Siege of Metz (1870) 1870
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1870 | Wikidata P585 (point in 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 | 49.1203, 6.1778 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Siege of Metz was a siege fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 19 August to 27 October 1870, and ended in a decisive allied German victory.
The French Army of the Rhine under François Bazaine retreated into the Metz fortress after its defeat by the Germans at the Battle of Gravelotte on 18 August 1870. The fortress was promptly surrounded by German forces under Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia. The French Army of Châlons was sent to relieve the Army of the Rhine but was itself encircled and annihilated by the German armies at the Battle of Sedan on 1–2 September.
Unable to capture the fortress by bombardment or storm, the besieging Germans resorted to starving the French to submission. French attempts to break out ended in defeat at the battles of Noisseville on 31 August – 1 September and Bellevue on 7 October. French food supplies ran out on 20 October and François Achille Bazaine surrendered the fortress and the entire Army of the Rhine, some 193,000 men, into German hands on 27 October.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Metz (1870) (revision 1370743504), 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 Bellevue 1870 · 0 km
- Battle of Metz 1944 · 0 km
- Siege of Metz (1814) 1814 · 0 km
- Siege of Metz (1552) 1553 · 0 km
- Battle of Borny–Colombey 1870 · 6 km
- Battle of Noisseville 1870 · 7 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