Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 July 2009
As the French reeled away from Beaumont in the direction of Sedan, where Marshal MacMahon hoped to find a temporary refuge, Moltke scribbled orders for 31 August: The Meuse Army would march down the right bank of the Meuse, extending its right wing all the way to the Belgian border; the Third Army was to surge ahead on the left bank to Sedan, seize whatever bridges it could, begin crossing, and push troops into the space between Sedan and Paris. While Moltke worked, so did Bismarck, reminding Brussels of its obligation to disarm and intern any French troops that crossed the Belgian border. If the Belgians permitted the French to regroup on their neutral territory, the Prussians would invade. By late on 31 August, a French withdrawal to Belgian soil had become all but impossible anyway, for the Saxons and the Prussian Guards had extended themselves north and east of Sedan, the Prussian 6th Cavalry Division north and west at Mézières. South of Sedan, the Bavarians had advanced to Bazeilles, Wadelincourt, and Torcy, the Prussian IV Corps to Frénois, the Prussian XI and V Corps to Donchéry, enabling Moltke to push vanguards across the Meuse to block MacMahon's escape in every direction and begin the famous Umgehung or envelopment. French engineers sent from Sedan to blow up the Donchéry bridge discovered that all of their gunpowder and blasting caps had been evacuated to Mézières; scouring Donchéry for replacements, they were chased off by Prussian skirmishers.
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