irony of 
 facts did not strike the speaker's mind ; it did not 
 occur to him to what an extent the development of 
 the military system of Germany and the annexation 
 of Alsace and Lorraine contributed to the unrest 
 and the troubles of Europe. 
 
 There was, however, another side to the life of 
 Moltke beside that of the warrior and servant of 
 the State. He had been always attached to the 
 ties of home ; he had been an admirable brother, 
 husband, and son, and he was devoted to intellectual 
 tastes and pursuits. It was given him to enjoy 
 many of these blessings during the later part of 
 his long career of honour. After his first great 
 triumph, in 1866, he had received a national grant 
 to buy an estate, and he had wished to regain part 
 of the lands possessed by his fathers in Mecklenburg, 
 near the Elbe. He was unable, however, to fulfil this 
 wish, and he became the owner of a small domain 
 
390 MOLTKE. 
 
 not far from the old stronghold of Schweidnitz, a 
 scene memorable in the wars of Frederick the 
 Great, and where part of the Crown Prince's army 
 assembled before it marched into Bohemia. Moltke 
 usually passed the summer months at Creisau, 
 amidst the hills and plains he had surveyed in youth, 
 and where he had formed happy associations and 
 kind friends ; and he gathered around him to this 
 secluded spot the last resting-place of his loved 
 Marie several of the younger members of his far- 
 divided family, an object he had had long at heart. 1 
 At Creisau Moltke lived as a country gentleman ; 
 but his mental activity and the turn of his character 
 were exhibited in the round of his simple life. He 
 found his house ruinous and his manor a waste, and 
 he made both models of skilful improvement. He 
 covered acres with wood, laid out parks and gar- 
 dens, dammed out streams, made useful works of 
 drainage, and tried all kinds of rural experiments ; 
 and in these different labours he gave ample proof 
 of the intelligence, the industry, and the attention 
 to details which had distinguished him in a grander 
 sphere of action. As may be supposed, he did 
 much for education and the training of the young ; 
 he built churches, endowed schools, and established 
 savings-banks for the earnings of the poor ; and, 
 
 1 Moltke wrote to his brother Adolf, as far back as 1848 
 ("Letters," vol. i. p. 181, English translation): "My cherished 
 idea is that by degrees we should gather on an estate somewhere or 
 other. ... I would rather that this possession should be on the 
 beloved soil of Germany." 
 
HIS LIFE AT CREISAU. 391 
 
 in a word, he performed the duties of a good 
 English landlord a class he held in special esteem 
 in a nook of Europe little accustomed to them. 
 
 The veteran, too, in these times of leisure, 
 eagerly recurred to the intellectual studies which 
 had inspired his ambitious and laborious youth, and 
 had been kept up through his manhood of action. 
 Few have been the equals of Moltke in learning 
 and culture ; and he devoted a part of each day at 
 Creisau to music, drawing, and careful reading. 
 He was familiar with the literature of all ages, 
 especially with history and good poetry ; and he 
 had a marked taste for the philosophic theories of 
 the great German thinkers of the last century. He 
 was fond of speculation, as some of his writings 
 show, on the problems of human life and destiny ; 
 "in thought elevate he reasoned high, on pro- 
 vidence, foreknowledge, will, and fate ;" but he 
 was not less at home in other spheres ; he delighted 
 in the rich humour of Dickens, and tried to turn 
 the warblings of Moore into German. The warrior, 
 too, like other great warriors, had the deepest 
 reverence for the Lord of Hosts, and he felt the 
 presence of the Divine in human things, as Napo- 
 leon, the child of a godless age, could yet rise to 
 the heights of the unknown God. The religious 
 musings of Moltke bear the mark of the German 
 theology of his day ; he rejected dogma and cast 
 aside creeds ; but this half- scepticism was kept 
 under control by a sound judgment, a deep sense 
 of duty, and especially perhaps by the experience 
 
392 MOLTKE. 
 
 of a life of hard work. He constantly read a Bible 
 that had belonged to his wife ; and he was in the 
 habit of marking favourite texts that expressed 
 truths he, no doubt, felt deeply. " My strength 
 is made perfect in weakness/' the strong man 
 noted ; and the loyal subject and God-fearing 
 citizen marked out for admiration the noble words : 
 " Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter 
 of persons : but in every nation he that feareth 
 Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with 
 Him." 
 
 At Creisau Moltke was an excellent host, and 
 occasionally had numerous guests at his board. 
 But his chief pleasure was to live in the company 
 of the grand-nephews and nieces he had adopted 
 the warrior was unhappily childless and to watch 
 over their youthful development. He was the 
 delight of these offsets of the family tree " he was 
 very fond of children, and the little ones repaid 
 his kindness to them with true affection. He spent 
 hours with these great-nephews and great-nieces, 
 who were like young shoots round an old trunk ; he 
 looked at picture-books, or they tried to catch him. 
 In his habits and tastes he was simple nay, austere; 
 he never possessed more than two suits of clothes " 
 a tradition probably of his youth of privations 
 and " the unadorned study at Creisau, where he felt 
 happy and comfortable, is a reflection of this 
 innocent simplicity; nor can anyone look without 
 emotion at the plain little room adjoining his study, 
 in a kind of square tower which served him for a 
 
I11S LIFE AT CJIEISAU. 393 
 
 bedroom. A bed and a washstand are the only 
 pieces of furniture in it." In conversation lie was 
 still gay and brilliant with those whom he could 
 call friends ; he was not without a vein of dry 
 humour ; but he " had a horror of affectation and 
 circumlocution, of all outward show and deception; 
 his keen intellect at once separated the chaff from 
 the wheat." As years advanced, the rigid lines of 
 his countenance, in later manhood, softened by 
 degrees ; and his venerable face regained something 
 of the beauty and refinement of his look in youth. 
 " One must have seen him walking under his 
 beloved trees, a slim figure in a simple coat, bent a 
 little forward, with a step which remained light and 
 elastic up to his latest years. His clean-shaven 
 face, of a delicate pallor, showed scant traces of 
 advancing age. On that firm and expressive brow 
 time had not printed the furrows which tell of 
 passion and self-indulgence, but there and round 
 the grave eyes mental toil had drawn ennobling 
 lines. His whole appearance was full of dignity 
 and refinement, and his whole countenance was 
 illumined by the purity of a long life, which nothing 
 base had ever marred." 
 
 Time dealt tenderly with the old soldier, but its 
 inevitable changes came by degrees. The process 
 of decay told slowly on Moltke ; his fine intellect 
 was not dimmed, but it stiffened into a set of 
 fixed ideas, and his memory lost its retentive power. 
 In his eighty-seventh year he began to write his 
 " Precis " of the great war of 1870-1 ; and it gives 
 
394 MOLTKE. 
 
 clear proof of these mental defects, for it exagge- 
 rates the faults of the Prussian Staff History, and 
 in many particulars is very incorrect. Moltke paid 
 the penalty of extreme old age, in seeing the friends 
 of his life pass away ; he has left a touching record 
 how his revered master " struggled with inex- 
 haustible patience and sweetness, one foot ou 
 the throne, and another in the grave ; J and he 
 witnessed the death of the Emperor Frederick, one 
 of his best lieutenants, though a man of peace. 
 Soon after the accession of the present Emperor, 
 the veteran, feeling that he was no longer equal to 
 duties of the most arduous kind, resigned his post 
 as Chief of the Staff; and his young sovereign 
 expressed his sense of his priceless services in 
 language of befitting dignity and grace. The 
 illustrious commander bade farewell to the com- 
 panions in arms trained by his care, and to the 
 representatives and heads of the great institution, 
 which had so largely contributed to Prussia's 
 triumphs, in significant and characteristic words. 
 He kept his eyes still watchfully fixed on France ; 
 he warned his hearers that in the contest he 
 foresaw, " supreme direction would be the chief 
 element of success," a truth not placed in suffi- 
 cient prominence in an age of colossal armies and 
 material force and he expressed his satisfaction 
 " that the enemy no doubt envied but did not 
 possess anything corresponding to our great 
 General Staff, the object of the care of the last days 
 1 " Letters, " vol. ii. p. 236, English translation. 
 
