Battle of Mars-la-Tour

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Battle of Mars-la-Tour
Death ride of the Bredow Brigade
Death ride of the Bredow Brigade
date August 16, 1870
place Mars-la-Tour
output tactical draw, strategic German victory
Parties to the conflict

North German ConfederationNorth German Confederation North German Confederation

FranceFrance France

Commander

North German ConfederationNorth German Confederation Prince Friedrich Karl Constantin von Alvensleben Adalbert von Bredow
North German ConfederationNorth German Confederation
North German ConfederationNorth German Confederation

FranceFrance François-Achille Bazaine François Certain de Canrobert
FranceFrance

Troop strength
30,000 men, later 80,000 men 127,000 men
losses

15,780

17.007

The Battle of Mars-la-Tour (in the sources also Battle of Vionville or Battle of Rezonville ) took place on August 16, 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War near the towns of Mars-la-Tour and Vionville in northeastern France , approximately Beaten 20 kilometers west of Metz . Two Prussian corps defeated the numerically clearly superior complete " French Rhine Army " and forced them to retreat to the fortress of Metz .

initial situation

The battles in the first weeks of the war had shown that the French strategy could no longer be implemented. The planned advance into Germany was no longer possible. At the same time, the hoped-for entry into war by third nations (e.g. Austria, Italy, Denmark) on the part of France was no longer to be expected.

The Rhine Army under Bazaine should therefore withdraw from Metz via Verdun and Sainte-Menehould to Châlons and unite with the other units under Mac-Mahon and Canrobert . This retreat was delayed for various reasons, most recently by the battle of Colombey on August 14th. Marshal Bazaine was criticized for not having vigorously pursued the withdrawal. The withdrawal began after a delay of a total of one week on August 15, 1870 via Gravelotte and from here in two columns via Doncourt and Étain and via Vionville , Mars-la-Tour and Fresnes . From Verdun they should march together again. However, a stop had already been ordered for the morning of August 16 to add food and ammunition, unlock units, organize the train and possibly march on in the afternoon.

Marshal François de Canrobert

After Colombey, the Prussian III. Corps under General von Alvensleben was given the order to cross the Moselle at Novéant and Champey . It was reinforced by the 6th Cavalry Division under Duke Wilhelm von Mecklenburg-Schwerin . At the same time, the X. Corps ( Voigts-Rhetz ), which had already occupied Pont-à-Mousson and the left bank of the Moselle, was instructed to clear the Metz- Verdun road with the 5th Cavalry Division (Lieutenant General von Rheinbaben ) . The aim was to determine whether the French army had already withdrawn from Metz or was still in the process of withdrawing.

A cavalry reconnaissance of the 1st Hanoverian Dragoon Regiment No. 9 revealed that French troops were withdrawing from Metz in the direction of Verdun. Assuming that this was only the rearguard, the commander of the 2nd Army, Prince Friedrich Karl , ordered the immediate attack, but with only two corps.

The III. Corps was to advance the Metz-Verdun road through Gorze and Onville , and the X Corps through Thiaucourt .

The other corps of the 2nd Army ( Guards , XII. , IV. , II. And IX. ), Some of which had also already crossed the Moselle, were to continue the march to the west to place the French on the Meuse . Here the high command assumed that the main body of the Rhine Army was already in full march to Verdun. But this was not the case. The march of the French to the west, which had already been planned on August 13, but was interrupted by the battle of Colombey, began on the 15th, but the left wing (2nd and 6th Corps and Guards) on the southern road only reached Rezonville , the right wing (3rd and 4th Corps) only partially reached Vernéville . Three divisions were still in the Moselle valley, so Bazaine ordered that on the 16th the further retreat should not take place until the afternoon in order to allow the 3rd and 4th Corps to follow suit.

The battle

Constantin von Alvensleben, commander of the III. Army Corps

The German III. Corps under General von Alvensleben encountered three complete French corps on their advance towards Rezonville. A fourth, the French 3rd Corps, was in the immediate vicinity.

First fights

Gustav von Buddenbrock, leader of the German 6th Division

The advance guard of the retreating French formed the 3rd Cavalry Division of Général de division Forton . This was surprised at Vionville by the artillery of the German 3rd and 6th Divisions and withdrew in disorder. The French 2nd Corps under General Frossard advanced with two divisions in the direction of the cannon thunder, the division of General Bataille advanced against Vionville and Flavigny and drove out the German cavalry standing there. The southern division under General Vergé , advancing in parallel, secured the ridge north of Gorze . Behind it, Marshal Canrobert had the two divisions under General Bisson and Lafont de Villiers follow in the direction of Flavigny, while the division under La Vassor-Sorval formed behind General Vergé's columns and the Tixier division was called in as a reserve. The weak batteries of the German 6th Cavalry Division had to quickly retreat to Tronville. Around 10 o'clock the German cavalry received reinforcements from the arriving 5th (General von Stülpnagel ) and 6th Divisions (General von Buddenbrock ), who reached the battlefield from Gorze and Onville.

