its advanced brigade at Thiaucourt; and a squadron of Guard Uhlans had audaciously summoned the Governor of Toul to surrender. No such memorable examples of activity can be found in the record of the French cavalry, which had forgotten the traditions of Napoleon the Great. _Orders for the Flank March._ That evening General von Moltke issued a set of memorable instructions to General von Steinmetz and Prince Frederick Charles. The First Army was to leave a corps at Courcelles sur Nied, and place the others at Arry and Pommérieux, between the Seille and the Moselle. “It is only by a vigorous offensive movement of the Second Army,” wrote Von Moltke, “upon the routes from Metz to Verdun by Fresne and Etain that we can reap the fruits of the victory obtained yesterday. The commander of the Second Army is intrusted with this operation which he will conduct according to his own judgment and with the means at his disposal, that is, all the Corps of his Army.” It was further announced that the King would transfer his head-quarters to Pont à Mousson in the afternoon of the 16th. Preparations were thus made to place the whole force on the left bank of the Moselle, except the 1st Corps, the 3rd Division of Cavalry, and the 2nd which was still two marches from the river. In this way Von Moltke hoped to keep the whip hand of his opponents, and cut them off from the shelter they sought beyond the Meuse. _The Emperor Quits the Army._ Before narrating the battle which the French style Rezonville and the Germans Vionville-Mars la Tour, we may turn to the Imperial head-quarters at Gravelotte at dawn on the 16th, because the scene presents so vivid a contrast to that in the German camp. When Marshal Bazaine saw the Emperor on the preceding evening walking meditatively up and down before his quarters, he was surprised by the question, “Must I go?” The Marshal frankly admitted that he had not been informed respecting the situation in front, and asked him to wait. “The answer,” writes Bazaine, appeared to please him, and turning to his suite he said, loud enough to be heard by all, “Gentlemen, we will remain, but keep the baggage packed.” The troops, sad and depressed, continued to defile before the inn; no shout, no vivat was evoked by the sight of the sovereign and his son. Yet that night the Emperor had made up his mind. In the morning he summoned Bazaine, who found him in his carriage with the Prince Imperial and Prince Napoleon. The baggage had already gone on in the night, and the lancers and dragoons of the Guard, commanded by General de France, were in the saddle ready to serve as an escort. Bazaine rode to the side of the carriage, and the Emperor said, “I have resolved to leave for Verdun and Chalons. Put yourself on the route for Verdun as soon as you can. The gendarmerie have already quitted Briey in consequence of the arrival of the Prussians”—a