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of the road, the enemy's bullets at this time falling very thickly. The infection of fear soon communicated itself to the Belleville battalion, stationed at the village of Creteil. These fire-eating warriors, belonging to one of the revolutionary districts of Paris-the men who, under the leadership of Gustave Flourens, had been concerned in the insurrectionary movement of October 31st, with the express design of carrying on the war more vigorously, and who were always clamouring for sorties -now looked at each other with pale faces, and confessed they were beaten, while some openly walked away to the rear. On the road a mounted gendarme rode furiously about, asking the skulkers if they were wounded, and, on being answered in the negative, bidding them, with many oaths, return to the front. But it was too late. The fortune of the battle had, in that particular direction, as at Villiers, turned against the French, and they were seen running at full speed over the crest of the hill. At this moment the Prussian artillery appeared at the top of the high ground, and sent a shell into the village, where it blew a house to pieces. The noise of the conflict was appalling. The big guns of St. Maur were firing incessantly, and the battery between Creteil and the Marne replied vigorously to the Prussian batteries. It was now half-past twelve. The Place in the centre of the village was covered with wounded men, for whom there was but one surgeon. Soldiers of all arms fought and struggled with each other to get through the village. Without leaders or any controlling authority, they filled the village with consternation and clamour, and even, in the extremity of their fear, trampled over their wounded comrades. "It was not an army that was retreating," writes the Morning Post correspondent; "it was not even a respectable mob." Yet the village was still held by the French at the close of the day, although they had been unable to retain the advanced position at Mont Mesly.

A remarkable proof of the scarcity of provisions in Paris was seen while the French were advancing from Creteil, in the earlier part of the day. Whenever a horse was struck down, a group of men instantly gathered round it, regardless of the bullets of the enemy, and in a little while dispersed. This happened again and again, and the Prussians wondered what it could mean. On driving the French back, however, and occupying the ground they had recently covered, the Germans saw that which explained the mystery. Only the skeletons of the horses were left; the carcases were stripped of the flesh, disembowelled, and in some instances deprived of the head. The food thus

acquired was too valuable to be neglected, and it was obtained even at the risk of life.

Noisy-le-Grand, on the extreme left of the French line of attack, was also seriously threatened during the operations of the 30th. Together with these movements on the south-east, a sortie towards the north, conducted by Admiral Roncière, led to some results. At three o'clock, the admiral, advancing from Fort Denis, occupied Drancy, and thence pushed on to Epinay. The attacking party consisted of five battalions-four of regulars, and one of Mobile Guards; the German regiments occupying Epinay were the 26th and 71st. The French had already in some degree cleared the ground by the heavy guns at La Briche; and they now sent a gunboat down the Seine, which swept the banks clear of the German outposts, and landed a number of troops at the point of attack, to join with those who had come by land. While these latter were crossing the plain the German batteries on the crest in front of Montmorency fired on them with considerable effect. The houses on the western side of Epinay, however, were occupied by the French, and the Prussians were almost surrounded before they were aware of the full extent of their danger. They accordingly fell back, fighting, towards St. Gratien, where they were reinforced. The French at the same time barricaded themselves at Epinay, but were not allowed to remain there long unmolested. Six battalions of the 15th Prussian Brigade, with three companies of the 26th Regiment lent by the 16th Brigade, rapidly marched on Epinay, and the French were driven out, after holding the place nearly two hours. The German loss was considerable, amounting to between forty and fifty men and five officers killed, and 135 men and eight officers wounded. There was also a small loss in an attack on Stains, to the east of Epinay, where the fighting was not very serious. The wounded were taken in the first instance to St. Gratien, where the château of the Princess Demidoff was converted into a hospital; but, the position being exposed to the fire of La Briche, it was found necessary to remove the unfortunate sufferers to Montmorency and Eau Bonne, further north.

Another demonstration took place at a late hour in the direction of Le Bourget, to the north-east of Paris. Dense masses of troops appeared on the plain in front of Fort Aubervilliers, and advanced on the German position-the same which had been taken by the French on the 27th and 28th of October, and re-captured by the Germans on the 30th. On those occasions there was some very hard fighting; on the present, the attacking force,

after proceeding a little way, turned back without coming to close quarters. Possibly they regarded their main object-that of creating a diversion in aid of the more important sorties-as sufficiently accomplished.