HIS NINETIETH YEAR. 395 
 
 of his life." l His master spoke only the simple 
 truth when he wrote that his " tenure of the office 
 of Chief of the Staff would be honourably remem- 
 bered as long as there is a Prussian soldier or a 
 Prussian heart left in the world." 
 
 All the work of Moltke, however, was not yet 
 done ; he was made President of the Council of 
 National Defence a commission of high officers of 
 state, the name of which expresses its purpose and 
 he occasionally accompanied the Emperor in tours 
 of inspection. He was given, too, a permanent 
 abode in the palace of the great General Staff ; and 
 his successor often sought the aid of his counsels. 2 
 He completed his ninetieth year in October, 1890 ; 
 and the occasion was made one for a great festival 
 throughout the length and breadth of the Ger- 
 man Empire. The day was a holiday in every 
 school of the state ; and deputations went from 
 many cities and towns to offer addresses to the 
 great Field Marshal. But the chief centre of 
 homage was Berlin ; a place of honour was laid 
 out for Moltke in one of the rooms of the Palace 
 of the Staff; and he witnessed torch-light pro- 
 cessions of applauding crowds, received greetings 
 of respect from guilds of trades, from bodies of 
 students, from men of letters and art ; and, in a 
 
 1 " Le Marechal de Moltke," par xxx, a French general officer, 
 pp. 252, 253. 
 
 2 Most of the particulars of the later years of Moltke will be 
 found in a work called " Moltke, his life and character," trans- 
 lated by Mary Herms a book quite unworthy of the subject, but 
 containing useful information. 
 
396 MOLTKK. 
 
 word, was hailed as one of the founders of the 
 national greatness. The ceremony ended with a 
 grand banquet, when the veteran was thanked for 
 his great deeds by the Emperor and the Koyal 
 House, and received an Honorary Marshal's staff; 
 the Princes of Germany joined in the chorus of 
 praise : and a message of congratulation came from 
 the Emperor Francis Joseph, a token of friendship, in 
 spite of Sadowa. This was the last scene of Moltke's 
 public life ; he passed quietly away a few months 
 afterwards. His end was sudden, but painless and 
 peaceful ; after an evening spent with his adopted 
 family, he felt unwell and retired to his room ; in a 
 few moments the struggle with death was over, 
 and an eye-witness, who hastened to the spot 
 on hearing a groan from the dying man, has re- 
 corded that his last effort was " to turn his head 
 gently to the left, to the wall where the portrait of 
 his beloved wife hung, surrounded by palms." It 
 is unnecessary to say how Germany mourned her 
 great loss ; the flag hung at half-mast from castle 
 and steeple, on men-of-war, and on the fleets of com- 
 merce ; the bier that carried the remains of Moltke 
 had borne those of his two late sovereigns ; and he 
 was attended by the magnificence of war in sorrow. 
 He sleeps by the side of the woman he loved in his 
 quiet home in the Silesian hills ; but his country 
 may say with truth of the great man taken from 
 her : 1 " Quidquid ex Agricola amavimus, quid- 
 quid mirati sumus, manet mansurumque est in 
 1 Tacitus, " Julii Agricolae Vita," c. 50. 
 
HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER. 397 
 
 animis hominum, in seternitate temporum, fama 
 
 rerum." 
 
 Nature gave Moltke the best gift she can bestow 
 on a man in any walk of life, and especially the 
 best in the case of a soldier, 1 great strength of 
 character and firmness of purpose ; and she added 
 constancy, daring, and intense perseverance. If 
 she refused imagination of a high order, and the 
 power of attracting the hearts of men, she supplied 
 an intelligence keen and profound, clear insight, 
 vivid perception and thought, and a sound, stead- 
 fast, and practical judgment. It was not, however, 
 the fortune of Moltke to direct armies until he had 
 reached old age ; and his best years were devoted 
 to the study of war, and to preparing for war in 
 time of peace. His faculties and the accidents of 
 life made military organization his peculiar calling ; 
 and this, beyond dispute, was his supreme ex- 
 cellence. His distinctive merit was that he saw 
 more clearly than any other personage in high rank 
 at the time how the circumstances of a new era 
 had largely changed the conditions of war ; and he 
 applied this knowledge with consummate skill, with 
 assiduous toil, with never-ceasing care, to that 
 mighty assemblage of force, the Prussian army. 
 He divided masses that otherwise would have been 
 too vast into distinct units manageable in the 
 field ; , he turned to advantage the increased self- 
 reliance and mental training of the individual 
 soldier, by encouraging him to be more than a 
 1 Napoleon. 
 
398 MOLTKE. 
 
 mere fighting machine; he made the railway 
 system and the extension of roads secure a celerity 
 and precision in the early operations of war, which 
 had not been often possible before; and he caused the 
 telegraph, the rifled gun, and the breech-loading 
 musket, to yield their best uses to the requirements 
 of his art. Ease in great manoeuvres on a theatre 
 of war, marked improvement in the lower ranks of 
 the army, rapidity in the assembly of troops, and 
 the adaptation of tactics and strategy to the 
 material inventions by which they were modified, 
 were thus realized in the Prussian service more 
 completely than in that of any other State ; and 
 the world beheld the results with amazement. But 
 Moltke achieved much more than this ; learned in 
 the history of war almost beyond example, he 
 perfectly understood its best methods ; and he so 
 constituted the armed force of Prussia, that it 
 should be ever ready to take the offensive, and 
 to have the initiative in the first operations in 
 the field. It is certain, too, that he had much 
 influence in gaining for intelligence and worth their 
 due place in the higher grades of the army ; and it 
 is probable that, through his authority with the 
 king, he had much to do with the selection of even 
 the chief commands. We know, at least, that in 
 1866 and 1870, the Prussian army, of which he was 
 the real head, possessed a staff and an array of 
 officers by many degrees the best on the Con- 
 tinent, and its leaders were almost all distinguished 
 for zeal, resolution, skill, and acting well in concert, 
 
HIS LIFE AND CHAEACTEE. 399 
 
 and in some instances for great capacity. It was 
 the superior organization of the Prussian army, 
 more or less imitated in the other States of Ger- 
 many, combined with overwhelming superiority of 
 force, and coming in conflict with hostile armies 
 immensely inferior in every respect, and also 
 ill- directed in every way, that, far more than con- 
 spicuous genius in war, caused the utter defeat of 
 Austria and France. 
 
