ne, with the intention of attacking
Kellermann, and cutting off his retreat by the high road of Chalons. A
thick autumnal fog floated over the plain into the marshy grounds where
the three rivers flow, in the hollow ravines which separated the two
armies, leaving only the points of the precipices and the crests of the
hills shining in the light above this ocean of fog. An unexpected shock
of the cavalry of the two advanced guards alone revealed, in this
darkness, the march of the Prussians to the French. After a rapid
_melee_ and some firing, the advanced guard of the French fell back
upon Valmy, and warned Kellermann of the enemy's approach. The Duke of
Brunswick continued to advance, reached the high road to Chalons,
crossed it, and then deployed his whole army. At ten o'clock, the mist
having suddenly disappeared, showed to the two generals their mutual
situation.

Kellermann's army was en masse in the plain and behind the mill of
Valmy. This bold position projected like a cape into the midst of the
lines of the Prussian bayonets. General Chazot had not, as yet, come up
with his twenty-six battalions to flank Kellermann's left. General
Leveneur, who was to have flanked his right and to unite it with
Dumouriez's army, advanced with hesitation and slowly, fearing to draw
on his feeble force all the weight of the Prussian body, which he saw in
battle array before him. General Valence, who commanded Kellermann's
cavalry, deployed into high line with a regiment of carbineers, some
squadrons of dragoons, and four battalions of grenadiers, between
Gizaucourt and Valmy, thus covering the whole space which Kellermann
could fill up, and where that general was expected. Kellermann's lines
formed in the centre of the heights. His powerful artillery bristled by
the side of the mill of Valmy, the centre and key to the position.
Almost surrounded by semicircular lines of the enemy, which were
perpetually increasing in numbers, and embarrassed on this very narrow
elevation by his twenty-two thousand men, horses, guns, and baggage,
Kellermann was unable to extend the wings of his army.

From this height Kellermann saw come in succession, from the white mist
of the morning, and glitter in the sunshine, the countless Prussian
cavalry, which must envelop him, as in a net, if he were driven from his
position. About noon the Duke of Brunswick, having formed his whole army
into two lines, and decided on his plan of the day, was seen to de