Wichita Eagle

BATTLE OF GRAVELOTTE.

Momentous Struggle While the Issue Was
in Suspense—Germany's Victory

"The first action of the Franco-German
war which Emperor William witnessed
was the colossal struggle of Gravelotte.
While Prince Frederick with the Third
army corps was striking hard at the
French right from Verneville to St. Marie-
au-Chêne, King William remained all day
with the first army, which Steinmetz was
hurling against the French left, holding
the woods and bare, sloping plateau of
Stubert. Late in the afternoon the fierceness of the fighting and uncertainty of the
issue drew William right up to the edge of
the ravine between Gravelotte and the
plateau of Stubert. There he sat among
the soldiers, mounted on his black horse,
watching the fierce and all but futile efforts made by the stout infantrymen of
Von Goeben and Glumer to make head
against the hurricane of fire with which
the French swept the smooth, sloping
glacis which the expanse of the plateau
afforded.

"All of a sudden there ran through the
German combatants out in the pandemonium of slaughter over against us a spasm
of panic, that impulse to which, in the
strain of excitement, the best troops are
liable. Panic, like the fire on a prairie,
ran back across the ravine and caused a
momentary sauve qui peut among the unengaged troops about the king. Shells
came crashing into the dislocated ranks
and for a moment an outburst of disorder
had sway. William was borne back in
the pressure, remonstrating vehemently
with uplifted voice and flat of sword.
Bismarck was said to have got out astride
a gun, and the royal staff was temporarily
broken up. The panic was over in a few
minutes and order restored, but the
French had strengthened their grip on the
plateau.

"The issue of the battle was still in
suspense when, under the last rays of the
setting sun, the last reserve of Germans,
the Second corps, came up at a double to
the brink of the ravine. In the lurid
glare of the blazing village, King William
stood by the wayside and greeted his
stalwart Pomeranians. High over the
bicker of drums, the blare of bugles and
the crash of cannon, rose an eager burst
of cheering as the soldiers greeted their
soldier sovereign, and then followed their
chiefs down into the full depths of the
terrible chasm.

"The crisis was dreadful.

"As we watched the issue in a sort of
spasm of somber silence, the king sat
with his back against a wall on a plank,
one end of which rested on a shattered
gun carriage, the other on a dead horse.

"Bismarck, with an elaborate assumption of indifference, made a pretense to be
reading letters.

"The roar of close battle swelled and
deepened till the very ground trembled
beneath us.

"Night fell like a pall, but the blaze of
the adjacent conflagration lit up the
anxious group there by the churchyard
wall. From out of a medley of broken
troops on the glittering slope in front
came suddenly a great shout which grew
in volume as it rolled nearer. Hoofs of
galloping horses rattled on the causeway.

"A moment later Field Marshal Von
Moltke, his face for once quivering with
excitement, sprang from the saddle and,
rushing toward the king, cried out:

"'It is good for us! We have won the
plateau and victory is with your majesty.'

"The king sprang to his feet, saying:
'God be thanked!'

"Bismarck, with a deep sigh of relief,
crushed his letters in the hollow of
his hand, and with a simultaneous
hurrah greeted the glad tidings. A sutler
who chanced to hear improved the occasion in a practical, quiet way. He brought
up a wine barrel and dispensed its contents. King William took a hearty drink
of the red wine out of a cracked tumbler,
giving the 'German Army' for his toast."
—From Archibald Forbes' Reminiscences.