Battle of Wissembourg (1870)

Battle of Wissembourg
Part of the Franco-Prussian War
Map of the Battle of Wissembourg
Date 4 August 1870 Location Wissembourg, France 49°01′N 7°57′E / 49.017°N 7.950°E / 49.017; 7.950 Result German victory
Belligerents
Prussia Baden  Bavaria Württemberg	France
Commanders and leaders
Friedrich Wilhelm Hugo von Kirchbach Jakob von Hartmann	Abel Douay † Jean Pellé
Strength
25,000[1] 144 guns	6,000[1] 12 guns
Casualties and losses
1,551 killed, wounded or missing	1,600 killed or wounded 700 captured
Wissembourg class=notpageimage| Grand Est Region

The Battle of Wissembourg or Battle of Weissenburg,^[a] the first of the Franco-Prussian War, was joined when three German army corps surprised the small French garrison at Wissembourg on 4 August 1870.^[b] The defenders, greatly outnumbered, fought stubbornly "especially considering they were surprised and greatly outnumbered, that the French sustained their old renown as fighting men and that the first defeat, although severe, reflected no discredit on the soldiers of the 1st Corps."^[2] The fall of Wissembourg allowed the Prussian army to move into France and compelled Marshal Patrice MacMahon to give battle, and suffer defeat, at the Battle of Wörth on 6 August.

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