Exhausted by their efforts on the two previous days, the armies of France and Germany rested on the 1st of December from their deadly labours, and devoted the brief interval of quiet to burying the dead and bringing in the wounded. For these purposes a truce was agreed to. It was to expire at one o'clock P.M.; but fighting was not resumed any time that day. The Bavarian batteries near Châtillon, however, fired into Paris the first shells sent into the city during the siege; but this firing beyond the ramparts is said to have been by mistake, and the Crown Prince of Prussia ordered that no more shells should be allowed such length of range until the proper time arrived. The silence which, with this slight exception, prevailed all along the lines made an impressive contrast to the hellish uproar of the previous day, and actually induced a French regiment bivouacking near Fort Vincennes to believe that the Germans had been attacked during the night, utterly routed, and driven so far off that the noise of the French cannon, then completing their destruction, could not be heard! If these hopeful speculators were not speedily undeceived, their dream did not outlast the morrow. It was decided at a German council of war, held on the 1st, that the villages of Brie and Champigny must be retaken the following morning at any cost. Their retention by the French would have seriously threatened the investment, and might have enabled the besieged-who had already in that quarter pushed the besiegers back from their former line-to advance to fresh and still more important successes. Moltke therefore determined to do his utmost to regain what he had lost.

Preparations for the attack were made by the Germans during the night of the 1st and early morning of the 2nd of December. The French, as usual, made no preparations, though they must have been aware that they would not be suffered to remain in undisputed possession of the places they had recently acquired. The Germans renewed the struggle at seven o'clock A.M. on the 2nd, and the French, according to the miserable precedents of the war, were once more surprised in both villages while making their soup for breakfast. Before describing the operations of the day, it will be as well to indicate briefly the nature of the ground on which those operations were conducted. The country from Noisy-le-Grand to the bends of

the Marne, where that river approaches the Seine, has the character of a gradual rise, furrowed by rather frequent depressions. In the neighbourhood of Brie, and again at Champigny, the fields are flat for a considerable distance; but towards Villiers the ground ascends, and is thickly covered with copse-woods and vineyards. Villiers stands higher than the neighbouring villages; and it will therefore be seen that it was in a better position for resisting any assault by the French than were Brie and Champigny for throwing back the attacks of the Germans. This was all the more reason why the French should have availed themselves of the pause in active operations on the 1st to render the positions they had won with so much hard fighting as difficult as possible for the enemy to recover. But they appear to have done much less in this respect than might have been supposed.

A large German force was detailed for the work of retaking Brie and Champigny. It consisted of the Second Division of the Saxon Army, under the command of General von Netirhoff, comprising the 104th, 105th, 106th, 107th, and 108th Regiments; a division of Würtembergers, commanded by General von Oberwitz, a Prussian officer; and a number of men from the Second Army Corps, under the direction of General Fransecki, who, in virtue of seniority, had the nominal command of the whole force. The total number of Germans engaged is estimated at about 22,000. When the French were surprised at Brie by the 107th Regiment of Saxons, very little resistance was made, for but little was possible. Some of the men were asleep, others were taking their morning meal, and none were in a position to encounter their energetic adversaries. After a short struggle, Brie was again in German hands, together with nearly 500 French prisoners, including eight officers. A little later than this-that is to say, just before eight o'clock-Champigny was attacked by the Würtembergers. Here there was more resistance; but, after a fight of some obstinacy, the French were compelled to retire, and the Würtembergers established themselves in the village. The fortune of the day, however, was far from determined. A pause of about an hour ensued, at the end of which time the German forces began to attack the main lines of the French army, and to endeavour to carry the bridges over the Marne. Suddenly a most awful cannonade burst out from the French forts and batteries on the other side of the river. These works had received many additional guns during the preceding day, and their effect was now experienced by the Germans in a terrible degree. Old and seasoned soldiers have said that they never

before experienced anything so tremendous. From Noisy to Champigny swept the dreadful tempest of death. Even Montmorency, which had been thought out of range, received seventy-two shells. Houses were battered down, trees broken into fragments, and men killed and wounded in great numbers. The French at first retired before the charge of their enemies, with the intention, it is supposed, of drawing them more within the range of this infernal are. Undeterred by the balls and shells which continually plunged into their ranks, the Germans dashed forward with loud shouts and battle-cries. The officers exposed themselves in front of their regiments with reckless courage, and of course lost many of their number. Their men continually gained ground, and the French as steadily receded; but the fire from the forts created such fearful havoc in the attacking columns, that the advance itself became a form of disaster. Once or twice the Germans attempted to bring their own artillery into play; but the nature of the ground prevented its being planted in any position where it would have been safe from destruction by the shells from the French works. Cavalry were present on both sides; but the actual fighting took place between the infantry of the two armies. As fast as men were struck down in the French lines, their places were filled by others, and a constant fire from the chassepôts was maintained by them, and answered by the needle-gun of the Germans. Again and again the latter endeavoured to get at the pontoon-bridges over the Marne, with a view to destroying them, and so cutting off the retreat of Ducrot's army; but the attempt was always frustrated. Some of the French shells (which appear to have been of a new description, now for the first time employed) reached a distance of 7,000 yards, and whole files of the Germans were swept away. At length it was found necessary to desist from the design of breaking down the bridges. The retreat was sounded; and at nearly three o'clock the Germans fell back. The French then once more pressed forward, and reoccupied Brie and Champigny, with the exception of a corner of the latter village, where the Würtembergers still held their ground.

