The Battle of Gravelotte (to the Germans) or Saint-Privat (to the French) took place on 18 August 1870, west of Metz. It paved the way for the French army’s capitulation and Napoleon III’s surrender, on 2 September 1870, at Sedan.

Musée de la Guerre 1870 et de l'Annexion - 11, rue de Metz - 57130 Gravelotte
- Tel.: +33 (0)3 87 33 69 40 - contact.musee-guerre-70@moselle.fr

Sources : ©Musée de la guerre de 1870 – Loigny-la-Bataille

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There are twenty French soldiers from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 at rest in an ossuary monument at the cemetery. From WWI, there are 427 French soldiers, 274 Belgian soldiers, nine Russian soldiers and 1 Chinese soldier buried in individual graves. As for WWII, there are 1,355 French soldiers, including 188 in the ossuary, ten Spanish soldiers, one Polish soldier and five Soviet soldiers, one of whom is in the ossuary. Five soldiers who died for France in Indochina are also buried at the cemetery.

Pour accéder au panneau d'information 1 de la nécropole, cliquer ici 

From the First World War, there are 1,834 Germans, 388 French, 149 Russians, fifteen British, thirteen Austro-Hungarians and five Serbians buried there.

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From the Second World War, 2,008 French, 1,032 Germans, eight Yugoslavians, seven British, five Polish, five Australians, two New-Zealanders, one Canadian, one Dutch and one Armenian. Among them are buried the remains of the remains of some women, civilian victims or military nurses, and two children who died during World War II; Monique Ferret, born and died in May 1945 in captivity at Innsbruck (Square C, row 6, grave 6) and Jacques Budios killed during a bombardment along with his mother in August 1944 (Square C, row 2, grave 19).

In addition, the remains of two servicemen who died in Indochina are at Strasbourg Cronenbourg: Johann Jury, of the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion, who died 15 January 1953 at Cau Xa in Tonkin (square D, row 11, grave 19) and Helmut Kraska, of the 2nd Foreign Regiment, who died in Nam Dinh (Tonkin) on 7 October 1953 (square C, row 1A, grave 15). More recently, there was a sapper parachutist of the 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment, a native of Strasbourg, Michel Lung-Hoi, who died on 4 September 1986 in Jwayya, Lebanon.

This site, which is a testament to this history and to the annexation of Lorraine to the Reichland, boasts one of the richest funereal heritages. At the end of the 19th century, the Germans erected a chapel in order to organise ceremonies dedicated to the soldiers buried in this garrison cemetery. Today this edifice enables ceremonies to be held in remembrance of those who died in all conflicts.

Finally, funereal emblems from all periods are kept here. In cast-iron or stone, they have - depending on the periods concerned - a different symbolism, but each respect the faith of the buried soldier.

Now the property of the Communication and Audiovisual Production Company for the Department of Defence (E.C.P.A.D), the fort at Ivry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne), constructed between 1841 and 1845, was modified after the war of 1870 in order to defend Paris. It is part of the first line in Séré de Rivières' system.

