Armée du Nord (1870)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Armée du Nord was the name of a French army in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71.

The formation began under the command of Jean Joseph Farre , who had just been promoted to Brigadier General and who had previously been in command of the Arras fortress . Farre remained Chief of Staff of the Army when General Charles Denis Bourbaki took over command in early October 1870. When there were differences between Bourbaki and Léon Gambetta shortly afterwards , General Bourbaki was recalled to the Loire Army on November 19 and Farre took over the command again.

On December 5, General Louis Faidherbe arrived in Lille and took command of the Armée de Nord, which had been given to him two days earlier. Faidherbe remained in command of the army until the armistice.

The army received a considerable influx of volunteers, but also from the many soldiers of the Rhine Army who were able to flee via Belgium after the defeat of Sedan .

The first battle of the army took place on November 28, 1870 in front of Amiens against the associations of the Prussian General von Manteuffel . In the days before there were various meetings of smaller units. After a short battle, the French had to withdraw to the protection of the fortress of Amiens, but then evacuate the city completely. In December 1870 the strength of the army increased from approx. 35,000 to approx. 50,000 men. Faidherbe tried to relieve the besieged fortress Péronne . His troops had to withdraw after the defeat at the Hallue and were pursued by the 15th Division as far as Bapaume.

In the following battle, however, the French with two complete corps (eight brigades) did not succeed in decisively defeating the pursuing German division (three brigades). After the German troops had received reinforcements in the following days and the siege troops of Péronne had become free, the battle of Saint-Quentin took place on January 19, 1871 . Here the Northern Army was decisively defeated by the German troops, which were now under the command of General von Goeben . Of around 40,000 soldiers, around 12,500 were killed, wounded or taken prisoner. Since considerable parts of the equipment had also been lost, the French Northern Army posed no further threat to the Germans until the armistice.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Figures from Friedrich Engels: About the War , transcription of a text from The Pall Mall Gazette No. 1842 of January 7, 1871

swell