La Marche de la Division Margueritte

It was the most glorious episode of the War of 1870. On 31 August, Prussian artillery pounded the French troops gathered at Illy. To break the encirclement, General Margueritte launches, at 11 o'clock, a first cavalry charge that reaches the stream of Floing. But the losses forced the French to retreat towards La Garenne, at the place known as "Triples Levrettes". The Prussians then tried to climb the slopes of the plateau held by the Liebert division. To protect it, five regiments of the Margueritte division, led by the 1st African chasseurs, charged. The general was mortally wounded. At 3 p.m., it's all over. The French losses are considerable. An admiring spectator of French heroism, William of Prussia exclaimed: "Ah, the brave people! ». A memorial bearing this name has been erected in Floing.