Battle of Sedan
The battles of Sedan took place the August 31st and on September 1st 1870 during the Franco-German war. With the capitulation of the French troops and the capture of Napoleon III the September 2nd, it was decisive for the exit of the war.
Involved troops
The French troops count an army of approximately 120.000 men divided into four army corps (1st, 5th, 7th and 12th), relatively dependant between them in the space of Sedan. The command of the French troops depends initially on the marshal Mac-Mahon. But this one is wounded at the beginning of the battle on a hill of the village of Balan, whereas it observed the unfolding of the engagements on Bazeilles. The general Ducrot replaces it, but it is obliged to be erased in front of the general of Wimpffen, older in rank and is provided with an order of the minister indicating it in the event of prevention of Mac-Mahon. This succession of commander-in-chiefs is at the origin of orders, counter-orders and tergiversations on the strategy. Napoleon III is with the Mac-Mahon army with Sedan, but does not mix with military operations.
The German troops are divided into two armies: the 3rd army (approximately 130.000 men) under the orders of the crown prince Frederic-Guillaume to Prussia and the 4th army (approximately 110.000 men) under the orders of the crown prince Albert to Saxony. To von Moltke returns the supreme command of the two armies of the United German States. The king Guillaume of Prussia and his staff as his minister Otto von Bismarck are present, they will attend the battle since a hill close to Frénois, a village in the south-west of Sedan.
First steps of the battle of Sedan
After the defeats undergone in Alsace on August 4th, 1870 with Wissembourg and Woerth-Froeschwiller on August 6th, the marshal of Mac-Mahon reconstitutes an army (known as army of the camp of Châlons) to protect Paris but it receives the order to help the army of the marshal Bazaine, besieged with Metz since August 20th by I E and IIe armed German. However Mac-Mahon underestimated the importance of the German forces and their speed. Informed objective of Mac-Mahon, Von Moltke lays out of more than 200 000 men (3rd and 4th army), it sent the 3rd army with forced march to the front of the French troops in direction of Châlons. August 21st, Mac-Mahon moves towards Rheims, where it supplements its manpower and the camp of Châlons is burnt to prevent that it does not fall to the hands from the royal prince from Prussia (3rd army).
August 23rd, the regent and the Council of Ministers order with Mac-Mahon to go to help Bazaine. To avoid the Prussians of IIIe armed, it then decides to go back to north towards the department of the Ardennes for then moving on Metz. However IVe armed with the royal prince of Saxony was posted on Right Bank of the Meuse. The strategy of Mac-Mahon is then compromised, because the direct road of Metz by Montmédy or Verdun is blocked by the troops saxonne. The options for Mac-Mahon are those: either it takes the direction of Metz, with the prospect to see itself cutting the road by the Saxon ones and also seeing the Prussian army going up surroundings of Châlons by taking it out of clipper. Mac-Mahon tergiversates, its army corps trample between the August 25th and 28th between the sector of Rethel and Vouziers. During this time the army of the royal prince of Prussia moves towards him.
The Mac-Mahon August 27th decides to go back to North on Wall to go down again then on Paris and to give up saving Bazaine. But in Paris the regent and the Council of Ministers still order to him to help Bazaine, by affirming to him that the Prussian troops are at 48 hours of walk, but those pursue the Mac-Mahon army. This last takes again the option of going on Metz and passing the Meuse towards the sector of Stenay, but by tergiversate under the pressure of the authorities and the combined action of the two armies of the German princes, the situation of Mac-Mahon appears compromised.
August 30th, the French troops (5th body) charged to protect the right side from the army with Mac-Mahon are defeats by German armed part of IVe the August 30th 1870, with the Bataille of Beaumont (in the south-east of Sedan). Continued by the 3rd army and threatened by IVe Mac-Mahon then decides to take refuge in the neighborhoods of the town of Sedan, citadel city located not far from the Belgian border. Sedan is located in a gigantic basin surrounded by hills with two processions towards Mézières (western) and Carignan (is), which strongly reduces the possibilities of escaping from it. Mac-Mahon has the choice between the retirement on Mézières, located at 20 km of Sedan, or the offensive by forcing the passage towards Carignan or is IVe armed with the prince of Saxony to move towards Metz.
