Battle of Gravelotte

“ Resistance like this was so unexpected by the Germans that it dismayed them; and first wavering a moment, then becoming panic-stricken, they broke and fled, infantry, cavalry, and artillery coming down the slope without any pretence of formation, the French hotly following and pouring in a heavy and constant fire as the fugitives fled back across the ravine toward Gravelotte. With this the battle on the right had now assumed a most serious aspect, and the indications were that the French would attack the heights of Gravelotte ”

“ These conjectures are not fanciful. The duration of the food supply of a garrison cut off from the outside world varies inversely with the size of [pg 068] that garrison. The experiences of armies invading and defending the East of France also show with general accuracy what might have been expected if the rules of sound strategy had been observed. It was the actual course of events which transcended experience and set all probabilities at defiance.
The battle of Gravelotte, or St. Privat, on the 18th completed the work so hardily begun by the 3rd German corps on the 16th. ”

“ On the 17th the head-quarters of the Third Army were changed to Nancy, and the 1st Bavarian corps moved forward to St. Nicholas, which is on the left bank of the Meurthe. The nearest objective point of the Third Army was the fortress of Toul. The 6th corps had been somewhat scattered, and on the 16th and 17th the various divisions were brought together, so that they reached Bayon on the 18th. The Prussian army was arranged—previous to the decisive battle of Gravelotte, so that one portion of it could attack Metz, while another could continue the advance on Paris. ”

“ When the Count received me he was clothed in the undress uniform of the Cuirassier regiment, of which he was the colonel. During the interview which ensued, he exhibited at times deep anxiety regarding the conflict now imminent, for it was the night before the battle of Gravelotte, but his conversation was mostly devoted to the state of public sentiment in America, about which he seemed much concerned, inquiring repeatedly as to which side—France or Prussia—was charged with bringing on the war. ”

“ General von Zastrow advanced on Gravelotte and the Bois dcs Ognons. They opened a vigorous fire, which relieved in great measure the 8th corps. By two o'clock, the artillery of the Guards and of the 9th corps on the German left and of the 7th and 8th corps on the right were in full play. Nearly 250 cannon were being fired with rapidity and precision, but only one division, the 16th, had been able to take the offensive. The two infantry divisions of the 9th corps were quite inactive, as it was necessary for them to wait until the left wing of the Second Army had completed its deployment. ”

“ Breakfast over, the Chancellor invited me to accompany him in a ride to the battle-field, and I gladly accepted, as I very much desired to pass over the ground in front of Gravelotte, particularly so to see whether the Krupp guns had really done the execution that was claimed for them by the German artillery officers. Going directly through the village of Gravelotte, following the causeway over which the German cavalry had passed to make its courageous but futile charge, we soon reached the ground where the fighting had been the most severe. ”

“ He was ready for an attack, and hoped that the superiority of his position, the destructive fire of his artillery, small-arms, and machine guns would be able to repel the enemy, and bring him victory. As soon as this was accomplished the time would be propitious for making his retreat. The entire arrangement of the French for the battle of the 18th was purely a defensive one, and in no manner did they intend to make it offensive. The strictest orders were issued to the corps commanders not to advance, but to retain their positions as long as possible, no matter how great might be their loss. ”

“ But gradually the German plan was worked out; the German masses converging on all sides forced the French backward from point to point; and at last the whole line of defence gave way, and retreating, slowly fell back on Metz, having lost the real object of the battle.
It is not improbable that, in this conflict, the losses of the Germans exceeded those of the French. At Gravelotte the corps commanded by Steinmetz was repeatedly driven back with terrific slaughter, and at other points the ranks of the assailants were cruelly thinned by a destructive fire. ”

“ In war such petty fallings away from the ideal are happening all the time. They occur in every army I have ever known, and I have watched the conduct in the field of the armies of eight European nations. There is infinitely less steady valour in the soldiery of any nationality than the civilian who idealises it imagines. I never was in a battle, with the single exception of Ulundi, in the course of which I did not witness a stampede. The Germans are grand fighting men, and at Gravelotte they had the glow in them of three victories in a fortnight ”