 The superiority of Moltke as a director of armies 
 is much less conspicuous than in organization for 
 war. Yet in this more exalted and arduous sphere 
 his remarkable faculties were apparent, and he 
 stands on a high, if not on the highest eminence. 
 His plan of operations in 1866 remains open to 
 adverse comment; but he exhibited great decision, 
 and the clearest insight in his arrangements for the 
 march of the Prussian armies, and especially for 
 the movement of the Crown Prince, which led to a 
 decisive result at Sadowa. His project for the 
 defence of Germany against a sudden attack by 
 France, anticipated admirably the scheme of the 
 enemy; his method of invading France on her 
 north-eastern frontier, and forcing her armies north- 
 wards, away from Paris, if not original or very 
 striking, was perfectly thought out, and the best 
 conceivable. In carrying out these operations he 
 made mistakes, gave his opponents chances, and 
 did not make the most of overpowering superiority of 
 force ; but he steadily accomplished even more than 
 he had hoped, with boldness, resolution, patience, 
 
400 MOLTKE. 
 
 forethought ; and the course he adopted to destroy 
 Macmahon, his march against the Army of Chfdons, 
 and the measures he took to ensure its ruin at 
 Sedan, if not exploits of supreme genius, show that 
 he had many of the faculties of a great warrior. 
 If success, too, is to b$ a test of merit, Moltke's 
 triumphs in the first part of the war of 1870 are 
 without a parallel in the annals of the world ; and 
 if this is a most unsafe criterion, it is at least a 
 proof that he had the capacity to turn to account the 
 astounding faults of his enemies, and to bring 
 suddenly on them appalling ruin. In the second 
 part of the war he certainly made a mistake in 
 advancing in haste on Paris ; and thus placed the 
 Germans, conquerors as they were, in grave peril 
 for a considerable time. His conduct, nevertheless, 
 in this most trying contest, gives proof of steadfast 
 constancy, and, on some occasions, of consummate 
 skill and profound judgment. He followed the true 
 method to make Paris fall ; and it may be assumed 
 that he expected little from the cruel and fruitless 
 attack by bombardment. Nothing, too, can have 
 been more able than the manner in which he em- 
 ployed and strengthened the external zone on a 
 vast field of manoeuvre, and than the advantage he 
 took of his central position and interior lines 
 against the provincial armies ; and though he was 
 not the author of the decisive movement of Man- 
 teuffel against Bourbaki's army perhaps the finest 
 of the whole war this was an inspiration derived 
 from his teaching. And if we reflect that these 
 
HIS MERITS AND DEFECTS IN WAR. 401 
 
 great achievements were accomplished by a chief 
 far advanced in years, who had not had experience 
 in the field, until the ardour and vigour of youth 
 had been spent, no impartial observer will deny 
 that Moltke has a place amongst the great masters 
 of war. 
 
 His place, however, in this illustrious band is not 
 one of the very highest eminence. The conceptions 
 of his campaigns were not original ; that of 1866 was 
 borrowed from Frederick the Great a conception 
 distinctly condemned by Napoleon ; that of 1870 
 was borrowed from Prussian leaders, who had 
 formed it many years before ; and, if excellent, it 
 does not display genius. Moltke was never called 
 upon to attempt exploits like those before Mantua 
 in 1796, like the march on Ulna, and the march that 
 led to Marengo ; but he did not possess the imagina- 
 tive power directing the profound calculation and 
 craft, which have given these combinations their 
 matchless splendour ; it may safely be affirmed 
 that he was unequal to them. In his operations 
 in the field, too, we sometimes see a want of 
 dexterity and resource ; he ought to have crashed 
 the Army of the Rhine, after Worth and Spicheren, 
 before it reached Metz ; and he gave opportunities 
 more than once to Bazaine, which a real general 
 would have made disastrous to him. In his con- 
 duct of armies, a deficiency of art, a failure quickly 
 to seize the occasion, a rigidity and even a slowness 
 of movement, are manifest in several striking 
 
 instances ; he never could have achieved feats of 
 
 D d 
 
402 MOLTKE. 
 
 arms like Arcola, Rivoli, and Montmirail ; and lie 
 seems to have been devoid of the gift of surprise 
 and stratagem, one of the highest gifts of a great 
 captain. But of all these defects the most con- 
 spicuous was his constant habit of losing sight of 
 his enemy, and of failing to pursue him in defeat ; 
 this is the more remarkable because he possessed 
 advantages in this sphere of his art, completely 
 unknown in former ages ; and it may be the 
 consciousness of this, that made him assert that 1 
 " novices," forsooth, are those who chiefly contend 
 " that pursuit ought always to follow a victory," as 
 if the chase of Wurmser through the defiles of the 
 Brenta, and the inarch of the conquerors after 
 Jena, do not confute a paradox of the kind. It 
 must, moreover, be kept in mind in considering 
 Moltke's place as a leader in war that he usually 
 had such a superiority of force on his side, and was 
 opposed to commanders of so low an order, that he 
 could hardly have failed to attain success ; and 
 this fact must largely detract from his merits. The 
 Austrian army in 1866, the French armies in 1870-1, 
 were not to be compared to the Prussian and 
 German hosts, in all that constitutes military 
 power ; and it was not difficult to overcome chiefs 
 of the type of Benedek, Bazaine, and Macmahon, 
 especially in the circumstances in which these were 
 placed. 
 
 Certain writers have maintained that, in the 
 
 1 "The Franco-German War," vol. ii. p. 167. English 
 Translation. 
 
HIS MEEITS AND DEFECTS IN T WAK. 403 
 
 conduct of war Moltke hardly committed a single 
 mistake. He would have been the first to condemn 
 such a notion ; the aphorism of Turenne remains 
 true, "he is the greatest general whose faults are 
 the fewest," and all generals must fall into error, 
 for they must often act on inadequate knowledge. 
 Moltke made at least his full share of mistakes, 
 apart from what may be called shortcomings. His 
 whole strategy in 1866 has been called false by well- 
 informed and capable critics ; indeed we believe it 
 can be only justified on the assumption that he had 
 no better choice in the situation in which he was 
 placed. His disposition of the German armies on 
 the frontier in August, 1870, exposed the First 
 Army to a perilous attack ; the same may be said 
 of his arrangements before Borny, and it is difficult 
 to say that he was not to blame for the faults com- 
 mitted before Gravelotte a battle which would 
 have been lost to the Germans, immense as was 
 their preponderance of force, had Bazaine been 
 anything like a chief. In his movements round 
 Metz, Moltke, too, exposed his communications in 
 a most dangerous way,, and that without much 
 certainty of success ; and, as General Hamley has 
 justly said, he need not have risked a defeat at 
 Gravelotte. But the greatest of all his mistakes, 
 as we have more than once remarked, was his 
 advance on Paris after Sedan ; he thrust himself 
 into the heart of France, at the head of 150,000 
 men, with the Army of the Rhine at Metz on his 
 rear, imprisoned, no doubt, but still a danger; 
 
 D d 2 
 
404 MOLTKE. 
 
 with his retreat to Germany almost closed, with a 
 gigantic fortress in his immediate front, with a 
 great nation that might rise up in arms against 
 him, and the results were in a few weeks manifest. 
 Moltke was " brought up," so to speak, like a ship 
 by a tempest. The German armies spread around 
 the capital were perilously exposed for at least 
 three months ; their movements were for a time 
 most feeble ; they were scarcely able to keep the 
 enemy down ; they were nearly compelled to raise 
 the siege. Had Metz held out even a fortnight 
 longer, and had the Army of the Loire been better 
 directed, they would probably have met a serious 
 reverse, and they succeeded at last, in the main, 
 because they received the enthusiastic support of a 
 national crusade. Moltke' s strategy is a striking 
 instance that an enemy, fallen though he be, is not 
 to be despised, and that offensive warfare should 
 be conducted on principles proved to be true by 
 experience, and if he triumphed after an inter- 
 necine conflict, it may confidently be said that he 
 could have compelled France to cede the provinces 
 she ultimately lost, without running the enor- 
 mous risks that were run. 
 
