The Campaign Of Sedan. Helmuth Von Moltke And The Overthrow Of The Second Empire

344 Pages·2011·9.23 MB·English

by  Quintin Barry

-
THE FRANCO PRUSSIAN
–
WAR 1870 71
VOLUME 1
The Campaign of Sedan: Helmuth von Moltke
and the Overthrow of the Second Empire
Quintin Barry
Inthefirstpartofthiscomprehensiveall-newtwo-volumemilitaryhistoryofthe
Franco-PrussianWar,QuintinBarrypresentsadetailedaccountofthewaragainst
the French Imperial Army waged by the armies of the German Confederation,
directedbythatsuprememilitarymind,HelmuthvonMoltke.
The author places Moltke and his strategic planning in the context of the
EuropeanbalanceofpowerfollowingtheendingoftheAustro-PrussianWarof
1866, before exploring the initial mobilisation and deployment of the armies in
1870.
All of the battles of this opening round of the war are described in detail,
including Weissenburg, Wörth, Spicheren, Borny-Colombey, Mars la Tour,
Gravelotte,Beaumontand,ofcourse,Sedan.
ThebookendsastheSecondEmpireofNapoleonIIIliesdefeated,crushed
bytheGermanarmiesdirectedbyvonMoltke.
TheauthorhasmadefulluseofanextensivenumberofGermanandFrench
languagesources.Hisdetailedtextisaccompaniedbyanumberofblackandwhite
illustrationsandbattlemaps.Extensiveordersofbattlearealsoprovided.
Quintin Barry is married and lives in Sussex. He is a solicitor, specializing in
employmentlaw.Hehasbeenchairmanofalocalradiostationandforthepastten
yearshasservedaschairmanofanNHSTrust.Throughouthisprofessionalcareer
hehasmaintainedhislifelonginterestinmilitaryandnavalhistory.Hehasmadea
specialstudyoftheperiodfrom1848to1871,withparticularreferencetotheWars
ofGermanUnification.
Helmuth von Moltke (Pflugk-Harttung)
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN
WAR 1870–71
Volume 1
The Campaign of Sedan: Helmuth von Moltke and the
Overthrow of the Second Empire
Quintin Barry
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Contents
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WARC VOONLTUEMNET 1S
List of Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
List of Maps and Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Chapters
1 From Nikolsburg to Ems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2 Strategic Planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3 The German Army after Königgrätz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4 The French Army and its Leaders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
5 Mobilisation and Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6 The Opening Battles: Weissenburg and Wörth. . . . . . . . . . . . 76
7 The Opening Battles: Spicheren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
8 Borny-Colombey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
9 Mars la Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
10 Gravelotte. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
11 The Army of Châlons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
12 MacMahon’s Flank March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
13 Beaumont . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
14 August 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
15 Sedan: the battlefield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
16 Sedan: the first stages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
17 Sedan: the advance of the Crown Prince. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
18 Sedan: Floing and Hill 812 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
19 Sedan: the end of the battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
20 Sedan: the capitulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
21 The end of the Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Appendices
I German Forces August 1 1870 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
II Imperial French Army August 1 1870. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
III German Forces Gravelotte-St.Privat August 18 1870 . . . . . . . . 316
IV French Forces Gravelotte-St.Privat August 18 1870 . . . . . . . . . 324
V Terms of the Capitulation at Sedan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
v
vi THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR VOLUME 1
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
List of Illustrations
THE FRANCO-PRLIUSSTS IOAFN I LWLAURS TVROALTUIMONE S1
1 Helmuth von Moltke (Pflugk-Harttung) (frontispiece) . . . . . . . . . . ii
2 Bismarck (Pflugk-Harttung). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3 King William of Prussia (Lindner). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4 Moltke in the saddle, by Speyer (Bork) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5 Prussian troops 1870, by Knötel: 1 – Dragoon, 2 – Cuirassier,
3 – Hussar, 4 – Uhlan, 5 – Pioneer, 6 – Jäger, 7 – Line Infantry,
8 – Horse Artillery (Scheibert). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6 South German troops, by Knötel. From l to r: Württemberg Reiter,
Artillery, Infantry; Bavarian Infantry, Artillery, Cuirassier,
Chevauleger (Pflug-Harttung) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
7 Count von Roon, Prussian Minister of War (Scheibert) . . . . . . . . . 51
8 Emperor Napoleon III (Scheibert). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
9 Marshal Le Boeuf, French Minister of War in 1870 (Rousset/Histoire) . 60
10 French troops 1870, by Knötel: 1 – Chasseur à Cheval, 2 – Garde
Mobile, 3 – Line Infantry, 4 – Artilleryman, 5 – Turco, 6 – Cuirasssier,
7 – Dragoon (Scheibert) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
11 ‘An old trooper’ – a characterful study of a veteran French infantryman,
by Carl Röchling (Lindner) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
12 The French Senate celebrates the declaration of war, painting by Conrad
(Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
13 King William at the grave of his parents, 19 July 1870, painting by
von Werner (Scheibert) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
14 Prussian troops depart for the theatre of war, by Plinzner (Scheibert) . . 68
15 Crown Prince Frederick William, commander of the German