August 30th in evening, Mac-Mahon succeeds in making pass the Meuse to part of its army (1st and 7th body and part of the 5th body défaità Beaumont) meadows of Sedan under the threat of the 3rd army of prince de Prusse. The same day, the remainder of the 5th body demolishes in Beaumont and the 12th body passed it to Mouzon and moves towards Sedan under the German threat of IVe armed. The battle will begin, the army of the camp of Châlons will face definitely higher troops of number because the two German armies make make junction around Sedan.
The battle
Mac-Mahon issues placidly: “Rest for all the army tomorrow September 1st. ” Without trying hard to cut the bridges on the Meuse, it is restricted to concentrate its army on a timbered height, just in the North-East of Sedan, in the triangle Floing-Island-Bazeilles, between the Meuse widened by the floods and two brooks, Floing and Givonne. The army corps French position: 1st between Givonne and Moncelle, 5th tested by the battle of Beaumont in the citadel of Sedan, 7th between Floing and Givonne finally 12th on Bazeilles and Balan.The afternoon of August 31st, the Germans start to encircle Sedan; the army of the crown prince to Prussia occupies Frénois and Donchéry in the west; that of the royal prince of Saxony attacks Bazeilles in the east. The Ducrot general advises with the marshal to concentrate all the troops in the north of Sedan, on the plate of Illy, then to slip by on Mézières without waiting until the Prussians do not come to cut the passage. Mac-Mahon the listening of an inattentive ear: “We are not here to perpetuate us. ” The Emperor could also withdraw himself on Mézières as long as the road is free; he would be there in safety and could return to activate the defense of Paris or to treat peace with the enemy.
The August 31st 1870, an avant-garde of the fourth battalion of Bavarian hunter (IIIe armed) succeeds in occupying the bridge of railroad of Remilly-Aillicourt before the French troops do not have time to make it jump. The most advanced elements of the battalion can thus cross the Meuse and reach Bazeilles, to approximately 5 km in the south-east of Sedan. The troops of marine of the division known as blue ordered by the general of Vassoigne receive the order to take again the village, the 2nd brigade of the Martin general of Landing engages a counter-attack, supported by the 1st brigade of the general of Reboul. The combat are keen. The “porpoises” take again the village as of fallen the night and push back even the Bavarian ones to the bridge, so much the counter-attack is energetic. But on the evening, the first, the second and the fourth body Bavarian pass the bridge.
September 1st before the paddle, the battle starts. The two German armies are spread towards north, that of the crown prince to Prussia by the western side, that of prince de Saxe by the side is for then converging towards Illy. At seven hours, Mac-Mahon, wounded with the buttock by a glare of shell, gives up its command, to replace it, it indicates Ducrot, which orders at once the retirement in direction of Illy and Wall. But the movement is hardly started that of Wimpffen, exhibant a letter of the minister Palikao entrusting to him the interim of Mac-Mahon in the event of prevention, asserts the command and cancels the instructions of Ducrot. Three commander-in-chiefs in three hours, each one with a different plan.
September 1st at 4 o'clock in the morning, part of the first Bavarian body infiltrates in Bazeilles on the side is Château of Sedan. A strong resistance of the French troops of navy forces the Bavarian ones to make there penetrate the 1st entire body. The battle starts to turn in favor of the French. Having replaced Mac-Mahon wounded, the Ducrot general, in favor of the retirement on Wall, the fold orders to reorganize the forces and to concentrate on the western side, only possibility of leaving Sedan without fighting too much. Finally commander-in-chief in place of Mac-Mahon, De Wimpffen refutes the strategy of the retirement and orders to re-occupy Bazeilles. Around one hour of the afternoon, Wimpffen gives its orders: to counter-attack side of Bazeilles vigorously, for Metz. And, to give the means of them, it takes the reserves of Douay and Ducrot, obliging them to dismantle the northern face. That does not go without evil: commanders, for lack of charts, are mistaken in direction, the regiments hesitate to move under the artillery shootings, others find the road blocked by carriages. Bavarian, definitely the more and especially supported by a modern and very effective artillery, took again the village. Nevertheless the porpoises excel in the street battle: they push back by twice Bavarian village. A battalion of the 4th Bavarian body progresses to the village of Balan, thus cutting Bazeilles de Sedan.
