Morning At 6:40 a.m. on 22 August General
Léon Raffenel, commander of the 3rd Colonial Division, reached St Vincent in heavy fog where he met with the Colonial Corps commander, General
Jules Lefèvre. Lefèvre issued his orders for the day, stating that Raffenel was to march to Neufchâteau and secure billets. Lefèvre indicated that he did not expect to encounter the enemy until 23 or 24 August. The German 4th Army spotted the advance of the Colonial Corps by aerial reconnaissance and their cavalry screen but did not know whether this force intended to continue north or move eastwards. Final confirmation of the French intentions came on the morning of 22 August when the German cavalry screen encountered French troops of the 6th Dragoons moving northwards on the road to Neufchâteau. The opposing cavalry met some south of Rossignol and the French drove back the Germans, clearing the road. The French dragoons soon crossed the
Semois River and cleared the village of Rossignol before heading into the dense Ligny forest. The French cavalry resumed their advance but further north came upon the 157th Infantry Regiment deployed in defensive positions behind a crest, from which it could carry out
enfilade fire upon the road, at several kilometres range. The colonel of the colonial regiment believed he was facing only a small German detachment, with their nearest major units still believed to be some to the east. The German forces were forced to remain in their positions, unable to counter-attack due to the continuous assaults and inability to deploy their artillery within the forest. General
Martin Chales de Beaulieu, commander of the German 12th Division, became aware that the 157th Infantry Regiment was under great pressure and had suffered many casualties. Beaulieu ordered the 63rd Infantry Regiment and a battery of artillery to move around the French left flank to Termes. This force entered Termes at 11:00 a.m. and engaged French troops still moving along the road towards Rossignol. A firefight erupted and a battery of the German artillery went into action on nearby Hill 363, supported by the machine-guns of the infantry. A French artillery battery, still in column of march and unable to move off the road due to marshes and fences, deployed on the highway and within minutes had destroyed three guns and killed or wounded most of the crews. Simultaneously the 11th Division (General Von Weber), moved to seize Tintigny via Ansart and discovered the French 3rd Colonial Division in column of march on the Rossignol–Breuvanne road. Deploying some artillery onto Hill 345, near Breuvanne bridge, the remainder of the 11th Division advance guard continued its march southwards. Thus the French found themselves threatened on both flanks.
French withdrawal The French continued to attack the German centre in the Ligny Forest and by 10:30 a.m. most of the 157th Infantry Regiment's officers had become casualties and the German troops began to waver. Lacking senior commanders the French were fragmented into
squad-sized units led by
subalterns and
non-commissioned officers. The French cavalry at Rossignol, receiving orders to defend a French battery deployed to the east, failed to locate the artillery and instead attempted to charge the German artillery on Hill 363. Unable to reach the gunners due to marshland, impenetrable fences and German return-fire they moved south across the Breuvanne bridge and west towards Termes. This difficult movement badly disorganised the unit and it took until the end of the day for it to reform, ruling out its involvement in the battle.
Encirclement of Rossignol At 11:00 a.m. the bridge over the Semois, the only way to Rossignol from the south, was destroyed by German artillery fire from the 11th Division at Ansart. This prevented two battalions of the 3rd Colonial Infantry Regiment, all of the 7th Colonial Infantry Regiment and the Colonial Corps artillery from reaching Rossignol. Raffenel, already concerned by the delays in bringing up his reserves, was isolated in Rossignol with a fraction of his division. The German 11th Division, less the one battalion of artillery at Hill 345, had reached Tintigny by 10:00 a.m. and continued towards St Vincent. At Tintigny the streets had been barricaded with wagons and German artillery units moving through the town were fired upon, injuring some horses. The Germans retaliated by setting fire to some houses to flush out their attackers and opened fire on the church with artillery, causing some French civilian deaths. The initial attacks were blamed by the Germans on armed civilian but other sources suggest the attackers were a French patrol or mobilised Belgian forestry troops. Lefèvre ordered the 7th Colonial Infantry Regiment and some artillery to the east of St Vincent to defend the village and removed his headquarters to
Jamoigne. Here he encountered the lead elements of the 2nd Colonial Division (General
Paul Leblois), which, comprising the Fourth Army reserve, he lacked the authority from his commander to redirect. Leblois acted unilaterally to send the 22nd Colonial Infantry Regiment to Termes to support the 3rd Colonial Division. They pushed back two German battalions and retook half the village before being ordered to withdraw, for the loss of 2 officers and 54 men killed and 14 officers and 182 men wounded. The 1st and 2nd battalions of the 3rd Colonial Infantry Regiment, unable to join their third battalion at Rossignol instead attacked the Germans to the west at Termes. Suffering losses from artillery and machine-gun fire from Termes and in their rear from Ansart they were eventually forced to retreat to Jamoigne. The force comprised only some 900 men with 15 officers of the infantry but was supported by the machine-gun companies of the 1st and 2nd Colonial Infantry Regiments, whose twelve guns stiffened the defence. The Germans managed to bring up two 77 mm field guns and two 105 mm howitzers along the forest road which opened fire on Rondony's men and the clock tower in the village; further fire was directed upon the French from artillery across the Semois to their rear. For more than two hours Rondony, reinforced by ad hoc units retreating from the woods, was able to hold on. The first big German attack came at 2:30 p.m. and was repulsed by machine-gun and rifle fire but French resistance was weakening, by 3:00 p.m. only 500 men remained in the firing line and most of the French machine-guns were out of action. A second German assault at 3:30 p.m. managed to gain the crest, despite a desperate French counter-charge and forced the French back to the village. An initial attack upon Rossignol at 4:00 p.m. was defeated after half an hour's hard fighting on the fringe of the village. German forces eschewed a direct assault, encircled the village and captured outlying French positions and the divisional command staff – some 328 men. The last French resistance in Rossignol was at the north of the village where mutual exhaustion had led to a lull. The Germans committed the 23rd Infantry Regiment into action from reserve, which swept into the village with little opposition at around 5:30 p.m. Seeing that the French appeared ready to surrender they formed into column and marched into the village square with drums beating, taking the surrender of some 200 men, 10 officers and General Montignault.
Breakout attempt The last French defenders, 400–500 men of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Colonial Infantry together with elements of the engineers and chasseurs, tried to break-out to the south-east between the German 11th and 12th Divisions. Hit by artillery and running into the German VI Corps and V Corps command posts only a fraction of this force was able to reach French lines and join the 2nd Colonial Division at Jamoigne. After a final attack the German troops were able to take possession of Rossignol by 6:50 p.m., no pursuit was made of the French south of the Semois. == Aftermath ==