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Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871, War of the Seventies, 70 71, Guerre franco-allemande de 1870, guerre franco-prussienne, guerre de 1870, Kingdom of Prussia, Empire of France, Kingdom of Bavaria, Kingdom of Württemberg, Grand Duchy of Baden, North German Confederation, German Confederation , Army of the Rhine, Prussian Army, Napoleon III, Otto von Bismarck, Wilhelm I, Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Guerre Franco-Allemande, Franco-Prussian War, French Army of the Rhine, Armée du Rhin,
The Battle of Wörth (known in French as the Bataille de Frœschwiller-Wœrth and also known as the Bataille de Reichshoffen) took place on April 6th. August 1870 in the Franco-Prussian War near the town of Wörth in Lower Alsace. Crown Prince Friedrich of Prussia, commander of the German 3. Army, after the victorious Battle of Weißenburg on 4. August continued the advance in a south-westerly direction and moved his headquarters to Sulz. He only ordered his army to unlock and change the front of his army for the next day. On the 5th On August 1, Napoleon III decided to reorganize the French army power into two armies according to their spatial separation. The command over the army of the Rhine standing on the Saarland border (II., III. and IV. Corps) was entrusted to Marshal Bazaine, while the Emperor himself retained supreme command of the Guards and Army Reserve. The VI Corps (Canrobert) was still in reserve in the Chalons area and was ordered to the Metz area. The V Corps (General de Failly), concentrated south-east in the area of ​​the Bitsch Fortress, was to seek connection with the newly formed Alsace Army. The commander of the French army in Alsace, Marshal MacMahon, with his I. Army Corps, a division of the VII. Army corps and a cavalry division on 5. August on the western, elevated valley edge of the Sauer creek occupied a strong position, which stretched from Fröschweiler to Görsdorf along the valley edge. His headquarters were just behind the front in Reichshoffen. In detail stood: from VII. Corps - the 1. Division (General Conseil-Dumesnil) near Eberbach on the southern wing, from the I Corps - the 4. Division (General Lartigue) at Albrechtshäuserhof, between the two was General Michel's cuirassier brigade. The 2. Division (General Pellé) of the I Corps held the plateau south of Elsasshausen, the 3. Division (General Raoult) and the 1. Division (General Ducrot) lay in the northern position behind Nehwiller.[1] Bonnemain's cavalry division and the cavalry brigade under Colonel Septeuil were available as reserves behind the village of Fröschweiler. The Sauer covered the entire front. At 6. Skirmishes broke out between the outposts on both sides by daybreak on August 11th. At 7 a.m., Wörth was captured by the German 20. Infantry Brigade (Major General Walther von Montbarry) of the 10. Division stormed. Around 8 o'clock General Hugo Ewald gave the order von Kirchbach, the commanding general of the Prussian V. Corps, the cessation of the battle (Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, then commander of the 3. Army, defensive orders). Kirchbach took it up again in the following hour, since in the meantime II. Corps of the Bavarian Army on the extreme right wing near Langensulzbach heard a heavy cannon boom. The whole 10 Division under Generalleutnant von Schmidt was already in action. Now Kirchbach also dropped the 9th Division under Lieutenant General von Sandrart intervene in the battle near Wörth: the 17. Brigade received the direction of the attack on Wörth, the 18. Brigade assigned to Spachbach (2 kilometers south). Also the Prussian XI. Corps had already been on the left wing of the German 3. army entered the fight. The 21st Division under General von Schachtmeyer attacked with the 41. Brigade under Colonel von Koblinski joined the battle near the village of Gunstett (a further 2 kilometers to the south). The following 22. Division led by Generalleutnant von Gersdorff was deployed to surround the enemy's right wing via Morsbronn.