In the village are held then fierce combats, house by house. Fighting with against ten, the porpoises start to be submerged. They miss ammunition, fold under the percussion shells and the heat of the fires. Many civilians take share with the engagements. From now on half-compartments of their lines, the French troops yield little by little the village which is almost completely destroyed. Houses were used as bases of defense; these combat epic and keen will be symbolized later by the episode of heroic resistance in the Maison of the last cartridge.
The battle turns to the disaster, because the Prussian army of the crown prince Frederic to Prussia crosses the Meuse to Donchery, in the south-west of Sedan, in order to carry out the junction with the bodies armed with the prince Albert of Saxony come from Beaumont after the battle. Despite everything, Wimpffen succeeded in advancing few kilometers when, on its backs, a great flood of people breaks. At two hours, on the plate of Illy, on the north-western side of the citadel of Sedan, the two German armies carried out their junction: the loop is buckled. Not only the hypothetical escape towards Wall or Belgium initiated by Ducrot before the inopportune arrival of Wimpffen is not possible any more, but the enemy inserted a corner between the army corps of Douay and that of Ducrot. Deprived of their reserves, the two chiefs of police try to throw in the breach, shovel-mixes, all that they could rejoin, but in vain. In spite of desperate and courageous loads of the riders of the General Margueritte, the French forces cannot break surrounding on the plate of Illy. There was the only possibility for the French Army of being able to escape and to join Mézières. The king of Prussia observing the loads of the hunters of Africa since his point of view of the village of Frénois would have exclaimed: “Ah, good people! ” (in German, Die tapferen Leute ).
Encircled and completely disorganized, the French Army ebbs in disorder inside the citadel city of Sedan. Then, of all shares, it is a flood terrified men, horses, carriages, guns, which ebbs towards Sedan, like if, behind the old ramparts safety were. Infantrymen, riders, crews of the train, cars of ambulance, vans of any kind start to converge towards the center of Sedan, mixing, choking themselves, being crushed on the drawbridges. It is a storm of moanings and curses. The German shells fall, burst and make vacuums. In seven or eight places, the city starts to flame. The soldiers dispute the shelters and threaten the officers. The majority of the generals gather around the Emperor with the sub-prefecture. Their soldiers, exténués, are not any more in a position to resist. All say to him that the fight became without hope. All, except one, Wimpffen, always rejoining men on the road of Bazeilles. Then Napoleon III seizes again himself. Undoubtedly he abdicated his capacities, but there does not remain about it less the Emperor. And it is perhaps the only one with being able to play a last chart: to meet in private conversation king Guillaume of Prussia - that it received three years before with Tileries at the time of the World Fair -, to try to bend it, to stop the bloodshed and to save the honor of its generals. Perhaps, by constituting itself captive, will it obtain a safe conduct for its troops in France or Belgium after having deposited the weapons? And the Emperor gives the order to hoist the white flag on the citadel to ask for an armistice. The Faure general, chief of staff, estimating to have to obey only Wimpffen, make withdraw the flag. The Emperor insists and the fact of hoisting again, this time for good.
To 4 p.m. 30, the king of Prussia sends an officer to the southern entry of the citadel (carries of Torcy). This last is led to the sub-prefecture of Sedan and is presented to the emperor who writes a letter with king de Prusse: “Mister my brother, not having been able to die in the middle of my troops, it only remains me to give my sword between your hands. ” To 6 p.m., the Reille general gives the letter of the emperor to Guillaume who is always on the heights of Frénois. After deliberation, the winners accept the rendering of the French Army and ask the emperor to indicate one of his officers to treat capitulation. The king of Prussia appoints his commander-in-chief von Moltke, then withdraws himself on the village of Vendresse, in the south of Sedan.