 Moltke, therefore, we think, was not pre-eminent 
 in forming the great combinations of war, in the 
 art known by the name of strategy, though his 
 capacity and excellence are not doubtful. It is 
 more difficult to find his true place in the lesser 
 but most important sphere of tactics, and that 
 chiefly for this reason, that he did not command an 
 
HIS MERITS AND DEFECTS IN WAR. 405 
 
 army in the field, in person, on any occasion. It 
 is certain, however, that he thoroughly understood 
 that the power of fire would, in modern war, be 
 infinitely superior to that of force a question 
 much debated thirty years ago and that he knew 
 well the value of offensive tactics ; and, in theory, 
 he was a most learned tactician, even though it 
 seems that he was some time in comprehending the 
 true relations of the three arms in battles of this 
 day. He was not often present in the field, in war ; 
 he never, we have said, actually led troops ; and in 
 the immense engagements of the present age, when 
 a general cannot embrace the whole scene of 
 action, and much must be left to subordinates, the 
 most perfect tactician will be often at fault. It 
 may be said, however, that the three great battles, 
 in which Moltke took a real part, Sadowa, Grave- 
 lotte, and Sedan, do not exhibit the tactical genius 
 shown at Eamillies, Leuthen, and Austerlitz, the 
 masterpieces of tactics in war ; if the attacks at 
 Sadowa were well conducted, nay, the best that 
 could be made as affairs stood, they are not models 
 to be made examples ; the German tactics at Grave- 
 lotte were very far from good, and Sedan was little 
 more than a massacre. Moltke, it has been said, 
 had a marked liking for flanking, rather than for 
 frontal attacks; this, indeed, is a tradition of 
 Frederick the Great, and in the case of the armies 
 of this age, and of the weapons of destruction they 
 wield, flanking attacks will be more than ever 
 adopted. It is, however, a mistake to pretend that 
 
406 MOLTKE. 
 
 Moltke's favourite method contrasts with the 
 " central attack " of Napoleon ; the great master, 
 like all true generals, ever sought to assail the 
 flank of his enemy, in preference to merely striking 
 his centre in front ; but it was the peculiar merit 
 of Napoleon's tactics, that his attacks were usually 
 so arranged, as to be the best possible on the 
 ground before him, and there was no kind of 
 mannerism in these splendid efforts. It has been 
 alleged that Moltke's system of tactics often aimed 
 at " holding " the enemy on the spot, with a force 
 comparatively small at first, and then of attacking 
 him, in front and flank, with masses brought into the 
 field in succession, and certainly more than one of 
 the battles of 1870-1 exhibit this method. But 
 such modes of attack can be only justified when 
 the assailant is certain to be superior in numbers 
 and force, at the decisive moment; and if it is 
 implied that, as a general rule, attacks are to be 
 made piecemeal, and without coherence, by separate 
 divisions of an army, marched only by degrees to 
 the field, all history shows that these tactics are 
 false. 
 
 Like all chiefs who have excelled in war, espe- 
 cially if they have done great things, Moltke has 
 deeply impressed the military thought of his time. 
 It has been said of him that he has " displaced the 
 axis of ideas in the art ; l and because the organiza- 
 tion of the German armies was a main element of 
 their prodigious success, it has been hastily inferred 
 1 " Lc Marcchal dc Moltke," by General Lcwal, p. 18. 
 
HIS MERITS AND DEFECTS IN WAR. 407 
 
 that mechanism, and not genius in war, is the 
 great secret of ensuring victory. Moltke, we have 
 seen, has distinctly condemned this notion, and it 
 is a great and dangerous mistake. Unquestionably 
 training, discipline, and good arrangement, are 
 influences of supreme importance, in obtaining 
 successful results in war ; as Gibbon has remarked, 
 the words that signify an army in the Greek and 
 the Latin tongues, almost explain the history of two 
 great races. Unquestionably too, the greatest com- 
 mander can do comparatively little with a bad 
 instrument ; and in the case of the huge armies of 
 this age there must be more independence in com- 
 mand, and division of labour in the highest grades, 
 than was seen in the days of Jena and Austerlitz. 
 But now, as always, and now more than ever, for 
 war has never before been so vast and rapid, 
 superior direction will be the dominant force that 
 will achieve success in campaigns and battles ; the 
 divine part of the art, in Napoleon's language, will 
 more than ever make its magical power felt ; a 
 really great captain will more than ever control 
 events. The two great wars in which Moltke took 
 part bring out this truth, indeed, with peculiar 
 clearness. Place Napoleon on the throne of 
 Francis Joseph, and can we doubt that he would 
 have declared war before the Prussian armies were 
 ready, would have struck them down when widely 
 apart, and have marched by the Elbe to Berlin in 
 triumph? Or give Turenne the staff held by 
 Benedek, and we strongly suspect the Crown 
 
408 MOLTKE. 
 
 Prince's army would have been annihilated before it 
 had reached its supports, and have left Prince 
 Frederick Charles a prey for his enemy. Or again, 
 does anyone suppose that if Moltke had been in 
 the position of Napoleon III., he would have played, 
 at every point, into his adversary's hands? that 
 Wellington would have fought G-ravelotte, after the 
 fashion of the worthless Bazaine? or that that 
 great master of defence would have lent an ear to 
 the counsels that doomed the Army of Chalons, 
 and would have hesitated to fall back on Paris ? 
 Nay, might not the whole course of the war have 
 taken a wholly different turn, had Bazaine seized 
 the opportunities presented to him, as the General 
 of 1796 would have seized them, or had Chanzy had 
 the supreme direction of the provincial armies of 
 France throughout ? The maxim of Napoleon 
 remains true : "A general is the head, the soul of 
 an army ; it was Caesar, not the Roman army, who 
 conquered Gaul ; it was Hannibal, not the Cartha- 
 ginian army, who made the Republic of Rome 
 tremble at its gates ; it was not the Macedonian 
 army, but Alexander that reached the Indus ; it 
 was not the French army that warred on the Weser 
 and the Inn, but Turenne ; it was Frederick the 
 Great, not the Prussian army, who defended 
 Prussia for seven years against the three greatest 
 Powers of Europe." ! 
 
 It is difficult to determine the place that Moltke 
 i Napoleon, " Comment.," vol. vi. p. 115. Ed. 1867. 
 
HIS MERITS AND DEFECTS IN WAR. 409 
 
 will hold among great warriors, not because, as has 
 been absurdly said, the difference between war 'in the 
 present age, and of war in the ages of Turenne and 
 Napoleon, makes a really just comparison hopeless; 
 but because we do not exactly know the part he 
 played in preparing and directing armies, though 
 our knowledge is in many respects sufficient. He 
 will be always an idol of the worshippers of suc- 
 cess, and he has been naturally raised to a high 
 eminence in the opinion of soldiers of his time, for 
 he understood better, perhaps, than any other man 
 the existing conditions of modern warfare. In the 
 judgment of history, nevertheless, we do not believe 
 he will be in the very first rank of the few cap- 
 tains supreme in the noblest of arts. His figure 
 seems dwarfed beside that of Napoleon, of whom 
 he has been called, unwisely, the peer; he was 
 markedly deficient in some of the gifts and facul- 
 ties, which were characteristic of the modern 
 Hannibal. Organization was his peculiar province, 
 yet he achieved no marvels like the preparations for 
 the descent on England in 1803-5, for the cam- 
 paigns of 1807 and 1812, for the crossing the 
 Danube in 1809 ; and he did not do as much in 
 this sphere as Turenne, who transformed a feudal 
 militia into an army essentially of a modern aspect, 
 and for many years the terror of Europe. In the 
 conduct of war he was able in the extreme, his 
 conceptions were usually clear and just, his con- 
 stancy and daring deserve the highest praise ; but 
 
