It's Back to the Bavarians

This time there are two battalions of Bavarians to present: the III/5th...

...and III/7th.

But they look identical you say...well they are not...a few heads are turned in different directions and the officer in the II/5th wears a helmet and is holding a pistol whereas the officer of the III/7th is in the cap and carries a sword, the standard bearer is in the second rank in the 5th and in the front in the 7th...but yes apart from that they are very similar...and there are another four battalions to go that are also going to look similar.

The Royal Bavarian Army had a patchy history in 1870-71. They provided two infantry corps and two cavalry brigades to the German cause - perhaps 70,000 men, or one eighth of the armies that took the field in August of that year. Their organisational structure was pretty much the same as the Prussians in that each corps consisted of two divisions, each of two brigades each of six battalions, with a 'brigade' of artillery attached to each division and another formed the corps reserve. At lower levels the structure also matched that of the Prussians - in the field an infantry battalion had four companies,  a cavalry regiment had four squadrons and a battery six guns. There was a slight variation in the infantry company in that the Prussian standard was three platoons (zugs) one of which was designated the skirmish platoon, a Bavarian company had four platoons, one of which was a schutzen platoon.

At first the Bavarians were not the most enthusiastic allies, after all they had sided with Austrian in 1866 and fought against their new Prussian masters. Indeed the French were so convinced on the reluctance of the Bavarians and their fellow South German states (Wurttemberg and Baden) that one of their strategies was a sudden thrust into South Germany to rally them to the French cause. However, when the call for mobilisation went out all three South German states answered the call and were incorporated into the German Third Army under the Crown Prince of Prussia.

Bavarians troops were in the vanguard of III Army's advance when it commenced on 4 August. Early that morning von Bothmer's 4th Bavarian Infantry Division collided with a French Division at Wissembourg. They got themselves tangled up in the surrounding vineyards and fumbled the initial attack on the town. A further attempt was also repelled. Not until the Prussian V Corps entered the fray, blasting the place with 30 guns and driving a supporting regiment of Tirailleurs Algériens away from the railway station were the Bavarians able to take the place.

Two days later, at Worth, von Bothmer was again in action early, responding to the sound of gunfire and musketry to the south in the direction of V Corps. Bothmer ordered the leading elements of the Division into the Langensoultzbach Wood to strike the French at Froeschwiller. After a confused advance the leading four battalions reached the southern edge of the wood. There the woods gave way to a shallow valley extending 300 metres across to the northern edge of the Froeschwiller Wood. When the Bavarians attempted to cross the open ground they were met by a wall of Chassepôt fire from the wood opposite and enfilade fire from a field battery and a mitrailleuse battery on the crest above and scampered back to the safety of the wood.

Armed with the inferior Podwills rifle, the Bavarian line battalions struggled to compete in the face of the fire that drove out of the Froeschwiller Wood. In the smoke filled the forest these half-drunk South Germans - they had received no rations since the 4th, but were issued wine that morning - could make little sense of what was happening around them. Despite further reinforcements the Bavarians could make no headway and with no prospect of immediate support they had to hold on as best they could. Around 10:30 an order to withdraw, actually intended for V Corps, was received from Army Headquarters. The withdrawal was was conducted poorly by the Bavarians and many of them ran back in disorder, but despite the difficulty by 1130 the larger part of the Bavarian 4th Division had been successfully withdrawn out of range of the French.

No sooner had they returned to the left bank of the Soulzbach Stream than Hartmann, commanding II Bavarian Corps, received a message that V Corps was about to commence an attack on the heights in front of Worth and that the co-operation to the right by the Bavarians was expected. The 4th Division was ordered to re-cross the Soulzbach and advance again in to the Langensoultzbach Wood, but Bothmer’s Division was so severely disorganised that an immediate return to action was impossible. Nearly three hours would pass before these Bavarians would re-enter the action.

Not until 1300 did more Bavarians arrive on the field. These were from von der Tann's I Bavarian Corps. It was clear that von der Tann was no too appreciative of his new Prussian masters. He dragged his heels and the corps was deployed well to the rear. He ignored an order from the Crown Prince to attack. A second order was sent and similarly ignored as was a third. Not until an infuriated Crown Prince sent a forth messenger, a Bavarian officer attached to Army Headquarters, who was told, “Ride to your countrymen...and tell them the Crown Prince of Prussia orders them in the name of their King now at last to engage the enemy properly and drive them back; everywhere we see our troops advancing victoriously; they alone came to a stand still in the face of the foe!”. This time von der Tann complied and set Stephan’s 1st Division in motion towards Froeschwiller with the intention of turning the French left.

