While Mac Mahon wished to retreat on Paris in order to reconstitute his army, consultations convinced him of rescuing Bazaine which unfolded on Metz following new engagements at Rezonville and Saint-Privat on August 16 and 18. Mac Mahon decided on August 23 to leave Reims and marched towards the north-east in order to pass Meuse between Sedan and Verdun.