Battle of Le Mans

Battle of Le Mans

Part of: Franco-German War

General Chanzy leads French troops into battle

date	10-12 January 1871
place	Le Mans, Arrondissement Le Mans , Département Sarthe
exit	German strategic victory

Parties to the conflict
North German Confederation	France
Commander
Prince Friedrich Karl Constantin von Alvensleben	Antoine Chanzy Jean Bernard Jauréguiberry
Troop strength
58,000 infantry, 15,000 cavalry, 324 guns	150,000 men
losses
3,418 dead and wounded	7,000 dead and wounded, 22,000 prisoners, 50,000 deserters

The Battle of Le Mans (French called Bataille du Mans ) from January 10 to 12, 1871 between the French Armée de la Loire and the 2nd Army of Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia was a battle of the Franco-Prussian War and ended with one strategic German victory.

First German foray into Le Mans, November 1870

After the Battle of Coulmiers (November 9, 1870), the 1st Bavarian Corps was reinforced by the army group of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg . However, the high command in Versailles assumed that the main French forces would be in the Le Mans area . One of the causes of this misjudgment was a battle at Dreux . Therefore, the Grand Duke proceeded in the direction of Le Mans, but instead of French troops of the line, he only encountered friar of the Franc-Shooter , who considerably hindered his movements without a battle being fought. The line troops standing in the area around Le Mans (XXI. Corps and units from Brittany) avoided the fighting. The Loire Army, for its part, stayed at Orléans for most of November and improved the training of its soldiers. At the end of November, the Grand Duke's Army detachment was again on its way south towards the Loire. He arrived here in time to take part in the fighting for Orléans. The French XXI. Corps did not leave its positions at Le Mans and therefore did not take part in the fighting on the Loire.

Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia

Advance from Orléans to Vendôme

After the Battle of Orléans and the loss of the city (December 4), the French Loire Army was split into two under General de Paladines and de Paladines was relieved of his command. The Armée de l'Est under Bourbaki and the so-called second Loire Army under Chanzy were formed from the two parts . Although the Prussians claim to have started the pursuit immediately after the conquest of Orléans, the Loire Army was able to withdraw in a fairly orderly manner towards Le Mans and involved the Prussians in a series of retreat skirmishes. So on December 7th the first meetings took place at Meung and Nevoy near Gien. On December 8, the French even launched a limited counterattack at the Battle of Beaugency , but ultimately had to vacate their positions when the IX. Corps under von Manstein threatened to cut off their retreat. At Beaugency the corps from Orléans had united with the troops now advancing from Le Mans, so that a unit of more than 100,000 men was created. As a thaw with heavy rain set in at this time , larger movements were only possible with great difficulty. This phase was also used by the Germans to reorganize their units. The army of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg pursued the French, however, and took Blois on December 13th and, after further minor skirmishes on the way, finally on December 17th Vendôme without a fight . Many prisoners have already been taken, especially among the irregulars. Here the further advance temporarily ended, as the risk of a further rapid advance with the already strongly decimated and exhausted own troops should not be taken. Until the end of December, the 1st Bavarian Corps under von der Tann belonged to the Grand Duke's army division. This corps, however, left after three months of uninterrupted combat deployment to the siege army of Paris .

Deployment to battle

General Antoine Chanzy

At the end of December, a total of 150,000 French soldiers gathered at Le Mans under General Chanzy. These were further trained and equipped. The equipment of the infantry was inconsistent and often out of date, it consisted partly of muzzle loading rifles . The aim was to advance on Paris as part of a coordinated attack. The core of this Loire Army were the XVI., XVII. and the XXI. Corps. Individual units from the other corps of the First Loire Army joined in. The army received a considerable influx of volunteers over the next few weeks. Of the total of 150,000 soldiers at the beginning of January, a third were without any combat experience, the XXI. Corps did not take part in the fighting for Orléans.

