rolling hilltops east of the Moselle, with his southern left flank at the town of Rozerieulles, and his northern right flank at St. Privat. They lacked efficient digging tools, but Bazaine regarded the position as virtually impregnable, with the defenders sheltered behind hedges and low walls and anchored in villages and farmhouses. The battlefield extended from the woods bordering the Moselle above Metz to Roncourt, near the river Orne. Other villages that played an important part in the battle were Saint Privat, Amanweiler or Amanvillers and Sainte-Marie-aux-Chênes, all lying to the north of Gravelotte. Battle The French cavalry failed to detect the strength of the Prussian pursuit. On 18 August at 08:00 Wilhelm I, whose chief of staff was Moltke, ordered the First and Second Armies to advance against the French positions. By 12:00, General Manstein with artillery from the Hessian 25th Infantry Division was advancing toward the village of Amanvillers. The mass of advancing Germans was met with murderous fire from the superior French Chassepot rifle and their rapid-firing mitrailleuses, before they were within range to retaliate with their shorter-ranged needle-guns. At 14:30, General Steinmetz, the commander of the First Army, launched his VIII Corps across the Mance Ravine but they were soon pinned down by rifle and mitrailleuse fire. At 15:00, the massed new Krupp all-steel breech-loading guns of the German VII and VIII Corps opened fire to support the attack. But with the attack still failing, at 16:00 Steinmetz ordered the VII Corps forward, followed by the 1st Cavalry Division. At 16:50, with the Prussian southern attacks stalling, the Prussian 3rd Guards Infantry Brigade of the Second Army opened an attack against the French positions at St. Privat, which were commanded by Marshal Canrobert. At 17:15, the Prussian 4th Guards Infantry Brigade joined the advance followed at 17:45 by the Prussian 1st Guards Infantry Brigade. All of the Prussian Guard attacks were pinned down on the slopes by lethal French gunfire. At 18:00 King William ordered a renewed advance. At 18:15 the Prussian 2nd Guards Infantry Brigade, the last of the 1st Guards Infantry Division, was committed to the attack on St. Privat, while Steinmetz ordered the last unit in the reserves of the First Army across the Mance Ravine. By 18:30, a considerable portion of the VII and VIII Corps panicked and disengaged from the fighting without attaining their objective and withdrew towards the Prussian positions