410 MOLTKE. 
 
 he was not original, or what may be called sublime ; 
 and he was often wanting in dexterity and art. Not 
 to speak of the mightiest deeds of Napoleon, which 
 have raised him far above all modern warriors, no 
 achievement of Moltke was as brilliant as the march 
 of Gustavus through " the Priest's Lane," as two or 
 three of the marches of Turenne ; no conception of 
 his was as splendid and bold as the plan of Villars 
 to descend on Vienna, a plan perfectly feasible 
 when designed, and that must have changed the 
 fortunes of Europe, had it been carried out in 
 1703 ; no operation of Moltke was as fine and 
 daring as Eugene's advance up the Po on Turin ; 
 and the glories of Metz and Sedan, when calmly 
 examined, pale beside those of Rivoli, Marengo, 
 Jena, and Austerlitz. Napoleon, indeed, has had no 
 successor ; but if the mantle of his genius fell on 
 anyone, it was not, as has been said, on Moltke ; 
 it fell on the great warrior of the South, Lee, whose 
 exploits around Richmond were not unworthy of 
 those of 1796 and 1814. Nevertheless, Moltke 
 must hold a grand place among the leaders of war 
 in the nineteenth century; he was certainly 
 superior to the Archduke Charles, and to every 
 one of Napoleon's Marshals, and he will probably 
 attain as high a level as Wellington, with whom he 
 had certain points in common, though as an admin- 
 istrator he easily surpassed Wellington, while, on 
 the other hand, he can show no achievement equal in 
 genius and resource to the defence of Portugal. 
 
HIS MERITS AND DEFECTS IN WAR. 41 1 
 
 In one respect, indeed, it is difficult in the 
 extreme to compare Moltke with other great 
 warriors. As he was never actually at the head of 
 troops, we do not exactly know what his influence 
 was, or might have been, over the German soldiery. 
 But he had little imagination, sympathy, or fiery 
 passion, and we may feel convinced that he could 
 never have attained the magical power over the 
 hearts of men possessed by Conde, Marlborough, and 
 Villars, and one of the most striking of the gifts 
 of Napoleon. We see these defects in his writings 
 on war ; they are able, judicious, and well worked 
 out, but they are without the sounding march 
 and the energy divine of the masterpieces of 
 the history of war ; his " Campaign of Italy/ 7 for 
 instance, one of his best works, is, compared to 
 Napoleon's " Campaigns of Italy/' what a book of 
 Polybius is to a book of Thucydides, or the verse of 
 Silius Italicus to the song of Homer. For the rest 
 Moltke had little knowledge of men, and was 
 deficient in political insight ; he never rose above 
 the ideas of a Prussian junker in affairs of State; 
 he had nothing of the genius which made Marl- 
 borough the most perfect diplomatist of his time, of 
 the sagacity of Wellington as a statesman, of the 
 extraordinary capacity shown by Napoleon in 
 mastering all that relates to international questions, 
 to civil administration, to law, and to government. 
 We have already glanced at Moltke's private life ; 
 we can only repeat that it was a grand example, 
 
412 MOLTKE. 
 
 of a noble sense of duty, of work well done, of 
 purity of conduct, of brilliant social converse, of 
 intellectual tastes of the highest order, and of 
 all the virtues that make family and home 
 blessed. 
 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 ALSACE, invasion of, 135 j cession of, 
 378. 
 
 Alvensleben, General, attacks at 
 Mars La Tonr, 150. 
 
 Army, the Austrian, sketch of, 
 62-3 ; defects in, 52-3, 63. 
 
 Army, the French, sketch of, 98, 
 seqq.; complete inferiority of, to 
 that of Germany, 103. 
 
 Army, the German, in 1870, concen- 
 tration of, in 1870, 115, seqq.; 
 invasion of France by, 129; ad- 
 vance of , after Worth and S picheren, 
 140 ; enormously reinforced dur- 
 ing the war, 326. 
 
 Army, the Prussian, sketch of, 29- 
 34 ; reform of, in 1859-60, 34-42 ; 
 great increase of, after 1866, 94 ; 
 reforms in, 95-6. 
 
 Assembly, the National, of France, 
 at Bordeaux, 364; accepts the 
 Treary of Frankfort, 377. 
 
 Austria at war with Prussia in 1866, 
 43 ; stands at first on the defen- 
 sive, 44; completely defeated, and 
 loses her supremacy in Germany, 
 80 ; perhaps a secret ally of France 
 in 1870, 111. 
 
 B. 
 
 BAPAUME, battle of, 351. 
 
 Bazaine, Marshal, his negligence 
 when near Spicheren, 130 ; made 
 coinmander-in-chief of the French 
 armies, 141 ; his retreat from 
 Metz, 143 ; his conduct at Borny, 
 144 j his retreat to Mars La Tour, 
 148-9 ; his conduct at Mars La 
 Tour, 150-5 ; what he might have 
 achieved after Mars La Tour, 
 154-5 ; he places the French Army 
 in positions round Gravelotte, 
 156-7; his incapacity at Grave- 
 
 lotte, 167, seqq. ; he is invested 
 at Metz, 174, seqq. ; he misses 
 another great opportunity, 177; 
 his conduct during the siege of 
 Metz, 242, seqq. ; at Noisseville, 
 245 ; his negligence and waste, 
 251 ; his dealings with Eegnier, 
 252 ; he sends an aide-de-camp to 
 negotiate with Bismarck, 253 ; he 
 stands aloof from the Provisional 
 Government, 254 ; his conduct 
 treasonable, 256 ; he surrenders 
 Metz, 259 ; the results fatal to 
 France, 258. 
 
 Beaune La Rolande, battle of, 284. 
 Belf ort, siege of, 307 ; fall of, 376. 
 Benedek, General, in command of 
 the Austrian Army in 1866, 53; 
 his advance from Briinn and 
 Olmiitz, 54 ; his projects, 55 ; he 
 loses a great opportunity, 59 ; is 
 defeated in a series of combats 
 and battles, 60-2 ; retreats behind 
 the Bistritz, 65 ; he is defeated at 
 Sadowa, 79 ; his retreat, reflec- 
 tions on his operations, 90-1. 
 Bismarck, Count and Prince, policy 
 of, 28, 44; at Sadowa, 76; in- 
 trigues of, with Napoleon III., 97, 
 108 ; arouses the fury of Paris in 
 1870, 109; at Sedan, 208; nego- 
 tiates with Favre, 221 ; dealings 
 of, with Bazaine, 253-4 ; opposed to 
 the bombardment of Paris, 35H ; 
 and perhaps to the cession of 
 Alsace and Lorraine. 378. 
 Bittenfield, General, commands the 
 
 Army of the Elbe, 47. 
 Bohemia, invasion of, 51. 
 Borny, battle of, 144. 
 Bourbaki, General, sent from Metz 
 to see the Empress, 252-3 ; makes 
 a demonstration against the 
 Grand Duke and Prince Frederick 
 Charles, 319 ; is sent off by Gam- 
 betta to the East with the First 
 Army of the Loire, 341 j succesBiul 
 
414 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 at Villersexel, 354 ; defeated on 
 the Lisaine in the battles of 
 Hericonrt, 358 ; his army excepted 
 from the armistice, retreats to 
 Besancon, 372 ; his desperate con- 
 dition, 372-3 ; he is goaded by 
 Gambetta, and tries to kill him- 
 self, 373. 
 
 C. 
 
 CANBOBERT, Marshal, his conduct at 
 Mars La Tour, 150 j at Gravelotte, 
 164. 
 
