Graf von Helmuth Moltke

“ All that the leader of an army can do is to form a correct estimate of the circumstances, to decide for the best for the moment, and carry out his purpose unflinchingly.
The advance of the French troops to the frontier, while as yet imperfectly mobilized, which was an extremely hazardous measure in itself, was evidently with the intent of utilizing the temporary advantage of having a superior force at immediate disposition by taking at unawares the German armies in the act of developing their advance-movements. ”

“ The enemy drifted away in the darkness. The constant roll of wheels, the noise of departing railway trains and the confusion of cries indicated a retreat. Yet the prisoners who were constantly being brought in, with one accord reported that a strong force was still encamped in the forest. Numerous watch-fires blazed there through the night, and instead of resting, it seemed evident that the hostile troops were preparing to engage in fresh attempts. At half-past ten the outposts reported the approach of a strong force from Pontlieue. ”

“ The first news of a quite different disposition of Bourbaki's army only reached General Chanzy on the 29th, when it was already entered upon. Nor in other respects did Gambetta's reply convey either distinct orders or sufficient information. "You have decimated the Mecklenburgers," wrote Gambetta, "the Bavarians no longer exist, the rest of the German Army is a prey to disquietude and exhaustion. Let us persevere, and we shall drive these hordes from our soil with empty hands." The plan of the Provisional Government was to be the one "which would most demoralize the German army." ”

“ It was already one o'clock when the advanced guard of the IXth climbed up the hollow way, deep in snow, followed by two battalions of the 12th Brigade, and by two batteries straining every nerve. The infantry plunged forward through the wood, strongly held as it was by the enemy, straight on Villiers; the skirmishers of the Fusilier battalion of the 11th Regiment seized three mitrailleuses in action, and when the French had abandoned the village, turned them against the wood. ”

“ Considerable difficulties had to be met in attacking the enemy's lines, and greater must inevitably arise if the attack should succeed. It was vain to think of bringing through the miles-long trains which are indispensable for victualling an army. Serious embarrassment would ensue when the troops had consumed the three days' rations they would carry with them. To live on the country the army must disperse itself ”

“ A wild turmoil ensued, in which isolated bands offered violent resistance, while others surrendered by thousands; nor was it until five o'clock that the Germans had complete possession of the forest.
Meanwhile long columns of French could be seen pouring down on Sedan from the surrounding heights. Disordered bodies of troops huddled closer and closer in and up to the fortress, and shells from the German batteries on both sides of the Meuse were constantly exploding in the midst of the chaos. ”

“ The negotiations were held at Donchery in the night between the 1st and 2nd September. On the part of the Germans it had to be insisted on that they durst not forego the advantages gained over so powerful an enemy as France. Since the French had regarded the victory of German arms over other nationalities in the light of an offence to France, any untimely generosity might cause them to forget their own defeat. The only course to pursue was to insist upon the disarmament and captivity of their entire army, with the exception that the officers were to be free on parole. ”

“ Whatever is published in a military history is always dressed for effect: yet it is a duty of piety and patriotism never to impair the prestige which identifies the glory of our Army with personages of lofty position. ”

“ General von Bredow, commanding the 12th Cavalry Brigade, first traversed in column the shallow hollow sinking down from Vionville, then wheeled to the right and mounted the slope to the eastward, both his regiments on one front. Received immediately with heavy artillery and infantry fire, he threw himself on the hostile ranks. The first line is ridden over, the line of guns is broken through, gunners and teams are put to the sword. The second French line is powerless to resist this vigorous onslaught, and even the more distant batteries limbered up to drive away. ”

“ The scene is Versailles. The French are making a sortie from Paris, and the generals, instead of betaking themselves to their fighting troops, are assembled to consider whether head-quarters may safely remain any longer [418] at Versailles. Opinions are divided, no one dares speak out. The Chief of the General Staff, who is above all called on to express his views, remains silent. The perplexity seems to be great. Only the War Minister rises and protests with the greatest emphasis against a measure so injurious from a political and military point of view as a removal. ”

