Battle of Buzenval

Battle of Buzenval

Part of: Franco-German War

date	January 19, 1871
place	West of Paris towards Versailles, France
output	German victory

Parties to the conflict
North German Confederation	France
Commander
Friedrich Wilhelm	Louis Jules Trochu
Troop strength
approx. 12,000 men in 12 battalions	about 90,000 men
losses
570 men and 40 officers	3,881 men and 189 officers

The Battle of Buzenval , between Paris and Versailles, took place on January 19, 1871 in the Franco-German War between the V Corps of General von Kirchbach of the German 3rd Army under the command of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia and the French National Guard and others Associations of the Paris Defense Army under General Louis Jules Trochu . In some sources this dispute is also referred to as the "Battle of Saint-Cloud" or "Battle of Mont Valérien".

The Mont Valérien Fort

The mountain Mont Valérien west of Paris reaches a height of approx. 200 meters above sea ​​level and lies above the villages of Puteaux and Suresnes in an arch of the Seine . Around 1830 a modern fort was built there instead of an older pilgrimage church . This was considered the most important fortification of the inner line of fortifications in Paris. The fort was a pentagon with polygon sides about 400 meters long . Among other things, it was equipped with a 21 cm naval gun and, due to its elevated position, made it possible to prepare and support emergencies from here.

Failure on October 21, 1870

General Hugo von Kirchbach

On October 21, 1870 about twelve battalions with a total of 40 field guns made a sortie against the German positions. Two batteries fired in the direction of St. Cloud and La Celle to tear gaps in the Prussian outpost chain. Opposite them stood the troops of the 9th and 10th Divisions of the V Corps under von Kirchbach . These units received support from the 1st Guards Landwehr Regiment and, after a while, from the artillery of the IV Corps from the other side of the Seine arc . The main French thrust was aimed at Malmaison and Bougival. Although the mitrailleuse and cannon fire were said to have been very strong, no breakthrough could be achieved. Despite their great superiority, the Prussian headquarters in Versailles was alerted and King Wilhelm and Crown Prince Friedrich watched the battle from the Marly Viaduct.

After a total of three hours of fighting, the French were defeated and had to withdraw into the protection of the fortress. The French lost over 100 prisoners and two field guns, the German losses were described as minor. The number of dead and wounded is not documented. However, in his diary, Crown Prince Friedrich speaks of four (later six) officers killed and 300 men wounded.

Failure on January 19, 1871

initial situation

Louis Jules Trochu

Since September 19, 1870, Paris was besieged by German associations. The Defense Army now consisted of up to 120,000 soldiers and 330,000 men of the National Guard. After several attacks against the German siege army had already failed, several coordinated French counter-offensives were to turn the war around in January 1871. Attacks from the north and west, along with a major sortie, were to horrify besieged Paris. At the same time, the newly established Eastern Army was supposed to liberate Belfort in the south-east and cut through the supply line of the siege army.

The battle

On January 19, 1871, the French units attempted a sortie towards Versailles with the strategic goal of uniting with the Loire Army . The troops gathered on the Genevilliers peninsula and under the protection of the fortress of Mont-Valérien. In the experience of Le Bourget, this was the only possible deployment. The attack was carried out with three columns in a south-westerly direction against the German positions on the heights of Garches , Montretout (district of Saint-Cloud ) and the castle of Buzenval. The deployment was covered by the fog prevailing at the time. Caused by the fog or by communication errors, there were considerable problems from the beginning in the cooperation with the own artillery and the three columns among themselves. The left column under the command of General Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot was almost three hours late and could therefore no longer intervene decisively in the battle. The attacks nevertheless reached the park of Buzenval Castle, the town of Saint-Cloud and parts of the German positions near Montretout. At all these points, however, the initial successes could not be further developed against the strong German resistance and especially the superior German artillery. At that time, the fighting was not very far from the German headquarters near Versailles.

In the afternoon the retreat to the protection of the fortress guns of Paris began. The units in the village of Saint-Cloud were able to successfully hold their positions against the German counterattacks for a longer period of time, but had to withdraw on the morning of January 20 to avoid being trapped.

Another attack was planned for January 20th. The retreating French therefore only retreated as far as Fort Mont Valérien and gathered there for another attack. However, this did not take place, probably also because it had become known at that time that the Loire Army was defeated and the strategic goal of unification could no longer be achieved.

consequences

The French counter-offensive had failed at all points. Trochu handed over the command of Paris to Joseph Vinoy , who began negotiations on a surrender.

Commemoration

The sortie was carried out with a strength of about 90,000 men. In addition to the regular soldiers, these were in particular units of the National Guard, i.e. simple citizens who had volunteered to defend Paris. The composition of the National Guard corresponded to a Levée en masse . As a result, this battle received special attention. There were also many scientists and artists among the volunteers. Among them were the painter Henri Regnault (1843–1871), the mathematician and polar explorer Gustave Lambert (1824–1871) and the Marquis Coriolis d'Espinouse, who died in battle. There was even a song specially entitled La tombe de Regnault . One of the memorials erected for the battle after a few years was decorated with a bust of Henri Regnault.

Web links and sources

• The Franco-Prussian War 1870/71 German Historical Museum
• Franco-German relations, The Franco-German War ( Memento from December 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Extensive texts, materials and images, Robert Bosch Stiftung
• (PDF file; 1.4 MB)

annotation

1. ↑ Valeria . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 16, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 40.
2. ↑ The pentagonal shape can still be seen in aerial photographs today.
3. ^ Official press of Prussia from October 26, 1870
4. ^ Heinrich Otto Meisner (ed.): Kaiser Friedrich III. The war diary of 1870/71. Berlin 1926.
5. ^ Official press of Prussia from January 25, 1871