Battle of Ognon | |||||||
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Part of Franco-Prussian War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
French Republic | Baden | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Albert Cambriels [2] | August von Werder [3] Gustav Friedrich von Beyer [3] | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
2 divisions of the Army of the Rhine [3] | Baden Field Division [1] 2 battalions of the 30th Infantry Regiment | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
"Many Captured" [2] | Unknown |
The Battle of Ognon was a battle in the Franco-Prussian War, [4] which took place on 22 October 1870 at the Ognon River. [5] In this battle the Prussian XIV Corps under the command of General Karl August von Werder, which also consisted of a division of the Grand Duchy of Baden, attacked elements of the French Army of the Rhine commanded by General Albert Cambriels. The Germans captured a large number of French prisoners. The German victory in the Battle of Ognon decided the fate of the Army of the Rhine, at least within two weeks thereafter. [1] [2] [3] [6]
After the Siege of Strasbourg in September 1870, General Werder was marching westward. [1] [2] In order to complete and secure the conquest of the Alsace, Werder's first task was to drive the French forces out of the Vosges range, and on 1 October the advance elements of the German XIV Corps, led by General Alfred von Degenfeld, began marching through the Vosges. Through the passes there was no resistance and the first major clash between the German and French armies took place on the western slopes of the mountain range, ending with Degenfeld's victory over the newly formed French "Eastern Army". As Cambriels had made efforts to restructure his army, Werder believed that he must first face this enemy before advancing further into France, contrary to the orders from the Chief of the General Staff of the Prussian Army, General Helmuth von Moltke. [1]
With Moltke's permission to extend his operations to Besançon, General Werder took Vesoul in late October 1870. Meanwhile, General Cambriels reorganized his forces and established a strong position at Kuoz and Etuz along the River Oignon to halt the German advance. On 22 October 1870 his two divisions suffered yet another defeat: [3] General Werder ordered General Gustav Friedrich von Beyer to drive the French back to Besançon. Beyer's command consisted of Degenfeld's brigade (with part of Keller's brigade), Prince Wiliam of Baden's brigade and two battalions of the 30th Infantry Regiment; and was heavily outnumbered. [1] Degenfeld had the first contact with the French, later joined by Keller and Prince William of Baden. Both sides struggled for a long time, [3] but in the end, Beyer's troops captured the French positions. [1] In the chaos, [1] the French retreated across the river, and were forced to abandon the village of Auxon-dessus they had temporarily captured. [3] Once again, Cambriels' army had to retreat to the walls of Besançon. [1]
Afterwards the German victory the 30th Infantry Regiment, part of the reserve forces, pursued the enemy. The next day, German troops attacked positions at Châtillon-le-Duc, north of Besançon, which the Germans had held the day before. The attack failed but forced the French to withdraw. Despite this, the Prussian Army withdrew from Besançon on 24 October 1870, [3] before Werder defeated Giuseppe Garibaldi's Army of the Vosges at Gray on 27 October. [5]
The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. Resulting in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies, though fighting continued under a new French government.
Prince Friedrich Karl Nikolaus of Prussia was the son of Prince Charles of Prussia (1801–1883) and his wife, Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1808–1877). Prince Friedrich Karl was a grandson of King Frederick William III of Prussia and a nephew of Frederick William IV and William I.
The Battle of Gravelotte on 18 August 1870 was the largest battle of the Franco-Prussian War. Named after Gravelotte, a village in Lorraine, it was fought about 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Metz, where on the previous day, having intercepted the French army's retreat to the west at the Battle of Mars-la-Tour, the Prussians were now closing in to complete the destruction of the French forces.
The Siege of Metz was a battle fought during the Franco-Prussian War from August 19 to October 27, 1870 and ended in a decisive allied German victory.
The siege of Strasbourg took place during the Franco-Prussian War, and resulted in the French surrender of the fortress on 28 September 1870.
The Army of the Vosges was a volunteer force placed under the command of Giuseppe Garibaldi, formed in order to ensure the defense of the road to Lyon from the Prussian Army during the Franco-Prussian war.
The Battle of Villersexel took place on 9 January 1871 as part of the Franco-Prussian War. Elements of the French Armée de l'Est under General Bourbaki engaged August von Werder's German forces. It resulted in a French victory.
