- THE FRANCO PRUSSIAN – WAR 1870 71 VOLUME 1 The Campaign of Sedan: Helmuth von Moltke and the Overthrow of the Second Empire Quintin Barry Inthefirstpartofthiscomprehensiveall-newtwo-volumemilitaryhistoryofthe Franco-PrussianWar,QuintinBarrypresentsadetailedaccountofthewaragainst the French Imperial Army waged by the armies of the German Confederation, directedbythatsuprememilitarymind,HelmuthvonMoltke. The author places Moltke and his strategic planning in the context of the EuropeanbalanceofpowerfollowingtheendingoftheAustro-PrussianWarof 1866, before exploring the initial mobilisation and deployment of the armies in 1870. All of the battles of this opening round of the war are described in detail, including Weissenburg, Wörth, Spicheren, Borny-Colombey, Mars la Tour, Gravelotte,Beaumontand,ofcourse,Sedan. ThebookendsastheSecondEmpireofNapoleonIIIliesdefeated,crushed bytheGermanarmiesdirectedbyvonMoltke. TheauthorhasmadefulluseofanextensivenumberofGermanandFrench languagesources.Hisdetailedtextisaccompaniedbyanumberofblackandwhite illustrationsandbattlemaps.Extensiveordersofbattlearealsoprovided. Quintin Barry is married and lives in Sussex. He is a solicitor, specializing in employmentlaw.Hehasbeenchairmanofalocalradiostationandforthepastten yearshasservedaschairmanofanNHSTrust.Throughouthisprofessionalcareer hehasmaintainedhislifelonginterestinmilitaryandnavalhistory.Hehasmadea specialstudyoftheperiodfrom1848to1871,withparticularreferencetotheWars ofGermanUnification. Helmuth von Moltke (Pflugk-Harttung) THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 1870–71 Volume 1 The Campaign of Sedan: Helmuth von Moltke and the Overthrow of the Second Empire Quintin Barry Helion & Company Ltd ToDiana Helion&CompanyLimited 26WillowRoad Solihull WestMidlands B911UE England Tel.01217053393 Fax01217114075 Email:[email protected] Website:http://www.helion.co.uk PublishedbyHelion&Company2007 Thispaperbackreprint2009 DesignedandtypesetbyHelion&CompanyLimited,Solihull,WestMidlands CoverdesignedbyBookcraftLimited,Stroud,Gloucestershire Printedby Henry Ling Ltd, Dorchester, Dorset Text©Helion&CompanyLimited2006 ISBN978-1-906033-45-3 BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData. AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrieval system,ortransmitted,inanyform,orbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying, recordingorotherwise,withouttheexpresswrittenconsentofHelion&CompanyLimited. Coverillustration:MoltkeatGravelotte,August181870,paintingbyKoch. FordetailsofothermilitaryhistorytitlespublishedbyHelion&CompanyLimitedcontact theaboveaddress,orvisitourwebsite:http://www.helion.co.uk. Wealwayswelcomereceivingbookproposalsfromprospectiveauthors,especiallythoseof nineteenthcenturyinterest. Contents THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WARC VOONLTUEMNET 1S List of Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii List of Maps and Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Chapters 1 From Nikolsburg to Ems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 2 Strategic Planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 3 The German Army after Königgrätz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 4 The French Army and its Leaders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 5 Mobilisation and Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 6 The Opening Battles: Weissenburg and Wörth. . . . . . . . . . . . 76 7 The Opening Battles: Spicheren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 8 Borny-Colombey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 9 Mars la Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 10 Gravelotte. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 11 The Army of Châlons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 12 MacMahon’s Flank March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 13 Beaumont . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 14 August 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 15 Sedan: the battlefield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 16 Sedan: the first stages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 17 Sedan: the advance of the Crown Prince. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 18 Sedan: Floing and Hill 812 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 19 Sedan: the end of the battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 20 Sedan: the capitulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 21 The end of the Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Appendices I German Forces August 1 1870 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 II Imperial French Army August 1 1870. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 III German Forces Gravelotte-St.Privat August 18 1870 . . . . . . . . 316 IV French Forces Gravelotte-St.Privat August 18 1870 . . . . . . . . . 324 V Terms of the Capitulation at Sedan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332 v vi THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR VOLUME 1 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 List of Illustrations THE FRANCO-PRLIUSSTS IOAFN I LWLAURS TVROALTUIMONE S1 1 Helmuth von Moltke (Pflugk-Harttung) (frontispiece) . . . . . . . . . . ii 2 Bismarck (Pflugk-Harttung). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3 King William of Prussia (Lindner). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 4 Moltke in the saddle, by Speyer (Bork) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 5 Prussian troops 1870, by Knötel: 1 – Dragoon, 2 – Cuirassier, 3 – Hussar, 4 – Uhlan, 5 – Pioneer, 6 – Jäger, 7 – Line Infantry, 8 – Horse Artillery (Scheibert). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 6 South German troops, by Knötel. From l to r: Württemberg Reiter, Artillery, Infantry; Bavarian Infantry, Artillery, Cuirassier, Chevauleger (Pflug-Harttung) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 7 Count von Roon, Prussian Minister of War (Scheibert) . . . . . . . . . 51 8 Emperor Napoleon III (Scheibert). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 9 Marshal Le Boeuf, French Minister of War in 1870 (Rousset/Histoire) . 