“ The cartridges of the dead and wounded were collected and distributed; but this was a poor resource. The enemy had formed new columns of attack, composed of Saxon and Prussian troops, and these, though not without heavy loss, carried the village, and decided the battle which shut Marshal Bazaine and his great army up in Metz. The day after Gravelotte was fought and won, the German headquarters staff published an order that an attack in heavy masses like that which had won Sadowa but had failed at St Privat should never be attempted again. ”

“ Close behind the crest of the hill the ground slopes quite steeply in the direction of Metz, while on the west side the slope is gradual and regular for a distance of two thousand paces, and offering no cover of any kind to an advancing force. Furthermore, all the houses of St. Privat had been loopholed, so that the place formed a sort of fortress. The attacking army was obliged to advance over this wide open space, and fully half the distance they would be unable to use their rifles, but at the same time would be under fire of the French machine guns and artillery. ”

“ Marie aux Chenes between three battalions of French and the 5th and 6th Saxon regiments together with the first division of the Guards. The Germans attacked under very great disadvantages. The ground in the vicinity of St. Marie is quite open, and the men had no cover whatever against the French fire. The bullets from the chassepots and machine guns poured like hail across this ground as soon as the Germans began their advance. Their only way was to make a rush of perhaps one hundred or two hundred paces, then throw themselves flat on the ground and begin firing ”

“ The French were ready for them, and as soon as they were within range, the artillery, machine guns, and small-arms opened upon them with full vigor, cutting wide swaths in their ranks and covering the ground with dead and wounded. But the advance was continued in spite of this furious fire; the commanders and their staff officers remained on horseback in order that they might better control the troops, but so many of them were killed that they soon dismounted. ”

“ Just then the Saxon corps was seen advancing at double quick to the north of St. Privat, and immediately the order to advance was renewed. The soldiers made a tremendous rush, each man endeavoring to get at close quarters with the enemy. The French defended every position, fighting desperately, but they were beaten at last. ”

“ Privat soon became known along the whole line of Marshal Bazaine's army. The effect was demoralizing, and the French soon began to retreat in disorder, abandoning their arms, tents, and equipage, and seeking safety inside the walls of Metz. But the darkness which prevented the advance of the Germans also made it impossible for Marshal Bazaine to send the Imperial Guard to drive back the assailants. The battle was over. As soon as night set in all advance of the Germans was suspended. They encamped on the field and cared for the wounded. ”

“ The king personally assumed the command of the whole forces. The 12th and 9th corps moved at the appointed time, and their advance was at the Gravelotte-Conflans road. At 8.30 a.m. they had halted to wait further orders. ”

“ The only difference is that the whole of the wood of Hougomont has gone the way of a part of the Forest of Soignies. We have all of us tried to understand Waterloo; but a visit to the field itself will show that it is no more possible to understand, fully and rightly, this than any other battle, without ocular knowledge of the ground on which it was fought. A comparison of the field of Waterloo with that of Gravelotte will assist a civilian in estimating the extent of the change in tactics, which modern improvements in the weapons of war have necessitated. ”

“ Beyond all else, the arresting circumstances in the fragmentary pages, perfect in themselves but incomplete in the conception of their author, is the intellectual and the moral kinship they reveal between the soldier who fell just before the crowning humiliation of Gravelotte and the victor of Fère Champenoise, the Yser and the colossal conflict of 1918 to which historians have already applied the name of the Battle of France, rightly to suggest its magnitude. ”

“ This news of the battle of Saint-Privat caused my feverishness to return. My sleep was full of nightmares, and I had a relapse. The news was worse every day. After Saint-Privat came Gravelotte, where 36,000 men, French and German, were cut down in a few hours. Then came the sublime but powerless efforts of MacMahon, who was driven back as far as Sedan ”

