Froeschwiller, Battle of

First major battle of the Franco-Prussian War 6 August 1870 around the village of Froeschwiller, about 50 km/31 mi southwest of Saarbrücken, in eastern France. The Prussian victory proved the potential of breech-loading artillery to dominate a battle and the futility of using cavalry against even breech-loading small arms.

Bavarian and Prussian troops crossed the frontier into France 4 August, taking the town of Wissembourg. The French withdrew, and for a time the two armies lost contact with each other. Marshal Marie MacMahon decided to prepare a strong defensive position on the Froeschwiller ridge with troops of the 1st and 7th Corps, and instructed 5th Corps, then further north, to join him. The 5th Corps could not assemble quickly enough as it was spread out along the frontier so MacMahon had only 48,000 troops instead of the 76,000 he had hoped for.

On the evening of 5 August, Prussian patrols arrived on the River Sauerbach at Wörth and opened fire on French patrols on the other side. Other advancing German units also came across the French positions the following morning and the battle began without any formal orders as these individual contacts began to spread and intensify. Prussian artillery was brought up and rapidly dominated the French artillery, while German commanders called for reinforcements. On the southern flank of the French position, the German 11th Corps made a major attack which swept all before it. In desperation the French commander launched a cavalry charge which found itself confined in farmyards, vineyards, and the village of Morsbronn, where the Prussians were able to shoot them down with impunity; nine French squadrons were totally destroyed for no Prussian loss. The German 5th Corps attacked further north and after desperate fighting managed to drive the French back. On the northern flank the Bavarian corps sustained severe losses as they came out of a forest into an open area well covered by the French infantry, but overcame the initial setback and began pressing south, putting the French under pressure in three directions. After an unsuccessful counterattack with his reserves, MacMahon realized that further resistance was futile, as his regiments were melting away; at about 4 p.m. the Prussians stormed into the village of Froeschwiller while the surviving French made their escape as best they could, leaving 11,000 dead and wounded and 9,200 prisoners behind. German casualties were about 11,000 killed and wounded.