Siege of Metz (1870)

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Siege of Metz
Part of the Franco-Prussian War
One of the Metz forts under German occupation after the French surrender
Date 19 August – 27 October 1870 (2 months, 1 week and 1 day) Location Metz, France Result German victory Territorial changes Metz occupied by the allied German armies
Belligerents
North German Confederation Prussia Hesse-Darmstadt	French Empire
Commanders and leaders
Prince Friedrich Karl Friedrich Franz II	François Bazaine
Units involved
Elements of First Army Second Army	Army of the Rhine
Strength
Initially: 168,435[1] 642 field guns[1] September: 197,326	154,481[1] 694 field guns[1] 2,876 fortress guns
Casualties and losses
5,740 killed and wounded 40,000 sick	12,481 killed and wounded, 193,000 men, 622 field guns, 2,876 fortress guns, 72 mitrailleuses, 260,000 rifles captured

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.

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.