Battle of Saint-Quentin (1871)

Battle of Saint-Quentin

Part of: Franco-German War

Goeben monument in Koblenz

date	January 19, 1871
place	Saint-Quentin , Aisne department, France
output	German victory

Parties to the conflict
North German Confederation	France
Commander
August von Goeben	Louis Faidherbe
Troop strength
33,000 men	40,000 men
losses
approx. 2,400 dead and wounded	approx. 3,500 dead and wounded, 9,000 prisoners

The battle of Saint-Quentin on January 19, 1871 between the French Northern Army under the command of General Faidherbe and the German 1st Army under the command of General von Goeben was a battle of the Franco-Prussian War .

The overall situation

In January 1871, the French attempted a coordinated offensive, on the one hand to lift the German siege of Paris and at the same time to cut off these siege units from supplies. To this end, several coordinated attacks should be carried out at the same time. These were a major failure of the Parisian garrison at Buzenval and an attack from the southwest by the Loire Army , which was prevented in the Battle of Le Mans . The attack in the south towards Belfort by the Eastern Army led to the Battle of the Lisaine .

prehistory

August von Goeben

After the battle of Bapaume on January 3, 1871 and the fall of the Péronne fortress on January 9, the French units had rallied at Arras and Douai . Coming from the north, the so-called French Northern Army under the command of General Faidherbe was supposed to bind the German troops.

On January 9, 1871, General von Manteuffel handed over command of the German 1st Army to General von Goeben. His army had the task of securing the siege of Paris to the north. Parts of the Prussian I. Army Corps supported the 3rd Cavalry Division under General von der Groeben in securing the flank in the Amiens - Corbie am Hallue area . The VIII Army Corps secured between Amiens and Saint-Quentin on the Somme . The 15th Division under General von Kummer was south of Bray . To the left of Peronne stood the 3rd Reserve Division under Prince Albrecht of Prussia , to the right of the city the 3rd Reserve Cavalry Brigade and the 16th Division under General von Barnekow . The 12th Cavalry Division under Major General Graf zur Lippe was south of St. Quentin .

On January 16, Faidherbe's army marched east and reached the Combles- Sailly line. The "Isnard" brigade moved on to St. Quentin, whereupon the German 12th Cavalry Division had to retreat to St. Simon. On January 17th the French reached the Vermand-Roisel-Sorel line. Among the Germans, the 16th division reached Ham, the 15th division St. Christ on the Somme.

In order to get in touch with the advancing French, the 15th Division crossed the Somme at Brie . About four French divisions were advancing on Saint-Quentin via Vermand. The French XXIII. Corps under General Paulze d'Ivoy advanced directly on the city; the XXII. Corps under General Lecointe had crossed the Somme farther south to take position south of Saint-Quentin. When on January 18th the German 29th Infantry Brigade between Tertry and Pœuilly on the rearguard of the French XXII. Corps, the focus of the German army was shifted to Saint-Quentin. In the course of these first battles it was possible to push the French units on Saint-Quentin. The German 15th Division stayed on the Beauvois-Caulaincourt line.

Course of the battle

Louis Léon César Faidherbe

Sketch of the Battle of St. Quentin

On January 19, around 8 a.m., General von Goeben began his attack, which was led through the Crozat Canal in two parts, a southern and a western one. On the northern wing, the French "Robin" division had taken up position between Fayet and Francilly, while the "Isnard" brigade moved in on the left. The "Lagrange" brigade of the "Payen" division extended the front to the Somme. General Faidherbe left the "Pauly" brigade at Gricourt and designated the Michelet brigade to secure the rear connections.

Advancing on the south bank of the Somme , General von Barnekow occupied Seraucourt with the 16th division . Together with the 3rd Reserve Division, Barnekov's troops advanced from Jussy via Essigny, and the 12th Cavalry Division accompanied them on the road coming from La Fere. Though outnumbered, the Germans immediately tried to encompass the French on the flank and lock them in the city of Saint-Quentin. While the 32nd Infantry Brigade under Colonel von Hertzberg marched north of Essigny and the 3rd Reserve Division held behind, the 31st Infantry Brigade under General Neidhardt von Gneisenau advanced against Grugies. The fire of the German batteries against the localities of Contescourt and Castres was vigorously reciprocated by Le Moulin du tout Vent. The attack of the 31st Infantry Brigade, which was carried out several times in the open field, failed due to the crossfire of the French. On the right wing, the 12th Cavalry Division had been stopped by the French brigade "Aynes", which was running against it. The village of La Neuville was only taken here after reinforcements were supplied. While the 31st Infantry Brigade was in the fire on both sides of the railway line in front of Grugies, the 32nd Infantry Brigade also advanced behind its right wing. A strong French counter-attack forced the 16th Division to retreat to Essigny.