 Chalons, Army of, commanded by 
 Macmahon, 180; its bad quality, 
 181 ; its march to the Meuse, 
 184, seqq. ; its condition before 
 Sedan, 197 ; it is routed at Sedan 
 and compelled to lay down its 
 arms, 203-10. 
 
 Chanzy, General, commands part of 
 the Army of the Loire at Coul- 
 miers, 268-9 ; his wise counsels 
 to D'Aurelle not followed, 277; 
 he commands at Villepion and 
 Loigny, 286; falls back west of 
 Orleans, 288 j he is largely rein- 
 forced, and confronts the Grand 
 Duke and Prince Frederick 
 Charles, 312, seqq. ; great ability 
 of, 314, seqq. ; his masterly retreat 
 from the Loire, 315, seqq. j is 
 attacked at Vendome, and retreats 
 to the Sarthe and Le Mans, 317 ; 
 his admirable views as to the 
 situation in the last part of the 
 war, 335 ; his advice to Gambetta, 
 336; he is attacked by the Grand 
 Duke and Prince Frederick 
 Charles, 343; his skill, 343; he is 
 only just defeated at Le Mans, 
 347 ; he falls back to Laval, 349 ; 
 and restores his army, 349-50 ; 
 his able plans for the continuance 
 of the war, 367-8; his resolve to 
 fight to the last, 377. 
 
 Clinchant, General, takes the com- 
 mand of Bourbaki's army, 373; 
 directs it towards Pontarlier, 374 ; 
 it is forced over the frontier of 
 Switzerland, 375. 
 
 Colombey Nouilly, battle of (see 
 Borny). 
 
 Confederation of the North of Ger- 
 many, 94, seqq. 
 
 Copenhagen, military school of, 4. 
 
 Coulmiors, battle of, 268-9 ; its results 
 
 frustrated from several causes, 
 270-1, 274. 
 
 Cremer, General, in command of the 
 French in the East, conduct of, at 
 the battles of Hericourt, 357. 
 
 Crown Prince of Prussia, the, his 
 operations in Bohemia, 51, seqq. ; 
 he is directed to march on Sadowa, 
 67 ; his movement decides the 
 result of the day, 76, seqq. ; he 
 commands the Third Army in 1870, 
 116 j his conduct at Worth, 123 ; 
 be advances into France with the 
 Third Army, 135 ; his advance 
 against the Army of Chalons, 179 ; 
 he leads the Third Army to Sedan, 
 200, seqq. ; and to Paris, 216. 
 
 D. 
 
 D'AURELLE, General, commands the 
 Army of the Loire at Coulmiers, 
 268-9 ; question if he should have 
 advanced on Paris, 272 ; he falls 
 back on Orleans, 273 ; is defeated, 
 289; unjustly deprived of his 
 command, 300. 
 
 Decaen, General, killed at Borny, 
 144. 
 
 Diebitsch, General, 21, 229. 
 
 Ducrot, General, commands part of 
 the Army of Chalons, 186 : wise 
 projects of, before Sedan, 198; at 
 Sedan, 203; in Paris, commands 
 the 14th corps, 224 ; views of, for 
 the defence of Paris, 229, seqq. ; 
 obliged to abandon his project, 
 293 ; commands in the great sortie, 
 294, seqq. ; at battle of Villiers, 
 295 ; falls back, 295-8; commands 
 in sorties of 21st December and 
 19th January, 323, 362. 
 
 E. 
 
 EAST, Army of, 241 (see Garibaldi 
 
 and Cremer). 
 Elbe, Army of, invades Saxony, 50 ; 
 
 with the First Army, 60-1 ; at 
 
 Sadowa, 73. 
 
 F. 
 
 FAIDHERBE, General, commands the 
 Army of the North, 320 : tights an 
 indecisive battle on the ilallue, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 415 
 
 321 ; successful at Bapaume, 351; 
 defeated at St. Quentin, 352. 
 
 Failly, General, 122, 133; defeated 
 at Nouart and Beaumont, 195. 
 
 Farre, General, at Villers Breton- 
 neux, 305. 
 
 Favre, Foreign Minister of the Pro- 
 visional Government, 221 ; nego- 
 tiates with Bismarck, 221, 364. 
 
 First Army assembled in 1866 (see 
 Prince Frederick Charles). 
 
 First Army assembled in 1870 (see 
 Steinmetz, Prince Frederick 
 Charles, Manteuffel, and Goeben). 
 
 France, Invasion of, 121; prostration 
 of, 216; national rising of, 235, 
 seqq. ; immense but misdirected 
 efforts of, 302-3 ; was wise in re- 
 sisting to the last, 383-4. 
 
 Frankfort, Treaty of, 378. 
 
 Fransecky, General, fine conduct of, 
 at Sadowa, 74. 
 
 Frederick Charles, Prince, opera- 
 tions of, in Saxony and Bohemia, 
 51, seqq. ; begins the attack at 
 Sadowa, 73, seqq. : commands the 
 Second Army in 1870, 116 ; ad- 
 vances after Worth and Spicheren, 
 135 ; conduct of, before Mars La 
 Tour, 147; commands the First 
 and Second Armies at Metz, 174 ; 
 ordered to march to the aid of 
 Tann, 271; reaches the country 
 around Orleans, 279 ; defeats the 
 Army of the Loire, 289 ; attacks 
 Chanzy and is baffled, 316; falls 
 back to obtain reinforcements, 
 319 ; advances with the Grand 
 Duke against Chanzy, 341; suc- 
 cessful at Le Mans, 347 ; gives up 
 the pursuit of Chanzy, 349. 
 
 Frederick the Great, the Prussian 
 Army under, 29 ; operations of, in 
 1756 and 1757 condemned by 
 Napoleon, 82-3. 
 
 G. 
 
 GALL AS, CLAM, General, faulty con- 
 duct of, 55, seqq. 
 
 Gambetta, real leader of the French 
 nation, 220 ; appeals to France to 
 rise, 234; energy and genius of, 
 235, seqq. ; collects immense rein- 
 forcements for the Army of the 
 Loire, 230 ; makes fatal mistakes, 
 283-5 ; continues to increase the 
 French armies, 332 ; disregards 
 
 the advice of Chanzy, and sends 
 
 Bourbaki to the East, 338. 
 Garibaldi, commands the French in 
 
 the East, 335. 
 Germany, Southern States of, allies 
 
 of Prussia after 1866, 94 ; national 
 
 passions of, in 1870, 117, 302. 
 Gitsohin, battle at, 61. 
 Goeben, General, commands the 
 
 First Army, and wins the battle 
 
 of St. Quentin, 352. 
 Gouvion St. Cyr, Marshal, 99. 
 Gravelotte, battle of, 160, seqq. 
 
 H. 
 
 HADZCHI, Pacha, 15. 
 
 Hafiz, Pacha, 15 j defeated at 
 
 Nisib, 16. 
 
 Hallue, battle on, 321. 
 Hericourt, battles of, on the Lisaiue, 
 
 356-8. 
 
 I. 
 
 IBRAHIM, Pacha, victorious at Nisib, 
 
 16. 
 Italy, perhaps secret ally of France 
 
 in 1870, 111. 
 
 J. 
 
 JAUBEGUIBBERY, Admiral, a lieu- 
 tenant of Chanzy, 311 ; efforts of, 
 at Le Mans, 347. 
 
 K. 
 
 KAMEKE, General, attacks at Spiche- 
 ren, 128. 
 
 Kirchbach, General, fine conduct of, 
 at Worth, 129. 
 