The most elaborate and exact account of the operations of the day, of which Brie and Champigny were the objective points, is that furnished by Mr. Bowles, the Special Correspondent of the Morning Post, who described what he had actually seen. After depicting the panic-stricken rout of the French, on being surprised in the early morning at Brie and Champigny, he proceeded :—

"There can be no doubt whatever that the redoubt

of St. Maur saved the French army that day. It commands all the plains and the height beyond, and possesses heavy guns, throwing 72 lb. and 40 lb. shells, while outside were crowded together sixty others, which, the lower portion of the peninsula in order to protect in the moment of panic, General Favé ordered up from the retreat. It was indeed considered at that moment that all was over. The Prussians were in Villiers, on the heights, down in the woods, and in the first houses of Champigny; while on the left we could see the French falling back along the further part of the Marne. The telegraph officials were established in a little wooden hut outside the redoubt, and they packed up their papers and instruments, and prepared for a start. Consternation was depicted on every face. The Prussians had brought five or six batteries of artillery, which, from the top of the hill on the left of the white house, were pouring a perfect hail of shells upon Champigny and the last troops that stood firm, a little wavering line of fusillade answering feebly as it fell back on its receding supports. The whole line, in fact, was in full retreat. Champigny was half taken by the Prussians.

"Then was seen the enormous power that in the

hour of danger a single man of intelligence and courage can exercise. Captain de Charmes brought his guns to bear upon the Prussian batteries, and in half an hour (at eight o'clock) had silenced them. Soon after some change was observable in the plain. Gendarmes began to gallop to and fro, and belabour the fugitives with the flat of their sabres. The bridges were barred, and began to halt, and to rally under the houses of and the mob of soldiers crowded up against the river, Champigny. The shells meantime were falling among them, and I could see several concealed behind banks of earth and walls, whence the gendarmes drove them out from time to time. Two batteries of artillery now trotted into the plain, wheeled into position, and opened fire, while a third established itself by the railway lodge, a fourth close to the lime-kiln, round which the

abandoned tents were still standing, and the fires slowly dying out. Our redoubt was firing rapidly. Several shells exploded as they left the piece, and a fragment of one of them went right through the telegraph hut, just missing the operator. The mitrailleuses were firing heavily on the left, and it was one continued din, rattle, and hissing of shells. It was now nine o'clock, and the Prussian batteries by the white house opened again. The shells began to hiss about, with that increasing loudness which shows that they are approaching. The distance was over two miles; but the Prussian gunners aimed well, and all their shells fell in the redoubt, or quite close to it. One of them carried away the side of an embrasure close to me, and exploded, half-stifled, in the earth, but did no damage. About a hundred shells fell during the next hour and a half.

"At ten o'clock the French line had ceased its susfro, while the troops in the plain, rallied and re-formed, tained backward movement, and was wavering to and began to move to the front again in order, to the inspiriting sound of the charge, and in a quarter of an

hour the first line was again seen running up the hill by the lime-kiln and over by the railway lodge, which was on fire and blazing, while the left was running back over the crest of the hill. At eleven o'clock the redoubt had again silenced the Prussian batteries, which retired to the right of the white house under shelter of the rising ground and a thick fringe of elms. The fusillade continued in one unbroken rattle, with varying intensity as it advanced and retired. At twelve o'clock the left recovered itself, and from that time to the end of the day it remained almost motion

prisoners, driving them on in the direction of Noisy through the fiery rain of bursting shells. Many Frenchmen were in this way slain by French projectiles, and the Saxons also suffered severely. The prisoners, according to the Daily News correspon dent with the Army of the Crown Prince of Saxony, seemed to be hearty, well-fed, and in good spirits. A sergeant spoke cheerily to the correspondent as he passed, and observed that if any one calculated on the speedy capitulation of Paris he would find

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less. In half an hour the Prussians were running out of Champigny up the hill by the white house; but it was only to be relieved by fresh skirmishers, who came down to the wood in a cloud, their helmets

gleaming in the sun, followed by two heavy columns of supports marching in great black squares. Meantime the battle continued, and a shell or two still fell from to time on the plain. But the tide had now turned; the French still pressed slowly forward, and the Prussians, beaten off in their attack, retreated to their first positions, while their artillery moved off to the right along the wood to Chenevières."

While the terrible fire from the French forts was still proceeding, the Saxons began to remove their

himself very much out in his reckoning. Food was plentiful, and the programme was "sorties every day in every direction." Captors and captives made their way as well as they could along the exposed road; and shortly afterwards it became apparent that the French had in their turn undertaken a movement of attack. A dense column of soldiers, consisting of reinforcements which had been bivouacking under the guns of Nogent, on the other side of the Marne, suddenly appeared in battle array before the fort, formed right and left across the Chaumont railway (which runs in that direction), and advanced towards the river. Having crossed

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No. 2.-Showing the most advanced positions temporarily held by the French troops, and to what extent the German line was pushed back.

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