Constructed between 1841 and 1845, the fort was equipped in 1870 with 94 artillery pieces and commanded by Sea Captain Krantz. It was defended by a marine battalion that had come from Brest. On the 29th and 30th November, the fort supported the attacks from the outposts of the 6th Prussian corps to the north of Choisy-le-Roi, Thiais and Chevilly-la-Rue. On the 30th these three villages received 5,500 shells in a single day. The besieging troops owe their salvation to the numerous trenches. The French abandoned the captured positions on the evening of the 30th. The fort was occupied by the 6th Prussian corps from the 29th January until the 20th March 1871. A battery of 21 cm mortars was brought into the gorge to fire on the central section and batteries of 15 cm cannons to bombard Paris in the event that fighting should start again. The townspeople occupied the fort after the departure of the Prussians, with Colonel Rogowski in command of the confederate garrison. Faced with the threat of an attack by troops from the 3rd Versailles corps, the Confederates evacuated the fort during the night of the 24th to 25th May, blowing up a munitions depot and destroying nine of the casemates between the 3rd and 4th sides.
The fort is a pentagon with 5 bastions. It is built on underground galleries; only one of the bastions is not entrenched in the foundation piers. The galleries (more than 2 km) were planned out between 1852 and 1860 to keep watch over these piers and serve as shelters from bombardments (the ceilings of these galleries are 6 m thick). During the works, 2 battalions from the 65th Line Regiment were used, housed in an army camp close to the fort. The dominant position of the fort is clearly visible from the crossroads to the north of the entrance. The entrance accommodates two guardhouses in five vaulted casemates. There are also three postern gates, of which 2 are next to the latrines, along the other sides. The ramparts and bastions are bridged by about fifty cross sections, including 28 with vaulted shelters. The rampart between bastions 3 and 4 protects 18 casemates; one of them had a bread oven. The flanks adjacent to the bastions have gun casements for the infantry. The four other ramparts have a scarp with protected walkway for the infantry. The parade ground is surrounded by a large barracks for the troops and two houses for officers. These buildings were rebuilt in 1872. The 2 gunpowder magazines have an internal surface area of 142 m2. The fort is served by 3 wells. The building is faced in millstone, with cut stone for the stays and window and door surrounds. The buildings have tiled or zinc roofs. The arches of the casemates and magazines are in stone. The ditches between bastions 1, 2, 3 and 4 are still preserved. To the west, a police barracks occupies the place of the ditches. On the glacis there are now gardens, a college, a school, some houses and other buildings. Access is still via a casemate guardhouse. The rampart has kept its cross sections and casemates, although the latter have been converted into offices. The three barracks rebuilt after 1872 have been redeveloped, along with the two gunpowder magazines dating from 1847.
The premises now house the Communication and Audiovisual Production Company for the Department of Defence (E.C.P.A.D). They store the audio-visual archives of the military history of France from 1900 to the modern day, through 16,800 films and videos and more than 3.5 million de photographs. The first world war collection collates all the pictures and films made by the Armed Forces Photographic and Cinematographic Division (SPCA) from 1915, the date it was established, to 1919 when it was suspended. This collection is made up of images directly linked to: fighting and its aftermath: the French front and the Eastern front, the lives of poilus (a slang term fro a French soldier), the army medical corps, prisoners and what remains of the battlefields; images of the economic effort of the country and its colonies; images of political and diplomatic life: official visits of heads of state or foreign delegations, the Treaty of Versailles etc. pictures and works of art, monuments and museums and photographs taken in anticipation of reconstruction. The second world war collection collates all the documents issued by the various forces represented: the phony war documents the life of the French armies in the countryside, from the North Sea to the Italian border, between the declaration of war and the start of the French campaign; Vichy is concerned with the actions of the government and the Armistice Army, mainly in the free zone in North Africa before the allied landings; The Liberating Army follows the main fighting that took place from North Africa to Europe, from Algiers in November 1942 until the liberation of the concentration camps in 1945.
The German collection is especially large, due to the great number of operational theatres illustrated along the eastern front and through the diversity in the subjects covered in the military field (scenes of fighting and training, the lives of units on the front, the repression of people in the east and the manufacture of weapons) and in everyday life. Managed by the Armed Forces Cinematographic Division (SCA) which was united after the war, the Indochina war collection groups together Tonkin, Annam, Cochinchina, Cambodia and Laos. Although military documentaries, most of which were about the land army, represent the main subject of this collection, there are also documents describing the way of life, habitat and special customs of the various ethnic groups. Many documents belonging to this collection illustrate French action in the colonies: keeping order, industrial and agricultural development, the construction of schools, housing and clinics and the establishment of administrative frameworks. They demonstrate approval of French presence in Indochina and Algeria. The external operations collection. Protecting France's fundamental interests can lead to the intervention of the armed forces outside their national territory. That is why we talk about external operations, carried out within the framework of international mandates, such as NATO and the UN. The main external operations covered by the ECPAD since 1945 are the Korean war (1952-1953), the Lebanon (1978-1984), Chad (1978-1987), Cambodia (1991-1993), the Gulf War (1991), Bosnia-Herzegovina (since 1992), Rwanda (1994), Kosovo and Macedonia (since 1998), the Ivory Coast and Afghanistan (since 2001).
Fort at Ivry-sur-Seine 2-8 route du Fort 94205 Ivry-sur-Seine Remembrance tourist information Mairie d'Ivry Esplanade Georges Marrane 94205 Ivry-sur-Seine cedex Tel.: 0149.60.25.08 Communication and Audiovisual Production Company for the Department of Defence (ECPAD) Tel: 01.49.60.52.00 Fax: 01.49.60.52.06 e-mail: ecpad@ecpad.fr or mediatheque@ecpad.fr

The first French soldier fell on July 25th, 1870 in Alsace. The non-commissioned officer from the 12th regiment, Claude Pagnier, was killed in a clash with a patrol of Baden dragoons at Schirlenhof. From 3 August, the Third German Army, which was under the orders of the Prussian price Frédéric Guillaume, occupied Wissembourg and the River Lauter. On 4 August 1870, the first major confrontation took place in town and on the slopes of the Geisberg hill. The French army, under the command of General Mac-Mahon, was defeated for the first time; despite heroic resistance, the disadvantaged vanguard of General Abel Douay's Second Infantry Division succumbed to Prussian attack.