“ Marshal Bazaine established his head-quarters there on the morning of the 18th, and remained there throughout the battle.
The French front was about seven miles long, and the position was an admirable one for a defending army. The left wing was especially strong, as it occupied a steep height, which was almost inaccessible, while the right wing was not so well protected, as it had no fortification to rest upon. It is generally believed that Marshal Bazaine was still confident of escaping with his army from Metz. ”

“ In Gravelotte (12 km. 700 from Metz) take the road to Doncourt (D.I.) on the right, in front of the Post Office. The road passes close to Mogador Farm, from which Kaiser Wilhelm I. saw his troops thrown into confusion and beating a hurried retreat under the cover of night.
After passing in front of Malmaison Farm, the old frontier is crossed.
Eight kilometres 900 beyond Gravelotte, Doncourt village is reached. Cross through and keep straight on along D.I. After passing by Jarny Mines, the road crosses the railway (l.c.) and enters Jarny village, 4 km. from Doncourt. ”

“ At Waterloo there were but 170,000 engaged, and at Inkerman, in the Crimean War, there were not 90,000. Some 320,000 men fought at Gravelotte [98] during the Franco-German War of 1870-71, and at Mukden, in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, the forces engaged totalled about 510,000. These numbers sink into insignificance compared with the multitudes who fought in Artois and West Flanders during the thirty days of the Ypres battle. Germany alone had not less than a million men.
[147]
Great was the price of victory. ”

“ French position, 196, 199; 204, 206; German position, 206; Goeben and Steinmetz at, 212; darkness ends fight at St. Hubert, 217; course of battle, 218–223; numbers and losses on both sides, 226, 227; 229. Gravelotte, Bazaine’s account of, 241. Gravelotte, defile, road across, 212, 213. Gravelotte, road from, to Verdun, 168, 169; road out of Metz, 159. Gravelotte battle, various names for, 228. Great Staff, German, leaves Berlin with King, 70; at Mainz, 77; 142, 188; surprised at MacMahon’s eastward march, 244. Grenier, General, his division, 149; at Colombey, 153, 154; at Vionville, 180, 181. ”

“ During the forenoon, however, the Army of the Rhine had gained the shelter of a fortified town, which they were not able to quit until they marched off to Germany as prisoners of war.
The effective strength of the German Armies present on the field of Gravelotte was 203,402 men, and 726 guns; it would not be easy to calculate how many were actually engaged in the fight, but the forces held in reserve were considerable. The number on the French side has been put as low as 120,000, and as high as 150,000 men, and probably about 530 guns. ”

“ The Ninth Army Corps, composed of Schleswig-Holsteiners, Fritz’s compatriots and close neighbours, were the first to come into collision with the enemy’s van but soon the Hanoverian artillery had to follow suit; and bye-and-bye, in the main attack on Gravelotte, the infantry became engaged at last, much to the relief of the men, who were bursting with impatience at being allowed to rest idly on their arms when such stirring scenes were being enacted before their eyes. ”

“ Rushing out of Gravelotte, the foremost battalions of the IId Corps pushed forward to the quarries, and up to within a few hundred paces of Point-du-Jour; but those following were soon entangled in the turmoil of the troops under fire south of St.-Hubert, and any further advance toward Moscow was arrested. Darkness was falling, and friend became indistinguishable from foe. So the firing was stopped; but not until ten o'clock did it entirely cease. ”

“ Three batteries succeeded in struggling through the mass, and, in coming into action, their left resting on St Hubert. But the remainder of the troops had to be withdrawn, and confusion breaking out in their rear, exposed to all the random bullets and shells of the French, a panic ensued, thousands of men breaking away and flying in wildest confusion through Gravelotte towards the west. Hardly had they melted away when the French made a most brilliant counter-attack from their main position between the farms of Leipzig and Moscow. This was stopped almost entirely by the Prussian artillery fire ”