Part 28 (1/2)
[63] In effect, with only the Corps-headquarter and the 13th Division--the 14th Division being still in the north-east.
THE ADVANCE OF THE IIND ARMY TO LE MANS.
The Germans had hoped to strike the enemy in his winter quarters; but General Chanzy had provided against surprise by a cordon of strong advanced positions. Nogent le Rotrou on his left was held by Rousseau's Division, and numerous bands of volunteers; from thence strong detachments were posted through Vibraye and St. Calais up to the Braye brook, where General Jouffroy had made a halt after the last attack on Vendome; and on the right were General Barry at La Chartre and de Curten's Division at Chateau Renault.
Both wings of the German army came into collision with these forces on the 5th of January.
General Baumgarth (commanding 2nd Cavalry Brigade), on the German left, had a.s.sembled at St. Amand three battalions, two cavalry regiments and two batteries. The 57th regiment stormed Villeporcher in the direction of Chateau Renault, evacuated it in face of an attack by four French battalions, and finally recaptured and held it. This much, at any rate, was thus ascertained, that a not inconsiderable force of the enemy was a.s.sembled in front of the left wing of the German army now marching westward. While this movement was in prosecution General Baumgarth was thenceforth to undertake its protection, and with this object he was reinforced by the addition of the 6th Cavalry Division and the 1st Cavalry Brigade.
On the right wing the 44th Brigade, in its advance on Nogent le Rotrou, also had had a sharp encounter. It carried the enemy's position at La Fourche, and captured three guns, with a large number of prisoners. The main body of the Corps (the XIIIth) reached Beaumont les Autels and Brou, but the cavalry failed to penetrate the woods to the north of Nogent.
_January 6th._--At six in the morning the advanced guard of General Baumgarth's detachment started on march to Prunay, but the main body could not follow, since it was attacked in force at about half-past nine. With the object of observing the enemy, the infantry had been scattered in detached posts in a wide extension from Ambloy to Villeporcher, and only a small reserve remained at La Noue. The fight soon a.s.sumed greater expansion, and the defence with difficulty maintained the line Les Haies--Pias, the turning of the German left flank being seriously threatened, upon which the 6th Cavalry Division moved up, but could only enter the fight with one horse battery. The reserve, however, moved up along the high road to Chateau Renault and repulsed the enemy, who had already forced his way into Les Haies. But when he renewed the attack in strong columns and developed four batteries against the place, the reserve was obliged to retire behind the Brenne.
Meanwhile the 16th Regiment, which had already reached Ambloy on its march to Vendome, turned back to St. Amand in support, and the just a.s.sembled 38th Infantry Brigade deployed between Neuve St. Amand and St.
Amand with a strong force of cavalry on its flanks. But as by some mistake St. Amand was evacuated, Duke William of Mecklenburg (commanding 6th Cavalry Division) ordered a further retreat. The infantry, however, had already come to a halt at Huisseau and took quarters there. The advanced guard turned into Ambloy; the cavalry fell back partly on that place and partly on Villeromain.
During the engagement about St. Amand the Xth Corps itself advanced on Montoire in two columns along the left bank of the Loire, leaving on its right a battalion in front of Vendome to secure the debouche of the IIIrd Corps through that place.
When the 20th Division reached St. Rimay at about one o'clock, it found the heights on the opposite side of the Loir occupied by General Barry's troops. The ma.s.sed German batteries were brought up to the southern ridge of the valley and soon drove the French off the broad flats; but the defile of Les Roches in the front remained quite una.s.sailable. The broken bridge at Lavardin, lower down the stream, was therefore made practicable by the pioneers. The 19th Division having meanwhile reached that place, several battalions crossed from the south side to attack Les Roches, and easily dislodged the French. As darkness came on, preventing any further advance, the Corps found quarters in and about Montoire.
The Commander of the IIIrd Corps had intended to make a halt on this day before Vendome, and only push forward his advanced guard as far as the Azay brook; but this detachment soon met with so stout opposition, that the main force was compelled to advance to its a.s.sistance. General de Jouffroy, with intent to disengage General de Curten, had renewed the attack on Vendome, and so the advanced guard of the 5th Division, approaching Villiers at about half-past one, found the 10th Jager Battalion, which had accompanied the march of its Corps along the right bank of the Loir, engaged at that place in a sharp fight which had already lasted four hours. The advanced guard brought up its two batteries on to the plateau north of the village, and the 48th Regiment made its way forward to the slope of the lower Azay valley, the broad flat meadows of which were commanded by the French long-range rifles and completely swept by the fire of the artillery. And here then the enemy came over to the attack in dense swarms of sharp-shooters.
The 8th Regiment presently came up in support, and after a short fight took possession of Le Gue du Loir on its left flank; then the further reinforcement arrived of the 10th Infantry Brigade, and by degrees the number of Prussian guns increased to thirty-six. The French artillery could not endure their fire, and within half an hour it was possible to turn it on the hostile infantry. At about half-past four the German battalions crossed the valley, made themselves masters of the vineyards and farms on the opposite heights, and finally stormed Mazange. Under cover of the darkness the French retired to Lunay.
