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Part 4
Part IV: Sword of Damocles


General Gregoire de Nordeck


On August 17th, in the aftermath of his triumph at Mars-la-Tour, Canrobert ordered his army to begin its withdrawal west to Verdun and then on to Chalons. Before his departure, Canrobert met with General Gregoire de Nordeck the garrison commander of Fortress Metz. It was decided that Nordeck would be left with some thirty thousand men to defend the city and hamper the Prussian pursuit.

Some 100 miles away along the Marne River rested the one hundred and twenty thousand man Army of Chalons under the command of Marshal MacMahon. MacMahon was France’s most talented commander if anyone could recover the situation it would be him. The army began preparations for the link up with Canrobert’s weary soldiers, once unified they would then have some three hundred thousand men at their disposal.

At the same time, MacMahon met with General Louis Trochu, newly appointed governor of Paris, on how best to proceed. Despite the adequate river line before them, MacMahon favored a withdrawal to Paris. Paris had an incredibly strong defensive system and the army could bring itself into the safety of these fortifications. MacMahon believed that the city with the addition of his massive army could hold indefinitely. Trochu, however, pointed out the need to keep Paris’s southern routes and rail lines open in order to supply and feed the populace. In his opinion, it was essential to prevent the city from being enveloped.

With this in mind, the two commanders contemplated a pullback to Orleans and the Loire River. At the same time, a strong garrison would be left in Paris to hold the city. The Prussians would then find it difficult to operate against the city with this “Sword of Damocles” hanging over them. Further, it was supposed that supply lines with the city could be kept open. At Orleans, they could also gather around them the thousands of new soldiers being mobilized. Having agreed upon a plan of action, MacMahon submitted it to the emperor who promptly approved it but only as a last resort.


Loire River

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