Battle of Pontarlier

Battle of Pontarlier
Part of Franco-Prussian War

Pontarlier in 1878
DateJanuary 29 — February 2, 1871[2]
Location
Pontarlier, Doubs, France[3][4][5]
46°55′05″N 6°21′31″E / 46.917985°N 6.358686°E / 46.917985; 6.358686
Result German Victory[6][7]
Belligerents
 French Republic  German Empire[1]
Commanders and leaders
Justin Clinchant[8] Edwin von Manteuffel[9]
Units involved
Eastern Army Army of the South[6]
Casualties and losses
15,000 troops captured (among them 2 generals), 10 artillery pieces and mitrailleuse machine guns, a large amount of ammunition and weapons were seized[10] 19 officers and 365 soldiers killed[11]

The Battle of Pontarlier,[12] also known as the Battle of Pontarlier-La Cluse,[13] was the final military operation of the Franco-Prussian War,[14] that took place from January 29 to February 2, 1871, near Pontarlier and La Cluse-et-Mijoux, not long after the newly formed German Empire and French Republic had a ceasefire.[2][4] During these engagements, the German Army of the South, under the command of Lieutenant General Edwin von Manteuffel won over the French Eastern Army under the command of General Justin Clinchant,[6][15] the battle forced the French Eastern Army to withdraw to neutral Switzerland.[7] The strong efforts of the German armies led by General August von Werder in The previous Battle of the Lisaine, as well as that of General Von Manteuffel's armies at the Battle of Pontarlier, resulted in the collapse of the assault on southern Germany which the Eastern Army had expected to be ruined.[16] At the same time, the defeat of the Eastern Army finally forced the French Interior Minister Léon Gambetta to end resistance to the Germans.[7] The defeat at Pontarlier also brought the French heavy losses,[10] including a large number of soldiers being taken prisoner.[7]

  1. ^ William J. Duiker, Jackson J. Spielvogel, The Essential World History, Volume 2: Since 1500, p. 481: "On January 18, 1871, in the Chamber of Mirrors in the […] Palace of Versailles of Louis XIV, Wilhelm I was crowned Emperor (Kaiser) of the empire. Second German Empire (First was the Holy Roman Empire Middle Ages)".
  2. ^ a b Tony Jaques, Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity Through the Twenty-First Century, Volume 3, Page 809
  3. ^ Elizabeth Peake, History of the German emperors and their contemporaries, Page 572
  4. ^ a b Pontarlier - Geographical Names
  5. ^ Prussia (Kingdom). Armee. Grosser Generalstab. Kriegsgeschichtliche Abteilung II., Francis Coningsby Hannam Clarke, The Franco-German War, 1870-1871..., Volume 2, Issue Number 3, Page 74
  6. ^ a b c "Bismarck in the Franco-German war, 1870-1871"
  7. ^ a b c d "Men who have made the new German empire. A series of brief biographic sketches"
  8. ^ "Germany, 1815-1890"
  9. ^ "Moltke, a biographical and critical study"
  10. ^ a b Edmund Ollier, Cassell's history of the war between France and Germany, 1870-1871, Volume 2, Pages 184-185.
  11. ^ "The Franco-German War of 1870—71" (Helmuth von Moltke)
  12. ^ Hermann Klüting, Soldaten in Westfalen und am Niederrhein: das Königlich Preussische VII. Armeekorps: mit einer Bibliographie zur Geschichte der zum Korps gehörenden Einheiten, Page 35
  13. ^ Julius von Pflugk-Harttung, Krieg und Sieg, 1870-71: ein Gedenkbuch, Page 554
  14. ^ August Niemann, The French campaign, 1870-1871: Military description, Pages 398-399.
  15. ^ Wilhelm Rüstow, The war for the Rhine frontier, 1870: Its political and military history, Volume 1, Pages 207-211.
  16. ^ E. J. Hoffschmidt, German Army, Navy uniforms and insignia: 1871-1918, Page 7