[2] The 42nd Infantry Brigade under Major General von Thiele crossed the Sauer near Spachbach, the 43. Infantry Brigade under Colonel von Kontzki crossed this near Gunstett. The 44th The infantry brigade under Major General von Schkopp advanced towards the village of Morsbrunn on the southern sector. The situation was more difficult in II. Bavarian corps under General von Hartmann's infantry on the northern sector: the 3. Division under Lieutenant General von Walther made no further progress between Nehwiller and Goersdorf. The XI Corps meanwhile began to bypass the French position in the south at 11 a.m., which the 1. forced the French division to change the front. For a long time all the efforts of the Prussians were in vain. At 1:00 p.m., Crown Prince Friedrich personally took charge of the battlefield. At around 1:30 p.m. the Prussian V Corps stormed the western edge of the Sauer between Wörth and Fröschweiler, while the Prussian XI Army corps developed to attack the coppice. Around 2.30 p.m. the right French wing (Division Pelle) was thrown back to Elsasshausen. General von Bose had the entire artillery line up on the left bank of the Sauer to support the V Army Corps attack on Fröschweiler. forthcoming encirclement of its right wing in the southern section encounter, MacMahon ordered a counterattack around 1 p.m. He had chosen the cavalry division under General Duhesme for this. This division included a heavy cuirassier brigade under General Michel with two regiments. Before the war, Michel was commander of the Imperial Cavalry School. His brigade was supported by a regiment of Lancers and at about 1:00 p.m. received orders to take the XI. Corps under General von Bose throw back. Michel complained about the poor ground and disturbing trees in the area, which would sap his attack. Nevertheless, he threw himself with a total of 1,200 horsemen from Eberbach on the advancing infantry of the 22. Division. The Saxons responded with so-called rapid fire, in which each soldier led the fire fight independently after the first combined salvo. This new anti-cavalry tactic was practiced in this way only by the Prussians and allies and meant a departure from the square. During their attack, the French cavalry came under flank fire from Prussian infantry, who had established themselves in the Niederwald between Elsasshausen and Eberbach. The attack was completely crushed at Morsbronn. No horseman managed to reach the infantry lines. French casualties in this attack were 800 out of 1200 soldiers and nearly all horses.[3] Despite the enormous losses, the new helmets and breastplates introduced shortly before the war had proven their worth for the cuirassiers, while the light uhlans had no chance without this protection. Although the unwounded cuirassiers were forced to retreat on foot within Prussian range, some Prussian officers allowed fire to cease against the now defenseless enemy. The attack had the advance of the XI. Corps can only stop for a short time. Around 2:30 p.m. the Niederwald was completely in the hands of the Prussians, who soon after made a swing to the right from Morsbronn and Eberbach, stormed the stubbornly defended Elsasshausen and advanced further in the direction of Fröschweiler. The commander of the Württemberg field division, General von Obernitz, had received orders to advance from Gunstett 10 kilometers to the west towards Reichshoffen in order to cut off the French retreat. The vanguard tasked with this, the 2. Württemberg Field Brigade under Major General von Starkloff deviated from this order and resorted to supporting the 21. division into the fights. During the attack on Elsasshausen, the commander of Infantry Regiment No. 88, Colonel Köhn von Jaski.[4] General von Bose was shot through the foot, his chief of staff von Kamienski lost a horse under himself, the third general staff officer of the XI. Corps, First Lieutenant von Heineccius, was mortally wounded. At around 3:15 p.m., German troops pushed into the heavily defended Fröschweiler from Allen sides. The 22nd Division advanced from the west, the 21. Division in conjunction with the Württemberg Brigade Starkloff from the south, the V Army Corps from the east and the Bavarian 3. Division (Generalleutnant von Walther) entered the town from the north. There were tough clashes until the spearheads of the Prussians advancing from the south met the Bavarians coming from the north in the centre, threatening the French with encirclement. Eventually, the French I Corps, in complete disarray, was forced to retreat westwards under fire from the Prussians, Saxons and Bavarians. Lancers of the XI. Corps reached the forest between Elsasshausen and Reichshoffen in the rear of the French and the first swarms of infantry came within range of the road to Reichshoffen and took it under rifle and artillery fire. While fleeing, French infantry were also ridden down by their own cavalry. Algerian tirailleurs continued to hold their position, preventing the French from being completely annihilated. The fugitives were immediately pursued by both wings of the German army. Division 3, which had advanced from Bitsch, only covered from Niederbronn. Infantry Division (under Joseph Guyot de Lespart) of the French 5. Corps the further retreat.
Source: Wikipedia