Armée de la Loire

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Armée de la Loire (German Loire Army ) was the name of a French army in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. The army's strategic goal was to lift the siege of Paris by German troops.

Lineup

The Loire Army was founded on October 13, 1870 on the orders of Léon Gambetta from the XV. Corps (General de La Motte-Rouge ) and XVI. Corps (from October 13th under General Pourcet ) formed. The first commander in chief of the army was General Louis d'Aurelle de Paladines , who had been the XVI. Corps had led. The assigned corps were only set up during the war and also consisted of soldiers from the colony in Algeria and the crews from various depots. Until the armistice, the army received more and more volunteers, reservists, former soldiers and displaced persons. Therefore, the number of soldiers increased over the course of time, despite several severe defeats, several times to over 200,000 men.

The corps combined in the army had already fought in the battles for Artenay and Orléans.

Operations until the fall of Orléans

Until the first use of the army in the battle of Coulmiers and the associated reconquest of Orléans were still the XVII. ( de Sonis ), the XVIII. ( Billot ) and the XX. Corps ( Crouzat ) added. However, these units were not yet operational in the first battles. At the beginning of October 1870, de Paladines had around 70,000 soldiers ready for action.

After the conquest of Orléans, no further advance was made, as the units still behind were supposed to catch up and overall the training of the troops had to be improved. The further fighting therefore began only at the end of November with the battle of Beaune-la-Rolande , in which the right wing of the army was defeated. After the further defeat on December 2 in the battle of Loigny and Poupry , the retreat began on Orléans, which was lost on December 5, 1870.

Second Loire Army

In this battle of Orléans the army was divided. Three corps (XV., XVIII. And XX.) Were now under the command of General Bourbaki and retreated in a south-easterly direction towards Bourges. The mere presence of these corps forced the Prussians and allies to leave significant forces in and around Orléans to be protected against attack. However, these corps did not intervene in the subsequent battles on the Loire. On December 8th, the Armée de l'Est was formed from these corps , which was moved by train to Nuits and then to relieve the Belfort .

The XVI., The XVII. and the new XXI. Corps Jaurès formed the so-called Second Loire Army under the command of General Antoine Chanzy , which retreated westwards along the Loire in a long series of retreat battles. During the three-day battle at Beaugency these troops even went back to attack against the outnumbered Prussian troops , but had to break off the fighting when the IX. Corps had crossed the Loire at Blois and could have stabbed Chanzy in the rear.

After the Battle of Beaugency they managed to break away from the pursuers. With further influx, the strength increased again to approx. 150,000 men. General Camô's divers corps (volunteers from the Tour area) and units from Brittany in the Conlie camp were also part of the army here. However, there was a lack of experienced managers as well as modern and uniform equipment and heavy weapons. The infantry even used muzzle-loaders .

In the Battle of Le Mans , the Loire Army was decisively defeated. The loss of deserters alone was around 50,000 men, plus there were high losses of wounded and fallen soldiers (around 7,000 men) and around 22,000 prisoners of war. The fleeing French were pursued by the German cavalry , which resulted in a long series of smaller skirmishes. From January 12th, the Loire Army was no longer a threat to the Prussians.

Overview of the units

First Loire Army

Unit and commanders
XV. corps de La Motte-Rouge de Paladines des Pallières
until October 10, 1870 until November 16, 1870 from November 16, 1870
XVI. corps de Paladines Pourcet Chanzy
October 4 to October 13 until November 16 from November 2nd
XVII. corps Durrieu de Sonis Guépratte
from November 13th from November 22nd from December 2nd
XVIII. corps Billot
continuous
XX. corps Crouzat Clinchant
from December 16, 1870

Second Loire Army

Unit and commanders
XVI. corps Jauréguiberry Barry
from December 16 from February 1871
XVII. corps Guépratte de Colomb
from December 2, 1870 from December 21, 1870
XXI. corps Jaurès
continuous
Corps Divers Camô
continuous

literature

Web links

  • preussenweb.de private website.
  • Army de Loire. French website on the army and battles.
  • Further sources and web links are assigned to the respective battles.