Battle of Sedan (1870)

Battle of Sedan

Date	1 September 1870
Location	Sedan, France 49°42′00″N 4°56′40″E / 49.70000°N 4.94444°E / 49.70000; 4.94444Coordinates: 49°42′00″N 4°56′40″E / 49.70000°N 4.94444°E / 49.70000; 4.94444
Result	Decisive German victory End of the Second French Empire

Belligerents

North German Confederation

Bavaria

France

Commanders and leaders

Wilhelm I

Helmuth von Moltke

Ludwig Freiherr von der Tann

Napoleon III (POW)

Patrice de Mac-Mahon (POW)

Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot

Strength

200,000
774 guns

130,000
564 guns

Casualties and losses

2,320 dead
5,980 wounded
700 missing
Total:
9,000 casualties

3,000 dead
14,000 wounded
103,000 captured
Total:
120,000 casualties

The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco–Prussian War on 1 September 1870. It resulted in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and large numbers of his troops and for all intents and purposes decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies, though fighting continued under a new French government.

The 120,000 strong French Army of Châlons, commanded by Marshal Patrice de MacMahon and accompanied by Napoleon III, was attempting to lift the Siege of Metz, only to be caught by the Prussian Meuse Army and defeated at the Battle of Beaumont. The Meuse Army and the Prussian Third Army, commanded by Field-Marshal Helmuth von Moltke and accompanied by Prussian King Wilhelm I and Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, cornered MacMahon's army at Sedan in a massive encirclement battle. Marshal MacMahon was wounded during the attacks and command passed to General Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot, until it was taken over by General Emmanuel Félix de Wimpffen.

After its defeat at Gravelotte, Marshal Bazaine's Army of the Rhine retreated to Metz where it was besieged by over 150,000 Prussian troops of the First and Second Armies (Siege of Metz). Emperor Napoleon III, along with Marshal MacMahon, formed the new French Army of Châlons to march on to Metz to rescue Bazaine. With Napoleon III personally leading the army, and with Marshal MacMahon in attendance, they led the Army of Châlons in a left-flanking march northeast towards the Belgian border in an attempt to avoid the Prussians before striking south to link up with Bazaine.

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