The Battle of Woerth-Froeschwiller on 6 August 1870. The German forces had set up on the east bank of the Sauer and those of the French army, in much smaller numbers, on the heights of the Froeschwiller Plateau, between Langensoultzbach and Morsbronn-les-Bains. Neither side intended to fight that day, but skirmishes near the river, at Woerth, triggered the hostilities. Froeschwiller was therefore an improvised battle. The armies were engaged in a violent battle all day long. Despite the strong resistance, the right wing of the French army was overrun at around 1 pm and the Germans conquered the village of Morsbronn.

MacMahon made a strategic mistake of launching the 2^nd cuirassiers of the Michel brigade into highly unfavourable terrain, notably interspersed with hops plantations. The French troops were mowed down in the streets of the village of Morsbronn by Prussians snipers. The Germans continued to make progress, conquering Elsasshausen and then threatening the road to Froeschwiller. MacMahon then launched four regiments of the Bonnemain cavalry division against them at around 3.30 pm. But once again the result was a massacre. The 1^st regiment of Algerian tirailleurs nonetheless managed to slow the German advance with a daring assault, but had to give in due to a lack of ammunition. The battle continued in the village of Froeschwiller, which suffered intense bombing and fell at 5 pm.

The results of the battle were disastrous: some 10,000 killed among the French and 10,640 among the Germans.
Many mass graves and tombs were dug; the populations of Woerth and Froeschwiller were requisitioned to bury the dead. The Museum of the Battle of 6 August, located in Woerth, is totally dedicated to this tragic battle that opened up the Vosges to the Prussian army.

Practical information: Access by lift for people with reduced mobility (except for the tower).
Car park at the Museum entrance, for buses less than 100 metres away - Boutique, - Guided tours in French and German in the Museum and outside on the battlefield.

Contact: Association des Amis du Musée et du Patrimoine de Woerth et Environs 2, rue du Moulin - 67360 Woerth
Tel.: +33 (0)3 88 09 30 21 - Fax: +33 (0)3 88 09 47 07 - E-mail: mus6aout@gmail.com

Guides are available for groups in the Museum and on the battlefield.
To organise a tour, send an e-mail to: ville.woerth@wanadoo.fr

VILLE DE SEDAN (Ardennes)

Le 1^er septembre 1870, jour de la bataille, Sedan est la base arrière du commandement français à l'intérieur des remparts de la ville, où l’État-major est logé et où les blessés sont soignés. Dans les villages environnants, les combats sont intenses et malgré des épisodes héroïques à Floing et à Bazeilles, l'armée française est vaincue. La manœuvre d'encerclement réussie des troupes allemandes provoque la capitulation de Napoléon III, présent à Sedan, et la chute du second Empire. 80 000 soldats français sont faits prisonniers.

Cette « débâcle » du nom du célèbre roman d’Émile Zola qui décrit le déroulement de la bataille, a marqué durablement les mémoires jusqu'à la Première Guerre mondiale. De nombreuses traces de cet événement, majeur pour l'histoire européenne, sont présents à Sedan et dans le Sedanais.

Pour en savoir plus :

Maison du Patrimoine - Ville d'art et d'histoire : 03 24 27 84 85 - www.sedan.fr

Office du tourisme : 03 24 27 73 73 - www.charleville-sedan-tourisme.fr/

MUSÉE DU CHÂTEAU FORT

Au cœur même de la ville, les visiteurs sont invités à découvrir le monument historique le plus important de Sedan et des Ardennes. Une forteresse de 35 000 m² dont la construction commence vers 1424 et qui témoigne de l'évolution architecturale jusqu'à la fin du XVIIIe siècle d'un ouvrage moderne avec un système défensif de bastions. Une partie des collections du musée municipal de Sedan, créé en 1879, sont actuellement exposées au musée du château fort de Sedan. Les thématiques présentées dans le circuit de visite sont l'histoire de la principauté de Sedan jusqu'en 1642, lors du rattachement à la France, et les grands événements et personnages sedanais jusqu'à la guerre de 1870.

Pour en savoir plus :

Horaire et tarifs : www.chateau-fort-sedan.fr - 03 24 27 73 76

Contact pour les collections du musée : musee-municipal@mairie-sedan.fr - 03 24 56 93 27

TOURISME DE MÉMOIRE DANS LE SEDANAIS

Le territoire de l'agglomération Ardenne Métropole englobe des champs de bataille, des lieux stratégiques et des sites où se sont produits des faits historiques marquants, tels la capitulation de Napoléon III en 1870, la transformation du château fort de Sedan en bagne lors de la Première Guerre mondiale ou la percée de Sedan lors de la bataille de France de mai-juin 1940. Sedan et les communes d'Ardenne Métropole se souviennent de ces guerres à travers des points d'intérêts qui constituent aujourd'hui un circuit de tourisme de mémoire.

