The Battle of Villepion was a battle between the French XVI Corps under General Chanzy and the I Bavarian Corps during the Franco-Prussian War. It occurred in the district of

Terminiers Terminiers () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Eure-et-Loir department The following is a list of the 365 communes of the Eure-et-Loir department of France. The communes c ...

, between Terminiers and Nonneville on 1 December 1870, and ended in a French victory. After the

Battle of Beaune-la-Rolande The Battle of Beaune-la-Rolande on 28 November 1870 was a battle of the Franco-Prussian War, won by Prussia. In an attempt to relieve the Siege of Paris, French General Crouzat's XX Corps launched an attack against three Prussian brigades resting ...

on 28 November 1870 the Corps in the centre of the French

Army of the Loire An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

advanced and made a swing east towards

Pithiviers Pithiviers () is a commune in the Loiret department, north central France. It is one of the subprefectures of Loiret. It is twinned with Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, England and Burglengenfeld in Bavaria, Germany. Its attractions incl ...

. On the early afternoon of 1 December an infantry division and a cavalry division of the French XVI Corps met I. Bayerischen Korps. The battle began in Terminiers and the western districts of the town. Although the whole I Corps intervened in the battle, the Bavarians held the position and the Corps had to retreat towards Villepion. The fighting here lasted until nightfall. Under the cover of darkness the Bavarians retreated then returned and reunited with other units of the army group under

Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Frederick Francis II (German: ''Friedrich Franz II;'' 28 February 1823 – 15 April 1883) was a Prussian officer and Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 7 March 1842 until 15 April 1883. Biography He was born in Schloss Ludwigslust, th ...

at Goury and Villeprivost (Loigny la Bataille). The retreat was covered by an artillery battery under the command of captain (later field marshal) Leopold of Bavaria, wounded in the action and receiving the Military Order of Max Joseph for his conduct in the battle, the highest Bavarian award for valour in the face of the enemy. The Bavarians lost 42 officers and about 1,000 men, while the French losses are not accurately documented. The German army group's counter-attack the next day led to the

battle of Loigny-Poupry A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

External links

History of the Franco Prussian War
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in: Meyers Konversationslexikon, Vol 18. p 579 f
Article in the North Otago Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villepion Battle of Villepion Conflicts in 1870 Battles of the Franco-Prussian War Battles involving Prussia Villepion History of Eure-et-Loir December 1870 events