The Battle of Gravelotte (August 18, 1870) was a battle of the Franco-Prussian War named after Gravelotte, a village in Lorraine between Metz and the former French-German frontier. Combatants Second French Empire North German Confederation allied with south German states (later German Empire) Commanders Napoleon III Helmuth von Moltke Strength 500,000[citation needed] 550,000[citation needed] Casualties 150,000 dead or wounded 284,000 captured 350,000 civilian[citation needed] 100,000 dead or wounded 200... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1870 (MDCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Gravelotte a village of Lorraine between Metz and the French frontier, famous as the scene of the battle of the 18th of August 1870 between the Germans under King William of Prussia and the French under Marshal Bazaine. ... Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 Prussia (German: ; Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Lithuanian: ; Polish: ; Old Prussian: PrÅ«sa) was, most recently, a historic state originating in East Prussia, an area which for centuries had substantial influence on German and European history. ... Graf Moltke Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke (October 26, 1800 - April 24, 1891), who became Helmuth Graf von Moltke in 1870, was a famous Prussian general. ... Painting of François Achille Bazaine by Jean-Adolphe Beauce on campaign in Mexico François Achille Bazaine (February 13, 1811 - September 23, 1888) was a French general, marshal of France from 1864. ... Combatants Second French Empire North German Confederation allied with south German states (later German Empire) Commanders Napoleon III Helmuth von Moltke Strength 500,000[citation needed] 550,000[citation needed] Casualties 150,000 dead or wounded 284,000 captured 350,000 civilian[citation needed] 100,000 dead or wounded 200... The Battle of Wissembourg or Weissenburg was the first battle of the Franco-Prussian War. ... Battle of Spicheren Conflict Franco-Prussian War Date August 6, 1870 Place near Saarbrucken, France Result German victory The Battle of Spicheren, also known as the Battle of Forbach, was a battle during the Franco-Prussian War. ... Combatants Prussia Baden Bavaria Württemberg France Commanders Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Patrice MacMahon Strength 88,000 50,000 Casualties 10,000 dead, wounded, or missing 11,000 dead or wounded 9,000 captured The Battle of WÅ“rth, also known as the Battle of Reichshoffen or as the Battle... The Siege of Strasbourg took place during Franco-Prussian War. ... Battle of Mars-La-Tour Conflict Franco-Prussian War Date August 16, 1870 Place Mars-La-Tour, France Result Prussian victory The Battle of Mars-La-Tour was fought on 16 August 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War near the town of Mars-La-Tour in north-east France. ... Combatants Prussia France Commanders Prince Friedrich Karl François Bazaine Strength 134,000 180,000 Casualties unknown 180,000 surrendered The Siege of Metz lasting from September 3 – October 23, 1870 was a crushing defeat for the French during the Franco-Prussian War. ... Combatants Prussia Bavaria France Commanders Wilhelm I Helmuth von Moltke Napoleon III Patrice MacMahon Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot Strength 200,000 774 cannon 120,000 564 cannon Casualties 2,320 dead 5,980 wounded 700 missing (9,000 total) 3,000 dead 14,000 wounded 21,000 captured 82,000 surrendered... Combatants France Prussia The Battle of Coulmiers was fought on November 9, 1870 between French and Prussian forces. ... Combatants Prussia France Commanders Edwin Freiherr von Manteuffel Louis Faidherbe Strength 18,000 33,000 The Battle of Bapaume was a battle during the Franco-Prussian War which defeated French attempts to relieve the besieged city of Péronne. ... Battle of Le Mans Conflict Franco_Prussian War Date January 10 – 12 1871 Place Le Mans, France Result Prussian victory The Battle of LeMans was a Prussian victory during the Franco_Prussian War which ended French resistance in western France. ... Combatants Prussia France Commanders Charles Denis Bourbaki Strength Casualties {{{notes}}} The Battle of the Lisaine was fought from January 15 to January 17 of 1871 between Prussian and French forces. ... Battle of St. ... Combatants Prussia, Baden Bavaria, Württemberg (later German Empire) France Commanders Wilhelm I of Germany Helmuth von Moltke Louis Jules Trochu Joseph Vinoy Strength 240,000 regulars 200,000 regulars 200,000 militia and sailors Casualties 12,000 dead or wounded 24,000 dead or wounded 146,000 captured 47... The Siege of Belfort was a lengthy siege during the Franco-Prussian War. ... August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1870 (MDCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Combatants Second French Empire North German Confederation allied with south German states (later German Empire) Commanders Napoleon III Helmuth von Moltke Strength 500,000[citation needed] 550,000[citation needed] Casualties 150,000 dead or wounded 284,000 captured 350,000 civilian[citation needed] 100,000 dead or wounded 200... Gravelotte a village of Lorraine between Metz and the French frontier, famous as the scene of the battle of the 18th of August 1870 between the Germans under King William of Prussia and the French under Marshal Bazaine. ... Lorraine coat of arms location of the Lorraine province Lorraine (French: Lorraine; German: Lothringen) is a historical area in present-day northeast France. ... For other uses of Metz, see Metz (disambiguation) City motto: Si paix dedans, paix dehors (French: If peace inside, peace outside) City proper (commune) Région Lorraine Département Moselle (57) Mayor Jean-Marie Rausch Area 41. ...