The Battle of Châtillon, also known as the Battle of Châtillon-sous-Bagneux, was a skirmish in the Siege of Paris between France and North German Confederation in the Franco-Prussian War, took place on 13 October 1870. This is also considered the first battle in the history of the French Third Republic. In this fierce battle – occurred at Châtillon and Sceaux, Corps V of the Prussian army under the command of Lieutenant General Infantry Hugo von Kirchbach, along with the II Corps of the Kingdom of Bavaria by the Supreme Minister infantry Jakob von Hartmann which were the forces of the army Group 3 of Prussia by Prince Friedrich Wilhelm as General command., won a victory against an attack by the XIV Corps under General Renault - of the French army under General Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot. Although some soldiers under Ducrot fought well, the majority of his army became agitated. The French were forced to flee to Paris, losing the Châtillon Plateau - a very favorable defensive position overlooking the fortresses south of Paris - to the Germans. This was a disaster for the "justice" of the French army during the war, although the French reported that they suffered only minor losses.
The Battle of Nompatelize, also known as the Battle of Etival, was a battle of the Franco-Prussian War on 6 October 1870, between Etival and Nompatelize in the province of Vosges from Strasbourg 64 km southwest. This battle marked the first major crackdown of franc-tireur operations in the Vosges region by the XIV Corps of the Prussians by Minister August von Werder in early October 1870. In matches fiercely this, A force of the Army of Rhône of the French Republic under the command of General Louis-François Dupré, who predominated to markedly document in terms of troop numbers, and attacked 6 infantry battalions of the Grand Duchy of Baden under the command of General Alfred von Degenfeld which were part of the XIV Corps, but were defeated. Compared to the casualties of the German military, the losses of the French side in this battle were much greater. After seven hours of fighting, the French were forced to flee in turmoil to Bruyeres and the Rambervillers. The Battle of Etival contributed to General Werder wiping out the French from Alsace.
The siege of Neu-Breisach was a battle of encirclement in the Franco-Prussian War, which took place from 13 October until 10 November 1870 in France. A few days after the surrender at Fort Mortier of Neu-Breisach, with a divisional reserve, German General Hermann von Schmeling forced the fortress of Neu-Breisach which surrendered, and won many spoils from the French army here. The siege demonstrated the high efficiency of the Baden batteries. With the surrender of Neu-Breisach, the Imperial German Army captured the last of the fortifications at Alsace, except for the Belfort and of Bitche. After this victory, Von Schmeling moved his cannons southwest to carry out the Siege of Belfort.
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The Battles of Dijon were a series of battles that took place in 1870 and 1871, as part of the Franco-Prussian War, on the current territory of the French commune of Dijon between the French Republic and the German states of Prussia and Baden and later, the German Empire.
The Battle of Dreux was fought during the Franco-Prussian War, which took place on 17 November 1870. In this brief and drastic battle, the Prussian army who was commanded by Grand Duke Freidrich Franz II beat the French army who was commanded by Captain Keratry who ordered across the frontline and forcing the French to hurriedly flee, despite the numerical advantage of the French. The primary importance of the Prussian victory over Dreux in strengthening the frontline to its farthest and to weaken the French further to continue the Siege of Paris, and facilitate Minister Ludwig von der Tann of Bavaria who coordinated with Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia to attack the French army under General Louis d'Aurelle de Paladines.
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The Battle of Châteauneuf was a battle in the Franco-Prussian War that took place on December 3, 1870, at the Châteauneuf-sur-Loire, Loire, France. During this engagement, the 3rd Infantry Brigade of the Prussian army, which was a part of the Baden Division and was under the command of General Keller repelled an ambush of the French army under the command of General Camille Crémer. The battle facilitated the Prussian army to continue its withdrawal from Autun. The battle lasted for seven hours, and brought the Prussian army negligible losses, with 153 casualties. However, the Germans viewed this engagement as one of their most glorious victories of the campaign.
The Battle of Longeau, was a battle of the Franco-Prussian War on 16 December 1870 in Longeau-Percey, near Dijon, France. The fighting lasted about three hours, and ended in a French retreat. Victory went to the Prussian Infantry Brigade under Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz and the German XIV Corps infantry under the command of Lieutenant General August von Werder, over French troops commanded by General Pierre Arbellot de Vacqueur, semt from Langres to Longeau. The French suffered significant losses of both manpower and equipment.
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Alfred Emil Ludwig Philipp Freiherr von Degenfeld (1816-1888) was a Badensian-Prussian general and a member of the Reichstag.