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350. Furthermore, he had not confided his plan of battle to any one; even the orders which he had issued for the movements of the morning did not reveal his plans; consequently, when he was carried back to Sedan, all the high officers were entirely ignorant of his intentions. The marshal gave the command of the army to General Ducrot, who was not the senior general then on the ground. That honor belonged to General De Wimpffen, who had arrived only two days before from Algeria, and was consequently not acquainted with the army and its condition. An eye-witness says:

This arbitrary act of passing over General De Wimpffen was destined to exercise the most baneful influence on the whole course of the action, more as since the strategical views of Ducrot and De Wimpffen, on which the tactical conduct of the battle depended, were altogether at variance.

General Ducrot took command at 7.30, and immediately ordered the whole army to concentrate at Illy to force its way to Mezieres. While the movement was being executed, General De Wimpffen, acting on his orders from the war ministry, assumed command and ordered the troops back to their old position, which they reached about 10 The time lost in these movements was admirably utilized by the Germans. They closed up both wings of the French army and removed the last chance of forcing a passage through their lines in any direction whatever. And furthermore, these changes of command and these advance and retrograde movements had a bad effect on the French troops. A feeling of insecurity was engendered, the men lost their courage, and ultimately they refused to obey their commanders and rebelled against any authority whatever.

The first Bavarian corps near Bazeilles was in front of the right wing of the French, which consisted of the 12th corps, ranging along from Bazeilles, Balan, and La