“ Minister of War, he had at the same time, by the French system of government, the direction of military operations, and certainly he was not the man to loosen his grasp of the chief command. For in a Republic, a victorious general at the head of the Army would at once have become Dictator in his stead. M. de Freycinet, another civilian, served under Gambetta as a sort of Chief of the General Staff, and the energetic, but dilettante, commandership exercised by these gentlemen cost France very dear. ”

“ The enemy was everywhere driven back; and that the German forces should not be split up, it was thought advisable that they should be concentrated into three principal groups. The Ist Army was therefore to assemble at Beauvais, the Detachment at Chartres, the IInd Army near Orleans, where the troops were to have the needful rest, and their full efficiency was to be re-established by the arrival of reservists and equipment. If the French should engage in any new enterprises, they were to be allowed to approach within striking distance, and then were to be driven back by a vigorous offensive. ”

“ At half-past three the Prussian and Saxon battalions hurled themselves on the town from the south, the west, and the north, with loud hurrahs and without returning the fire of the enemy. The French were driven from it with the loss of several hundred men taken prisoners.
The Saxons eagerly followed up, and north of Ste. Marie there ensued a lively infantry fight, which masked the fire of the artillery. The brigade having obeyed the order to retire, the batteries immediately re-opened fire, and the repeated efforts of the French to recover the lost position were frustrated. ”

“ Whereas by the war-establishment the average is one officer to every forty men, in this battle one officer fell to every twenty-three men; glorious testimony to the example set by their leaders to their brave men, but also a loss which could not be restored during the course of the war. Altogether the six battles fought in the first fourteen days of August had cost the German army 50,000 men. [16] It was naturally impossible immediately to call out at home a sufficient levy in substitution for the losses; but reinforcements drawn from the time-expired cadres were already bespoken. ”

“ Quentin, all, even the troops last thrown into the action, have become so entangled that not one single tactically complete body of infantry remains at disposition. Without the support of such a body, cavalry at night will be seriously detained before every obstacle and each petty post of the enemy, and thus alone its exertions will rarely be repaid. ”

“ The Army of the Rhine which issued from Metz on August 31st, with a strength of 137,000 men, [30] had been successfully opposed by no more than 36,000 Prussians. In this battle for the first time in the war the French were the assailants, the Germans had the rôle of the defence. That the Germans lost 3400 men against the loss of 3000 by the French, must be attributed to the higher properties of the infantry weapon of the latter. But the superiority of the Prussian artillery was decisively proved, and this it was which rendered possible General von Manteuffel's unshaken resistance. ”

“ There is no doubt that Bazaine was influenced, not wholly by military, but also by political considerations; still it may be asked whether he could have acted differently in the prevailing confusion of France. From the correspondence referred to, and his behaviour in the battles before Metz, his reluctance to quit the place was evident. Under its walls he could maintain a considerable army in unimpaired condition till the given moment. At the head of the only French army [104] not yet shattered, [26] he might find himself in a position of greater power than any other man in the country. ”

“ The Marshal had again summoned his commanders to assemble at Grimont, this time to inform them of his dispositions for the attack. It was evident that the French could not advance towards the north until they had gained elbow-room by means of an offensive movement in the eastern direction, and had secured their right flank. For even if they succeeded in breaking through the Malroy-Charly line, they could get no further so long as the Germans were at Servigny and swept with their fire the plain as far as the Moselle, a [108] space not more than 5000 paces broad. ”

“ To-day the question is not so much whether a nation is strong enough to make war, as whether its Government is powerful enough to prevent war. For example, united Germany has hitherto used her strength only to maintain European peace ”

