It was evident that the French were still at Dijon in full force, and the object of the undertaking had therefore been attained. But now unfortunately a tragic episode occurred, for the storming of the factory was absolutely insisted on--a great building, almost impregnable against infantry unaided. When all the senior officers had been killed, a first-lieutenant, whose horse had been shot and he himself wounded, took the command of the 2nd battalion. No sooner had the 5th company, only forty strong, advanced from the neighbouring quarry, than it came under a hot fire from all sides. The leader was at once wounded, and the sergeant who carried the colour fell dead after a few steps; so did the second-lieutenant and the battalion adjutant, who had again raised the standard. It was passed from hand to hand, carried first by the officers then by the men; every bearer fell. The brave Pomeranians[81] nevertheless rushed on the building, but there was no entrance anywhere on that side, and at last the under-officer retreated on the quarry with the remnant of the little band. Here, for the first time, the colour was missed. Volunteers went out again in the darkness to search for it, but only one man returned unwounded. It was not till afterwards that the French found the banner, shot to ribbons, in a pool of blood under the dead. This was the only German colour lost throughout the war, and only thus was this one lost. The enemy took prisoners eight officers and 150 men, and the brigade sustained a fresh loss of sixteen officers and 362 men. It mustered at Pouilly, and remained under arms till eight o'clock to meet possible pursuit; only then were quarters taken in the neighbouring villages. OPERATIONS OF THE ARMY OF THE SOUTH.--The commission to take Dijon could not be executed; but the bold advance of this weak brigade cowed the hostile army into inactivity, so that General von Manteuffel was able to pursue his march unopposed. He had given to both his corps as their objective the enemy's line of retreat south of Besancon. From this fortress there were but few roads to the south of France available for troops, through the riven and rugged regions of the western Jura. The most direct connection was by the road and railway to Lons le Saulnier, on which Quingey and Byans were the most important barriers. Further to the east, but by a wide detour, a road runs by Ornans, Salins and Champagnole to St. Laurent and Morez. Several ways, however, radiate from Besancon and converge in Pontarlier, by using the passes peculiar to this range, called "Cluses," which pierce transversely the mountain chains and afford the valleys intercommunication. From Pontarlier one road only runs past Mouthe, and along the Swiss frontier in awkward proximity thereto.