News from the Front (4)

After we finished the tour of the Froeschwiller battlefield and had lunch we went into Woerth and visited the Musée de 6 août  Woerth is a typical town of the region with lots of timbered buildings in narrow streets. The Soultzbach stream runs through the town contained within stone walled banks. Today the stream is covered by dozens of small bridges whereas in 1870 there were only two and the French destroyed those prior to the battle.  On the day of the battle the stream was a raging torrent fed by a rain storm the night before and in places had burst its banks. In fact when the German 50th Regiment crossed the stream south of the town, several were swept away an drowned. But today its flow was shallow and gentle.

  

The musée entrance.

While not as well presented as the Gravelotte museum, this little museum had lots to offer. There are plenty of helmets, rifles and swords and uniforms on display.

Above, from top to bottom: the French Chassepôt, the Bavarian Werder, the Prussian Dreyse Needle Gun, the Bavarian Podwills.

Packs of Chassepôt cartridges.

There is a large diorama made with German flat figures depicting the battle at the time of the Bonnemain's Cuirassier charges.

What attracted me the most was seeing the originals of some of the paintings often published on the battle. The first was the famous Eduard Detaille painting of Michel's cuirassiers trapped in the streets of Morsbronn.

Since I was able to get close to the painting I was able to take some close detail shots. This really allows you to see how the artist captured the horrific drama of the moment. 

The second was a rather more fanciful painting of Bonnemain's attack - fanciful because in the four or five charges made no troopers got close enough to swing their sabre at any German troops.

Finally was a painting of a charge by the Turcos.

Leaving the Museum we were back on the road heading for Wissembourg, which we reached after about half an hour. Our hotel was a beautifully renovated mill.A sublimely peaceful place with a wonderful restaurant.

With the temperature soaring to 32 degrees we walked into Wissembourg town. We entered through what remains of the Bitche Gate, where on 4 August 1870 a small body of German troops cut off the French attempt to abandon the place.

What a beautiful town it is.

The final image is the Hôtel de Ville, in front of which the French garrison surrendered to the Germans in 4 August 1870.

Returning to the hotel dinner for me was fois gras, stuffed quail  and a dessert of apple sorbet liberally doused with Calvados, all washed down with a very pleasant Alsacian pinot noir. I went to bed very happy.

The next morning we headed off towards Hagenau where we would return the car and catch a train to Strasbourg, our next destination. Before we left I caught a glimpse of the hills behind the town on which part of Douay's division was deployed. 

Again, since the towns of Wissembourg and Altenstadt have grown over most of the battlefield, we merely drove across the crest of the heights and then onto Hagenau. By lunch time we were in Strasbourg.