Battle of Noisseville

François-Achille Bazaine

date	August 31 and September 1, 1870
place	Noisseville in the Moselle department , Lorraine region
output	German victory

Parties to the conflict
North German Confederation North German Confederation	Second empire France
Commander
North German Confederation Edwin von Manteuffel Rudolf von Kummer Prince Friedrich Karl North German Confederation North German Confederation	Second empire François Bazaine Paul de Ladmirault François Canrobert Edmond Lebœuf Second empire Second empire Second empire
Troop strength
69,000 men and 204 guns	95,900 men and 288 guns
losses
2,850 men, including 128 officers	3,401 men, including 146 officers

The battle of Noisseville on August 31 and September 1, 1870 between the French army on the Rhine under Bazaine and the German army of defenses outside Metz was a battle of the Franco-Prussian War . It is named after a village in the Moselle department in the Lorraine region , around 8 kilometers east of Metz.

background

Marshal Bazaine was completely enclosed with the French Rhine Army after the battle of Gravelotte by the German 2nd Army under Prince Friedrich Karl Nikolaus of Prussia . As early as August 26, 1870, he ordered a first sortie from the fortress in order to bypass the German enclosure ring. In the vicinity of Fort St. Julien (between Noiseville and the Moselle) a total of three French corps gathered with the declared aim of breaking out in the direction of Thionville (Diedenhofen). The garrison of the fortress in Thionville had already prepared for the arrival of the units and provided supplies of food. Furthermore, pontoon bridges were provided here for the additional crossings of the Orne and the Moselle . However, the attack got into bad weather and gave the Prussians time to organize their defense. The slow advance of the French could already be stopped by the German outposts and soon the retreat to the protection of the fortress St. Julien began.

Enemy of the enemy

During the first weeks of the siege, Marshal Bazaine had repeatedly received information and news about the formation of the Châlon Army under Marshal Mac-Mahon , but did not inform his corps generals of the ongoing relief attempt until August 29. This late information was one of the main charges against Bazaine in the court martial for treason after the war.

Bazaine's plan was on the right bank of the Moselle to break with his whole army enemy encirclement in Thionville to cross the Moselle and to unite towards Sedan with MacMahon. In the event of a new failure, he ordered that the III., IV., VI. and as a reserve the II Corps should cross the bridges below the fortress on the night of August 30th and take the dominant height of Ste.-Barbe the next morning (August 31st, 1870) ; only after storming the heights should the army begin to march. For inexplicable reasons, however, Marshal Bazaine delayed the beginning of the battle so that it was again possible for the Prussians to call in reinforcements. Originally there were only three Prussian battalions in Noisseville .

The German troops faced about 96,000 French, eight infantry divisions and several cavalry brigades with a total of 162 guns. However, the German troops also received reinforcements from the left side of the Moselle. Parts of the X. Corps crossed the Moselle below Metz near Hauconcourt and were therefore able to additionally relocate the planned escape route from Bazaine to the west. These troop transfers took place within sight of the French.

The line-up of the French for the intended breakthrough in the northeast:

VI. Corps under Canrobert formed the left wing against Malroy and Rupigny along the Moselle.
IV. Corps under Ladmirault conducts an attack in the center on Failly.
III. Corps under Lebœuf formed the right wing at Noiseville
II Corps under Frossard acted in the second meeting in the direction of Malroy
As a reserve, the Guard Corps under Bourbaki held the positions on the west bank of the Moselle.

Opposite the French were about 41,000 men with 138 guns on the eastern bank of the Moselle:

the 3rd Reserve Division ( Lieutenant General von Kummer ) in the north near Malroy on the Moselle to about Rupigny
the 1st Corps ( 1st and 2nd Divisions ) under Edwin von Manteuffel in Servigny
In addition, the units of the II Corps in the Laquenexy area came on the southern flank, which was not attacked later . On the first day of the battle, the Prussian commander-in-chief had almost 60,000 soldiers at his disposal.

Course of the battle on August 31

General Ladmirault

Marshal Le Boeuf

Edwin von Manteuffel

Marshal Bazaine had gathered almost his entire army on the right bank of the Moselle early in the morning. Corps to hold the enemy in the south, the II. Corps had in the direction of Montroy, the IV. Corps against the line Nouilly - Servigny - Failly, the VI. Corps to break through in a northerly direction. The guard remained in reserve. Instead of ordering an immediate attack, heavy 24-pound fortress guns were brought from Fort St. Julien to St. Barbe from noon to destroy the roadblocks. This measure again costs several hours.

The fight did not begin until four in the afternoon, supported by heavy gunfire. The first attack was directed against the lines of the Prussian 1st Division under Lieutenant General von Bentheim between Failly and Noiseville. When the French attack began, General of the Cavalry von Manteuffel received the enemy advancing on St.-Barbe at once with so effective fire from 60 guns that had advanced in front of the actual line of defense that the advance of the French came to a standstill here.

Only on the right wing did the Justin Clinchant Brigade of the 4th Regiment snatch the village of Noisseville at 6 o'clock, while an attempt by the Prussian 3rd Infantry Brigade under von Memerty to recapture Montoy , which was occupied by the French, failed completely extreme right wing of the French also Colombey and Aubigny were taken. In contrast, a III. and IV. Corps at nightfall renewed attack on the most important position at Ste.-Barbe , the villages of Poix and Servigny , and the 6th Corps on Failly repulsed by the East Prussian regiments.

