Battle at Châtillon

Battle at Châtillon

Part of: Franco-German War

date	October 13, 1870
place	Châtillon , Hauts-de-Seine department near Paris
output	German victory

Parties to the conflict
Bavaria	France
Commander
Jakob von Hartmann	Auguste Ducrot
Troop strength
II. Bavarian Army Corps V. Army Corps	XIV. French Corps
losses
366 dead	?

The battle at Châtillon on October 13, 1870 between the French occupation of Paris (XIV Corps) under General Ducrot and the II Bavarian Corps and parts of the V Corps was a battle of the Franco-German War . In some sources it is also referred to as the Battle of Bagneux .

Location of the battle area

The place Châtillon-sous-Bagneux, today Châtillon (Hauts-de-Seine), is located in the southwest of Paris about 7 kilometers from the city center. The front line ran here during the siege of Paris . The place is on a hill with a height of up to 152 meters. From there, the surrounding landscape including the forts Montrouge , Fort de Vanves and Issy-les-Moulineaux could be dominated by the artillery. It was even possible to bombard the city center with heavy artillery from there.

Battle of September 19, 1870

At the beginning of the siege of Paris, several smaller raids were undertaken, also to train their own troops and to put the German troops under pressure. On September 19, 1870 there was a failure at Châtillon and Bagneux. The Germans held their positions, some of which they had only occupied that day, but were thrown back from the surrounding fortresses by well-aimed fire during their counterattack.

The battle of October 13, 1870

In the autumn of 1870, the occupying army of Paris made several sorties of varying strength. On October 13th they attacked the hill near Châtillon in order to occupy this dominant position and to capture the guns stationed there or at least to force them to retreat. The battle began at 8 a.m. when four forts (Fort de Bicêtre, Fort de Montrouge, Fort de Vanves and Fort d'Issy) fired on the 5th Kgl. Bay. Infantry regiment opened. A total of between 7 and 18 French battalions were involved in the attack.

The French managed to drive the Bavarians out of town. The French had large reserves of infantry and outnumbered them, but too little field artillery. They could not expand their success against the superior Prussian and Bavarian artillery. A counterattack under the command of General Hartmann drove the French out of the place. The French then fired heavy cannons at the fortress of Mont Valérien ( French Forteresse du Mont-Valérien ) Saint-Cloud and the Saint-Cloud castle , which burned down. After the battle, the area around Bagneux and Châtillon was fortified and from October 16, 1870 by two regiments of the 8th Kgl. Bay. Infantry Brigade occupied.

literature

• Theodor Fontane : The war against France 1870–1871. Complete edition in 3 volumes, Verlag Rockstuhl , Bad Langensalza, Reprint 1873/1876/2004, ISBN 3-937135-25-1 (Volume 1), ISBN 3-937135-26-X (Volume 2) and ISBN 3-937135-27 -8 (volume 3)

Web links

• mlwerke.de
• Châtillon . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 3, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 967.
• History of the 5th Infantry Regiment

Footnotes

1. ↑ In Meyer's Konversationslexikon the date is given as October 19th, while the other texts give October 13th.
2. ^ ^{A b c} Geoffrey Wawro: The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870–1871. Cambridge University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-521-61743-X , p. 254.
3. ↑ s. History of the 5th regiment
4. ↑ statensarkiv.se  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.