The Franco-German War of 1870-71Moltke, Helmuth, Graf von
History
The Franco-German War of 1870-71
Moltke, Helmuth, Graf von
Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871
Imperial Guard, General Bourbaki--Nancy.
Ist Corps, Marshal MacMahon--Strasburg.
IInd Corps, General Frossard--St. Avold.
IIIrd Corps, Marshal Bazaine--Metz.
IVth Corps, General Ladmirault--Thionville.
Vth Corps, General Failly--Bitsch.
VIth Corps, Marshal Canrobert--Chalons.
VIIth Corps, General Felix Douay--Belfort.
Thus while there were but two Corps in Alsace, there were five on the
Moselle; and, so early as the day of the declaration of war, one of the
latter, the IInd Corps, had been pushed forward close to the German
frontier, about St. Avold and Forbach. General Frossard, its commander,
was, however, under strict injunctions to commit himself to no serious
undertaking.
The regiments had been hurried away from their peace stations before the
arrival of their complement of men, and without waiting for their
equipments. Meanwhile the called-out reservists accumulated in the
depots, overflowed the railway stations and choked the traffic. Their
transmission to their destinations was at a standstill, for it was often
unknown at the depots where the regiments to which the reservists were
to be sent were for the time encamped. When at length they joined they
were destitute of the most necessary articles of equipment. The Corps
and Divisions lacked trains, hospitals and nearly the whole of the
_personnel_ of their administration. No magazines had been established
in advance, and the troops were to depend on the stores in the
fortresses. These were in a neglected state, for in the assured
expectation that the armies would be almost immediately launched into
the enemy's country they had received little attention. It was of a
piece with this that the French Staff-officers had been provided with
maps of Germany, but not of their own country. The Ministry of War in
Paris was overwhelmed with claims, protestations, and expostulations,
till finally it was left to the troops to help themselves as best they
could. "_On se debrouillera_," was the hope of the authorities.
When the Emperor arrived at Metz eight days after the declaration of
war, the forces were not yet up to their strength, and even the precise
whereabouts of whole bodies of troops was for the time unknown. He
ordered the advance of the army, but his Marshals protested that its
internal plight was so unsatisfactory as to make this impossible for the
time. The general conviction was gradually impressing itself on the
French, that instead of continuing to aim at invasion of the enemy's
country, their exertions would have to be confined to the defence of
their own territory. A strong German army was reported to be assembling
between Mayence and Coblentz; and instead of reinforcements being sent
forward from Metz to Strasburg, much heavier ones would have to be
ordered from the Rhine to the Saar. The determination to invade South
Germany was already abandoned; the fleet sailed, but without carrying a
force to be landed on the north German coast.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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