Battle of Bapaume (1871)

The Bataille of Bapaume took place the January 3rd 1871, during the Guerre free-Prussian when the French tried to put an end to the seat Péronne. It was held close to the village of Bapaume and ended in a Prussian strategic victory.

The IE Armed Prussian arrived at Bapaume at the end of December 1870 whereas at the same time the Army of the North of the general Faidherbe left to put an end to the Prussian seat of Fibula. The two armies met close to Bapaume. Although the soldiers of Faidherbe surrounded the Prussians experienced but exceeded numerically, they did not manage to benefit from their advantage and had to beat a retreat. This had as a consequence the capitulation of Péronne the January 10th. The Prussian troops were going quickly to receive reinforcements and they faced Faidherbe again two weeks later at the time of the Bataille of Saint Quentin.

Detail of the Operations

The battle of Bapaume was delivered January 2nd and 3rd 1871, during the Guerre free-Prussian of 1870-71 with the territories of Biefvillers-lès-Bapaume and Bapaume. The general Faidherbe with the head of the Army of North stopped the Prussians. After the battle of Bridge-Noyelles, we see the general Faidherbe, pressed by an enemy who was going to become of moment in moment more numerous and could cut it his line of communication, to withdraw itself in good order towards North, on Arras and Douai. December 27th, it stops its movement and discusses the line Fampoux, Vitry, Corbehem, supporting its line with Arras and its left with Douai, and protected ahead by the course from the Scarpe. There, it supplies its troops and the fact of resting. During this time, the enemy, definitely main of Amiens since the business of Bridge-Noyelles, had walked on Péronne, had invested it and, on December 28th, had begun the bombardment of the place. At this point in time Faidherbe decides to take again the offensive. December 31st, it advances in the South of Arras, its line with River-Currant, its left with Tilloy. January 1st, 1871, it assembles its generals with Beaurains and, in spite of their opinion, decides that one will walk ahead.

“Sirs, says to them it, you are right perhaps, but to let bombard Péronne without trying to help it, when I have under my orders at least 30.000 men and 90 parts of gun, it is to undoubtedly incur dishonor. However, I like better to be beaten by making my duty that dishonoured by a charge of pusillanimity, we will leave tomorrow morning to walk to the enemy: you will receive this evening the functioning orders. ”

Tokens a glance on the Prussian positions and the troops which the army of North was going to approach. These troops formed the right wing of the first army, whose left wing operated on the low Seine; they were under the command as a chief of the general De Goeben. The general count De Gröben, ordering the 3rd division of cavalry, was with Bucquoy with three companies of infantry, ten squadrons and half and a battery. The 15th division occupied Bapaume with eleven battalions, four squadrons and four batteries. Its chief, the general De Kummer, had placed in first line the 30e brigade of infantry (general De Strubberg) with three squadrons and three batteries, of Bapaume to Béhagnies, and in second line the 29e brigade (general Of Glass of bier) on the line Bertincourt - Sailly-Saillisel, with a squadron and two batteries. The 8th battalion of hunters remained at the disposal of the general De Goeben towards Combles and Morval, with two horse batteries. On the road of Fibula to Cambric, with Fine, was the Prince Albrecht having under his orders the combined brigade of cavalry of the guard, a battery with horse and a detached battalion of the regiment of fusiliers n° 33.

We are on January 2nd, the sky is gray, cold time. The French troops are started as of the first hour. Division Derroja of the 22e body (general Lecointe) which forms the line arrives until Bucquoy from where the Prussians withdrew themselves on Puisieux and Miraumont, then it makes a with-left and comes to confine with Achiet-the-Small, without to have drawn a rifle shot. In the center, the division of Bessol of the same body, with which walk the Faidherbe general, moves on Ablainzevelle that it reaches about midday. With the 23e body (general Paulze of lvoy), walk is far from being also easy. Division Payen advanced by Boisleux and Ervillers, and with leaving this last village deploys the brigade Michelet to remove Béhagnies; two batteries are put in position on the right and on the left of the road. The brigade Delagrange remains in reserve with Ervillers. The brigade Michelet advances with confidence on three columns, believing the village only occupied by outposts very few. The column of the center does not reach the first houses when a terrible fire accommodates it and drives back it in disorder. It is not however long in being reformed, springs again and removes Béhagnies, rejecting the Prussians on Sapignies. But the column of right-hand side made a too long turning and is not in measurement to support it, and the left-hand column, accommodated, itself of near by flights of grapeshot and charged by the cavalry, is rejected on Ervillers, leaving 250 prisoners to the hands of the Prussians, who re-occupy Béhagnies immediately. It is approximately two hours. Division Robin (mobilized) of the 23e body did not appear yet on the battle field, it is only around two hours and half that it is announced close to Mory, having wasted an invaluable time to pass by Croisilles and Saint-Leger, instead of following division Payen. One can affirm that, if it had appeared in the business of the morning, it had been able, by his only presence. he to give very an other exit. However the Delagrange brigade went on line to Ervillers to replace the brigade Michelet, and the remainder of the day occurs without one leaving share nor of other of his positions.

