Incredible though it may seem, when the army of the crown prince
besieging Troyon withdrew, that little fort was a mere heap of
ruins. There were exactly forty-four men left in the fort and four
serviceable guns. Even a small storming party could have carried
it without the least trouble, and its natural strength could have
been fortified in such wise as to make it a pivotal point from
which to harry Verdun.
At the extreme east, on that ring of wooded heights known as the
Grande Couronne de Nancy, and drawn up across the Gap of Nancy,
the Second French Army, under General de Castelnau, successfully
resisted the drive of the Crown Prince of Bavaria. Great hopes had
been placed on this attack, and on September 7, 1914, the German
Emperor had viewed the fight at Nancy from one of the neighboring
heights. Surely a victory for the German arms might come either at
the point where stood the German Emperor or where led the crown
prince. But the fortunes of war decided otherwise. Far from losing
at Nancy, the French took the offensive. After an artillery duel of
terrific magnitude, they drove the Bavarian army from the forests
of Champenous and took Amance. The line of the Meurthe was then
found untenable by the Germans, and on September 12, 1914, General
de Castelnau reoccupied the town of Luneville, which had been in
the hands of the Germans since August 22, 1914.
With General von Kluck in retreat on September 7, 1914, General
von Buelow hastening to the rear on September 8, 1914, with the
Duke of Wuerttemberg falling back on September 9, 1914, and the
Imperial Crown Prince and the Bavarian Crown Prince retreating
to an inner ring of defense on September 10, 1914, the battles
of the Marne may, in a measure, be said to have concluded.
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