Before the reorganization of the Loire Army could be completed, the Prussians planned their advance on Le Mans from January 1, 1871, in order to smash the 2nd Loire Army. For this purpose, the 2nd Army of Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia was assembled in and around Vendôme by January 6th . At the beginning of January 1871 this consisted of 58,000 infantry, 15,000 cavalry and 324 guns, formed from the III. Corps under von Alvensleben , the X. Corps under von Voigts-Rhetz , the XIII. Corps under Grand Duke Friedrich Franz von Mecklenburg , the 18th Infantry Division of the IX. Corps (von Manstein) and four cavalry divisions (1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th).

The advance of the 2nd Army was made more difficult by the bad weather with a lot of rain, the softened roads and a mountainous landscape that favored the defense. The advance therefore had to take place with the corps side by side. The width of the advance was up to 100 km. In the center were the III. and the IX. Corps, on the right the XIII. and on the left the X Corps, which advanced from Tours from the south. The aim of this lineup was also to encircle a possibly posed opponent. Due to the large expansion, there were coordination problems between the individual corps. The advance reached Sargé-sur-Braye on January 7th and Ardenay-sur-Mérize on January 9th . Only immediately before Le Mans did the French corps meet in front of the Huisne river .

Course of the battle

10. January

Constantin von Alvensleben, General Command III. Army Corps

The III marching at the front on Le Mans. Army corps (von Alvensleben) initially faced a superior enemy alone on a front of 8,000 paces. The 5th Division (General von Stülpnagel ) of the III. Army Corps was advancing from Volnay to Parigne on the morning of January 10th. The 12th Infantry Brigade (Colonel von Bismarck ) went right, the 11th Infantry Brigade (Colonel von Flatow) went left via Rossay on Les Brosses along the large road to the west. The 9th Infantry Brigade (Colonel von Conta ) marched west via Les Chasseries and was supposed to unite with the 11th Brigade before crossing the Sarthe near Changé. The 10th Infantry Brigade (Major General von Schwerin ) went on the left wing of the III. Army Corps and should open the area to the subsequent 19th Division of the X Army Corps.

At 3 p.m. the 11th Infantry Brigade met the outposts of the Deplanque Division of the French XVI at Gue Perray-Bach. Corps and suffered heavy losses at the height of Les Gars. The 10th Infantry Brigade took Parigné-l'Évêque under effective gunfire and, after proceeding further, reached the capture of Changé (Sarthe) together with the 9th Infantry Brigade . The 12th Infantry Brigade, following on the right, reached the Huisne via Saint-Hubert des Rochers and occupied the village of Champagne with Infantry Regiment No. 24 and St. Mars with Infantry Regiment No. 64. The Anvours plateau was occupied by the French. The III. The Army Corps had 33 officers and 440 casualties that day, but was able to take 4500 prisoners, two flags and one gun from the enemy.

Meanwhile, the XIII. Army corps of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg reached Huisne between the villages of Montfort and Connerré , the 22nd Division (General von Wittich ) had moved to the other bank at Sceaux , the 17th Division (General von Tresckow ) initially remained on this side of the river. The XIII. Army Corps stood here almost 69 battalions and 30 squadrons of the French XXI. Corps opposite. The Rousseau division lay between Montfort and Pont-de-Gesnes, to the left of it the Collin division, behind both as a reserve the Villeneuve division between the villages of Savigne-l'Evesque and Goujard. The German troops, very exhausted by the long advance, were unable to gain any major territorial gains that day against the French (XVII. And XXI. Corps) who were in well-developed positions.

11th January

On the evening of January 10th the headquarters of Prince Friedrich Karl had been moved to the castle of Ardenay ; together with the Chief of Staff of the 2nd Army, General von Stiehle , the further energetic procedure of the III. Army Corps set. The main battle began on January 11th at 9 a.m., the X. Army Corps (Voigts-Rhetz) was still in Grand Luce on the left wing. The IX. Corps (von Manstein) followed via St. Hubert on the right wing of the III. and advanced with the advance guard of the 18th division into the position previously held by the 12th Brigade near Champagne. The first skirmishes of the day were between the 12th Infantry Brigade ( 6th Division under General von Buddenbrock ) and Colonel Bell's brigade (4th Division of the XXI Corps, Division de Bretagne). By 11 a.m., the Brandenburgers had conquered Champagne (Eure-et-Loir) and proceeded along the railway line towards Le Mans. The hardest fight of the day raged with the French XVI. Corps under Admiral Jauréguiberry around the farms at Landiere and Le Tertre. The 5th Division, advancing to the south, was able to storm the doggedly defended French positions and reached the suburb of Pontlieue; so the Huisne in the southeast of the city was crossed. On the southern section, the 20th Division under Lieutenant General Alexander von Kraatz-Koschlau had approached via Mulsanne and also intervened in the battle. The 36th Brigade of the IX. Corps conquered the heights of Auvours and the village of Villers up from the village of Champagne, with infantry regiments No. 11, 64 and 85 deployed. In the early evening General Chanzy gave the order to withdraw from the Huisne section. The left wing was to retreat northwards to Alençon , the center and the right wing were to take a new position west of the Sarthe .

