Battle of Buzancy

Battle of Buzancy
Part of Franco-Prussian War

Battle of Buzancy (painting by Fritz von Uhde, c. 1895)
Date27 August 1870[2]
Location
Buzancy, Ardennes, France[3][4]
Result

German Victory,[5]

  • French army stationed wiped out.[6][7]
Belligerents
 French Empire

 North German Confederation

Commanders and leaders
Patrice de MacMahon
Pierre Louis Charles de Failly[8]		 Friedrich Senfft von Pilsach[9]
Units involved
V Army XVII Corps
Strength
Regiment Chasseur 12 of Corps No. 5[5] 3rd Cavalry Regiment ( Saxony ), a cavalry squadron of the 18th Uhlan Regiment and the Zwinker battery[6]
Casualties and losses
Unknown killed and wounded, 12 cavalrymen and Major de la Porte captured [7] Unknown killed, 32 soldiers and 27 warhorses wounded; 2 captains wounded[7]

Battle of Buzancy[10] was a battle of the Franco-Prussian War[1] which took place on 27 August 1870 in Buzancy, France[9][2] between the French Empire and the combined German forces of Prussia and Saxony. The midfield force of the 24th Brigade (under the command of Major General Friedrich Senfft von Pilsach ) of a division Saxon cavalry of the Maas Army of the Prussian army[1][11][12] won a victory over the Cavalry Regiment. 12th Chasseur light infantry of the V Army of the French Empire under the command of General Pierre Louis Charles de Failly.[7][9] Taken by surprise in this cavalry battle,[13] the French formation was torn apart and almost completely annihilated.[6] On the Prussian - German side, the captains of the two cavalry squadrons involved in the battle were wounded.[7] The defeat at Buzancy forced the retreat of the French cavalry squadrons, and the Battle of Buzancy is arguably the most characteristic cavalry and artillery clash of the war.[7]

  1. ^ a b c Michael Howard, The Franco-Prussian War: The German Invasion of France, 1870-1871, page 196
  2. ^ a b Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Collected Works, Episode 22, Page 74
  3. ^ "The War of 1870: Events and Incidents of the Battle-fields"
  4. ^ Robert Vaughan, The British Quarterly Review, Episodes 53-54, page 108
  5. ^ a b "The War for the Rhine Frontier, 1870: Its Political and Military History"
  6. ^ a b c Edmund Ollier, Cassell's history of the war between France and Germany, 1870-1871, Page 77
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Guns and cavalry: their performances in the past and their prospects in the future"
  8. ^ Rand McNally and Company, The Victors, Page 90
  9. ^ a b c Tony Jaques, Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E, Page 177
  10. ^ Kunst und Kunstmarkt, page 519
  11. ^ "A history of all nations from the earliest times; being a universal historical library"
  12. ^ Friedrich Dörr, Der deutsche Krieg gegen Frankreich im Jahre 1870: auf Grund amtlicher und anderer zuverlässiger Quellen, Episode 2, Page 119
  13. ^ "Men who have made the new German empire. A series of brief biographic sketches"