Nonstop German artillery fire on the helpless French infantry and artillery and Prussian attacks from the northwest and east and Bavarian attacks from the southwest drove the Army of Châlons north into the Bois de la Garenne, where it was surrounded. Wimpffen at 13:00 gave orders for a breakout to the south. The attacks failed completely or did not get going at all and Douay's 7th Corps front line was broken under the weight of German firepower. Douay's left flank had been dug in in two lines of trenches above Floing, their fire keeping the Germans pinned down in the village. By 13:00, the German artillery had destroyed Douay's forces and the German 22nd Division turned Douay's left flank, defeating all counterattacks by French infantry and lancers. Douay directed General Jean Auguste Margueritte's cavalry squadrons to open an escape route by launching three desperate attacks on the nearby village of Floing where the Prussian XI Corps was concentrated. Margueritte was mortally wounded leading the very first charge, and the two additional charges were mowed down by German infantry fire at 15:00, the number of French killed and wounded amounting to 791.