At 9 p.m. Aymard's division took the village of Servigny with the bayonet, but was driven out of it again at 10 a.m. with great losses. The result of the fighting on August 31st was that the French had succeeded in wedge-like inserting themselves between the 1st and 2nd Prussian divisions by occupying Noisseville, Flanville , Coincy and Aubigny, which they, on the other hand, intended in the main direction Breakthrough against the plateau of Ste.-Barbe due to the stubborn resistance of the Prussians had been unable to make any progress.

The attack of the French never developed the possible strength, but was pushed forward only half-heartedly, so the guard as a reserve did not issue an attack order, so that they did not intervene in the fighting. The Guard Corps had already remained in reserve during the Battle of Gravelotte and was therefore available without major failures. On the left side of the Moselle, Prince Friedrich Karl was so confident of victory in his headquarters in Briey that he was also preparing a march of reinforcements to Sedan . He left the leadership of the defensive battles on the eastern bank of the Moselle completely in the hands of General von Manteuffel, but sent him the IX. Army corps under General von Manstein in support.

Course of the battle on September 1st

Noisseville, war memorial, detail: allegory of the "Mourning Lotharingia", the inauguration of the memorial in honor of the fallen French soldiers on October 4, 1908 turned into one of the largest and most impressive pro-French rallies in the realm of Alsace-Lorraine during German rule. The monument is located directly on the Route départementale Metz-Boulay (D954).

General von Manteuffel, early in the morning of September 1st, by the arrival of IX. Army Corps reinforced, tried to recapture Noisseville, which had been lost the day before. A company that the Prussian 1st Division under von Bentheim did not succeed in despite energetic attacks. Another attack by the Memerty Brigade penetrated Flanville, but failed in another attack on Noiseville. From the north the 6th Landwehr Brigade also advanced from the Vallieres valley to attack, but while waiting for the batteries to take effect, they lost their commander, Colonel von Boenigk, to enemy gunfire.

Manteuffel brought the artillery position against Noiseville to 114 guns and now had incoming reserves ready for another attack - this time against the right flank of the French. The intervention of the 28th Infantry Brigade (from VII Corps) under Major General von Woyna wrested the villages of Flanville and Coincy from the French division under General Fauvart-Bastoul . Marshal Lebœuf saw his right flank in danger and gave his corps the order to retreat, which the corps to the north had to join. An attack by the French on Failly and Rupigny was not only repulsed, but after the full intervention of the 18th Division under General von Wrangel, it was even thrown back over the stream of Chieulles . At eleven o'clock the Prussians reoccupied Noisseville without resistance, and by noon the entire French army, under the protection of the Metz cannons, was in an orderly retreat into the fortress.

The losses of the German army on the east bank of the Moselle, increased to 70,000 men and 300 artillery on the second day of the battle, amounted to 128 officers, 2,850 men, dead and wounded in the two days of fighting, 146 officers and 3,401 men in the French army.

literature

Theodor Fontane : The war against France 1870–1871. Complete edition in 2 volumes. Rockstuhl Publishing House , Bad Langensalza, Reprint 1873/1876/2004
- Volume 1, ISBN 3-937135-25-1 .
- Volume 2, ISBN 3-937135-26-X .
Geoffrey Wawro : The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870–1871. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2005, ISBN 0-521-61743-X .
Justus Scheibert : The war between France and Germany. edited after the Great General Staff Works, W. Pauli's successor, Berlin 1895.

Web links

Noiseville . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 12, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 206.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Geoffrey Wawro, The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870–1871. Cambridge University Press 2005, ISBN 978-0-521-61743-7 , pp. 193-201
^ Justus Scheibert : The war between France and Germany. W. Paulis successor, Berlin 1895, p. 153.
^ Justus Scheibert: The war between France and Germany. W. Paulis successor, Berlin 1895, p. 154.
^ Justus Scheibert: The war between France and Germany. edited according to the Great General Staff Works, W. Paulis Successor, Berlin 1895, p. 157.
^ Justus Scheibert: The war between France and Germany. edited according to the Great General Staff Works, W. Paulis Successor, Berlin 1895, p. 158.
^ Justus Scheibert: The war between France and Germany. edited according to the Great General Staff Works, W. Paulis Successor, Berlin 1895, p. 159.

[Wawro-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Geoffrey Wawro, The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870–1871. Cambridge University Press 2005, ISBN 978-0-521-61743-7 , pp. 193-201

[2] Justus Scheibert : The war between France and Germany. W. Paulis successor, Berlin 1895, p. 153.

[3] Justus Scheibert: The war between France and Germany. W. Paulis successor, Berlin 1895, p. 154.

[4] Justus Scheibert: The war between France and Germany. edited according to the Great General Staff Works, W. Paulis Successor, Berlin 1895, p. 157.

[5] Justus Scheibert: The war between France and Germany. edited according to the Great General Staff Works, W. Paulis Successor, Berlin 1895, p. 158.

[6] Justus Scheibert: The war between France and Germany. edited according to the Great General Staff Works, W. Paulis Successor, Berlin 1895, p. 159.