The conflict was between the Prussians under King William of Prussia and the French under Marshal Bazaine. The battlefield extends from the woods that border the Moselle above Metz to Roncourt, near the river Orne. Other villages which played an important part in the battle of Gravelotte were Saint Privat, Amanweiler or Amanvillers and Sainte-Marie-aux-Chênes, all lying to the north of Gravelotte. William I (William Frederick Louis) (March 22, 1797 – March 9, 1888), (German: Wilhelm I., Deutscher Kaiser und König von Preußen), ruled January 18, 1871 – 9 March 1888 as German Emperor and 2 January 1861 – 9 March 1888 as King of Prussia. ... Painting of François Achille Bazaine by Jean-Adolphe Beauce on campaign in Mexico François Achille Bazaine (February 13, 1811 - September 23, 1888) was a French general, marshal of France from 1864. ... The Moselle (French Moselle, German Mosel, Luxembourgish Musel, Dutch Moezel, from Latin Mosella, little Meuse) is a river flowing through France, Luxembourg and Germany, joining the Rhine river at Koblenz. ... For the river Orne in Normandy see Orne River. ...

The Battle of Gravelotte, or Gravelotte-St. Privat, was the largest battle during the Franco-Prussian War. It was fought about six miles west of Metz, Lorraine, France where the Prussians, having on the previous day intercepted the French army's retreat to the west at the battle of Mars-La-Tour, now closed in to complete the destruction of the French forces. Battle of Mars-La-Tour Conflict Franco-Prussian War Date August 16, 1870 Place Mars-La-Tour, France Result Prussian victory The Battle of Mars-La-Tour was fought on 16 August 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War near the town of Mars-La-Tour in north-east France. ...

The combined German forces, under Field Marshal von Moltke, were the Prussian First and Second Armies of the North German Confederation numbering about 210 infantry battalions, 133 cavalry squadrons, and 732 heavy cannons totaling 188,332 officers and men.^{[citation needed]} The French Army of the Rhine, commanded by Marshal Bazaine, numbering about 183 infantry battalions and 104 cavalry squadrons, backed by 520 heavy cannons, totaling 112,800 officers and men, dug in along high ground with their southern left flank at the town of Rozerieulles, and their northern right flank at St. Privat.^{[citation needed]} Generalfeldmarschall Helmuth, Graf von Moltke (known as Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke before 1870) (October 26, 1800 – April 24, 1891), was a German Field Marshal, thirty years chief of the staff of the Prussian army, widely regarded as one of the great strategists of the latter half of the 1800s... North German Federation (in German, Norddeutscher Bund), came into existence in 1867, following the dissolution of the German Confederation. ...

On August 18, 1870, the battle began when at 08:00 Moltke ordered the First and Second Armies to advance against the French positions. By 12:00 General Manstein opened up the battle before the village of Amanvillers with artillery from the 25th Infantry Division. But the French had spent the night and early morning digging trenches and rifle pits while placing their artillery and their mitrailleuses, an early type of machine gun, in concealed positions. The French, finally aware of the Prussian advance, opened up a massive return fire against the mass of advancing Germans. The battle at first appeared to favor the French, for they had better rifles, the Chassepot, an early bolt-action rifle replacing the musket with a range of over 1,500 yards, far superior to the Prussian Dreyse bolt-action rifle, also called the needle gun, which had a range of only 600 yards. However, the Prussian artillery was superior for they had the all-steel Krupp breech-loading gun, which was to shape the future of artillery on the battlefield. The mitrailleuse was a manually-fired volley gun used by the French Army during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). ... A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ... The chassepot, officially known as fusil modèle 1866, was a military breechloading rifle, famous as the arm of the French forces in the Franco-German War of 1870 and 1871. ... The Dreyse needle-gun (German das Zündnadelgewehr or figuratively firing-pin rifle) was a military breechloading rifle, famous as the arm of the Prussians in 1866 and of the Germans in 1870 and 1871. ... The Krupp family, a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. ...

