Siege of Neu-Breisach

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Siege of Neu-Breisach
Part of Franco-Prussian War
Date13 October [1] – 10 November 1870 [2]
Location
Neuf-Brisach, Haut-Rhin, France [3]
Result German Victory. [4] [5]
Belligerents
Flag of France (1794-1958).svg  French Republic

Flag of Germany (1867-1919).svg  North German Confederation

Flag of Bavaria (striped).svg  Bavaria [6]
Flagge Grossherzogtum Baden (1871-1891).svg  Baden [6]
Commanders and leaders
Flag of France (1794-1815, 1830-1958).svg Lostie de Kerhor [3] War Ensign of Prussia (1816).svg Hermann von Schmeling [7]
Units involved
Unknown 4th Reserve Division [8]
Strength
More than 5,000 garrisoned [9] Unknown
Casualties and losses
100 officers and 5,000 soldiers were captured, [10] 108 fire cannons , 60 horses of the cavalry , 6,000 small arms and seized stocks [6] [9] 70 Soldiers [9]

The siege of Neu-Breisach [11] was a battle of encirclement in the Franco-Prussian War, [7] which took place from 13 October [1] until 10 November 1870 in France. [11] A few days after the surrender at Fort Mortier of Neu-Breisach, [12] with a divisional reserve, German General Hermann von Schmeling forced the fortress of Neu-Breisach (which held an army garrison under command of Shanghai Colonel Lostie de Kerhor) which surrendered, [3] [13] and won many spoils from the French army here. [9] The siege demonstrated the high efficiency of the Baden batteries. [11] 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. [14] After this victory, Von Schmeling moved his cannons southwest to carry out the Siege of Belfort. [7]

The French fortress of Neu-Breisach had a garrison of 5,000 men, while Fort Mortier, located near the Rhine, was built for independent defense. [9] In early October, detachments of the German Fourth Reserve Division command of General Schmeling were ordered beyond the Rhine from Breisgau to conduct a siege on Neu-Breisach. Near the evening of 10 May, a breakout of the French military from Neu-Breisach was attempted, only to be defeated. The same day, the German cannons caused heavy damage. [6] However, an intense field array of German troops could not force the officer commanding Neu-Breisach to surrender, so Schmeling switched focus to the Siege of Selestat. [3] After German artillery guns were brought in from Strasbourg, [6] Neu-Breisach was blockaded on 9 October 1870. [14] On 12 and 13 October, sporadic raids and engagements broke out, but to no avail. [6] On 13 October, the encirclement was completed, when in front of Neu-Breisach were 5,000 Prussians, who formed semicircular lines of battle, with the poles lying on the banks of the Rhine. On 16 October a French siege at Neu-Breisach was broken by the Germans. [1] Although Neu-Breisach was heavily damaged by German artillery during the siege, [11] the Germans remained unable to defeat Neu-Breisach quickly. [1]

On 26 October 1870, after defeating Sélestat, Major General von Schmeling - as commander of the Neu-Breisach siege and blockade corps consisting of Prussian, Bavarian and Baden units - sited the bulk of his division and the artillery battery placed in front of Sélestat south along the Rhine to carry out the siege of Neu-Breisach. [3] [6] [7] He undertook the siege of Neu-Breisach forcefully, [2] and during this period German infantry forces approached Neu-Breisach. On 2 November, from several locations such as Alt-Breisach, German cannons commenced fire. [9] In the face of aggressive German artillery fire, the French garrison put up a fierce resistance, although on 3 November , the Mortier fortress and its structures were destroyed along with a few artillery pieces. France here was damaged. [11] Finally, on 7 November, the attack took effect: French Captain Castelli surrendered at Fort Mortier [3] beneath the rubble. [9] The German army took prisoners and cannons from the French. [1] The French defending at Neu-Breisach were in a difficult position. [11] Three days after the fall of Mortier, [2] Neu-Breisach surrendered on the same terms as those at Sélestat. [9] On 11 November, the Prussian army occupied the city walls; an hour later, their prisoners left their posts. [3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Edmund Ollier, Cassell's history of the war between France and Germany, 1870-1871, Page 395
  2. 1 2 3 "Men who have made the new German empire. A series of brief biographic sketches"
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "The War for the Rhine Frontier, 1870: Its Political and Military History"
  4. ↑ George Bradshaw, Bradshaw's illustrated hand-book for travellers in Belgium, on the Rhine, and through portions of Rhenish Prussia, Page 174
  5. ↑ "Wars of the century and the development of military science"
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "The siege operations in the campaign against France, 1870-71."
  7. 1 2 3 4 Tony Jaques, Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O, Page 722
  8. ↑ Notes on the War. Engels 1870-71.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The Franco-German war of 1870-71"
  10. ↑ Lowenbalk Hohenthal (Graf.), Vollständige Geschichte des deutschfranzösischen Krieges von 1870 und 1871, Page 496
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Franco-German War, 1870-1871..."
  12. ↑ George Ripley, Charles Anderson Dana, The American cyclopaedia: a popular dictionary of general knowledge, Volume 3, Page 247
  13. ↑ "The historians' history of the world; a comprehensive narrative of the rise and development of nations as recorded by over two thousand of the great writers of all ages;"
  14. 1 2 August Niemann, The French campaign, 1870-1871: Military description, Pages 240-241.

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