Third Army (Scheibert) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
16 Bavarian troops push forward during the Battle of Weissenburg,
engraving from the painting by Braun ((Pflugk-Harttung). . . . . . . . 77
17 Bavarian artillery in action during the Battle of Weissenburg,
painting by Braun (Rousset/Histoire). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
18 The Geisberg Château following the Battle of Weissenburg, 4
August 1870 (Illustrierte Kriegs-chronik) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
19 Marshal MacMahon, commander of the 1st Corps, Army of the Rhine,
and later commander of the Army of Châlons, painting by Princeteau
(Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
20 Prussian infantry storm through Froeschwiller, by Zimmer (Klein) . . . 84
vii
viii THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR VOLUME 1
21 Bonnemains’ Cuirassiers falter at Wörth, by Speyer (Bork) . . . . . . . 88
22 The Prussian 47th Infantry Regiment storm the heights beyond
Froeschwiller, painting by Carl Röchling (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . 89
23 General von Steinmetz, commander of the German First Army
(Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
24 The Prussian 48th Infantry in the Pfaffenwald, at Spicheren, by
Röchling (Lindner) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
25 General von Stiehle, Chief of Staff of the German Second Army
(Pflugk-Harttung) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
26 The storming of the Spicheren Heights – the 9th Company of the
Prussian 39th Infantry Regiment, led in person by General von
François, painting by von Werner (Scheibert) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
27 Prussian artillery makes its appearance on the Rotherberg,
Spicheren, by Röchling (Lindner) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
28 The 1st Battalion of the Prussian 13th Infantry at Colombey, by
Knötel (Pflugk-Harttung) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
29 The Prussian 53rd Infantry at Colombey, painting by Hünten
(Scheibert) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
30 Marshal Bazaine, commander of the Army of the Rhine (Rousset/
Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
31 French Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard, on the morning of the
battle, painting by Petit-Gérard (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . 115
32 Marshal Canrobert, commander of the French 6th Corps, Army of
the Rhine (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
33 General Konstantin von Alvensleben, commander of the German
III Corps (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
34 General Frossard, commander of the French 2nd Corps (Rousset/
Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
35 Prussian artillery during the Battle of Mars la Tour, from a watercolour
by Knötel (Scheibert). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
36 The Zieten Hussars (Prussian 3rd Hussars) at Mars-la-Tour, by
Knötel (Pflugk-Harttung) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
37 Prince Frederick Charles, commander of the German Second Army
(Pflugk-Harttung) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
38 General von Fransecky, commander of the German II Corps
(Rousset/Histoire). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
39 The Crown Prince of Saxony during the Battle of Gravelotte,
painting by Zimmer (Scheibert) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix
40 Prince August of Württemberg, commander of the Prussian Guard
(Rousset/Histoire). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
41 General Ladmirault, commander of the French 4th Corps
(Rousset/Histoire). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
42 General von Manstein, commander of the German IX Corps
(Rousset/Histoire). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
43 The Prussian assault on St Privat (Pflugk-Harttung) . . . . . . . . . . 139
44 The Hessians attack the farm at Champenois during the Battle of
Gravelotte, painting by Röchling (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . 140
45 Dejected French prisoners following Gravelotte, painting by Dupray
(Rousset/Histoire). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
46 Members of the Army of Châlons in camp, by Pallandre (Rousset/
Combattants) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
47 The Army of Châlons on the march, painting by Chaperon
(Rousset/Histoire). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
48 General von Podbielski, Quartermaster General of the German
armies (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
49 The action at Nouart, by Pallandre (Rousset/Combattants). . . . . . . 166
50 General von Blumenthal, Chief of Staff of the German Third Army
(Scheibert) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
51 The French are surprised at Beaumont, by Speyer (Bork). . . . . . . . 171
52 General Gustav von Alvensleben, commander of the German IV
Corps (Pflugk-Harttung). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
53 The French 88th Line Regiment defend the Givodeau woods, at
Beaumont, by Pallandre (Rousset/Combattants) . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
54 The battlefield of Sedan, from the heights near Frénois, from a
sketch by A. von Werner (Pflugk-Harttung) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
55 The suburbs of Sedan, from an oil sketch by Bracht (Pflugk-
Harttung) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
56 Crown Prince Albert of Saxony (Scheibert). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
57 General Ducrot (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
58 MacMahon is wounded during the early stages of Sedan, by
Zimmer (Scheibert). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
59 Fierce fighting rages in Bazeilles, a drawing by Röchling (Lindner) . . . 211
60 A charge of French Marine infantry during the fighting for Bazeilles
and its environs, painting by Sergent (Rousset/Histoire) . . . . . . . . 211