“ General von Manstein, the commander of the IXth Corps, had observed from Verneville a French camp at Amanvillers, which apparently lay in negligent repose. From his standpoint it could not be discerned that to his left about St. Privat great masses of troops were in position. Thinking that in this camp he had the enemy's right wing before him, he determined to act on his original orders and at once take the foe by surprise. Eight of his batteries at once opened fire.
But the French troops showed great alacrity in moving up into their prepared positions. ”

“ The defeated French army was still numerically greatly superior to the German force. The troops had to be again called upon for severe exertions. They were required once more to cross a thinly-populated mountainous region, where it would be a matter of great difficulty to procure food and the shelter needful during the bitter winter nights. Strong hostile forces had to be left in the rear at Langres, Dijon, and Auxonne, and that under very insufficient observation. However, in spite of every obstacle the advance in this new direction was begun on the 19th. ”

“ The winter marches of the 6th Cavalry Division were exceptionally arduous. It was almost impossible to travel excepting by the high roads, and they were so slippery with ice that it was often necessary to dismount and lead the horses. The inhabitants of the Sologne were extremely hostile, and troopers patrolling in advance were fired upon in every village. The French forces, on the other hand, made but a feeble resistance. Numerous prisoners and large quantities of abandoned war matériel bore witness to a hasty retreat, in many cases indicated panic-flight. ”

“ It was clearly most unadvisable to challenge by renewed attacks an enemy who still outnumbered the Germans; which action, since no further reinforcements could be hoped for, could not but jeopardize the success so dearly bought. The troops were exhausted, most of their ammunition was spent, the horses had been under the saddle for fifteen hours without fodder; some of the batteries could only move at a walk, and the nearest Army Corps on the left bank of the Moselle, the XIIth, [10] was distant more than a day's march. ”

“ During the whole day the French columns were crossing the Swiss frontier. The Army Reserve in Pontarlier was at the beginning swept away by the tide of baggage-waggons and drivers, and only joined the XVIIIth Corps on reaching La Cluse. During the night they both followed the general line of retreat. Only the cavalry and the 1st Division of the XXIVth Corps reached the neighbouring department of l'Ain to the southward, the latter force reduced to a few hundred men. There crossed the frontier on to Swiss soil some 80,000 Frenchmen. ”

“ The pioneers immediately set about laying a dam of fascines across the ditch. A party sent over in a boat found the work abandoned. The gorge was closed under heavy rifle fire from the ramparts of the main fortress, and the parapet reversed so as to face the place.
The next lunette to the left, No. 52, was merely an earthwork, and the attack had already been pushed forward as far as the edge of the ditch, but earth screens had first to be thrown up and covered in with railway iron, as a protection against the heavy fire of shell from bastion No. 12. ”

“ One Division of the French Army was ordered to the Spanish frontier as a corps of observation; only such troops as were absolutely necessary were left in Algiers and in Civita Vecchia; Paris and Lyons were sufficiently garrisoned. The entire remainder of the army: 332 battalions, 220 squadrons, 924 guns, in all about 300,000 men, formed the Army of the Rhine, which, divided into eight Corps, was, at any rate in the first instance, to be under the sole direction of a central head. ”

“ On the whole an attack from the south-west on the investing army before Paris seemed the likeliest event, since this would threaten both the German Head-quarter in Versailles and the siege-park at Villacoublay; while the German reinforcements from the eastward would have the furthest distance to reach the quarter indicated.
The French forces to the west of Orleans were already extended over a wide stretch of country from Beaugency to Châteaudun. The volunteers grew bolder every day, and the people more hostile. ”

“ At the beginning of the blockade, inundations and marsh-land rendered Schlettstadt, a fortified town of 10,000 inhabitants, unapproachable on the east and south, and partly on the north. The place itself, perfectly safe from storm, with high walls and a wet ditch, was armed with 120 guns, but garrisoned with only 2000 men, for the most part Gardes-Mobiles. There was a deficiency of safe casemates, and on the west [173] front vineyards and hedgerows favoured the near approach of assaults, while the railway embankment was a ready-made protecting wall for the construction of the first parallel. ”