Auftragstaktik: The Basis For Modern Military Command by Michael J. Gunther

Author:Michael J. Gunther [Gunther, Michael J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tannenberg Publishing
Published: 2015-11-06T00:00:00+00:00

Figure 8. The Battle of Mars-la-Tour

Source: Created by author.

However, at 1400, Alvensleben found his corps in a precarious position. With all of reserves already committed and the closest Prussian unit an hour away, he planned the withdrawal of his forces. He received reports that the French cavalry, supported by the VI Corps artillery, was massing to counterattack his 6th Infantry Division. Alvensleben, hoping to deceive Bazaine as to his true strength, ordered the 12th Cavalry Division, to charge the French artillery. This cavalry charge, under the command of Maj. Gen. Friedrich Wilhelm von Bredow, gained immediate fame in the Prussian Army as an example of bravery, sacrifice, and duty in the face of a superior enemy. The 7th Cuirassiers, 16th Uhlans, and 19th Dragoons, charged nearly 1,000 meters into the French guns. Their advance scattered the French gunners, and the panicked infantry guarding the guns fired into the French cavalry as they prepared to countercharge.{78} The brigade lost 420 of the 800 cavalrymen that made the charge, including Chancellor Bismarck’s son. Alvensleben’s deception succeeded.{79} As the Prussian infantry closed the distance between the two lines in the early twilight, the advance set off a general panic in the French VI Corps.

The Prussians won a significant, albeit costly, victory, at Mars-la-Tour. Symbolically, the Prussians possessed the battlefield after the French finished their withdrawal back in the direction of Metz. The true victory, however, was not immediately apparent. Strategically the battle was clearly a Prussian victory because Alvensleben had delayed the French withdrawal long enough for the Prussians to block the road to Verdun. The casualties on both sides were nearly equal, 15,590 Prussians, including nearly 7,000 soldier’s from Alvensleben’s III Corps, to 16,128 French.{80} General Verdy, a member of Moltke’s general staff, recognized that the Prussians needed to capitalize on the initiative gained with so much blood by continuing the attack as soon as possible.{81}

Two days later, the Prussian and French armies fought a significantly different battle on nearly the same ground. The Battle of Gravelotte-St. Privat differed from the previous battles simply because both armies massed the majority of their forces for the first time. When the smoke cleared on the battlefield that night, over 188,300 Germans and 112,800 French soldiers had fought head-to-head in the largest battle of the Franco-Prussian War.{82} Moltke still wanted the Prussian army to execute an envelopment of Bazaine’s army in vicinity of Metz, while Bazaine tried to consolidate his position for a chance to breakout to the west. However, the Prussians lacked a good intelligence on want they faced. Most of the cavalry was still reorganizing after the Battle of Mars-la-Tour and had no conducted significant reconnaissance to find Bazaine’s army. As a result, Moltke and the entire Prussian army entered the Battle of Gravelotte blind.

The Prussian orders of the day followed the pattern set in the earlier battles. Moltke’s original orders called for the First and Second Armies to identify the French flanks and to attack once they were identified. Prince Frederick Karl’s

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