Battle of Beaune-la-Rolande

A near-contemporary depiction of the battle

Date	28 November 1870
Location	Canton of Beaune-la-Rolande, France
Result	Prussian victory

Belligerents

Prussia

France

Commanders and leaders

Konstantin Bernhard von Voigts-Rhetz

General Crouzat

Strength

9,000–12,000 soldiers
70 artillery pieces

31,000–60,000 soldiers
140 artillery pieces

Casualties and losses

817 soldiers
37 officers killed and wounded

Up to 8,000 soldiers killed and wounded,
100 taken prisoner

The Battle of Beaune-la-Rolande on 28 November 1870 was a battle of the Franco-Prussian War, won by Prussia. In an attempt to relieve the Siege of Paris, French General Crouzat's XX Corps launched an attack against three Prussian brigades resting in Beaune-la-Rolande. These brigades were from the Prussian X Corps which was detailed to guard the flanks and rear of the force besieging Paris and provide early warning of any French counter-attacks. The French committed a force of 60,000 men, largely conscripts of the Garde Mobile, and 140 guns against the Prussians' 9,000 men and 70 guns, mostly drawn from regular troops. Despite the overwhelming superiority of numbers the French attack failed to take the village and was ultimately forced to retreat by Prussian reinforcements.

Prussian losses amounted to 817 soldiers and 37 officers with the French losing around 8,000 men and 100 taken prisoner. The French XX Corps changed its plan of attack, bypassing the village, but was unsuccessful at relieving the siege of Paris, which surrendered on 28 January 1871 and ended the war. The battle is notable for demonstrating the fragility of a conscript army when faced with seasoned, regular troops even when numerically superior and for the involvement of impressionist painter Frédéric Bazille and electrical engineer Alexander Siemens.

The Prussian army had begun its invasion of France in August and was already laying siege to Paris. The recently appointed General Aurelle and his Army of the Loire ordered the XX Corps under General Crouzat to the Orléans area to push aside the Prussian X Corps, led by Prince Friedrich Karl, which was posted to Beaune-la-Rolande to provide early warning of a French relief force for Paris. The three Prussian brigades at Beaune-la-Rolande were under the command of Konstantin Bernhard von Voigts-Rhetz and were resting after pursuing retreating French forces. The nearest reinforcements were ten miles away at Pithiviers under General Constantin von Alvensleben.

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