By 14:30, General Steinmetz, the commander of the First Army, unilaterally launched his VIII Corps across the Mance Ravine in which the Prussian infantry were soon pinned down by murderous rifle and mitrailleuse fire from the French positions. At 15:00, the massed guns of the Prussian VII and VIII Corps opened fire to support the attack. But by 16:00, with the attack in danger of stalling, Steinmetz ordered the VII Corps forward, followed by the 1st Cavalry Division. Karl Friedrich von Steinmetz (December 27, 1796 - August 2, 1877), Prussian generalfeldmarschall, was born at Eisenach. ...

By 16:50, with the Prussian southern attacks in danger of breaking up, the 3rd Prussian Guards Brigade of the Second Army opened an attack against the French positions at St-Privat which were commanded by General Canrobert. At 17:15, the 4th Prussian Guards Brigade joined the advance followed at 17:45 by the 1st Prussian Guards Brigade. All of the Prussian Guard attacks too were pinned down by lethal French fire from the rifle pits and trenches. At 18:15 the 2nd Prussian Guards Brigade, the last of the Guards Division, was committed to the attack on St Privat, while Steinmetz committed the last of the reserves of the First Army across the Mance Ravine. By 18:30, a considerable portion of the VII and VIII Corps disengaged from the fighting and withdrew towards the Prussian positions at Rezonville. François Certain Canrobert (June 27, 1809 - January 28, 1895), was a marshal of France. ...

With the defeat of the First Army, Prince Frederick Charles ordered a massed artillery attack against Canrobert's position at St. Privat to prevent the Guards attack from failing too. At 19:00 the 3rd Division of Fransecky's II Corps of the Second Army advanced across Ravine while the XII Corps cleared out the nearby town of Roncourt and with the survivors of the Guards Division launched a fresh attack against the ruins of St. Privat. At 20:00, the arrival of the Prussian 4th Division of the II Corps and with the Prussian right flank on Mance Ravine, the line stabilized. By then, the Prussians of the Guards Division and the XII and II Corps captured St. Privat, forcing the decimated French forces to withdraw. With the Prussians exhausted from the fighting, the French were now able to mount a counter-attack. But then General Bourbaki refused to commit the reserves of the French Old Guard to the battle because he considered it a 'defeat'. Prince Friedrich Karl Nicholas of Prussia (20 March 1828-15 June 1885) was the son of Karl of Prussia (1801-1883) and his wife Marie Louise of Saxe-Weimar (1808-1877). ...

By 22:00, firing largely died down across the battlefield for the night. The next morning, the French Army of the Rhine, rather than resume the battle with an attack of its own against the battle-weary German armies, actually retreated to Metz where they were besieged and forced to surrender two months later (see Siege of Metz). Combatants Prussia France Commanders Prince Friedrich Karl François Bazaine Strength 134,000 180,000 Casualties unknown 180,000 surrendered The Siege of Metz lasting from September 3 – October 23, 1870 was a crushing defeat for the French during the Franco-Prussian War. ...

The casualties were horrible, especially for the attacking Prussian forces. A total of 20,163 German troops were killed, wounded or missing in action during the August 18 battle. The French losses were 7,855 killed and wounded along with 4,420 prisoners of war (half of these were wounded), for a total of 12,275. While most of the Prussians fell under the French Chassepot rifles, most French fell under the Prussian Krupp shells. In a breakdown of the casualties, Frossard's II Corps of the Army of the Rhine suffered 621 casualties while inflicting 4,300 casualties on the Prussian First Army under Steinmetz before the Pointe du Jour. Losses of the Prussian Guard Division were even more staggering, with 8,000 casualties out of 18,000 men. The Special Jäger Guards lost 19 officers, a surgeon and 431 men out of a total of 700. The 2nd Guards Brigade lost 39 officers and 1,076 men. The 3rd Guards Brigade lost 36 officers and 1,060 men. On the French side, the units holding St. Privat lost more then half their number in the village. Charles Auguste Frossard (April 26, 1807 - August 25, 1875), was a French general. ...

References

• Elliot-Wright, Philipp. Gravelotte-St-Privat 1870. London: Osprey Publishing, 1993. ISBN 1-85532-286-2
• [Battlefield Pictures]

External Links

• French Army 1600-1900