Defeat of Napoleon III - August 1870
On August 5th the first and second armies advanced, and, having crossed the Saar, carried on the next day the heights of Spicheren, which were commanded by General Frossard. At the same time the Crown Prince again was victorious by defeating Macmahon and his 45,000 men at the bloody battle of Worth. The Prussians lost more heavily than their opponents, but the French army evacuated Alsace and retreated in disorder through the Vosges mountains to concentrate at Chalons.
The political results of such a week of victories were of course fraught with the utmost importance. There was now no possibility of Austria and Italy joining France, and the neutrality of these two nations was strengthened by the formation of the League of Neutrals, owing to the intervention of Lord Granville. It was agreed that no Power within the League was to join either of the combatants without giving proper notice to the other members. But it was not only in external affairs that this cycle of victories played its part, for it had equal force in the internal affairs of France, where great changes were effected. Napoleon himself was virtually deposed in favour of his Empress ; the ministry of Ollivier gave way to that of the Comte de Palikao ; and Leboeuf was replaced by Marshal Bazaine.
With these changes the fury and consternation of France were for a moment allayed ; and visions of success reappeared. There was still a large army unbroken at Chalons, and the commander-in-chief, Bazaine, had 17o,ooo men at Metz. In Marshal Macmahon they had a man they could trust. An attempt was to be made to join forces at Verdun. The Germans were well aware of it, and strained every nerve to prevent the coalition. With this object in mind, the Crown Prince, on August I 1th, crossed the Vosges, while the other two armies were moving along the Moselle in a half circle towards Metz. The French retreated towards Verdun, but on the 14th were checked by the fierce onslaught of Von der Goltz at Colombieres. The importance of this battle was almost immediately eclipsed by the terrible slaughter that took place on August 16th and I7th at Vionville, Mars-la-Tour, and Gravelotte. Bazaine was successively cut off from retreat on the line of Verdun and driven inside the lines of Metz by an action in which the Germans were massed between him and Paris.
Macmahon, who had now a force of 150,000 men concentrated in Rheims, made a desperate effort to slip round the right wing of the Prussian first army and join Bazaine. He gained several days before Moltke received information of the manoeuvre. Then the army of the Meuse moved rapidly northward to intercept him and was closely followed by the third army. Macmahon was unable to cross the Meuse and would have retreated to assist in the defence of Paris but for express orders from Palikao. On August 3 1st, the French army was hemmed in by the Germans inside a triangle whose base was the Meuse. Macmahon did not realise his danger ; the increased range, accuracy and rapidity of gun-fire made it possible to overwhelm an enemy from a distance without engaging him with massed battalions. On September 1st the end came. The French were overwhelmed by gun-fire from the heights, and enveloped on all sides by German corps. The Emperor surrendered and 81,000 of his subjects laid down their arms.
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