, starting up from
sleeping--a funereal swarming. A circle of thunder surrounds the army.
They are encircled by annihilation. This mighty slaughter is carried
on on all sides simultaneously. The French resist and they are
terrible, having nothing left but despair. Our cannon, almost all
old-fashioned and of short range, are at once dismounted by the
fearful and exact aim of the Prussians. The density of the rain of
shells upon the valley is so great that "the earth is completely
furrowed," says an eye-witness, "as though by a rake." How many
cannon? Eleven hundred at least. Twelve German batteries upon La
Moncelle alone; the Third and Fourth _Abtheilung_, an awe-striking
artillery, upon the crests of Givonne, with the Second Horse Battery
in reserve; opposite Digny ten Saxon and two Wurtemburg batteries; the
curtain of trees of the wood to the north of Villers-Cernay masks the
mounted _Abtheilung_, which is there with the third Heavy Artillery in
reserve, and from the gloomy copse issues a formidable fire; the
twenty-four pieces of the First Heavy Artillery are ranged in the
glade skirting the road from La Moncelle to La Chapelle; the battery
of the Royal Guard sets fire to the Garenne Wood; the shells and the
balls riddle Suchy, Francheval, Fouro-Saint-Remy, and the valley
between Heibes and Givonne; and the third and fourth rank of cannon
extend without break of continuity as far as the Calvary of Illy, the
extreme point of the horizon. The German soldiers, seated or lying
before the batteries, watch the artillery at work. The French soldiers
fall and die. Amongst the bodies which cover the plain there is one,
the body of an officer, on which they will find, after the battle, a
sealed note containing this order, signed Napoleon: "To-day, September
1, rest for the whole army."

The gallant Thirty-fifth of the Line almost entirely disappears under
the overwhelming shower of shells; the brave Marine Infantry holds at
bay for a moment the Saxons, joined by the Bavarians, but outflanked
on every side draws back; all the admirable cavalry of the
Margueritte division hurled against the German infantry halts and
sinks down midway, "annihilated," says the Prussian report, "by
well-aimed and cool firing." This field of carnage has three outlets,
all three barred: the Bouillon road by the Prussian Guard, the
Carignan road by the Bavarians, the Mezieres road by the
Wurtemburgers. The French have not thought of barricading the ra