Pour en savoir plus :

Site Internet : https://www.charleville-sedan-tourisme.fr/tourisme-de-memoire/

Contact : infocom@tourisme-sedan.fr – 03 24 55 69 90

BLOG DU MUSÉE MUNICIPAL DE SEDAN

Créé à l'occasion du Centenaire de la Première Guerre mondiale, ce blog présente les collections du musée mais également les fonds patrimoniaux sedanais (Archives municipales, Médiathèque Georges Delaw (Ardenne Métropole), Société d'Histoire et d'Archéologie du Sedanais) et de particuliers en lien avec l'histoire de Sedan. Le 150e anniversaire de la bataille de Sedan permet de mettre en valeur des notices d’œuvres sur la guerre de 1870-1871.

Site Internet : http://musee-municipal-sedan.over-blog.com/

Contact : musee-municipal@mairie-sedan.fr – 03 24 56 93 27

Facebook et Twitter @MuseeSedan

Memory Trail in the town This walk is dedicated to the events of the Franco-Prussian War that marked Châteaudun.

Five illustrated markers relate the inhabitants' heroic defence against the Prussians on 18 October. The first three are in Place du 18 Octobre, the fourth on Rue Jean Moulin and the fifth next to the defence monument on the Mall.
On 3 October 1877 a decree entitled the town to add the Legion of Honour cross on its coat of arms in recognition of its bravery. In 1884 Place Royale was renamed Place du 18 Octobre in remembrance of that day. The events On 20 September groups of highly mobile Uhlans blockaded Paris before advancing in Beauce. From 26 September 1870 to 6 January 1871 the Prussian army relentlessly crossed the Eure-et-Loir department in every direction. Since early October Châteaudun had been under the command of General Ernest de Lipowski. On the 28th the besieged town's residents put up barricades in the streets. On 18 October just 1,200 snipers, sedentary national guardsmen and firemen defended Châteaudun. A military force of 12,000 Prussians under the command of General von Wittich, armed with 24 cannons and two howitzers, showed up in the east. Seven cannons fired at the railway station at around noon.
At around 6pm the Rue Galante (Rue de Civry) barricade, which was isolated and too far forward, gave way. The Prussian thrust could no longer be repelled. The snipers retreated to the town centre, despite the darkness. The Prussians tried to overrun the square. A terrible night battle ensued. The defenders pushed the enemy back in the Rues de Chartres (Rue Jean Moulin) and d'Orléans (Rue de la République) three times. They fought by torchlight and bodies literally covered the ground. The painter Philippoteaux immortalised the fighting (the original is in the Châteaudun mayor's office). Despite the last bursts of courage, the defenders had to give up the now-hopeless struggle.
Shells and incendiary rockets rained down on the town at the rate of 10 a minute all day, ripping open roofs and destroying houses. On the night of 18-19 October the Prussians set the town on fire, pillaging, raping and driving out the inhabitants. At the Hôtel du Grand Monarque, where 70 Prussians had just been served an excellent dinner, the owner threw herself at General von Wittich's feet, begging him to spare her business. But the Duke of Saxony set the curtains on fire and the building quickly burned to the ground. Atrocities lasted all night and the next day. A monument to the victims and defenders was erected in Champdé Cemetery in 1873. A national fund-raising drive was launched to build a better monument to Châteaudun's valiant resistance. It was inaugurated on the Mall on 18 October 1897.
Antonin Mercié sculpted the bronze statue of a woman with a wall crown on her head representing the town of Châteaudun. Seriously wounded, she collapses and leans on a sniper from Paris, who, with his rifle on his shoulder, is still holding out and using up his last cartridges.

"Bridgehead on the Marne" (Noisy-le-Grand - 93) 

1871.

The first ring of forts built with the purpose of protecting the capital from the enemy did not prevent the defeat of 1870.

Fort de Villiers

Avenue Paul Belmondo

93160 Noisy-le-Grand

E-mail : contact@asfv.eu

Visits Warning! Fort de Villiers is not open to visitors. The site is dangerous and is not protected by security (entry is prohibited). 

Contact the Mairie in Noisy-le-Grand to request access.

Bibliographical sources Annals of the National Assembly.  Government bills, proposals and reports. 1874 List of the law bills of the French Republic. 1874

Fort de Villiers

Quizz : Forts et citadelles