Siege of Metz (1870)
The siege of Metz was a battle fought during the Franco-Prussian War from August 19 to October 27, 1870 and ended in a decisive allied German victory.
| Siege of Metz | |||||||||
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| Part of the Franco-Prussian War | |||||||||
One of the Metz forts under German occupation after the French surrender | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Hesse-Darmstadt | French Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Prince Friedrich Karl Friedrich Franz II | François Bazaine | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
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Elements of First Army Second Army | Army of the Rhine | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
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Initially: 168,435 642 field guns September: 197,326 |
154,481 694 field guns 2,876 fortress guns | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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5,740 killed and wounded 40,000 sick |
12,481 killed and wounded, 142,000 men, 622 field guns, 2,876 fortress guns, 72 mitrailleuses, 260,000 rifles captured | ||||||||
The French Army of the Rhine under François Bazaine retreated into the Metz fortress after its defeat by the Germans at the Battle of Gravelotte on 18 August 1870. The fortress was promptly surrounded by German forces under Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia. The French Army of Châlons was sent to relieve the Army of the Rhine but was itself encircled and annihilated by the German armies at the Battle of Sedan on 1–2 September.
Unable to capture the fortress by bombardment or storm, the besieging Germans resorted to starving the French to submission. French attempts to break out ended in defeat at the battles of Noisseville on 31 August – 1 September and Bellevue on 7 October. French food supplies ran out on 20 October and François Achille Bazaine surrendered the fortress and the entire Army of the Rhine, some 193,000 men, into German hands on 27 October.
The annihilation of the French Army of the Rhine freed Prince Friedrich Karl's armies for operations against French forces in the Loire river valley for the rest of the war. Metz was annexed into the German Empire after the signing of the Treaty of Frankfurt on 10 May 1871.