Battle of Buchy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Battle of Buchy | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Franco-Prussian War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 French Republic | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Guillaume Briand[4] |
 August Karl von Goeben[5] | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Garde Mobile | VIII Corps | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 12,000 – 13,000 troops of the Garde Mobile, 12,000 military reconnaissance Eclaireurs, 1 marine corps[3] | 25,000 – 30,000 infantry | ||||||
| 25 – 30 artillery | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| "Heavy casualties", 400 people captured[5] | Unknown | ||||||
The Battle of Buchy[6][7] was fought during the Franco-Prussian War,[5] on 4 December 1870,[1] at Buchy, Seine-Maritime, France.[2] During the battle, the VIII Corps of the Prussian Army, under the command of General of the Infantry August Karl von Goeben,[5] suddenly attacked and defeated a French force under the command of General de Brigade Guillaume Briand.[4][3] The French suffered heavy losses. After their victory at Buchy, German troops captured Rouen.[5]
After capturing Amiens at the end of November 1870, the commander of the Prussian First Army, Edwin von Manteuffel, continued to march towards Rouen,[4] a city located on the Seine in Normandy.[3] Aiming to attack a French division under the command of General Briand, the First Army marched with VIII Corps on the right flank, through Poix and Forges, and I Corps, on the left, through Breteuil.[4] The French had deployed before Rouen to defend the city, but had not yet finished building up their defenses.[3]
On 2 December, French cavalry sent to scout the Germans discovered the enemy at Forges-les-Eaux and Formiere. Examining the situation, German forces departed for Grandvillers and Gaillefontaine on 3 December. Early in the morning of 4 December, the German VIII Corps descended on Formiere and discovered that the French had abandoned it.[1] Afterward, von Goeben's forces[3] fiercely attacked the French army stationed on the heights of Maquency and Bosc-Bordel, on the way to Rouen. The French were eventually dislodged from their defensive position by the German 15th Infantry Division and had to retreat to the village of Buchy.