Fritz and Eric Page 3

  CHAPTER THREE.

  GRAVELOTTE.

  The actual declaration of war by France against Germany was not madeuntil the 15th of July, 1870, reaching Berlin some four days later; but,for some weeks prior to that date, there is not the slightest doubt thatboth sides were busily engaged in mobilising their respective armies andmaking extensive preparations for a struggle that promised at the outsetto be "a war to the knife"--the cut-and-dried official announcement ofhostilities only precipitating the crisis and bringing matters to ahead, so to speak.

  On the general order being given throughout the states of the Empire toplace the national army on a war footing, in a very few days themarvellous system by which the German people can be marshalled forbattle, "each tribe and family according to its place, and not in anaggregate of mere armed men," was in full operation throughout the land;and, under the influence of fervid zeal, of well-tested discipline, andof skilful arrangement, the Teuton hosts became truly formidable. Fromthe recruiting ground allotted to it, each separate battalion speedilycalled in its reserves, expanding into full strength, the regiments soformed being at once arrayed into divisions and corps under provedcommanders, furnished with every appliance which modern military sciencedeemed necessary. These battalions composed the first line of defencefor the Fatherland; while behind them, to augment the regular troops,again following out local distinctions and keeping up "the familyarrangement," the Landwehr stood in the second line; the additionalreserve of the Landsturm--yet to be called out in the event of freshlevies being required for garrisoning the fortresses with this militiaforce, so as to enable the trained soldiery to move onward and fill upthe casualties of the campaign--forming a third line of defence.

  These gigantic masses were organised with the celerity and precision ofclockwork, and then sent forward westward, perfectly equipped--in thehighest sense a national army, being over four hundred thousand strong!

  Day after day, up to the end of July, the different railway lines ofGermany bore the mighty host onward to the banks of the Rhine in endlesssuccession of train-loads. Mass after mass of armed men, duly suppliedwith all the material of war, advanced rapidly, yet in due pre-arrangedorder, to the points selected for their gathering; while, in themeantime, the fortresses along the line of the river, where the firstFrench attack was expected to be made, were put in a proper state ofdefence, and now, with strong garrisons, repaired works, ditches filled,and ramparts crowned with Krupp cannon, were prepared to defy theinvader. By the first week of August three great armies had takenpossession of the strip of territory, lying between the lower stream ofthe Moselle and the Rhine, which had for centuries been a battlefieldbetween the German and French races, and which was now to witnessfighting on a scale which put every previous campaign into the shade.The first army, under the veteran General Steinmetz, who had won hisspurs at Waterloo, had been moved from the north down the valley of theMoselle and along the railway from Bingen, with its headquarters at thestrongly fortified town of Coblentz. The second, or "central army,"under Prince Frederick Charles, "the Red Prince," as his enthusiasticsoldiers styled him, occupied Mannheim and Mayence, guarding the Vosges,through which was the principal avenue to the heart of the covetedRhineland provinces; while the third army, under the Crown Prince ofPrussia, who, as is well-known, is married to our own "Princess Royal,"had its headquarters at Landau, where also the Baden and Wurtembergcontingents had to rendezvous.

  "The ball was opened"--to use the light-hearted expression of a Frenchjournalist in describing the commencement of the murderous struggle forsupremacy between the two nations--at Saarbruck on the 2nd of August,1870, when the late ill-fated Prince Imperial of France received his"baptism of fire"; but the first real engagement of the war did notoccur till two days later, at Weissembourg, this being succeeded by theterrible battle of Woerth on the 6th of the month, when the German armyunder the Crown Prince of Prussia crumpled up the forces of Mcmahon, andthus effectually disposed of the previously much-vaunted superiority ofthe French military system, with its chassepot rifle and mitrailleuse.

  With these initial victories of Germany we have not much to do, however;for Fritz belonged to the Hanoverian division, which formed one of theunits of the Tenth Army Corps, under the command of Steinmetz, which didnot come into action until later on.

  On joining his regiment at headquarters, our young recruit from Lubeck,hastily summoned to exchange the pen and desk of a Dutch merchant'scounting-house for the needle-gun and camp of the soldier, discovered tohis great joy, that, instead of having to go through the tedious routineof garrison duty--which he had expected would have mainly composed hisexperiences of the war--the French invasion of Rhineland had so suddenlycollapsed, that the Teuton forces, which had been assembled for theoriginal purpose of defending the native soil, were now able to take theoffensive and in their turn invade the territory of the foe; and, thus,he would be able to see active service on the field. This was aconsummation dearly desired on his part, for he was young and ardent;although, perhaps, the order to go forwards was not quite so muchrelished by some of his comrades, who were married men and preferred thequiet of their home fireside to the many risks and discomforts of acampaign, which, at the beginning, they did not look upon so hopefullyas their leaders.