At the beginning of evening, the general of Wimpffen, plenipotentiary indicated by the emperor, goes to the German staff in Donchery to the south-west of Sedan. He wants to negotiate but von Moltke, accompanied by the chancellor Otto von Bismarck, requires an unconditional surrender.
Capitulation
The September 2nd, around 8 a.m., the emperor leaves Sedan because he wants to discuss with the king Prussia. He goes by the imperial road carrying out of Mézières to the borough of Donchery, thinking that King Guillaume is there. Defendant, Bismarck comes to his meeting at the entry from the village. An interview takes place in the house of Tisserand on the roadside. Suspecting that the emperor wants to try to soften the conditions of the capitulation, the Minister for king de Prusse refuses that Napoleon III meets Guillaume with Vendresse. Bismarck states to him moreover that the king will see it only after the signature of the act of rendering.
At 10 a.m. 30, the emperor is led to Frénois with the Château of Bellevue which dominates the Meuse and the town of Sedan. It is in this place that the general-in-chiefs of the two camps sign one hour later the act of rendering of the French Army, in the presence of the two sovereigns. This act specifies that the fortified town as weapons, ammunition, materials, horses and flags will be given to the winners and than the captive army will be led on the peninsula of Iges to the west of Sedan.
The camp of misery
This place bordered by a loop of the Meuse river and a channel and a surface of several hundreds of hectares will be a true prison with open sky, being able to be easily kept by the armies of the German States. It is as envisaged in the act of rendering as the officers and civil employees having the rank of officer have the possibility of not being made prisoners, subject stating on the honor not to fight later on.
The September 3rd, approximately 80.000 men are led on the peninsula of Iges and are practically parked without shelters and vivres. Many soldiers will die of hunger or of disease, so much the conditions were terrible. The place will be baptized thereafter the “camp of misery”. The same day, the emperor, prisoner, share in Belgium; it takes the train with Libramont to go to Kassel, site of its internment to Germany.
Why such a defeat?
In spite of their bravery and rifle Chassepot, the French troops were ordered by chiefs who missed overall strategy. The French, who declared the war following the Dépêche of Ems, were very badly prepareds to make it, in spite of the declarations blusterers of the minister the marshal Edmond the Ox: “We are ready, archi-loans. The war had it to last two years, it would not miss a button of gaiter to our soldiers. ” Gold at the beginning of the conflict the army had only: 270000 operational men.
Many military officials did not even have Geological Survey maps of the French territory. The artillery obsolete and was especially misused. The guns, out of bronze, took care by the mouth. The slow parts, doors and to handle, were of very short range and used chronometric shells with fused which exploded often too early. The strategy of Mac-Mahon was very confused. This army which was to protect Paris goes, following orders from Paris, to see itself entrusting the mission of delivering Metz. Because of these divergences and the indecision of Mac-Mahon, the army of Châlons almost will wander until Sedan, becoming exhausted in steps and rises to fail in the fatal basin. The armies of the united German states were ordered by chiefs having an overall strategy. The troops were of a remarkable military value, more (550 000 men) and equipped well, with share the Rifle Dreyse which was definitely less powerful than Chassepot. Mobilized more quickly, they moved quickly to the border thanks to the railroad. The superiority of manpower moreover was supported by a more provided Artillerie and of a greater range, composed of steel parts taking care by the cylinder head with more effective percussion rocket shells. von Moltke, true modern strategist, tactician except par, methodical designed the quasi scientific war of way. Mac-Mahon, at one time victorious in the Crimea and Italy, adopted an undecided and confused strategy. It used and operates its troops as at the beginning of the century; all in all, it was en delay of a war.
