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Part 1
Part I: Le Maréchal est Mort!



On the morning of August 14th, 1870 French Army of the Rhine was moving into the fortress town of Metz. The army was licking its wounds after having been thrown back from the frontier by the invading Prussians. Two days prior French Emperor Napoleon III had turned over command of the army to Marshal Bazaine and in the coming days would depart from Metz. Bazaine was an experienced leader of men having served his Majesty faithfully in the Crimea, Italy, and Mexico. He was the youngest of the active French Marshals and a popular figure with the rank and file soldiery. Many with the army and back in Paris had high hopes for him.

The day would be a bloody one, Bazaine was soon informed that the sounds of battle could be heard to the east of Metz in the vicinity of Borny. Fierce fighting was ongoing as several French divisions of the General Claude Decaen’s III Corps clashed with elements of the Prussian First Army. News soon arrived that General Decaen had been severely wounded and no longer able to command. Bazaine on hearing the news quickly headed for the front accompanied by his chief of staff General Louis Jarras.

The Marshal arrived at the climax of the engagement and immediately entered the fray. For hours Bazaine could be seen riding back and forth steadying his men and beating back numerous enemy assaults. Despite the pleading of his staff, the Marshal paid little heed to the enemy fire. Just as the battle was winding down an enemy shell landed near Bazaine hitting him and his horse with shrapnel. Jarras ran over to his Marshals side only to exclaim: Le Maréchal est Mort!

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