  "Hurrah!" he exclaimed one morning at Coblentz, when the division inwhich he served was paraded on the Platz in heavy marching order, themen hurriedly falling into the ranks. "No more sentry rounds now andguard-mounting; we're off to Paris!"

  "Don't you crow too loudly, my young bantam," said a veteran near him;"we'll have a long march first, and then perhaps one of those confoundedchassepot bullets we've heard so much of will put you feet foremost, ina way you won't like!"

  "Bah!" replied Fritz; "I'll run the chance of that. Anything is betterthan stopping here kicking our heels in this old town, while ourbrothers are gaining laurels in the battlefield!"

  "Ach, mein lieber," said the other; "wait till you've seen a little ofthe reality of war, the same as I did four years ago at Sadowa; you'llthen think differently. It all looks very well now, with your smart newuniform and bright helmet; but, when the one is ragged with bayonet cutsand bloody and dirty, and the other doesn't preserve you from a leadenheadache, you will prefer, like me, barrack life--aye, even inCoblentz!"

  "Hush there! order in the ranks!" sang out an officer at this moment,stopping Fritz's answer; and, the word of command being presently givento march, the conversation was not renewed.

  After the fearful loss they had suffered at Woerth, which battle wasfollowed up by the sanguinary defeat of Frossard at Forbach, to the leftof their line, on the same day, the French fell back on Metz as theirrallying point, hoping by means of the vast entrenched camp there andits facilities of communication with Chalons and Verdun, to be able tomake a stand against the enemy, now pressing them so sore. Militarycritics say that this was the greatest mistake made by the EmperorNapoleon's advisers; and that, had the forces under Bazaine retreatedfarther to the west--after throwing a sufficient garrison into Metz--they might have been able to effect a junction with the defeated army ofMcmahon, which that general was withdrawing into the interior and fromwhich they were now completely cut off.

  Be that as it may, however, during this interval of inactivity, when theshattered fragments of the magnificent French army--which had so proudlyassumed the offensive but a bare fortnight before along the frontiers ofthe Rhine--were idling away precious moments that were fraught withperil and disaster to the Gallic race, the huge German masses, animatedby a sense of victory and the consciousness of a superiority in arms aswell as in numbers, were sweeping forward like a whirlwind ofdestruction. The Crown Prince, who had routed Mcmahon at Woerth anddriven the wedge in that separated him from Bazaine, continued hisonward march on the left of the German line through the passes of theVosges into the fertile plains of Champagne. At the same time, PrinceFrederick Charles, with the main portion of the second army, had crossedthe Moselle at Pont-a-Mousson; and, mo
ving northwards, was already in aposition to threaten the line of the French retreat on Verdun, while theremainder of the Red Prince's forces were advancing to the eastward ofMetz. The columns, too, of Steinmetz, moving with mathematicalregularity at an equal rate of progression, were also being echelonnedalong the northern face of the fortress, just within striking distance.

  To put it concisely, some two hundred and fifty thousand unbeaten Germansoldiers, with an artillery numbering over eight hundred guns, almostsurrounded the stronghold of Lorraine and the far weaker and partlydemoralised force which the French had gathered together beneath itswalls, only, as it turned out subsequently, to court defeat andannihilation.

  It was not until the 14th of August that the series of battles that wereto rage round Metz, began.

  Early in the morning of that day--apparently for the first time struckwith an apprehension of having his retreat on Chalons by way of Verduninterfered with and his communications with his base of supply cut off,thus appreciating his critical position only when it was too late toremedy it--the French Marshal commenced crossing the Moselle with hisvanguard. The entire body of troops, however, did not reach the river;for, three corps, which had been encamped to the eastward of thefortress, delayed their departure until the afternoon--a tardiness thatenabled Steinmetz to attack their rear and detain them on the spot,until the flanking movement of Prince Frederick Charles' army beyond theMoselle towards Pont-a-Mousson had been completed. A bloody andindecisive action was the result, in which, if the Germans did not gaina victory, they succeeded in accomplishing their object--that ofdetaining the French troops before Metz, until their retreat on Verdunshould be impossible of achievement.

