A battle in Orléans (1870) – Wikipedia

Battle of Orléans part of the Franco-Prussian war
after-content-x4 Entry of the Prussians to Orléans
Data	10 – 11 October; 9 – 10 November; 2 – 4 December 1870
Place	Orléans, France
Outcome	German victory
Sides
Commanders
Effective
60,000 (2ª battaglia) —- 87,000 264 cannons (3ª battaglia) 28,000 160 cannons (1ª battaglia) —- 20,000 110 cannons (2ª battaglia) —- 28,000 196 Cannons (3ª battaglia)
Losses
4,000 (1st battle) 20,000 (3rd battle) 900 (1st battle)
Voices of battles on Wikipedia
Manual

The Battle of Orleans It took place on several occasions between 10 and 11 October 1870, on 9 and 10 November and between 3 and 4 December of the same year in the city of Orléans, during the Franco-Prussian war. The city was contested between the French and the Prussian and Bavarian republican forces, being first conquered by the Prussians, then taken up by the French and subsequently conquered definitively by the army of Federico Carlo di Prussia.

With the fall of Metz on 29 October 1870, as a consequence of the surrender of the Marshal of France François Achille Bazain, the last substantial army of which the Third French Republic was provided. This allowed the disengagement of two Prussian armies that were employed in support of the forces already engaged in the Loire campaign and in the siege of Paris. The surrender of the capital Lorenana was an event together dramatic and decisive for the fate of the conflict: it had ended the campaign launched by Prussia and its allies in July against Napoleon III and placed the first piece for the Prussian victory. A highly offensive strategy had led the Germans to open first the doors of the town in a few battles at the border and subsequently had allowed to penetrate deeply in the soft parts of the enemy structure. The war conducted by the French “popular” forces against the forces of the Kingdom of Prussia was generally going to the invaders. A “iron ring” of army bodies squeezed the French capital in a grip and the Parisian army led periodic sorties to try to force the blockade made by the besieged arms.

First French defeat [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

Prussian cavalry teams, having carried out reconnaissance at Artenay, sent messages to General Ludwig von der Tann, head of the first Bavarian body, according to which strong concentrations of French soldiers were implemented. On 9 October the Prussian general then moved south of the cavalry and on October 10, thanks to 28,000 men and 160 cannons, attacked the French positions. ^[first] Invested the French defenses commanded by La Motte Rouge (commander of the Loire Army), on 10 October the Prussians were preparing to capture Orleans, forcing the French to escape under the blows of the Prussian cannons and rifles and to repair in the forest of the city or a south to the city center and its bridges. Moving north of the city in a defensive position with the rest of its strength, the Motte Rouge could not hope to oppose an avid resistance against the enemies, having men not inclined to fight until death, belonging to the vast majority of ranks of reservists and Garde Mobile. ^[2] On 11 October von der Tann headed towards Orleans in three columns and in the afternoon he conquered the city suffering from the loss of only 900 soldiers, compared to the approximately 4,000 French. Von der Tann ordered the caught caught the payment of one and a half million francs (four and a half million dollars today) as an alternative to the sacking deliberate by the troops. ^[3]

The Motte Rouge, after risking the Martial Court, was immediately Defenestrate and replaced with General Aurelle de Paladinees, who moved to Salbris in a safe position, 33 miles from the Germans to Orléans. Lorelle was successful in restoring the rigor into the army and bringing order to an army that had lost the rules of the discipline and the organization.

Conquest of the city by the French [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

On November 9, groups of the Von der Tann army and the Loire Army of Aurelle met at the city of Coulmiers (battle of Coulmiers), west of Orelans. With an army three times higher in the numbers at the Bavarian one (60,000 French against 20,000 Bavarians), Aurelle tried twice to break through at culmiers during the late morning and early afternoon. In the evening the French attacked again, but Tann, tight on his side, had already decided to retreat to the east to meet with the 22nd division. While the Prussian general reorganized in Angerville, Aurelle freed Orlans on November 10, starting to transform it into a fortified base. For the first time after many weeks the French had conquered a victory again and this had positive effects on the entire army, having shown that the Prussians were not invincible. It seemed to have been placed a first stone towards the victory of France in what had become a war “of the people”. ^[4]

Second French defeat [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

With the defeat of General Alfred Chanzy (who had attacked at Loigny -Loigny’s Abotaglia -, losing 7,000 men between deaths and injuries) and his XVI body after 3 days of battle north of Orleans, on December 3 Federico Carlo di Prussia gave the assault in the direction of the villages of Artenay and Chilleurs-Aux-Bois to the French positions of the Loire Army in Orleans, who had no longer been able to join the Chanzy forces. The French formations gave up early and when the XV body of Joseph Pourcet (the best equipped and prepared force of the Louis d’Aurelle army) dictated to fold, the rest of the French army dissolved in the route to the villages, the roads and woods in the direction of Orleans. Aurelle, who lost about 20,000 men with only 2,000 men who fell into the fighting, ordered a return to Sologne on the afternoon of December 4, the wooded region south of Loire, an impractical goal for its troops north of the river. Between 4 and 5 December the first Prussian rows entered Orleans, which ended definitively in the hands of the Prussians. The German newspapers reported that 28,000 Germans with 196 cannons had annihilated 87,000 French with 264 cannons. ^[5]

Léon Gambetta, following the defeat, quickly abandoned Tours for Bordeaux, where he arrived on December 10th.

• Geoffrey Wawro, The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870-1871, Cambridge University Press, 2003
• ( IN ) Michael Howard, The Franco-Prussian War , Routledge, New York, 1961.