Recollections of Thirty-nine Years in the Army Gwalior and the Battle of Maharajpore, 1843

16 August 1870

Battle of Mars-la-Tour

CHAPTER XXVI

From that time onwards my attention was directed to the remarkable development of military events by which those declarations were followed. In the first instance there was the small success of the French at Saarbruck on August 2, followed on the 4th by their severe defeat at Weissenburg, after which one defeat after another followed in quick succession; namely, Woerth and Spicheren on the 6th; Forbachen on the 7th; St. Avold on the 9th, when the partial investment of Metz began; Strasburg invested on the 10th; the battle of Courcelles or Longville, near Penge, on the 14th; the battles of Mars la Tour, Gravelotte, and St. Privat, 16th to 18th, both inclusive, leading to the complete investment of Metz. The aspect of affairs had been so affected by those events that preparations for the defence of Paris began on the 23rd. The Germans following up their victories by that of Beaumont, near the Belgian frontier, on the 30th, forced MacMahon to fall back upon Sedan, after sustaining very severe losses in men, guns, and stores. In other directions, during the same period, one success after another continued to attend the advance of the invaders.

1 September 1870 (capitulation 2 September)

Battle of Sedan (1870)

CHAPTER XXVI

From that time onwards my attention was directed to the remarkable development of military events by which those declarations were followed. In the first instance there was the small success of the French at Saarbruck on August 2, followed on the 4th by their severe defeat at Weissenburg, after which one defeat after another followed in quick succession; namely, Woerth and Spicheren on the 6th; Forbachen on the 7th; St. Avold on the 9th, when the partial investment of Metz began; Strasburg invested on the 10th; the battle of Courcelles or Longville, near Penge, on the 14th; the battles of Mars la Tour, Gravelotte, and St. Privat, 16th to 18th, both inclusive, leading to the complete investment of Metz. The aspect of affairs had been so affected by those events that preparations for the defence of Paris began on the 23rd. The Germans following up their victories by that of Beaumont, near the Belgian frontier, on the 30th, forced MacMahon to fall back upon Sedan, after sustaining very severe losses in men, guns, and stores. In other directions, during the same period, one success after another continued to attend the advance of the invaders.

CHAPTER XXVI

An impression was “in the air” that all was not well with that army, but beyond rumours more or less vague nothing seemed to indicate knowledge of actual events of the previous day, still in progress at, and in the vicinity of Sedan. Afternoon and evening brought more definite particulars; telegrams from Mezières announced that MacMahon was wounded, fugitives inundating that town, all communication with Sedan “interrupted”; but to inquiries made in official quarters there was silence.

CHAPTER XXVI

Vinoy at the head of the 13th Army Corps arrives from Mezières, his retreat therefrom, in face of the Germans flushed by victory at Sedan, looked upon as the most masterly performance yet achieved. His forces occupy camp in the Avenue de la Grande Armée, and thither crowds resort to see the men who had performed so successful a feat; the order and regularity in all that concerns them indicating their training and discipline in strong contrast to what was so recently experienced in the Champ de Mars. But chiefly was attention directed to certain mysterious objects carefully concealed by canvas coverings, but with an outline like that of artillery guns. These were _mitrailleuses_, from which great results were anticipated.

CHAPTER XXVI

From the day on which intelligence of the great defeat at Sedan reached Paris, a degree of enthusiasm became manifest among official classes and private individuals, in regard to arrangements for possible sick and wounded, which contrasted very favourably with the confusion and indecision in military affairs already recorded. The ordinary military hospitals under administration of the Intendance were equipped to their utmost extent; various large buildings fitted up as _annexes_ thereto; societies of various kinds, and pertaining to different nationalities, established hospitals, or _ambulances sedentaires_ as such places came to be called, at different points throughout the city; several clubs were similarly transformed, and numerous private families made what arrangements they could for the reception of sick or wounded men in case of emergency. The medical faculty of the capital volunteered their services in a body; ladies devoted themselves to “ambulance” work in a manner and on a scale never before witnessed, while volunteers as _brancardiers_ gave their names in numbers beyond requirements even according to the most liberal estimates of probable casualties. Thus it came about that provision was complete for 37,000 patients.