In the center, Faidherbe, which does not know anything of what has just occurred to the 23e body makes attack Achiet-the-Large of which it drives out the Prussians; and also Bihucourt occupies. At five hours, it makes stop the 22e body behind Biefvillers-lès-Bapaume and of Grévillers and establishes its Achiet-the-Large general headquarter with . Around seven hours of the evening, the general De Kummer, finding the brigade Strubberg too in the air, makes it return to Bapaume where thus joined together all the 15th division is, It intends to defend the city while resting on the line Grévillers - Biefvillers-lès-Bapaume - Favreuil - Beugnâtre. The general De Goeben will be with Pys with a battalion, four squadrons and four parts. The Prince Albrecht which is with Fins receives from the general De Goeben, remained with Combles, the order to bring its detachment to Bertincourt. Moreover, Goeben request with the troops of Barnekow which invest Péronne three battalions and four batteries which will have to arrive at nine o'clock in the morning with Sailly-Saillisel.

The orders of Faidherbe for on January 3rd are that the 23e body will take again its walk by the road of Bapaume, division Payen according to directly the road, division Robin going of Mory to turn Favreuil. Division Of Bessol will advance Bihucourt on Biefvillers-lès-Bapaume, and Derroja which is with Achiet-the-Small will direct on Grévillers. The 3, the day rises very dark, the ground is covered with snow, the intense cold. From great morning, Faidherbe starts again the attack in the center, Of Bessol launches out on Biefvillers-lès-Bapaume and Derroja on Grévillers. On the left, division Payen enters to Béhagnies and Sapignies evacuated by the enemy as it was seen, and folds back oneself on strongly occupied Favreuil. As for the division Robin, of which the troops are not able to remain on line under the least shooting, it is restricted to cover our left by its presence. On the right, Grévillers is highly removed by the troops of the general Derroja, and Biefvillers-lès-Bapaume, vigorously defended, is itself soon, with the favor of a movement turning by the left, carried out by the troops of Of Bessol. Then, the French artillery having extinguished the fire of the Prussian guns, the French soldiers spring directly on Bapaume, finding Biefvillers-lès-Bapaume, the road of Bapaume and the houses of encumbered Avesnes Prussian casualties; they make many prisoners there. Division Of Bessol penetrates even in the suburb of Arras, but the Prussians manage to stop it, thanks to the ditches and with the wall sides remaining of the old fortifications, which facilitate defense singularly.

On the left, the 23e body is made main of Favreuil, at once that its chief made replace with the left of his line of attack division Robin: two battalions of the brigade Delagrange. On this side, the Prussians put themselves in full retirement, and it occurs on all the line a kind of lull. In the afternoon, the Prussians who do not want to acknowledge themselves yet beaten seek to turn the line of the French by Tilloy. The general Lecointe directs on this village the brigade Pittié which seizes some, in spite of a sharp resistance, and is maintained there. Then it is Ligny which is highly disputed, but remains ultimately with the Prussians. At the falling night. the French are not less victorious on all the line, since the Germans were driven out of all the positions which it occupied the morning. The French troops pass in the conquered villages the night that the Prussians employ to evacuate Bapaume and to put itself in retirement. The few following lines, extracted the work of the large Prussian staff on the Franco-German War, are given the responsability to show the state where the French troops had reduced their adversary:

“on their side, the Germans either were nothing less than eager to take again the fight immediately. The artillery did not even manage to reconstitute a sufficient provisioning. The soldiers had an urgent need of rest. In order to spare it to them, the retirement behind was decided; and in the morning of the 4, the movement was already in process of execution, when the outposts announced that the enemy had withdrawn himself from the villages in the North of Bapaume. ”

Faidherbe however let pass the occasion to give to its victory a decisive character, while not making costs that costs to start again the following day walk ahead, like wanted it several of its generals this time more trustful than him. There is not to doubt that Péronne would have been delivered the following day even, since the major Schell of the large Prussian staff teaches us in his book the Operations from the first army that

“the general Barnekow accepted at two hours (3) the order to be held ready to raise the seat”.

The general-in-chief of the army of North, in the presence of the freezing cold, of the tiredness of the troops, the need for the supply, and cash on an enough long defense of Fibula to allow him to renew his attempt at a few days of time, gave the order to his troops to withdraw himself, the 4, with ten kilometers in the North of Bapaume, in their quarterings of Boileux, to remake itself before taking again the fight. The battle of Bapaume had had cost France 1319 killed or wounded men and 800 missings of which the greatest number was composed of mobilized of the general Robin, sunken without more way in their hearths. The Germans acknowledged the figure of 40 officers and 740 killed or wounded men, but of testimonys worthy of faith carry this number to 1100 men approximately. If one disregards division Robin which was for the French rather an element of weakness that an effective help, because of the confidence which its pusillanimity inspired to the Prussians, we will evaluate the French forces with approximately 25.000 men of which a quarter of mobiles. The Germans had 15.000 men sheltered behind the obstacles easiest to defend.

Extracts of the table of Armand Dumaresq exposed in the big room of the Town hall of Bapaume.

References

George Bruce. Harbottle' S Dictionary off Battles. (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981) (ISBN 0-442-22336-6).

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