the Germans succeeded in forcing their way steadily down the
Meuse as far as Mezieres, divided by a bridge from Charleville, on the
other side of the river. This is in the neighborhood of Sedan and in the
"trou," as it is called, which led to the great disaster of 1870, when
the French were caught in a trap and threatened with annihilation by
the Germans, who had taken possession of the surrounding heights.

There was to be no repetition of that tragedy. The French were
determined that this time the position should be reversed.

On Monday the town of Charleville was evacuated, most of its civilians
being sent away to join the wanderers who have had to leave their homes,
and the French troops took up a magnificent position, commanding the
town and the three bridges dividing them from Mezieres. Mitrailleuses
were hidden in the abandoned houses, and as a disagreeable shock to any
German who might escape their fire was a number of the enemy's guns, no
fewer than ninety-five of them, which had been captured and disabled by
French troops in a series of battles down the river from Namur.

The German outposts reached Charleville on Tuesday. They were allowed to
ride quietly across the bridges into an apparently deserted town. Then
suddenly their line of retreat was cut off, the three bridges were blown
up by a contact mine, and the mitrailleuses hidden in the houses were
played on the German cavalry across the streets, killing them in a
frightful slaughter.

It was for a little while sheer massacre, but the Germans fought with
extraordinary tenacity, regardless of the heaped bodies of comrades and
utterly reckless of their own lives. They, too, had brought quick-firers
across the bridges, and, taking cover behind houses, trained their guns
upon the houses from which the French gunners were firing. There was no
way of escape for those heroic men, who voluntarily sacrificed
themselves, and it is probable every man died, because at such a time
the Germans were not in the habit of giving quarter.

When the main German advance came down the valley, the French artillery
on the heights raked them with a terrific fire, in which they suffered
heavy losses, the forefront of the column being mowed down. But under
this storm they proceeded with incredible coolness to their pontoon
bridges across the river, and although hundreds of men died on the
banks, they succeeded in their endeavor, while their guns searched the
hills with shells