Spicheren, Battle of

During the Franco-Prussian War, Prussian victory over the French 6 August 1870 at Spicheren, a French village 3 km/2 mi from Saarbrücken.

Prussian attack At the start of the Franco-Prussian War, a Prussian forward cavalry patrol discovered French troops moving back to a defensive line behind Saarbrücken and reported back that the French were in retreat. In fact, the French commander General Charles Frossard was moving into an excellent defensive position on a ridge overlooking Spicheren. The Prussian 14th Division consequently blundered into two well-sited French corps. They should have been annihilated, but neighbouring French commanders thought the Prussian attack was probably just a feint and sent no assistance to Frossard. In contrast, every Prussian unit that heard gunfire marched toward the sound and soon the 14th Division was reinforced by General von Zastrow and the remainder of the 2nd Army.

French retreat Prussian artillery silenced the French guns and pushed the French infantry away from their commanding positions, allowing the Prussian infantry to clamber up the hillsides and gain the plateau at the summit. Nevertheless, French troops held their positions and inflicted severe casualties on the Prussians, and when night fell their commander pulled them into a tighter perimeter and prepared to fight on. However, no reinforcements came for the French, their last reserves had been put into battle, and as more Prussians appeared and began outflanking the position, Frossard realized he had to retire. He pulled out all his troops during the night to move south and take up a new defensive line.

Casualties French losses were about 2,000 casualties and 2,000 prisoners, while the Prussians lost some 4,500 casualties.