Skirmish at Artenay

Skirmish at Artenay

Part of: Franco-German War

date	October 10, 1870
place	Artenay , Arrondissement Orléans , Loiret department
output	German victory

Parties to the conflict
Bavaria	France
Commander
Ludwig von der Tann	Joseph de la Motte
Troop strength
I. Royal Bavarian Army Corps : 14,000 men with 100 cannons	XV. Loire Army Corps: 8,000 men with 16 cannons
losses
approx. 200 dead and wounded	900 dead, wounded and prisoners

The battle at Artenay on October 10, 1870 between the I. Bavarian Corps and the French XV. Corps of the Loire Army was a battle of the Franco-German War , after this battle the Germans occupied Orléans for the first time the following day .

prehistory

In order to secure the German siege from Paris to the south, the I. Bavarian Corps under General von der Tann was dispatched to the Loire at the beginning of October 1870 . The 22nd Division under General von Wittich and the 17th Division under General von Schimmelmann , as well as the 2nd and 4th Cavalry Divisions, were put on the march to strengthen the Bavarians . The aim of General von der Tanns was the conquest of Orléans, where new French units gathered, on October 8th the German army department advanced to Etampes . After a smaller meeting at Angerville on October 9, in which only the cavalry and the vanguard were involved, the French withdrew before Orléans on a line from Artenay to Patay.

The battle

The French XV. Corps under General de La Motte-Rouge had occupied Orléans and the forest north of it. On October 10th around 10 a.m. the Bavarian troops reached the line of the villages Vilchat and Assas near Artenay. Since the battle the day before, the I. Bavarian Corps had covered a further 20-25 km. The Bavarian infantry was in the center with around 80 cannons, the 2nd Cavalry Division under General Stolberg covered the right wing and the 4th Cavalry Division under Prince Albrecht of Prussia covered the left wing. General von der Tann deployed nine batteries and bombarded the French positions. The Dragoon Regiment No. 5 and the Uhlan Regiment No. 2 pursued the retreating enemy, with a number of drawn guns and a number of prisoners brought in. Artenay was not occupied by the 1st Bavarian Regiment until around 4 p.m. The French lost around 900 dead, wounded and prisoners, the German persecutors lost around 200 men.

consequences

Bavarian artillery in action near Ormes, October 11, 1870

The French withdrew in the direction of Orléans, where the Bavarians massed on October 11th. This led to the battle at Ormes , with a fierce Bavarian artillery fight , for whose successful execution the commander Franz Will (1830-1912) was ennobled and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order . The Germans penetrated the city of Orléans from all sides, the 3rd Bavarian Brigade suffered heavy losses when advancing to the city's market square. The Germans lost around 60 officers and 1,200 soldiers in the first battle for Orléans, and 3,000 French soldiers were taken prisoner. The city of Orléans was occupied for the next few days. The 22nd Division and the 4th Cavalry Division were withdrawn in support of the siege of Paris and took Châteaudun on October 18 .

The declining French XV. Corps remained intact and received a new leader in General Aurelle de Paladines . After the recent advance of the Loire Army under Chanzy (XV. And XVI. Corps) General von der Tann had to evacuate Orléans on the night of November 8th to 9th. After the defeat in the Battle of Coulmiers, the Bavarians stayed in Artenay, where General von der Tann initially took quarters. On December 3, 1870, when the 2nd Army marched again under the command of Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia, the actual battle at Orléans took place , in which the IX. Army Corps under General of the Infantry von Manstein could occupy the city.

Trivia

The attack of the Dragoons 5 10th at Artenay October 1870 is a 71.5 x 150.5 cm oil painting on canvas by German painter Otto von Faber du Faur , which (2011) owned by the now Bavarian Army Museum in Ingolstadt is .

literature

• Justus Scheibert : The war between Germany and France (based on the General Staff Works). Pauli's successor, Berlin 1895, p. 179.
• Alexis Held: The share of the Bavarian army in the national war against France in 1870. Carl Merhoff Verlag, Munich 1870.
• Orléans . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 12, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 444.
• Artenay . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 1, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 881.
• Orleans . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 20 : Ode - Payment of Members . London 1911, p. 292 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).

Web links

• preussenweb.de private website.
• Army de Loire. French website on the army and battles.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Georg Hiltl: The French War of 1870 and 1871. Bielefeld, 1892, p. 630 ( books.google.de ).
2. ↑ Bavaria's Heroes and Honor Book: Decorated and praised by the Bavarian army that marched to France. Munich 1872, p. 65 ( books.google.de ).