Battle of Le Mans

Battle of Le Mans

Infobox Military Conflict
colour_scheme=background:#cccccc


caption=
partof=the Franco-Prussian War
conflict=Battle of Le Mans
date=January 10 – 12 1871
place=Le Mans, France
result=German victory
combatant1=flagicon|Prussia|1803 Prussia
combatant2=flagicon|France France
commander1=Prince Friedrich Karl
commander2=Antoine Chanzy
strength1=50,000
strength2=150,000
casualties1=3,400
casualties2=25,000|
The Battle of Le Mans was a German victory during the Franco-Prussian War which ended French resistance in western France.

Background

After the victory at the battle of Orleans, Prince Friedrich Karl marched his army further to the west towards Le Mans. Antoine Chanzy had under his command about 150,000 soldiers stationed in Le Mans. The bulk of the pre-war professional French army had either been captured at the battle of Sedan and the siege of Metz or were bottled up in the siege of Paris. Thus Chanzy's "army" consisted mainly of reservists and hastily conscripted civilians armed with a variety of obsolete civilian rifles or old military muzzle-loaders. Greatly outnumbering the German army, the French conscripts were nonetheless no match for the battle-seasoned Germans and Friedrich Karl did not hesitate to attack.

The battle

The French army was greatly demoralized and ill-equipped. Much of the French ammunition had been soaked in the rain and snow but Chanzy still ordered his forces into trenches prepared before Le Mans. The Germans hit the French left flank guarded by the Huisne River. The flank was turned and nearly routed until artillery and a counterattack halted the German attack. A bold German attack was launched on the French right flank, which fell apart. Corps commander Jean Bernard Jauréguiberry attempted to rally the broken troops to mount a counterattack but failed to do so. The French defense dissolved, the stragglers falling back into Le Mans.

Results

The battle had completely ended French resistance in the west. Friedrich Karl's supply lines were stretched thin and his army also was exhausted from its campaign along the Loire River that he did not pursue Chanzy. However, Chanzy's army was so demoralized and fatigued after the battle that it ceased to be an effective force and the fighting around the Loire came to an end.

ources

*Howard, Michael "The Franco-Prussian War: German Invasion of France" MacMillan 1962
* [http://www.geocities.com/fpwar1870/history.html History of the Franco-Prussian War]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Battle of Verneuil — Infobox Military Conflict conflict=Battle of Verneuil partof=the Hundred Years War caption= date=August 17, 1424 place=Normandy result=Decisive English victory combatant1=Kingdom of England, Duchy of Burgundy combatant2=Kingdom of France, Kingdom …   Wikipedia

  • Battle of Mulroy — The Battle of Mulroy was fought in August 1688 in the Lochaber district of Scotland between the Chattan Confederation led by the Clan MacKintosh against the Clan MacDonald of Keppoch and the Clan Cameron. [ [http://www.clan… …   Wikipedia

  • Battle of Jengland — Infobox Military Conflict conflict=Battle of Jengland partof= caption= date=22 August 851 place=Grand Fougeray (Ille et Vilaine), Brittany combatant1=Duchy of Brittany combatant2=Kingdom of West Francia commander1=Erispoe commander2=Charles the… …   Wikipedia

  • Battle of Ginchy — The Battle of Ginchy took place on 9 September, 1916 during the Battle of the Somme when the British 16th (Irish) Division captured the German held village of Ginchy. In terms of the Somme fighting, the attack was highly successful with the… …   Wikipedia

  • Battle of the Wines — The Battle of the Wines ( fr. La Bataille des Vins ), sometimes called The Battle of the Blends was a notable poem written by Henry d Andeli in 1224 and tells the story of a famous wine tasting organized by the French king Philip Augustus. Over… …   Wikipedia

  • Battle of Brissarthe — The Battle of Brissarthe was fought on 15 September 866 between the Franks and a joint Breton Viking army near Brissarthe, Neustria. It was marked by the death of Robert the Strong, the Neustrian margrave, and Ranulf I, the duke of Aquitaine. In… …   Wikipedia

  • 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans — Le Mans Races Previous = 2006 Current = 2007 Next = 2008The 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 75th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France from 16 ndash;17 June 2007. Four classes of cars raced together …   Wikipedia

  • 2008 Petit Le Mans — The 2008 Petit Le Mans powered by the Totally New Mazda6 was the eleventh running of the Petit Le Mans and the tenth round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series season. It took place at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States of America… …   Wikipedia

  • First Battle of Maryang San — Part of the …   Wikipedia

  • First Battle of Fallujah — Part of the Iraq War A U.S. Marine from the 1st Marine Division mans an M 240G machine gun outside …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”