The Campaign in Alsace August 1870

The Campaign in Alsace presents an excellent military history of two important battles during the opening rounds of the Franco-Prussian war in 1870. On 4 August 1870 General Abel Douay’s French division was surprised and virtually destroyed by Bavarian and Prussian troops at Wissembourg. Two days later at one of the decisive battles of the war MacMahon’s I Corps was heavily defeated by the Germans at the Battle of Woerth. This defeat caused the irreparable splitting of the French Imperial Army which was to have fatal consequences for Napoleon III. The author offers an incisive and well-organised account of these two important actions. Full orders of battle are included for both French and German forces. A number of maps trace the action.

"The Campaign in Alsace, August 1870 revisits the first days of the German offensive in Alsace in 1870, with the battles of Wissembourg and Fræschwiller on August 4th and 6th. This is a reissue of a study aimed at understanding and explaining how the French army had collapsed a few decades earlier. The work is supplemented by seven "accurate" maps, which allow the reader to follow the different stages of the battles." Vae Victus Magazine No184 (translated from French)