January 12th

The Westphalian Infantry Regiment No. 17 in action at Le Mans

The success achieved the day before in the center was expanded, the breakthrough in the suburb of Pontlieue was enforced and Yvré-l'Évêque was stormed. The fighting continued in the city of Le Mans, where street fighting raged well into the night. The fighting at the bridge and the barricade at Pontlieue was fought in particular by the 19th and 5th divisions . The infantry regiments No. 17 and 91 penetrated the main road into the city, the infantry regiment No. 56 occupied the station. On the northern Huisne section, Montfort fell to the XIII. Army Corps, the 17th and 22nd Divisions fought in front of St. Corneille and La Croix and broke through the front of the French XXI. Corps (under the command of the ship's captain Jaures) at Lombron . The 35th Brigade of the IX. Army Corps went in support of the XIII. Army Corps on the north bank of the Huisne and pushed forward to the Parence brook without encountering resistance. The retreat of the French through Le Mans degenerated into flight, the order and discipline of the Loire Army dissolved and more and more soldiers fled. Some units managed to withdraw in an orderly fashion; there were great differences between the militias and the regular troops.

consequences

The Loire Army was completely defeated. The German 2nd Army had lost 200 officers and 3,200 men to dead and wounded in the last seven days. About 20,000 prisoners, 17 artillery pieces and 2 flags fell into the hands of the victors. During the pursuit by the 6th Cavalry Division (Major General von Schmidt ) even more prisoners were taken. Almost a third of the Loire Army had deserted, and a further 29,000 men had been killed, wounded or taken prisoner. The remainder, leaving much of the equipment and heavy weapons behind, retreated westward towards Laval , which was reached on January 16.

On the night of January 13, the 20th Division, which had been scheduled for pursuit, captured the large camp of Conlie , where the supplies of the units deployed in the Brittany region were located. After the heavy losses, the Loire Army was no longer a threat to the Prussians. Relief from Paris was no longer possible in the foreseeable future, and Chanzy was no longer aiming to reorganize the army and continue the war. There were no other major skirmishes with the Loire Army until the armistice on January 29.

Web links and sources

• Le Mans . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 11, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 200.
• Official press of Prussia from January 18, 1871

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Whether a persecution took place at all was e.g. B. was doubted by Engels because hardly any prisoners were taken during this phase.
2. ↑ The IX. Corps was already on the left (south) side of the Loire near Blois, about 30 km downstream.
3. ↑ Exchange of the I. Bavarian Corps for the X. Corps.
4. ↑ see on this Provinzial-Correspondenz . No. 51. Eighth year. December 21, 1870.
5. ↑ about 10 km east of Le Mans, along the N157.
6. ^ Antoine-Eugène-Alfred Chanzy : La deuxième armée de la Loire. Campagne de 1870-1871 . E. Plon, Paris, 7th ed. 1876, pp. 298-303.
7. ↑ In some sources, January 10th is not counted as part of this battle, but as part of the deployment, so the battle itself is only given as two days.
8. ↑ Scheibert: The war between Germany and France. Pauli's successor, Berlin 1895, p. 222.
9. ↑ Colonel Bell was one of the first soldiers in his brigade to fall.
10. ↑ north of Le Mans, approx. 40 km as the crow flies.
11. ↑ The commandant of the camp, General Lalande, later accused Chanzy of having been sacrificed with the camp because they were not armed enough to take up a fight with troops of the line.