Siege of Belfort 1870
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 3 November 1870 – 18 February 1871 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1870 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Franco-Prussian War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 47.6379, 6.8628 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Belfort (3 November 1870 – 18 February 1871) was a 103-day military assault and blockade of the city of Belfort, France by Prussian forces during the Franco-Prussian War. The French garrison held out until the January 1871 armistice between France and the German Empire obligated French forces to abandon the stronghold in February 1871.
Belfort is located in a gap between the mountainous southern Vosges and the Jura Massif, strategically positioned as the gateway between Alsace and central France. At the beginning of the war, the French Army of the Rhine was routed in northern Alsace. The fall of Strasbourg on 28 September 1870 allowed the German army under August von Werder to move south against Belfort. Upon hearing of the approaching German army, Pierre Philippe Denfert-Rochereau, commander of Belfort, began constructing fortifications around the city, expanding those originally built by Vauban. Werder's forces reached Belfort and invested the city on 3 November. The intransigent resistance by the French forces stopped the Germans from completing an effective encirclement of the city.
General Charles Denis Bourbaki assembled an army intending to relieve Belfort. On 15 January 1871 Bourbaki attacked Werder along the Lisaine River; however after a three-day battle he was repelled…
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Belfort (revision 1370739387), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Héricourt 1474 · 9 km
- Skirmish at Joncherey 1914 · 16 km
- Battle of the Lisaine 1871 · 16 km
- Siege of Lure 1674 · 28 km
- Capture of Porrentruy 1792 · 29 km
- Battle of Hartmannswillerkopf 1915 · 33 km
Other battles of the Franco-Prussian War
- Battle of Amiens (1870) 1870
- Battle of Bazeilles 1870
- Battle of Beaugency (1870) 1870
- Battle of Beaumont 1870
- Battle of Beaune-la-Rolande 1870
- Battle of Bellevue 1870
- Battle of Borny–Colombey 1870
- Battle of Buzancy 1870
- Battle of Buzenval (1870) 1870
- Battle of Chevilly 1870
All 47 battles of the Franco-Prussian War →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · 19th century battles