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At St. Avold we again fell in with a regiment of Russians, or rather detachments from many regiments. Whoever they were they did not appear to be in high favour with the Major.
Thus there were only two Corps in Alsace, and five on the Moselle; and, on the day of the declaration of war, one of these, the IId Corps, was pushed forward close to the German frontier, near St. Avold and Forbach. This IId Corps, however, received instructions not to engage in any serious conflict. The regiments had marched out of quarters incomplete as to numbers, and insufficiently equipped.
At St. Avold we began to lose the French language, and from this my fluency was reduced to signs, or at most to a very laconic speech "Ich Englander, Ich woll haben Brod mitt Café," &c. At Dendrich, a little village near Forbach, we crossed the new line of demarcation between France and Austria, and found the towns chiefly occupied by Bavarians.
The various corps were distributed as follows: Imperial Guard, General Bourbaki Nancy. Ist Corps, Marshal MacMahon Strassburg. IId Corps, General Frossard St. Avold. IIId Corps, Marshal Bazaine Metz. IVth Corps, General Ladmirault Diedenhofen. Vth Corps, General Failly Bitsch. VIth Corps, Marshal Canrobert Châlons. VIIth Corps, General Félix Douay Belfort.
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