 Koniggratz, battle of (see Sadowa). 
 
 L. 
 
 L'ADMIRAULT, General, 144, 160. 
 
 La Fere, fall of, 305. 
 
 Laon, fall of, 240. 
 
 Le Boauf, Marshal, at Gravelotte, 
 
 160. 
 Le Brun, General, commands part of 
 
 the Army of Chalons, 186. 
 Lee, General, 82. 
 
416 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Le Mans, battle of, 346-7. 
 
 Loigny, combat of, 286. 
 
 Loire, Army of, formed by. Gam- 
 betta, 268; gains a victory at 
 Coulmiers, 269 j withdrawn to 
 Orleans, 273 ; increased by Gam- 
 betta, 280; excellent position of, 
 282 ; part of, is defeated at Beaune 
 La Rolando, 284; defeated at 
 Orleans, 287-8 ; divided into the 
 First and Second Armies (see 
 Chanzy, D'Anrelle, Gambetta, 
 and Bourbaki). 
 
 Lorraine, invasion of, 135 j cession 
 of, 378. 
 
 MACMAHON, Marshal, the Duke of 
 Magenta, tactics of, at Worth, 
 127 ; mistakes of, 127 ; defeated at 
 Worth and retreats in disorder, 
 133 ; commands the Army of 
 Chalons, 180 ; his fatal decision to 
 march to the relief of Bazaine, 
 184 ; his grave misconduct in per- 
 sisting in the march, 192 ; illu- 
 sions of, before Sedan, 196 ; weak 
 conduct of, 199 ; wounded at 
 Sedan, 203; his conduct to be 
 condemned, 213. 
 
 Manteuffel, General, commands the 
 First Army on the Hallue, 341 ; 
 admirable operations of, against 
 Bourbaki's army, 369-76. 
 
 Marlborough, 115, 207. 
 
 Mars La Tour, battle of, 149, seqq. 
 
 Mecklenburg, Grand Duke of, sent to 
 the aid of Tann after Coulmiers, 
 271 ; sent off again to the 
 West, 278 ; joins Prince Frederick 
 Charles, 284; takes part in the 
 defeat of the Army of the Loire, 
 286-7; advances against Chanzy, 
 309 ; attacks him in vain, 312-13 ; 
 is baffled by Chanzy, 316; falls 
 back for reinforcements, 319 ; ad- 
 vances with Prince Frederick 
 Charles again against Chanzy, 
 341 ; baffled at Le Mans, 346 ; sent 
 to Normandy, 349. 
 
 Metz, investment of, 174 ; fall of, 
 242, seqq. (see Bazaine, Napoleon 
 III.). 
 
 Mouse, Army of, formed by Moltke, 
 173 ; takes part in the operations 
 against the Army of Chalons, 188; 
 at Sedan, 201, aeqq. ; marches to 
 
 Paris, 216; takes part in the in- 
 vestment, 223. 
 
 Mezieres, should have been point 
 of Macmahon's retreat, 198 ; fall 
 of, 306. 
 
 Moltke, Adolph, 11. 
 
 Moltke, Helmuth Charles Bernard, 
 Field-Marshal, Count, born at 
 Parchim, 3 ; sent to the military 
 school of Copenhagen, 4; obtains 
 a commission in the Danish army, 
 6 ; and afterwards in the Prussian 
 army, 6; is attached to the Staff 
 College at Berlin, 6 ; employed in 
 surveying, 8; at Frankfort, 9; 
 made captain, 10 ; early writings, 
 10-11 ; domestic life and tastes of, 
 11 ; travels in the East, 12, seqq. ; 
 reforms of, in the Turkish army, 
 14 ; in Asia Minor, 15, seqq. ; 
 anecdote of his courage, 15 ; at 
 the battle of Nisib, 16; his 
 " Letters on the East," 16 ; made 
 major, 18; on the staff of the 4th 
 Corps, 18 ; his work on the war of 
 1828-9 in Roumelia, 20 ; made aide- 
 de-camp of Prince Henry of 
 Prussia, 22 ; at Borne and in Spain, 
 22; made colonel, 22; thinks of 
 leaving the army, 23; views of, 
 on 1848, 23; made Chief of the 
 Staff of the 4th Corps, 23; at 
 Magdeburg, 24 ; becomes friend 
 of the Crown Prince, afterwards 
 King and Emperor, 24 ; import- 
 ance of this, 24 ; is made general, 
 25 ; aide-de-camp of Prince Frede- 
 rick, afterwards Emperor, 25 ; in 
 England, 25 ; " Letters of, on 
 Russia," 25-26; experiences of 
 Paris, remarks of, on French 
 army, 26-7; made Chief of the 
 General Staff, 28; co-operates 
 with the King and Roon in re- 
 forming the Prussian army, 35 ; 
 his work on the Staff, 36; his 
 great influence in the work of 
 military reform, 36-42 ; his work 
 on tke campaign of 1859 in Italy, 
 37; projects of, in the war of 
 1866 frustrated, 45 ; he assembles 
 the Prussian armies on the fron- 
 tiers of Saxony and Bohemia, 47 ; 
 alternatives presented to him, 49 ; 
 he invades Saxony and Bohemia 
 on a double line of operations, 
 50 ; he reaches the theatre of war, 
 64; moves towardi the Elbe, 64; 
 directs the- movements of the 
 
INDEX. 
 
 417 
 
 Crown Prince to Sadowa, 67-8 ; 
 anecdote of, on the field, 76 ; his 
 skilful but cautions advance on 
 Vienna, 79 ; he cuts Benedek off, 
 80 ; reflections on his operations 
 in 1866, 81, seqq. ; co-operates in 
 the reforms made in the Prussian 
 and German armies after Sadowa, 
 96 ; plan of campaign of, in 1870 ; 
 113, seqq. ; probably misses a great 
 opportunity after Worth and 
 Spicheren, 136 ; operations of, in 
 the advance to the Moselle, 140; 
 and after Borny, 145, seqq.; 
 whether he made a mistake, 147 ; 
 he directs the operations that lead 
 to Gravelotte, 159; how far re- 
 sponsible for the mistakes made, 
 166 ; he forms the Army of the 
 Meuse, 173 ; invests Metz, 174 ; 
 fine operations of, against the 
 Army of Chalons, 188-9; harsh 
 conduct of, at the capitulation of 
 Sedan, 208 ; he directs the Army 
 of the Meuse and the Third Army 
 to Paris, 215; fault of this strategy, 
 215; he invests Paris, 223, seqq.; 
 treats the resistance of Paris and 
 France with contempt, 238-9 ; his 
 good fortune in the surrender of 
 Metz, 258; he directs the First 
 and Second Armies to strengthen 
 the external zone round Paris, 
 262-3; he strengthens the posi- 
 tions of the besiegers, 263 ; makes 
 a mistake in these operations, 
 266 ; prepares to raise the siege 
 of Paris after Coulmiers, 271 ; is 
 at last convinced of the power of 
 the resistance of the French na- 
 tion, 275 ; sends the Grand Duke 
 to the West in error, 279 ; directs 
 the attack on the Army of the 
 Loire at Orleans, 287 ; still further 
 strengthens the external zone, 
 306, seqq. ; his position around 
 Paris becomes formidably strong, 
 310 ; he withdraws Prince Frede- 
 rick Charles and the Grand Duke 
 from the pursuit of Chanzy, 318 ; 
 becomes master of the situation 
 round Paris, 326 ; conspicuous 
 ability of, in the later stages of 
 the war, 330; dislikes bombarding 
 Paris, 359 ; sends an army under 
 Manteuffel to attack Bourbaki, 
 369 ; he insists on the cession of 
 Alsace and Lorraine, 378; his un- 
 wisdom in this, 379 ; his great 
 
 position at the end of the war, 
 386; honours bestowed on him, 
 386; the later years of his life, 
 387 ; his attitude in the Reich- 
 stag and House of Peers, 389 ; his 
 pursuits at Creisau, 390, seqq. ; 
 his literary and scientific tastes, 
 391; his theological sympathies 
 and piety, 391-2 ; his last years 
 as Chief of the Staff, 394; he 
 resigns the office, 394 ; national 
 festival on the anniversary of his 
 90th birthday, 395 ; his peaceful 
 death, 396 ; estimate of his career, 
 his achievements, and character, 
 397, 411. 
 