  On the 16th occurred the battle of Vionville; and, two days later, thatof Gravelotte, the bloodiest contest that took place between theopposing forces throughout the entire war--the first general engagement,too, in which our friend Fritz really "smelt powder" and became anactive participant.

  The rough skirmishing work which some of the divisions of the army corpsunder Steinmetz had already had, during the intervening days since the14th, somewhat prepared the soldiers of the Waterloo veteran forbutchery. They could plainly perceive from his tactics that theirgeneral was one who would spare no sacrifice of human life in order togain his end and defeat the enemy. The corpses piled high on the fieldof Vionville of the Cuirassiers and Ziethen Hussars, who had beenordered to charge batteries of artillery in Balaclava fashion, affordedproof enough of that; and the men said, with a laugh and a shrug of theshoulders, "Ah, yes; we're going to have a warm time of it now with `OldBlood and Iron,' we are!"

  And they had!

  Fritz had barely dropped to sleep on the evening of the 17th, when,towards midnight, he was aroused by the wild music of military trumpets,blown apparently from every bivouac in his neighbourhood for milesround.

  "Who goes there?" he exclaimed, raising himself up on his elbow, buthalf awake and dreaming he was on sentry duty.

  "Rouse up! rouse up!" shouted a comrade in his ear, and then herecollected all at once where he was. As he sprang to his feet, thenoise throughout the camp told without further explanation that animportant crisis was at hand, for the measured tramp of marchingbattalions pulsated the ground like the beat of a muffled drum, whileabove this sound could be heard the roll of wheels and dragging of gunlimbers, and the ringing of horses' hoofs, all swelling into a perfectroar of sound.

  Bazaine, having been driven back from the forward positions his army hadattained on the Verdun and Etain roads, in its progress of retreattowards Chalons, by the intervention of the German forces, now sought afresh vantage-ground during the brief respite allowed by his enemy--one,that is, where he would be able not only to offer a determinedresistance, but also retain his lines of retreat; and whence, ifvictorious, he might be able to break forth and make good his intendedmovement on Chalons. Such a position he found in the range of uplands,which, intersected at points by ravines, with brooks and difficultground in front and with belts of wood in the near distance, extendsfrom the village of Gravelotte on the north-east to Privat-la-Montaigne,beyond the road that runs from Metz to the whilom German frontier; and,throughout the whole of the previous day the Marshal had been busilyengaged in stationing his troops along this line collecting every meansof defence which could add to its natural strength.

  The arrangements of Bazaine certainly gave proof on this occasion ofthat tactical skill for which he had previously been renowned.

  The French left, occupying Gravelotte at the junction of the roads fromVerdun and Etain and thence extended along the high-road to Metz, held arange of heights, with a wood beneath, which commanded all theneighbouring approaches. This position, besides, was protected in frontby lines of entrenchments, with rifle-pits and a formidable display ofartillery; and, shielded in its rear by the heavily armed fort of SaintQuentin, might well-nigh be considered impregnable. Bazaine's centre,although not so strongly placed, had also the advantage of risingground; and, the right of the line was equally protected by natural andartificial means. Along this admirably selected fighting ground theFrench Marshal posted some hundred thousand men altogether, clinging toGravelotte with his best troops, and leaving about twenty thousand as areserve near Metz--thus acting entirely on the defensive.

  While Bazaine had been making these preparations, the German leaders hadnot by any means been idle. On the same day that the French Marshal wasentrenching himself on his chosen field of battle, the entire force ofthe second army, under the Red Prince, approaching from Pont-a-Mousson,had come into line; and, in communication with the first army, under old"Blood and Iron" Steinmetz, had completely crossed the French, line ofretreat, occupying the Verdun and Etain roads northward from Rezonvilleto Doncourt, with the remaining corps that had remained to the east ofMetz supporting the rear and right flank. Altogether, the Germancommanders had at least nine army corps in hand; and when thereinforcements were brought up, they could calculate on possessing aforce of no less than two hundred and forty thousand men to hurl againsttheir antagonists, thus overmatched at the very outset by at least twoto one.