60 10 French troops 1870, by Knötel: 1 – Chasseur à Cheval, 2 – Garde Mobile, 3 – Line Infantry, 4 – Artilleryman, 5 – Turco, 6 – Cuirasssier, 7 – Dragoon (Scheibert) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 11 ‘An old trooper’ – a characterful study of a veteran French infantryman, by Carl Röchling (Lindner) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 12 The French Senate celebrates the declaration of war, painting by Conrad (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 13 King William at the grave of his parents, 19 July 1870, painting by von Werner (Scheibert) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 14 Prussian troops depart for the theatre of war, by Plinzner (Scheibert) . . 68 15 Crown Prince Frederick William, commander of the German Third Army (Scheibert) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 16 Bavarian troops push forward during the Battle of Weissenburg, engraving from the painting by Braun ((Pflugk-Harttung). . . . . . . . 77 17 Bavarian artillery in action during the Battle of Weissenburg, painting by Braun (Rousset/Histoire). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 18 The Geisberg Château following the Battle of Weissenburg, 4 August 1870 (Illustrierte Kriegs-chronik) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 19 Marshal MacMahon, commander of the 1st Corps, Army of the Rhine, and later commander of the Army of Châlons, painting by Princeteau (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 20 Prussian infantry storm through Froeschwiller, by Zimmer (Klein) . . . 84 vii viii THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR VOLUME 1 21 Bonnemains’ Cuirassiers falter at Wörth, by Speyer (Bork) . . . . . . . 88 22 The Prussian 47th Infantry Regiment storm the heights beyond Froeschwiller, painting by Carl Röchling (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . 89 23 General von Steinmetz, commander of the German First Army (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 24 The Prussian 48th Infantry in the Pfaffenwald, at Spicheren, by Röchling (Lindner) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 25 General von Stiehle, Chief of Staff of the German Second Army (Pflugk-Harttung) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 26 The storming of the Spicheren Heights – the 9th Company of the Prussian 39th Infantry Regiment, led in person by General von François, painting by von Werner (Scheibert) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 27 Prussian artillery makes its appearance on the Rotherberg, Spicheren, by Röchling (Lindner) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 28 The 1st Battalion of the Prussian 13th Infantry at Colombey, by Knötel (Pflugk-Harttung) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 29 The Prussian 53rd Infantry at Colombey, painting by Hünten (Scheibert) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 30 Marshal Bazaine, commander of the Army of the Rhine (Rousset/ Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 31 French Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard, on the morning of the battle, painting by Petit-Gérard (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . 115 32 Marshal Canrobert, commander of the French 6th Corps, Army of the Rhine (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 33 General Konstantin von Alvensleben, commander of the German III Corps (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 34 General Frossard, commander of the French 2nd Corps (Rousset/ Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 35 Prussian artillery during the Battle of Mars la Tour, from a watercolour by Knötel (Scheibert). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 36 The Zieten Hussars (Prussian 3rd Hussars) at Mars-la-Tour, by Knötel (Pflugk-Harttung) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 37 Prince Frederick Charles, commander of the German Second Army (Pflugk-Harttung) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 38 General von Fransecky, commander of the German II Corps (Rousset/Histoire). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 39 The Crown Prince of Saxony during the Battle of Gravelotte, painting by Zimmer (Scheibert) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix 40 Prince August of Württemberg, commander of the Prussian Guard (Rousset/Histoire). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 41 General Ladmirault, commander of the French 4th Corps (Rousset/Histoire). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 42 General von Manstein, commander of the German IX Corps (Rousset/Histoire). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 43 The Prussian assault on St Privat (Pflugk-Harttung) . . . . . . . . . . 139 44 The Hessians attack the farm at Champenois during the Battle of Gravelotte, painting by Röchling (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . 140 45 Dejected French prisoners following Gravelotte, painting by Dupray (Rousset/Histoire). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 46 Members of the Army of Châlons in camp, by Pallandre (Rousset/ Combattants) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 47 The Army of Châlons on the march, painting by Chaperon (Rousset/Histoire). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 48 General von Podbielski, Quartermaster General of the German armies (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 49 The action at Nouart, by Pallandre (Rousset/Combattants). . . . . . . 166 50 General von Blumenthal, Chief of Staff of the German Third Army (Scheibert) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 51 The French are surprised at Beaumont, by Speyer (Bork). . . . . . . . 171 52 General Gustav von Alvensleben, commander of the German IV Corps (Pflugk-Harttung). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 53 The French 88th Line Regiment defend the Givodeau woods, at Beaumont, by Pallandre (Rousset/Combattants) . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 54 The battlefield of Sedan, from the heights near Frénois, from a sketch by A. von Werner (Pflugk-Harttung) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 55 The suburbs of Sedan, from an oil sketch by Bracht (Pflugk- Harttung) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 56 Crown Prince Albert of Saxony (Scheibert). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 57 General Ducrot (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 58 MacMahon is wounded during the early stages of Sedan, by Zimmer (Scheibert). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 59 Fierce fighting rages in Bazeilles, a drawing by Röchling (Lindner) . . . 211 60 A charge of French Marine infantry during the fighting for Bazeilles and its environs, painting by Sergent (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . 211