Consequences of the defeat of Sedan
September 4th, in spite of the opposition of the legislative body and under the pressure of Parisian in anger, Leon Gambetta announces the forfeiture of the emperor. A little later, with the Town hall, in company of Jules Ferry, Jules Favre and other deputies, it proclaims the République. In spite of the rendering of Sedan, a government of national defense is founded, composed of 11 deputies of Paris. In spite of the disaster of Sedan, and whereas Bazaine is locked up in Metz, the government refuses the defeat and reconstitutes an army. As of on September 20th, Paris is besieged. In spite of some victorious battles which come to give reason to the government, Bazaine goes, releasing from the German troops which are added to the forces having overcome with Sedan. The French are definitively beaten after the end of the Siège of Paris, on January 28th, 1871. A general armistice is signed with the Château of Versailles. Guillaume is proclaimed Empereur of the Second German Reich. Otto von Bismarck could carry out the union of the German states as it wished it before the hostilities.
The humiliating defeat of Sedan thus has as a consequence the end of an empire and the birth of a nation which will dominate Europe durably. A peace treaty, signed in Frankfurt on May 10th, 1871, cuts down France by the Alsace except Belfort, of part of Lorraine and the Vosges. A sum of five billion francs gold is required as war damagees. The German armies are withdrawn gradually from the 21 departments which they progressively occupied of the payments. In September 1873, the Germans completely evacuate the territory after payment of the pay of the debt. This treaty will generate a desire of revenge among French, who will not have of cease to want to recover the lost territories. An emission of the Franco-German television channel Arte, on November 22nd, 2006, put forth the assumption that this war was the “mother” of the two world wars of the 20th century.
The defeat of Sedan was revealing. France carried certainly out the industrial revolution, but the military strategists did not know to integrate the evolutions of the modernism. Too many sure them, the officers rested on last successes: Conquest of Algeria, Sébastopol, Solférino, Magenta. They did not retain the lesson of the victory of the German states on the Austria with Sadowa. Admittedly, the French Armies recorded some successes before Sedan, but they were badly exploited. If some others will follow Sedan, the capitulation of Bazaine will allow the German surge on all the north of France. The defeat, while precipitating the regime change and while plunging the country in quasi a civil war (the Commune), will be used as electric shock: the 3rd Republic will reorganize its army, to modernize it, impose the obligatory military service and to stabilize its institutions.
The September 2nd, day of the French capitulation, became national Festival ( day of Sedan , " Sedan Tag") in the German Empire and was celebrated until in 1918. Today, in many German cities, streets of Sedan ( Sedan Strasse ) recall this victory.
During two following wars, Sedan will be still seat of battles: in August 1914 with the Battle of the borders, but especially May 12th and 13rd 1940, when the Wehrmacht makes a success of decisive the Percée of Sedan, prelude of a French defeat even more humiliating. This city, which generated the IIIe République, was also 70 years later at the origin of its anguish.
Consequences for the town of Sedan
They will be very important for old the Principauté of Sedan, Protestant woman and independent, at that time very prosperous economically but engoncée in its ramparts. On 110 hectares of communal surface, the 14 to 15.000 inhabitants and industries which Sedan counted were to be tightened on 18 hectares. The defeat will precipitate the downgrading of the fortified town. Dice on March 31st, 1871, in full German occupation, the municipal council makes the request for downgrading to allow the urban expansion. August 3rd, 1875, the fortified town of Sedan is downgraded by the deputies within sight of the report/ratio of the mayor of Sedan. Only the Castle of Sedan and the barracks military are preserved. The State yields to the town of many bastions and military buildings and brings its material aid and financial. April 27th, 1877, the municipal council adopts the plan of enlarging and the building site of extension starts.
Work herculéens will be undertaken: demolition of monumental bastions, filling of channels, deviation of the course of the Meuse, construction of buildings (college, station, market hall), of a bridge, opening of avenues and places. The city will extend to a significant degree, for to some extent erasing the marks of the shame of Sedan.
Work will finish seven years later. August 18th, 1884 takes place the inauguration of the new city. A photographer, François Willème, took stereotypes of work at the request of Auguste Philippoteaux, deputy and mayor of Sedan, and the architect Edouard Depaquit. Sedan new city , a work of Jacques Rousseau, takes again these photographs which testify to gigantic work undertaken with a technology which is not any more ours.
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