  The Teuton plan of battle, as subsequently detailed, premised, that, asthe French left at Gravelotte was prodigiously strong, making itextremely difficult to carry that position without enormous sacrifices,it would be preferable to move a large part of the army across Bazaine'sfront, in order to assail and crush his right wing, which was protectedin the rear by Metz, and so could not be turned in that direction. Itwas also decided that, at the same time, a forward attack should be madeas a feint on Gravelotte, the German commanders hoping that under thedouble pressure of a simultaneous onslaught on both its wings, theFrench army would lose its hold of the Verdun and Etain roads--which ofcourse it was Bazaine's object to secure--when, being driven in underthe guns of Metz, his forces would there be isolated and completely cutoff from any further action in the campaign.

  This result, it may be here stated, was ultimately attained, althoughthe turning movement against the right of the French line was found tobe impracticable shortly after it was undertaken and had to be given up,the operations of the German host being subsequently confined to anattack in front on the formidable position of Gravelotte--which, withits ridge of hills lined with fortifications and strengthened with rowsof rifle-pits that covered the slopes in every direction, overtoppingeach other like seats in a circus, seemed proof against attack.

  Marching in the darkness, he knew not whither, by the side of comradesin solid phalanx, Fritz found himself, when morning broke, at the rearof some other battalions that were concealed from the enemy behind amass of brushwood and scattered forest trees. These grew on an elevatedplateau from which a very good view could be obtained of the field ofbattle, the rising sun lighting up the whole landscape and displayingthe beautiful details of the country around, so soon, alas! to be marredby the terrible havoc of battle, bringing fire and ruin and bloodshed inits train.

  On the left, stretched out like a silver thread amid
st the green sheenof the foliage the road leading to Verdun and Paris beyond, lined alongits extent with rows of tall poplars planted with mathematicalregularity; while a series of pretty villages, each with its own churchsteeple and surrounded by charming villa residences, only a few hundredyards apart apparently, broke the monotonous regularity of the highway--Mars la Tour, Florigny, Vionville, Rezonville, Malmaison, and last,though by no means least, Gravelotte, which was in the immediateforeground. On the right were thickly wooded hills; and, far away inthe distance, glittered the peaks and pinnacles of Metz, the wholeforming a lovely panorama, spread out below in the smiling valley ofLorraine.

  As Fritz was looking on this scene with mingled feelings, a splendidregiment of uhlans dashed up behind the infantry; and, when they reachedthe brow of the hill, they broke into a wild hurrah, which almost seemedto thrill their horses, which neighed in chorus. This provoked aresponsive echo from the marching battalions on foot; and then, thecavalry galloped forwards. At the same time, distant cannonading couldbe heard in the neighbourhood of Vionville, and shells were seenbursting in the air around the French positions at Point du Jour, withthe smaller puffs of smoke from rifles in action between the treesbelow.

  The battle had begun.

  Bang, bang, went the guns; and soon the cannonade, drawing in closer andcloser upon the doomed villages, became a deafening roar, with streamsof hurtling missiles shrieking overhead and bursting with a crash atintervals. Masses of men could be perceived winding in and out alongthe main road and the side lanes like ants, a gap every now and thenshowing in their ranks when some shot had accomplished its purpose. Bytwelve o'clock the engagement had become general; although, as yet, ithad been only a battle of the guns, which bellowed and hurleddestruction on assailant and defender alike--the curious harsh gratingsound of the French mitrailleuse being plainly perceptible above thethunder of the cannon and rattle of musketry, "just like the angry growlof a cross dog under a wagon when some one pretends to take away hisbone!" as one of the men said.

  The Ninth Army Corps, composed of Schleswig-Holsteiners, Fritz'scompatriots and close neighbours, were the first to come into collisionwith the enemy's van but soon the Hanoverian artillery had to followsuit; and bye-and-bye, in the main attack on Gravelotte, the infantrybecame engaged at last, much to the relief of the men, who were burstingwith impatience at being allowed to rest idly on their arms when suchstirring scenes were being enacted before their eyes.

  This was not, however, until the French positions in front of Vionvillehad been carried, a success only achieved late in the afternoon, afterthe most desperate fighting and when the slaughter-dealing Steinmetzordered an advance in front of the enemy's defences.

