Here we present different first-hand accounts of the battle of Saint-Privat. It is our conviction that in these eyewitness accounts are to be found the true sources. The necessary subjectivity and fragmentation of individual perspectives are yet preferable to the tendentious and often willfully deceptive accounts compiled or synthesized by general staffs. Largely uncritical reliance on these secondary sources—notably the case of Howard and Wawro—leads to tidy generalizations which probably bear little resemblance to the events.

This narration is an excerpt from a letter of a Prussian Guard officer published in the Kreuz-Zeitung

2nd company to the right, the 1st to the right in the first echelon. We go round the edge of the forest and immediately take heavy fire. We return to the edge of the wood and proceed under cover. Without result we officers try to see where the fire is coming from, no Frenchmen are to be seen. The bullets were still coming up short. The enemy must have occupied the gradually rising heights in front, at least 1800 paces away. There is our objective. Forwards then! Forwards at a run in line of skirmishers, as long as our breath holds out. The hail of bullets became terrible, our people already began to fall in significant numbers. Our breath is gone. Halt! The enemy is still 1000 paces distant. Forwards, a few hundred paces, into the potato field over there. Halt! Now a few shots each and then we continue. But many, many had already fallen, until we could fire again, and now as target an enemy whose heads only we could see. Captain von Arnim was only 10 paces away from me when he was shot in the leg. He remained in a sitting posture in the line of skirmishers, until he received a second shot, diagonally across the chest. Further, further, the range is still too great for our rifles. Onwards up to 500 paces. Here I encountered Hagen, who was leading the last two platoons of the company. Now the target was already better: I myself sought the payback. Suddenly among us appeared Adjudant Wussow, who horse had been shot, with a handful of men (probably the commander was already dead). That’s when Hagen was shot through the head, 3-4 people next to me as well. Wussow and I discussed what we should do. The 3rd and 4th companies are in skirmishing lines next to us, the 2nd also, all of them already terribly decimated. Behind us, stretching 700 to 800 paces are nothing but killed and wounded. To go on was very dangerous, for if the French made an attack we would probably be captured. In our firing line ran a murmur: ‘if only the blackguards would want to attack us, then we would give them a decent dose of their own medicine!’ The brigade adjudant von Berger canters up to the skirmishing line: “Don’t go any further, wait first; otherwise you’ll be cut off.” Finally, the regiments are sent forwards to support us, the lines quickly approach. That’s when Massow is shot through the left arm; the skirmishing line also is getting thinner and thinner! This is unbearable; forwards, closer onwards! Now we stand only 300 paces in front of the red caps, but only 30-40 men had I managed to bring up this far. The rest had been killed or wounded, or had gone missing, which is always the case in this type of combat, because of the broadened fronts of the firing lines. Our people were great, calm and cold-blooded. Now we too had a sure shot, we could pay [them] back. I myself was firing away. The French relieved their skirmishers four times, which they could do easily, since they stood on and behind the heights. They were positioned in trenches, of which they had dug four one behind the other. The fire was colossal, Konniggratz was a trifle in comparison. Then comes the call in the firing line: Out of ammunition! A terrible feeling! At this point I was shot through my left upper arm, around the shoulder blade and through.

We collect cartridges from the dead and wounded, the latter doing their best to give them to the unscathed. I ordered that everyone reserve two cartridges in case the French attacked. Soon our fire ceased completely. Then approached the skirmishers of regiment Elizabeth, up to and beyond our line. They were terrific, my heart leapt, the fear of being made prisoner vanished, we could breathe again. It began to get dark, there came the signal for rest. The attack begins. I get up: we must come along! But what a shock; to my call only three voices answer: everybody is dead or wounded. This hit me so hard that I forgot everything about an attack and stayed at my post. As soon as the hurrah of Elizabeth came, the fire of the French ceased. One saw our brave men arrive on the heights and then a tremendous rapid firing begin. If only I still had had some men!