 Moltke, Ludwig, 11, 19. 
 
 Moltke, Marie, wife of Moltke, her 
 character, 19 ; her death, 20. 
 
 Montmedy, fall of, 306. 
 
 Munchengratz, combat at, 61. 
 
 N. 
 
 NACHOD, battle of, 16. 
 
 Napoleon, 29, 30, 55; he condemns 
 the operations of Frederick the 
 Great in 1756 and 1757, 82-3, 99, 
 110, 192 note ; remarks upon the 
 surrender of Maxen,259 note, 371, 
 407. 
 
 Napoleon III. baffled after Sadowa, 
 97 ; attempts of, to increase and 
 reform the French army frustra- 
 ted, 103; reluctantly consents to 
 the war with Germany, 109 ; his 
 plan for the campaign, 110-11 ; 
 he reaches Metz and perhaps 
 misses an opportunity, 118 ; fatal 
 hesitation of, after Worth and 
 Spicheren , 138 ; he leaves the Army 
 at Metz, 149 ; with Macmahon and 
 the Army of Chalons, 180 ; disap- 
 proves of the march of Macmahon, 
 196; at Sedan, 207. 
 
 Nisib, battle of, 16. 
 
 Noiseeville, battle of, 245. 
 
 North, Army of (see Farre, Faul- 
 herbe). 
 
 O. 
 
 ORLEANS, battle of, and defeat of the 
 Army of the Loire, 287-8. 
 
 P. 
 
 PARCHIM, birthplace of Moltke, 3. 
 E 6 
 
418 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Paris, excitement of, when war de- 
 clared in, 1870, 109 ; evil influence 
 of opinion of, in the operations of 
 the French, 118, 132, 138, 183, 
 192 ; revolution in, 219 ; Pro- 
 visional Government formed in, 
 220 ; preparations of, to stand a 
 siege, 221, seqq. ; description of 
 natural and artificial defences of, 
 225, seqq. ; investment of, 228, 
 seqq. ; energy of the citizens, 232, 
 seqq.; outbreak in, 234; great 
 sortie from, 289, seqq. ; sortie 
 from 21st December, 323 ; heroic 
 and patient attitude if, 325 ; the 
 forts and enceinte bombarded, 
 358-9; and the city, 360; com- 
 plete failure of the attack, 361 ; 
 last sortie from, 362 ; partial rising 
 in, 363 ; sufferings of the popula- 
 tion, 364 ; capitulation of, 364. 
 
 Paschen, Henrietta, mother of 
 Moltke, 3. 
 
 Peronne, fall of, 351. 
 
 Prague, treaty of, 80. 
 
 Prussia, at war with Austria and the 
 German Confederation in 1866, 
 43 ; stands at first on the de- 
 fensive, 43 ; victorions in 1866, 
 80 ; head of the Confederation of 
 the North of Germany, 93 ; ag- 
 grandisement of, after Sadowa,93. 
 
 R. 
 
 REINFORCEMENTS, immense, sent to 
 the German armies, 333. 
 
 Rhine, Army of, 112 ; slow con- 
 centration of, in 1870, 112 ; dis- 
 semination of, on the French 
 frontier, 113 ; dangerous position 
 of, in August, 120; retreat of, 
 after Worth and Spicheren, 137-8; 
 defeated at Mars La Tour, 149; 
 and at Gravelotte, 160; invested 
 at Metz, 174 ; is surrendered by 
 Bazaine, 256. 
 
 Ronciere de Noury, Admiral, takes 
 part in the sortie of 21 at December, 
 323. 
 
 Roon, Minister of War of Prussia, 
 co-operates with the King and 
 Moltke in reforming the Prussian 
 army, 28. 
 
 SADOWA, battle of, 69, eeqq. (see 
 Koniggriitz). 
 
 Sarrebruck, skirmish of, 118. 
 
 Saxony, invasion of, 50. 
 
 Second Army assembled in 1866 and 
 under the command of the Crown 
 Prince of Prussia (see Crown 
 Prince of Prussia). 
 
 Second Army assembled in 1870, 
 and under the command of Prince 
 Frederick Charles (see Prince 
 Frederick Charles). 
 
 Sedan, battle of, 202, seqq. 
 
 Skalitz, battle of, 62. 
 
 Soor, battle at, 61. 
 
 Soult, Marshal, 38, 99, 100. 
 
 Spicheren, battle of, 128, seqq. 
 
 St. Quentin, battle of, 352. 
 
 Steinmetz, General, he commands 
 the First Army in 1870, 116; 
 advances after Worth and Spiche- 
 ren, 140; his conduct at Grave- 
 lotte, 162. 
 
 Strasbourg, siege and fall of, 210. 
 
 T. 
 
 TANN, General, defeated at Coul- 
 miers, 269 ; skilful retreat of, 270. 
 
 Thionville, fall of, 306. 
 
 Third Army, the (see Crown Prince 
 of Prussi^. 
 
 Tonl, fall of, 240. 
 
 Trautenau, battle at, 61. 
 
 Trochu, General, nominal head of 
 the Provisional Government, 220 : 
 views of, as to the defence of 
 Paris, 229 ; weakness of, 324 ; re- 
 moved from the supreme com- 
 mand, 363. 
 
 Turenne, 38, 210, 216, 318, 407, 409. 
 
 V. 
 
 VERDUN, attempt of French to re- 
 treat on, 142 ; fall of, 262. 
 
 Villars, 118; remarks of, on the 
 surrender at Blenheim, 259 note. 
 
 Villepion, combat at, 286. 
 
 Villers Bretonneux, battle of, 305. 
 
 Villiers, battle of, 295. 
 
 Vinoy, General, his retreat from 
 Mezieres, 217 ; in command in 
 Paris, 222 ; takes part in the great 
 sortie, 296 ; in that of 21st Decem- 
 ber, 323; and of 19th January, 
 362. 
 
 W. 
 WELLINGTON, 38, 379, 408. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 419 
 
 Werder, General, occupies Alsace, 
 265; at Dijon and besieges Bel- 
 fort, 307 ; defeated at Villersexel, 
 354; wins the battles of Hericourt 
 on the Lisaine, 354-8. 
 
 William, King of Prussia and Em- 
 peror, appoints Moltke Chief of 
 the General Staff, 28; opposed to 
 offensive operations in 1866, 45 ; 
 with the enemy in 1865, 64, seqq. ; 
 and in 1870, 113; proclaimed 
 Emperor at Versailles, 361. 
 
 WimpTen, General, mistakes of, at 
 Sedan, 214 ; represents the French 
 army at the capitulation, 208. 
 
 Wissembourg, combat at, 121. 
 
 Wolseley, General Lord, 85-6. 
 
 Worth, battle of, 123, ssqq. 
 
 Z. 
 
 ZASTROW, General, 128. 
 
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