  A tremendous fire of artillery was first concentrated on the Frenchworks, one hundred and twenty guns taking part in the bombardment; andthen, after about half an hour's shelling, the leading Prussian regimentdashed up the slopes above Gravelotte. The men were rushing into thevery jaws of death; for, when they had got about half-way up, themitrailleuses opened on them, doing terrible execution at closequarters. The brave fellows, however, pressed on, though they fellliterally by hundreds. Indeed, they actually got into the works, and ahalf battery of four-pounder guns which had followed them up was closein their rear on their way to the crest of the hill, when the French,who had run their mitrailleuses farther back some four hundred yards toavoid capture, opened so deadly a fire that the "forlorn hope" had toretire again down the slope--leaving the guns behind them, for everyhorse in the battery had been killed or disabled. After this, a madattempt was made to charge the hill with cavalry, the cuirassiers anduhlans dashing up the road at the French works; but men and horses weremowed down so rapidly that the scattered remnants of these finesquadrons had to retire like the infantry. A third effort was made byanother line regiment, the men advancing in skirmishing order, insteadof in column like the first pioneers of the attack; but although thisattempt was covered by a tremendous artillery fire, it was equallyunsuccessful. Some of the men certainly managed to reach the Frenchbatteries, but they were then shot down in such numbers by the terriblemitrailleuses that they could not hold their ground.

  These different episodes of the battle consumed the greater portion ofthe afternoon, although of course fighting was going on elsewhere alongthe line. Fritz's battalion was engaged in another part of the field,and in the Bois du Vaux, as well as on the opposite bank of the Moselle,it did good service in crushing in the wing of the French. Here Fritzhad an opportunity of distinguishing himself. In charging an entrenchedoutwork held by the enemy, the captain of his company got struck down bya bullet; when, as no officer remained to take his place, Fritzgallantly seized the sword of the fallen man, leading on his comrades tothe capture of the battery, which had been annoying the German reservesgreatly by its fire. Fortunately, too, for Fritz, his commandingofficer, General Von Voigts-Rhetz, not only noticed his bravery on theoccasion, but let him know that it should not be forgotten atheadquarters.

  Meanwhile, the continual bombardment of the French position wasmaintained, and about half-past six o'clock in the evening a lastdesperate attack was made on Gravelotte--the outlying farmhouse of LaVillette, which was the key to the defence, being especially assailed.The reserve artillery being brought up commenced playing upon the stillstaunchly guarded slopes with storms of shot and shell; and, presently,the farmhouse was in flames, although the garden was still held by theFrench, who had crenellated the walls, making it into a perfect redan.A gallant foot regiment then took the lead of the German forces,charging up the deadly slope, followed by a regiment of hussars; when,after more than an hour spent in the most desperate fighting of the day,the French at last began to retire from the entrenchments which they haddefended so gallantly up to now, the infantry being protected in theirretreat by the murderous mitrailleuses that had so disunited the ranksof their stubborn foes, the hoarse growl of their discharge being yetheard in the distance long after the louder and sharper reports of theguns and howitzers had generally ceased.

  The evening was now closing in, and soon darkness reigned around, theprevailing gloom being only broken by the fiery path of some bombshellwinging its parabolic flight through the air, or the long tongue of firedarting forth from the mouth of a stray cannon; while, in the sky above,the lurid smoke-clouds of burning houses joined with the shades of nightin casting a pall over the scene of hideous carnage which the bright dayhad witnessed, hiding it for ever save from the memories of those whowere there and had shared its horrors.

  The battle of Gravelotte was lost and won; but, to the Germans, thevictory was almost akin to a defeat, no less than five-and-twentythousand of the best troops of the "Fatherland" being either killed orwounded!

  Fritz escaped scathless through all the perils of the day, in spite,too, of his risking his life most unnecessarily on many occasions inorder to see the progress of the fight when his battalion was not inaction; but his favourite comrade, the veteran soldier who had fought atSadowa, received a bullet in his chest, and his life-blood was graduallyebbing away when Fritz, kneeling at his side, asked him if he could doanything for him.

  "Ah, no," answered the poor fellow; "nobody can do anything for me now!I told you, comrade, to wait till you saw what real war was like.Himmel! Sadowa and '66 were child's play to this here, with the fire ofthe chassepot and that infernal mitrailleuse! Hurrah, though we'vewon!" shouted out the veteran in a paroxysm of patriotism; and then,joining in with the chorus of "Die Wacht am Rhein," which a Prussiancorps was singing as they marched by, he thus sobbed out his last breathand so died!

  "His was a patriot soldier's end," said Fritz, as he closed his eyes andcovered over his face reverently with his pocket-handkerchief.

  "Yes, so it was," chimed in the others sententiously. "It is good so todie!"