At about 8 o'clock the von Goeben detachment (parts of the 1st Division under General von Gayl ) had set out from Poeuilly, covered on the left by a cavalry brigade. The East Prussians threw the French back at Holnon and Selency and advanced via Fayet to the heights of Moulin Coutte. Successively 28 guns drove against the French division "Robin". On the right the German 15th Division had started the march from Beauvois and reached Etreillers around 10 o'clock. The 29th Infantry Brigade under Major General von Wedell advanced into Savoy and met the French "Payen" division. The "Isnard" brigade still held its own with Francilly. General Paulze d'Ivoy saw the connection of his corps to Cambrai threatened and pulled the brigade from the western reserve position to Fayet. The Prussians went back to Moulin Coutte, but threw the opponent back to Fayet with a flank from Selency.

General von Goeben had already initiated the advance of his army reserve under Colonel von Boecking from Ham to Roupy on the southern battlefield , and with this he reinforced the section of the 16th Division at Seraucourt. The French were now thrown out of Castres and pushed back on the heights of Grugies. Although General Lecointe used another brigade under General Pittie to reinforce the "Gislain" brigade, the place Grugies could no longer be held and was taken by the troops under Colonel von Boecking. The 32nd Infantry Brigade meanwhile drove the retreating French back to Moulin de tout Vent. South of Grugies the French "Foerster" brigade had held its position until the end, but after the "Pittie" brigade had withdrawn, its left flank was exposed and it too had to retreat.

On the northern part of the battle, 48 guns of the 15th Division drove up on both sides of the road to Savy. The opposing brigades "Lagrange" and "Isnard" no longer waited for the shock and withdrew to St. Quentin around 4 p.m. The more persevering the brigades of the right wing of the French defended the suburb of St. Martin against the German 15th Division, the more dangerous it was to detach the "Paulze" corps, which persisted until late afternoon, from the enemy.

General Faidherbe already recognized that the XXIII. Corps won't be able to hold out much longer. He had the choice of either locking himself up in St. Quentin or making the night retreat. General Lecointe had already reported the collapse of the positions on the southern bank of the Somme. The entire battle line of the Germans now advanced on the city, with the 12th Cavalry Division covering the right wing. Saint Quentin was only from the declining rearguards of the French XXII. Corps and was occupied by the Germans after a short battle. Thanks to the resistance of XXIII. Corps on the northern section, the XXII. retreat to Le Cateau .

The Germans did not succeed in the encirclement intended by General von Goeben, as the French broke off the battle around 7 p.m. after several unsuccessful counter-attacks and withdrew in time. This retreat took place northwards towards Cambrai and was covered by the artillery. The retreat of the French almost had the character of an escape and, despite the weak persecution by Prussian associations, became very difficult and costly.

consequences

After the battle and the withdrawal, the Northern Army no longer posed a serious threat to the German leadership. The losses amounted to almost a third of the troop strength, including a particularly large number of prisoners. Six guns and other equipment were also lost. The French had suffered four major defeats in just under a week. After this battle, there was no longer a large unit that could still take offensive action.

The amount of losses is quantified differently in different sources. Meyers Konversationslexikon from 1888 gives the casualties on both sides with approx. 3,100 men and the number of prisoners of war with 10,000 men. There are also contradicting information about troop strengths. 33,000 men were given for the German side and around 40,000 for the French side.

On September 26, 1884, the Goeben monument was unveiled in Koblenz in memory of the winner of the battle of Saint-Quentin.

literature

Historical source of text

• Friedrich Engels: About the war , transcription of a text from The Pall Mall Gazette No. 1854 from January 21, 1871

Web links

• Saint Quentin . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 14, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 199.
• History of the Franco Prussian War on the website of the re-enactment association The Franco-Prussian War Association (on the battle of Saint Quentin at the bottom, with information on troop strength; there also sources)
• The Franco-German War of 1870/71 , under the subheading Further battles in Northern France , there also information on troop strength; no source information (= part of the private website preußenweb )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Helmuth von Moltke: Memories. Wars and victories. Vier Falken Verlag Berlin 1938, p. 565f.
2. ^ Justus Scheibert : The war between Germany and France. Pauli's successor, Berlin 1895, p. 250.
3. ^ Helmuth von Moltke: Wars and victories. Vier Falken Verlag, Berlin 1938, p. 572f.