Battle of Hartmannswillerkopf

Battle of Hartmannswillerkopf
Part of the Western Front of World War I
The memorial at Hartmannswillerkopf.
Date 19 January – 22 December 1915 Location Hartmannswillerkopf, Alsace 47°53′00″N 7°10′00″E / 47.88333°N 7.16667°E / 47.88333; 7.16667 (Hartmannswillerkopf) Result Stalemate
Belligerents
France	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Louis de Maud'huy	Hans Gaede
Strength
Seventh Army	Armee-Abteilung Gaede
Hartmannswillerkopf (le Vieil-Armand) Hartmannswillerkopf (le Vieil-Armand) in the Vosges Mountains, Haut-Rhin, Alsace

The Battle of Hartmannswillerkopf or Hartmannsweilerkopf (French: bataille du Vieil-Armand) was a series of engagements during the First World War fought for the control of the Hartmannswillerkopf peak in Alsace in 1914 and 1915. Hartmannswillerkopf is a pyramidal rocky spur in the Vosges mountains, about 5 km (3.1 mi) north of Thann. The peak stands at 956 m (3,136 ft) and overlooks the Alsace Plain, Rhine valley and the Black Forest in Germany and was captured by the French army during the Battle of Mulhouse (7–10, 14–26 August 1914). From the vantage point, Mulhouse and the Mulhouse–Colmar railway could be seen and the French railway from Thann to Cernay and Belfort shielded from German observation.

The two French invasions and captures of Mulhouse by the French VII Corps (General Louis Bonneau) and then the Army of Alsace (General Paul Pau), were repulsed by the German 7th Army (Generaloberst Josias von Heeringen). Both sides then stripped the forces in Alsace to reinforce the armies fighting on the Marne, Aisne and further north. For the rest of 1914 and 1915, both sides made intermittent attempts to capture and re-capture Hartmanswillerkopf. The operations were costly and eventually after another period of attack and counter-attack that lasted into the new year of 1916, both sides accepted a stalemate, with a fairly stable front line along the western slopes that lasted until 1918.

A few border skirmishes took place after the declaration of war by France and after 5 August, more German patrols were sent out as French attacks increased. French troops advanced from Gérardmer to the Col de la Schlucht (Schlucht Pass), where the Germans retreated and blew up the tunnel. The French VII Corps (General Louis Bonneau with the 14th and 41st divisions, advanced from Belfort to Mulhouse and Colmar 35 kilometres (22 mi) to the north-east, delayed by supply difficulties but seized the border town of Altkirch, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of Mulhouse, with a bayonet charge. On 8 August, Bonneau cautiously continued the advance and occupied Mulhouse, shortly after its German defenders had left. In the early morning of 9 August, parts of the XIV and XV Corps of the German 7th Army arrived from Strasbourg and counter-attacked at Cernay; Mulhouse was liberated on 10 August and Bonneau withdrew towards Belfort.