Hirth: No. 360, p. 1260, 10th artillery bdgde. Saint-Privat

“Around two-thirty we arrived on the battlefield at Flavigny, and were immediately greeted with heavy shell-fire which at the moment of unlimbering swept away two lead horses and one man from the 9th light battery. So we remained until eight o’clock at night under fire, truly deluged by enemy shells. The French shot brilliantly and we had significant losses. Of around 60 men and 40 horses we had in this battle, we lost 12 men (of which two killed, and one officer, Lieutenant B., wounded) and 15 horses. Certainly a significant loss for the small number. It came about also that the first wagon squadron that was supposed to supply us, not being able to get to us in this terrible confusion, we had to hold out under this murderous fire for a time without being able to reply, as shells landed right and left of us and exploded with more or less success. The situation was not pleasant. Finally, I succeeded in catching a munitions wagon belonging to another battery and then we started [firing] again in a lively manner. It was hot here—very hot, and all agreed that Königgrätz had been child’s play in comparison. Around us lay the dead, the wounded, Prussians, Frenchmen, horses, weapons, etc, etc, in heaps.

Finally around eight o’clock the enemy began to withdraw. Victory was ours. Without our timely arrival the 3rd corps could not have resisted their colossal superiority. After all, the enemy was twice as numerous, in addition to which he cleverly used the for him already very advantageous terrain and also knew the distances exactly. It was a day on which our artillery could come into play and she showed what she could do. According to the unanimous judgment of our infantry comrades we shot brilliantly. We took the enemy infantry as our exclusive target, without especially preoccupying ourselves with the fire of the more numerous enemy batteries. Only to this are the successes to be attributed, for the enemy infantry always fought in relays, while our ranks were always thinning. This we had seen clearly, that the Chassepot is significantly superior to our Needlegun, for already at 1200 paces it can be used; similarly, the Mitrailleuses caused our people very great losses, and we will accordingly take them as our special target. The French artillery mostly employs shrapnel, and to this circumstance we must thank that their well-aimed fire did not cost us more losses. Those fellows already fired at us at 3500 paces, and this they could well do since they knew the ranges precisely. We, on the other hand, could see nothing of the enemy batteries excepting smoke, since their pieces stood covered behind the heights. This made observing the fall of shot from our side very difficult, and still we put out of action six of their pieces, as a prisoner who had been with the enemy artillery reports.

“In the evening at eight as the enemy withdrew, we limbered up to give him a few more shots at closer range. Ahead of us at not too great a range on a height we had seen infantry but had not fired on them, taking them to be our own. As we unlimbered at 600 paces from this infantry, we received strong fire which cost us one man and several horses. Lieutenant B. was here wounded by two bullets. We had to retreat several hundred paces. Had we recognized them earlier they would not long have remained on the height. It was fantastic watching the fellows jumping apart from one another as a shell impacted, then the line hurriedly withdrew a few hundred paces and threw itself down on the ground. Overall, there were few troops to be seen. Everything lay on the ground (the infantry and the riflemen). Each bush, every rock was used as cover. On our side 6 batteries stood next to each other without any cover. Three times the enemy tried to take our artillery, but three times our murderous fire threw him back in wild flight.”

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DIE ZWEITE SCHWERE GARDE BATTERIE IM FELDZUGE 1870-71, Carl Bauer, Berlin, 1901

