At day beak French batteries opened fire on St Marc from Saarbrucken Hill (3) and from the pontoon bridge head (6). The Prussian Guard were well entrenched and suffered few casualties except for a battery on the east of the village, under particularly heavy fire, which was silenced soon after returning the fire. Prussian guns searched Saarbrucken Hill to trying to find the range of the dug-in French batteries. Some small arms fire was exchanged between the positions but most Prussian troops were out of range and kept their heads down to avoid drawing fire. At 0800 the Heavy Division of the 2nd Cavalry Reserve started its flanking move from the river south of the pontoon bridge head (6) around the south of St Marc Wood. Meanwhile the artillery fire kept pounding the position at St Marc with the Guard's remaining battery under intense fire. This battery and the Prussian battery in St. Jean returned fire on the French positions. By 1100 the French 1st Division of 3 Corps had suffered sufficient casualties for it to abandon its planned assault on St Marc. It begin withdrawing back across the pontoon bridge (6) with the intention that it should be relieved by the 2nd Division. At the same time the French 2nd Division of 4 Corps poured out of Saarbrucken (4) and into Saarbrucken Wood decimating the Prussian Cavalry Division of X Corps with intense rifle fire. By 1130 the 1st Division of the Prussian Guards corps was moving east of St Marc Wood (5) and sent Jagers into the wood to guard its flank from attack as part of its contingency plan. The Prussian 1st Division of X Corps now retired from sheltering behind the railway (8) as its position was now untenable. This force, being linked by orders with its cavalry Corps, took on the role of flank guard. At noon the rain stopped as the French were still slowly falling back over the bottle neck of the pontoon bridge and constantly under fire. The Prussian batteries had now found the position of an entrenched French battery on Saarbrucken Hill and finally silenced it. Later the 1st Division of the Prussian Guard and the French Heavy Cavalry Division clashed south-east of St Marc Wood (5) sending the French cavalry reeling back towards the river. The Prussian Guard Cavalry Division moved to a more central supporting position east of St Jean (2). Meanwhile the Jagers in St Marc Wood made contact with the withdrawing French 1st Division of 3 Corps. By 1500 the Jagers of 1st Division Guard Corps had moved though St Marc Wood and were advancing on the pontoon bridge (6) now only defended by on battalion of the French 1st Division 3 Corps. The rest of the French Division had withdrawn but the 2nd Division meant to relieve them had still to make any advance toward the pontoon bridge. The French Heavy Cavalry Division continued to threaten the Prussian 1st Division of the Guard but failed to advance (7). At 1700 the last French troops at the pontoon bridge were routed by the Prussian Guards 1st Division Jagers and the bridge captured. The French relief force still stubbornly refusing to move up and retake the position. The remaining Prussian battery in St Marc crossed to the west side of the village to intensify the bombardment of the entrenched French forces on Saarbrucken Hill. As dusk fell the French battery on Saarbrucken hill were under heavy shell fire. The French Light Cavalry Division of the 3rd cavalry Reserve moved into position south of the pontoon bridge (6) to prevent any attack from this direction overnight. The Result: a definite Prussian victory with a successful holding action which even captured the pontoon bridge. Prussian casualties were around 1000 (mostly from X Corps Cavalry Division) while French casualties totalled 600. In the wider scale of things this has put a stop to a French advance, following from the defeat of Prussian forces outside Metz, so preventing the invasion of the German Confederation .... for now at least. Aide De Camp Experience Aide De Camp Order Sheets Aide De Camp Information Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior #128 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Solo Wargamers Association. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com