General von Alvensleben, whose troops were approaching from the south, immediately ordered the infantry to attack, assuming that only the French rearguard were in front of him. The 6th Division advanced north to Tronville and then swung partially to the east in the direction of the 5th Division advancing on the right. Around 11.00 the commander of the 9th Brigade, Major General von Doering , fell, while on the far right the 10th Brigade (Major General von Schwerin ) caught up on the western edge of the Bois des Ognons. The 11th Brigade under Major General von Rothmaler fought for Flavigny and captured the town of Vionville around 11.30 a.m., the 12th Brigade advanced on the far left against the positions of the French 6th Corps. The two German divisions had thus united between the villages of Vionville and Flavigny and thus reduced the risk of being separated from one another. By noon the 5th Division had captured Flavigny, while at the same time the divisional artillery fought in a line against the town of Rezonville . The 24th Regiment of the 12th Brigade was in a long straight line northwest of Vionville and was attacked almost continuously by the French 6th Corps under Marshal Canrobert , with the German brigade commander Colonel von Bismarck being seriously wounded. In these positions, the German units had to maintain themselves without significant reinforcement, only a regiment of the 37th Brigade (Colonel Peter von Lehmann) from the X. Corps was able to intervene in support and hold out against the repeatedly superior enemy for the whole afternoon. The numerically inferior German III. Corps prevented further retreats to the west with the capture of Vionville. Once cut off from retreat, the French army at Metz had no chance of preventing the battle.

The main goal of Marshal Bazaine was not to be pushed away from Metz. He therefore not only proceeded cautiously with the two corps in front of Vionville, but had his left wing reinforced at Gravelotte by the guard and a division of the 6th Corps, because he was mistakenly expecting the main attack by the Prussians there.

After the loss of Vionville and Flavigny, when a wing of the 2nd Corps had to retreat, cavalry attacks began from both sides. The 11th and Brunswick Hussars almost succeeded in capturing Bazaine themselves, but all of the attacks failed to achieve their goals. The 2nd Guards Division (General Picard) and the La Vassor Division moved into the Rezonville area. The attack of the German 6th Cavalry Division ( Wilhelm zu Mecklenburg ) was repulsed south of Rezonville by the French Guards Division, which had taken up position and was still rested.

Mounted attack by the Bredow Brigade

Adalbert von Bredow

At around 2 p.m. Marshal Canrobert noticed that the left wing of the German 6th Division was in trouble and therefore ordered a general attack by the 6th Corps. Attacked by the French artillery and fearing a French incursion on the left flank, General von Alvensleben sent a message to the commander of the 12th Cavalry Brigade, Major General Adalbert von Bredow , ordering the French artillery under General Canrobert and the French cavalry reinforcements turn off.

Under the motto "cost it what it may", von Bredow ordered his brigade, which consisted of the Magdeburg Cuirassier Regiment No. 7 and the Altmark Uhlan Regiment No. 16 , to advance at 2 p.m. In what would later become known as Bredow's death ride , the cavalry advanced, while von Bredow wisely used the terrain and cannon smoke to keep the brigade's movements secret from the French scouts for as long as possible. Rushing almost 1000 meters from the French lines, the Germans broke through and caused widespread panic among the soldiers of Canrobert. The French cavalry tried to stop the Germans; this was thwarted by their own soldiers, because in their panic they fired at all riders within their firing range.

After they had eliminated the French artillery and cavalry as ordered, the cavalry brigade was attacked from the side by around 3,000 French riders - this was the Legrand cavalry division with the 2 e régiment de hussards , the 7 e régiment de hussards , the 3 e régiment de dragons , the Régiment de dragons de la garde , the Régiment de lanciers de la garde , the 7 e régiment de cuirassiers and the 10 e régiment de cuirassiers ; the brigade of v. Bredow had to withdraw. The losses were about half. Herbert von Bismarck , the son of the then Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck , was also among the wounded . This is described in Freiligrath's poem "The Trumpet of Vionville".

After this attack, both the German and French troops were exhausted and suffered from a lack of ammunition. As a result, only a few fights took place until around 4 p.m. On August 17th there was silence, also to reorganize the associations on both sides. On August 18, the battles at Gravelotte and St. Privat revived the fighting.

Late afternoon

Location around 4 p.m.
Location on the left wing of the Xth Army Corps at Mars-la-Tour; From War and Victory 1870–1871
View of today's Vionville from Friedrich Karls's location

On the German side, the army commander Prince Friedrich Karl arrived at around 3:30 p.m. He directed the further battle from a slight elevation south of Vionville.

Meanwhile, General Bazaine on the left wing had succeeded in pulling the worn-out 2nd Corps back to a sheltered ravine behind Gravelotte and in opposing the enemy with fresh troops. After a successful supply, the French attacked again around 4 p.m. with the 3rd Corps (Leboeuf) and a division of the 4th Corps (Ladmirauld) from Saint-Marcel and Bruville . The left German wing was driven out of the Tronville bushes and pushed back behind Tronville. At this critical moment, after a forced march, the 39th Brigade of the 20th Division (General von Kraatz-Koschlau ) arrived at Tronville. Parts of the 40th Brigade of General von Diringshofen came to the aid of the 5th Division, while the artillery stopped the further French advance. In a counterattack, the 79th and 17th regiments managed to reoccupy the Tronville bushes.