Further to the right the advance guard of the 6th Division, having left Vendome at eleven o'clock, found the battalion left by the Xth Corps at Courtiras fighting hard against a very superior force of the French. The 11th Brigade advanced on the Azay ravine, though not without heavy loss, and when at about half-past three the 12th also came up, and the artillery went to work vigorously, Azay was successfully stormed and the force established itself firmly on the heights beyond. Repeated counterstrokes of the enemy were repulsed in succession, and by five o'clock the fighting ended with the retirement of the French.
The IIIrd Army Corps took up quarters between the Azay stream and the Loir. A detachment occupied Danze, higher up the river. The Corps lost thirty-nine officers and above 400 men, but captured 400 prisoners.
In the course of the day the IXth Corps crossed the upper Loir about Freteval and St. Hilaire, without opposition, and advanced along the high road to St. Calais, as far as Busloup. The XIIIth remained at Unverre, Beaumont, and La Fourche.
Prince Frederick Charles had not been led into any change of purpose by the attack at St. Amand and the obstinate resistance at Azay. The XIIIth Corps was expected to reach Montmirail, and the XIth Epuisay, both on the 7th; the IIIrd was to continue the attack on the deep-cut channel of the Braye brook. But after the reverse experienced at St. Amand, the presence of a strong hostile force on the left flank could not be suffered to remain unregarded. Duke William had already been given verbal orders at the Head-quarter in Vendome, to turn back forthwith to St. Amand with the 6th Cavalry Division, and in addition General von Voigts-Rhetz was ordered to support General Baumgarth if necessary with his whole Corps.
The country between the Loir and the Sarthe through which the Germans had to march, presents peculiar difficulties to an invading force, and affords marked advantages to the defence.
All the roads leading to Le Mans intersect at right angles, stream after stream flowing through broad and deeply cut meadow-valleys. Groves, villages, and chateaux with walled parks cover the highly cultivated upland; vineyards, orchards and gardens are enclosed by hedges, ditches or fences.
Hence almost the whole burthen of the impending fighting would have to be borne by the infantry; nowhere was there s.p.a.ce for the deployment of cavalry, and the use of artillery needs must be extremely limited, since in a country so greatly enclosed guns could only singly be brought into action. The enemy's central position could be approached by only four main roads, and the communications between the marching columns, starting at the least some thirty miles apart, would be confined to the cross roads, almost impa.s.sable from the severity of the season and the hostility of the inhabitants. Any lateral mutual support was at first quite out of the question.
Under such conditions the movements could only be guided by general instructions, and even the leaders of lower grades had to be left free to act at their own individual discretion. Specific orders for each day, though they would of course be issued, could not in many cases be possibly carried out. In the Army Headquarter it could not be foreseen in what situation each individual corps might find itself after a day's fighting. Reports could only come in very late at night, and the orders drawn up however early would often arrive only after the troops, because of the shortness of the day, had already set out on the march.
_January 7th._--In obedience to orders from the Army Headquarter, General Voigts-Rhetz on the 7th sent the part of the 19th Division which had already reached Vendome, back to St. Amand in reinforcement. The 38th Brigade had again entered that place early in the day, and General von Hartmann, taking over its command, advanced along the Chateau Renault high road, the cavalry moving on both flanks.
The column first struck the enemy near Villechauve at mid-day. A thick fog prevented the employment of the artillery, and it was at the cost of heavy loss that Villechauve, Pias, and various other farmsteads were captured. Villeporcher and the adjacent villages remained in possession of the French, who at about two o'clock advanced by the high road to the attack with several battalions. The weather had cleared, and it was soon evident that this offensive was only intended to mask the beginning of the enemy's retreat to the westward. The troops took quarters where they stood, and the reinforcements forwarded to them remained at St. Amand.
The Xth Corps, awaiting the return of the latter, remained in its quarters about La Chartre; only the 14th Cavalry Brigade went on up to La Richardiere to establish connection with the IIIrd Corps. But it did not succeed in taking the village with dismounted troopers.
General von Alvensleben[64] hoped to overtake the French on the hither side of the glen of Braye, and by turning their left wing to drive them on to the Xth Corps, whose co-operation had been promised. The IIIrd Corps advanced in the direction of Epuisay, leaving one brigade to garrison Mazange, and when tidings reached it on the march that the French had evacuated Lunay and Fortan, that brigade also followed by way of the latter village.
Epuisay was found to be strongly held, and in the meantime the advanced guard of the IXth Corps, advancing from Busloup, also arrived there. But it was not till half-past one that the French were expelled from the little town, which they had strongly barricaded; and on the hither side of the Braye they renewed their resistance in the numerous hamlets and farmsteads. A long fire fight was kept up in the thick fog; but at length, at about four o'clock, the 12th Brigade pushed forward to the edge of the valley. The 9th Brigade took possession of Savigny without meeting any serious opposition, and Sarge was stormed in the dusk.
The IIIrd Corps had lost forty-five men and had taken 200 prisoners. It found quarters behind the Braye, but threw forward outposts on its western bank. The IXth Corps found shelter in and about Epuisay, and thus, as a matter of fact, two corps were now crowded on one of the few available roads. The 2nd Cavalry Division went to the right, towards Mondoubleau, to make connection with the XIIIth Corps. The French retreated to St. Calais.