The Battle of Le Mans was a German victory during the Franco-Prussian War that ended French resistance in western France.

Background

After capturing the armies of the French Empire at Sedan and

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

in the fall of 1870, the German armies under the command of Helmuth von Moltke besieged

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

in September 1870. The newly-formed

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940 ...

rejected a German peace offer and decided to continue the war and raise fresh armies to defeat the Germans. The first French attempt to relieve Paris was defeated by the Germans at

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia's Second Army. After a second defeat at

Beaugency Beaugency () is a commune in the Loiret department, Centre-Val de Loire, north-central France. It is located on the Loire river, upriver (northeast) from Blois and downriver from Orléans. History 11 March 1152 the council of Beaugency annulled ...

on 10 December, General

Antoine Chanzy Antoine Eugène Alfred Chanzy (18 March 18234 January 1883) was a French general, notable for his successes during the Franco-Prussian War and as a governor of Algeria. Biography Born in Nouart in the department of Ardennes, France, the son ...

's poorly supplied ''

Armée de la Loire The Armée de la Loire was a French army of the Franco-Prussian War. It was formed in October 1870 by Léon Gambetta, interior minister and minister for war in the Government of National Defence, then taking refuge in Tours after the French ...

'' retreated undisturbed west to

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

on 15 December. Friedrich Karl's army was at the limits of its lines of communications and subject to '' franc-tireur'' attacks. His cavalry could not pursue along the icy roads. The war was also taking its toll on the Germans, with much of the Prince's infantry by now being composed of inexperienced recruits unaccustomed to long marches. Two days later Moltke confirmed the order to not pursue. The retreat to Le Mans through the muddy and hilly terrain proved disastrous for the French army. Thousands of soldiers deserted, clogging the roads or hiding in the forests. Lack of paved roads resulted in entire convoys getting immobilized along the way. The force that arrived in Le Mans was exhausted from the poor march organization and constant defeats. Le Mans had rail lines to

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

, Brest and Paris and thus provided the French with lines of retreat. Chanzy began to prepare the city for the defensive. The city had no significant geographical or fortified defenses and Chanzy's maintenance of his position was dependent on German supply difficulties south of Paris. The German General Staff was able to overcome these deficiencies and prepare Friedrick Karl's army for an offensive to destroy the ''Armée de la Loire''.

German situation

Moltke observed the French attempts to reform their defeated armies and decided to finish them off before they could do so. With the benefit of the improved supply situation, on 1 January 1871 he ordered Friedrich Karl to advance west between Vendôme and

Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as def ...

and destroy Chanzy's forces.

French situation

Chanzy submitted plans to the Government of National Defense for another attack on the German siege army at Paris. The government persuaded him to wait until the second week of January, when two new army corps would have been raised at

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Febr ...

and

Vierzon Vierzon () is a commune in the Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Geography A medium-sized town by the banks of the river Cher with some light industry and an area of forestry and farming to the north. It is situated some northwes ...

. The French plan was to inflict as much attrition as possible on the Germans to soften their peace terms. Chanzy sent a division-sized column under General Alphonse Jouffroy to harass the German Second Army, while the rest of his 100,000-strong army dug in. Jouffroy ambushed two German battalions on 27 December at

Troo Troo (; also: ''Trôo'') is a commune of the Loir-et-Cher department in central France. Population Sights The village, which is partly troglodytic, consisting of cave-dwellings, is dominated by the '' collégiale'' or Saint Martin's church. I ...

but the Germans fought their way out. The French column then attacked the German position in the town of Vendôme on 31 December but was defeated. Jouffroy prepared for another attack on 5 January that ran headlong onto Friedrich Karl's offensive.

Prelude

Friedrich Karl arranged his army on a broad arc to encircle the French at Le Mans and began the offensive on 6 January. The Württembergian XIII Corps under the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg advanced on the right flank along the river Huisne.

X Corps 10th Corps, Tenth Corps, or X Corps may refer to: France * 10th Army Corps (France) * X Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars Germany * X Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * X ...

under General

Konstantin Bernhard von Voigts-Rhetz Konstantin Bernhard von Voigts-Rhetz (16 July 1809 – 14 April 1877) was a Prussian general who served in the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War. Biography Voights-Rhetz was borned in Seesen in the Duchy of Brunswick, then part o ...

covered the left flank by advancing down the

Loir The Loir () is a long river in western France. It is a left tributary of the Sarthe. Its source is in the Eure-et-Loir department, north of Illiers-Combray. It joins the river Sarthe in Briollay, north of the city of Angers. It is indirectl ...

. In the center,

III Corps 3rd Corps, Third Corps, III Corps, or 3rd Army Corps may refer to: France * 3rd Army Corps (France) * III Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * III Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of t ...

and

IX Corps 9 Corps, 9th Corps, Ninth Corps, or IX Corps may refer to: France * 9th Army Corps (France) * IX Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars Germany * IX Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German ...

followed each other down the main road to Le Mans. The Germans defeated Jouffroy's attack and pursued his retreating men west, using the same routes as Chanzy's army had done weeks before. French delaying tactics and the difficult terrain did not prevent the Germans from advancing 50 miles in six days. Chanzy was angered by the speed of the German offensive and on 8 January gave his most trusted lieutenant, Admiral

Bernard Jauréguiberry Jean Bernard Jauréguiberry (; 26 August 1815 – 21 October 1887) was a French admiral and statesman. Early life A native of Bayonne, Jauréguiberry entered the French Navy in 1831. He became a lieutenant in 1845, a commander in 1856, and a capt ...

, command over the forward columns to shore up their retreat. The advance of the German X Corps was halted for the day. The two German corps in the center continued to push forward with little opposition and on 9 January Chanzy sent a division to check them at Ardenay. The French held their positions in the snow until nightfall. These delaying actions could not stop the Germans and on 10 January Chanzy launched a general counter-attack to buy time for his defensive preparations in Le Mans.

The battle

The French army was greatly demoralized and ill-equipped. Much of the French ammunition had been soaked in the rain giving the Prussians a major advantage against the obsolete French gunnery. But Chanzy still ordered his forces into trenches prepared before Le Mans. The Germans hit the French left flank guarded by the river Huisne. The flank was turned and nearly routed until artillery and a counterattack halted the German attack. A bold German attack was launched and overwhelmed the French right flank. 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.

Aftermath

The battle had completely ended French resistance in the west. Friedrich Karl's supply lines were stretched thin and his army also was so exhausted from its campaign along the river

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhôn ...

that he did not pursue Chanzy. The French retreated first to

Alençon Alençon (, , ; nrf, Alençoun) is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon (with 52,000 people). History The name of Alençon is fi ...

and then to Laval on 13 January. Chanzy continued to plan further attacks but his hungry and fatigued horde of an army was incapable of offensive action and the fighting around the Loire came to an end.

Casualties

More than 25,000 Frenchmen were killed and wounded and 50,000 French soldiers deserted during and after the battle. Friedrich Karl noted German casualties of 3,000 men in his diary.

Footnotes

References

* * {{Authority control Le Mans, Battle of Le Mans, Battle of History of Sarthe 1871 in France

January 1871 events