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.
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