Battle at Sceaux

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Battle at Sceaux
date September 19, 1870
place Sceaux near Paris
output German victory
Parties to the conflict

North German ConfederationNorth German Confederation North German Confederation of Bavaria
Kingdom of BavariaKingdom of Bavaria 

Second empireSecond empire France

Commander

Kingdom of BavariaKingdom of Bavaria Jakob von Hartmann

Second empireSecond empire Auguste Ducrot

Troop strength
II. Bavarian Army Corps and V Army Corps (approx.15,000 men) approx. 30-40,000 men
Battles and Sieges of the
Franco-German War (1870–1871)

The battle at Sceaux on September 19, 1870 between the French occupation of Paris under General Ducrot and parts of the II. Bavarian Army Corps and V Army Corps was a battle of the Franco-German War . In some places the failure is named after the Petit Bicêtre or Plessis-Piquet mountain ranges or the town of Meudon .

Location of the combat area

The city of Sceaux is located in the southwest of Paris about 10 km from the city center. During the siege of Paris , the only French attempt to prevent the city from being enclosed took place here. In the local area is the Plessis-Piquet hill, which was the target of the failure.

Objective and condition of the French troops

To prevent the city from being enclosed, Ducrout, as the commander of the second army of the city garrison, attempted an attack at Sceaux before the besiegers could move into their final positions. He had a corps of around 30,000 to 40,000 men at his disposal. However, this force consisted mainly of mobile guards and newly drafted volunteers. Many of the soldiers had only been drafted into the occupation army a few days ago and were fighting in civilian clothes. There was also no uniform armament.

The fights

General Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot
General Jakob von Hartmann

The French corps took up position on the late evening of September 18, 1870, at Viry-Châtillon , between the forts of Montrouge and Vanves ; The first infantry formations advanced around 5 a.m. the next day. However, these have already been thrown back from the first German outposts . Thereupon the French artillery pulled up with about 70 guns and bombarded the forest opposite it for half an hour, where German troops were suspected. Two Prussian regiments, the King Grenadier Regiment (2nd West Prussian) No. 7 and the 2nd Lower Silesian Infantry Regiment No. 47 from the 9th Division had holed up in the forest and were waiting for the attack here. This took place around half past seven under the command of the French 16th line regiment. When the Prussians involved the Prussians in a close combat with heavy losses, the French also got caught in the fire of an advancing unit of Mobile Guards and then withdrew in complete dissolution.

Shortly afterwards, the Prussians received reinforcements from parts of two Bavarian regiments and parts of the 10th Division and were thus able to hold their positions. In the meantime, another Bavarian brigade with its artillery had been able to take positions on the left French flank and fired from here with the new explosive ammunition. As in the Battle of Sedan , this new ammunition had a considerable effect here and led to the French withdrawing. These left behind a field hill with eight guns, which was captured by the 14th Bavarian Infantry Regiment . The advancing German troops took numerous prisoners here. From 9 a.m. the French were on the retreat or on the run. Only on the heights of Villejuif did individual French units last into the afternoon. The strength of the Prussian and Bavarian troops together was approx. 15,000 soldiers, but large parts of them were only involved in the final phase of the fighting.

The exact amount of the casualties and the exact number of prisoners is not exactly documented.

consequences

The commander in chief of the occupation army, General Trochu , blamed the line troops for the failure the next day and praised the mobile guards for their efforts.

Historical sources

Web links

  • Preussenweb Part of the private website www.preussenweb.de

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Regiments of the Prussian Army. The New Prussian regiments. 1806-1918. As of 1905. Infantry.
  2. ↑ Sceaux . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 14, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 368.
  3. ↑ Friedrich Engels: About the war.
  4. ↑ The troop strength is in Friedrich Engels: About the war. been named
  5. ↑ Lt. Provincial correspondence of September 28, 1870, the French were not informed of the strength and position of the German troops. Battle before Paris. In: Provinzial-Correspondenz. of September 28, 1870, p. 3
  6. ↑ Correspondingly described in Engels and in the Prussian official press