Saint-Privat, p. 28 'Uber dieses Vorgehen schreibt der Leutnant Schmidt in seinem Tagebuche: "Wir trabten, nachdem die Batterie sich etwas halrechts ziehend, in der bezeichneten Richtung (im Grunde nordostlich Habonville) wieder angetreten war, vor der Front der beiden leichten Batterien vorbei. Vor dem rechten Flugel deselben stand die erste schwere, welche das Feuer in Richtung aug St. Privat wieder aufgenommen hatte. Die Batterie trabte dann, die rechte Schulter etwas vornehmend, in einer nach Osten streichenden Mulde weiter. Bisher hatten wir wahrend der Bewegung nur vereinzelte Chassepotkugeln erhalten, jetzt schlug uns jedoch plotzlich ein wahrhaft morderisches Gewehrfeuer entgegen, ohne das wir den Feind sahen. Es heulte und sauste in der Luft von der Masse der Geschosse, die Pferde wollten nicht mehr vorwarts, wie sie zu thun pflegen, wenn ihnen der Wind den Regen ins Gesicht peitscht. Mehrere Mannschaften fielen und eine Anzahle Pferde sturtzte in den Gespannen, sodas drei Geschutze halten musten. DIe drei anderen drangten sich unwillkurlich enger zusammen. Ich folgte dem Hauptmann v Prittwitz dicht auf vor der Mitte der Batterie. Als es den obersten etwas steileren Hang der Anhohe hinaufging, gab ich das Kommando 'Galopp, Marsch', um Mann und Ros zu ausersten Anstrengung anzuspornen. Die Batterie fiel jedoch nicht in Galopp, dazu warren die Pferde zu ermattet, sie kam aber wenigstens mit den drei Geschutzen, ohne zu stoccken, im Trabe den Hang herauf. Oben angekommen, konnten wir erst die Gefechtslage, welche uns bisher durch die Hohre verdeckt worden war, vollkommen ubersehen. Von der Bergkuppe vor uns, nordlich Amanvillers und auf den weiter ruckwarts gelegenen Stellen, waren dichte franzosische Infanteriemassen mit starken Schutzenlinien im Anmarsch egen unsere Hohe begriffen. In dem wahrend ihres Vorgehens abgegebenen Massenfeuer, welches den westlichen Abhang bestrich, waren wir in Stellung gegangen. Auf der Hohenwand lagen nur wenige Schutzen vom Alexander-Regiment, welche uns beim Abprotzen mit Hurrah begrusten. Es war ein kritischer Moment, als undere drei Geschutze dem franzosischen Massenfeuer unter diesen Verhaltnissen entgegentraten. Als aber der erste Schuss auf 700 Fus in ein geschlossenes Bataillon einschlug und es auseinander sprengte, als der nachste Schuss den Feind zum Halten brachte, da war die Beklommenheit, welche sich auf manchem Gesicht gezeigt hatte, verschwunden, und ein Hurrah begleitete jeden Schuss, welcher in den zuruckweichenden Feind einschlug."

(TRANSLATION)‘We trotted in the indicated direction once the battery, extending somewhat to the right (basically northeast of Habonville), passed the front of both light batteries. Forwards of the right wing stood the first heavy [battery], which had resumed firing in the direction of St. Privat. Then the battery trotted, with the right flank somewhat in front, along a sunken path heading eastwards. Until now we had during our movement only received scattered Chassepot fire, now however a truly murderous rifle fire met us, without our seeing the enemy. The mass of projectiles howled and hummed through the air, the horses did not want to go on, as they are wont to do when the wind lashes the rain into their faces. Several crews fell and a number of horses went down in the traces, so that three guns had to halt. The three other [batteries] instinctively drew closer together. I followed Major von Prittwitz closely near the middle of the battery. As we started going up the somewhat steeper part of the height, I gave the order “Gallop, March!” to spur men and horses to their limits. But the battery did not gallop, the horses were too spent, but the three batteries at least came up the hill at a trot. Arrived at the height, we could now fully see the battle situation, which up until now had been hidden from us by the rise. From the hill top in front of us, north of Amanvillers and on the positions lying farther behind, were dense French infantry masses with strong lines of skirmishers marching towards our height. Still advancing, they fired a mass volley which swept the western slope whilst we went into battery. On these slopes were only a few riflemen of the Alexander regiment who greeted our unlimbering with hurrahs. It was a critical moment as our three cannon opposed the French infantry salvoes. But when the first shot at 700 paces smashed into a compact battalion and broke it apart, as the second shot brought the enemy to a halt, the tension which had shown itself on some faces vanished, and a hurrah accompanied each shot which struck the retreating enemy.”