_At the fork beyond Cachy, take the middle road, between the Woods of Aquenne and Abbé, in which are_ trenches, wire entanglements and shelters. _Coming out into the main road from Amiens to Villers-Bretonneux_ (G.C. 201), _take same on the right. (See sketch-map, p. 62)._ [Illustration] _After passing over the railway_, =Villers-Bretonneux= _is reached_. [Illustration: VILLERS-BRETONNEUX.--RUINS OF THE VILLAGE AND CHURCH.] [Illustration: VILLERS-BRETONNEUX. THE CHURCH, IN MAY 1918.] Formerly a country village, the cotton-spinning industry later transformed it into a small town. The war has left it in ruins. (_See p. 61._) [Illustration: VILLERS-BRETONNEUX. CHURCH IN NOV. 1918.] [Illustration: STREET IN VILLERS-BRETONNEUX AFTER RECAPTURE OF THE VILLAGE.] From Villers-Bretonneux to Moreuil, via Demuin, Hill 104, Mézières and Villers-aux-Érables. _Leave Villers-Bretonneux by the road to Demuin, on the right_ (G.C. 23). _See route-map, p. 62._ _From Hill 98, 1 km. beyond the railway, near the junction with the road leading to Cachy, and close to a Franco-British cemetery, there is_ an extensive view of the battlefield around Villers-Bretonneux. [Illustration: FRANCO-BRITISH CEMETERY NEAR HILL 98. _In the background_: VILLERS-BRETONNEUX.] [Illustration] The Battle of 1870. It was around Villers-Bretonneux that on November 27, 1870, part of the battle known as the "Battle of Amiens", was fought between the Prussians and the French Army of the North. The French troops, about 10,000 in number, under the command of General Farre, were deployed from the railway (between Villers-Bretonneux and Marcelcave) to Cachy and Gentelles (on the Boves road), and on the high ground dominating the valleys of the Somme, Luce and Avre. The Prussians, under General Manteuffel, far more numerous and better equipped with artillery than the French, debouched from the valley of the Luce and the roads from Péronne and Roye to Amiens, the battle opening on the two wings. The enemy partly took Cachy and approached Gentelles, but were driven back towards the river Luce, after the brilliant capture of Domart Wood by the French. Cachy, partly abandoned by the French after desperate resistance and heavy losses, was afterwards cleared of the enemy with great dash. Unfortunately the French line from Cachy to Villers-Bretonneux was too weakly held to stay the Prussians, who got the upper hand in the afternoon and forced the French back. To the enemy's forty guns the French could only oppose sixteen (four batteries), and they were, moreover, short of ammunition. A Prussian battery, which had succeeded in taking up a position near Cachy, enfiladed the French line. In Villers-Bretonneux, detachments of French Marines fought a violent engagement in the streets, giving ground only step-by-step. The enemy sustained heavy losses and were unable seriously to hamper the French withdrawal towards Corbie and Amiens.