At about the same time, part of the 19th Division (General von Schwartzkoppen ), the 38th Brigade (with regiments No. 16 and No. 57 ) arrived on the battlefield from the west . The 38th Brigade under Major General von Wedell had already covered a march of twelve hours on the march to Etain on the Meuse. The attack on the French flank from Mars-la-Tour against the heights of Bruville was, however, repulsed by the French Grenier and Cissey divisions with heavy losses (2,600 men). Here, too, the cavalry had to intervene to save them. The Guard Dragons threw the French, who were pushing hard afterwards, back on the Yron plateau, and General Legrand fell at the head of his cavalry division. The victory for the Germans in an equestrian battle (around 7 p.m.) near Bruville, where General von Barby and five regiments routed the French cavalry, caused General Ladmirault (commander of the 4th Corps) to refrain from another attack on Mars la-Tour and Tronville, which averted the danger to the German left wing. The right Prussian wing had received orders from Friedrich Karl von Prussia, who had arrived on the battlefield from Pont à Mousson at 4 p.m., to just maintain his position.

Marshal Bazaine, for his part, contented himself with securing his connection to Metz, and therefore failed to use his superior strength for a decisive attack. The isolated attacks by the French were therefore just as unsuccessful as, on the other hand, the advances made by the German troops from the X and VIII Corps that were approaching to reinforce the 5th Division . Parts of these units, e.g. B. the 16th Division under von Barnekow , without waiting for an order, set out towards the noise of the battle.

There was particularly fierce fighting for a hill south of Rezonville. This hill was reinforced three times by Prussian units, consisting of the 32nd Infantry Brigade (72nd and 40th Regiment) under Colonel Rudolf von Rex from the 16th Division, reinforced by the 11th Regiment from the IX. Corps taken, but they had to withdraw again after counter-attacks by the French. Only when it was already dawn did the final conquest of this hill succeed, after the artillery and the 14th Cavalry Brigade (Major General von Diepenbroick-Grüter ) from the 6th Cavalry Division also attacked. The fighting did not end until around 10 p.m.

losses

According to Meyers, the French losses in dead, wounded and prisoners amounted to 879 officers and 16,128 men, the Germans to 711 officers and 15,079 men, of which the III. Corps 310 officers and 6,641 men, the X Corps lost 202 officers and 4,945 men. Wawro gives losses of 16,500 Prussians, including 626 officers and 16,600 French, including 837 officers. Berndt gives the Prussian losses at 15,800 men, 720 of them officers. This figure includes 970 missing persons. The French casualties are 16,930 men, 837 of them officers. This includes 5,470 prisoners and missing persons. On the German side, Major General Wilhelm von Doering (commander of the 9th Infantry Brigade) died and Major General Gustav Waldemar von Rauch (commander of Cologne's 15th Cavalry Brigade) and Otto von Diepenbroick-Grüter (commander of the 14th Cavalry Brigade) had died. Brigade) was seriously wounded. Von Diepenbroick-Grüter succumbed to his wounds a few weeks later.

From the point of view of the late 19th century, it was important that the French managed to capture a German flag in this battle for the only time in the entire war. Moltke expressly mentioned the loss of this single flag. This was the flag of the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Westphalian Infantry Regiment No. 16 .

Results

The battle was a tactical draw, but a great strategic victory for the Prussians. Bazaine could no longer flee to Verdun with his troops, but had ordered the retreat to the fortress of Metz.

Reasons for this were not only the high losses but also the lack of ammunition. The planned retreat towards Verdun was thus initially canceled, but only after the battle of Gravelotte two days later was the French army enclosed in the fortress of Metz ( Siege of Metz ).

Von Bredow's successful attack had a decisive influence on future warfare. The cavalry's success showed that horsemen could still play an important role in battle. Up until the First World War , every European country had its own cavalry troops.

literature

Web links

Commons : Battle of Mars-la-Tour  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Geoffrey Wawro: The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870–1871. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-61743-7 .
  2. Article on Georg von Wedell in the ADB.
  3. ^ Vionville . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 16, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 221.
  4. Otto Berndt: The number in the war - statistical data from recent war history in graphic representation. 1897.
  5. ^ Moltke: History of the Franco-German War. Third volume, Ernst Siegfried Mittler and Son, Berlin 1891.
  6. ^ Wawro: The Franco-Prussian War. 2008, p. 161 writes that no flags were captured.
  7. ^ Wawro: The Franco-Prussian War. 2008, p. 182 cites a message from Bazaine during the battle of Gravelotte that he captured 600 prisoners and a flag at Mars-la-Tour.
  8. Jump up ↑ Capture of the first Prussian flag during the war.

Coordinates: 49 ° 6 ′ 11.1 "  N , 5 ° 52 ′ 21.1"  E