Stephan's attack was launched across the Soulzbach that had overflowed its banks after a heavy storm the night before. The French fire quickly drove them to ground in the open water meadows and the attack stalled. When two battalion of Zouaves drove down through the Langensoultzbach Wood, pushing the last elements of 4th Division before them, several French battalions from the Froeschwiller Wood stormed forward in support driving Stephan's battalions back across the stream. But the French attack was checked and they fell back. Stephan's units began to infiltrate the Langensoultzbach Wood in an attempt to flank the Froeschwiller Wood, but still they struggled to make headway.

Then, in a sort of “this is how you do it” moment, two battalions of Prussian infantry stormed across the stream and smashed in the apex of the French line in the Froeschwiller Wood. The French line began to collapse and the Bavarians were able to work their way through the Langensoultzbach Wood unopposed until they reached the far edge of the wood where their advance was fiercely resisted. However, the French position was compromised and they began to withdraw. With their front cleared von der Tann's Bavarians closed on Froeschwiller village and helped clear the last of the French from it. A small Bavarian force was involved in the pursuit before being recalled to camp.

The battle had cost the Bavarians 36 officers and 1,413 men, but more critically had shown flaws in the Bavarian leadership that would not be allowed to be repeated.

The next significant action for the Bavarians was on 30 August.  Von der Tann's 1st Bavarian Corps arrived in the heights southwest of Beaumont to find the French V Corps completely at rest in its cantonments. At that moment the Prussian VI Corps to the right opened an attack on the French. This time von der Tann did not hesitate and Schumacher's Second Division, supported by the cuirassier brigade, was ordered to attack. The Division drove forward and easily secured the road running west from Beaumont. But around 1430 a fresh French division appeared on Schumacher's left flank. Von der Tann brought Stephan's First Division up on Schumacher's left. The French fell back in disorder across the Meuse to Mouzon. Nightfall ended the action. The Germans had suffered 3,529 casualties (436 of whom were Bavarian), but had inflicted a loss of more than 7,500 men and 42 guns on the French. More critically the Germans had got between the French and Paris, effectively forcing them back on the fortress of Sedan and slamming the door shut.

Two days later, as a part of the Battle of Sedan von der Tann was ordered to take the town of Bazeilles that was held by General Élie de Vassoigne's Blue Division of Fusiliers Marin, formed from sailors and marines from the French fleet. The Bavarians were ambushed in the town resulting seven hours of vicious street fighting, during which French civilians actively fired on Bavarian troops. In retribution the Bavarian killed a number of civilians and torched the house from which shots were fired. The famous Alphonse de Neuville paining “The Last Cartridges” was inspired by an incident in this action. By day's end the whole village was in ruins. This bloody action cost the Bavarians 213 officers and 3,876 men as casualties and darkened their reputation in French eyes.

"The Last Cartridges"

The Bavarians went on to participate in the Siege of Paris. In October von der Tann was pulled away from the siege and sent with the I Bavarian Corps to the Loire where a significant French force was being raised with the purpose of raising the siege. Von der Tann took Orléans on 11 October, but having taken the place did nothing to pressure the French further. By early November the situation had changed dramatically and the French outnumbered him three to one. He abandoned Orléans and fell back on Coulmiers, a reasonable good position, and awaited attack.

The French attacked on 9 November. The first attack was launched at around 1:30 PM and managed to get close to the Bavarians who, despite their low ammunition, managed to beat them back with the support of close range artillery fire. A second attack was launched around 3:00, but the French commanders could not coordinate their attacks and the inexperienced French Garde Mobiles were driven off in disorder.

A third assault carried the village of Coulmiers, but the Bavarian line was not broken and von der Tann withdrew the Corps in good order around 4:00 unmolested by the French cavalry that had been positioned too far to the west to be effective. The Bavarians had held out all day with 20,000 men against 70,000 French suffering some 2,100 casualties and inflicting 1,500.

The Battle of Coulmiers, the only serious defeat suffered by the German forces in the war. It was also notable as the first time that the French artillery used impact fused shells and could complete on a more even footing with their German counterparts.

The Bavarian were involved in smaller roles in the rest of the Loire campaign.