Siege of Belfort

Infobox Military Conflict


caption=
partof=the Franco-Prussian War
conflict=Siege of Belfort
date=3 November, 1870-18 February, 1871
place=Belfort, France
result=Indecisive
combatant1=
combatant2=flagicon|France France
commander1=Udo von Tresckow
commander2=Pierre Philippe Denfert-RochereauPOW
strength1=
strength2=17,700
casualties1=2,000 total
casualties2=4,700 killed and wounded,
13,000 surrendered,
336 civilian|

The Siege of Belfort was a lengthy siege during the Franco-Prussian War. The garrison held out until the armistice between France and the German Empire.

The fall of Strasbourg on September 28 allowed the German army under August von Werder to move south against the city Belfort. Upon hearing of the approaching German army, Pierre Philippe Denfert-Rochereau, commander of Belfort, began constructing fortifications around the city. Werder's forces reached Belfort and invested the city on November 3. The French offered stubborn resistance and the Germans could not complete an effective encirclement of the city.

General Charles Denis Bourbaki assembled an army intending to relieve Belfort. On January 15, 1871 Bourbaki attacked Werder along the Lisaine River and after a three day battle was repulsed and his army retreated into Switzerland. German forces grew impatient with the length of the siege and on January 27 General von Tresckow launched an attack on the city which was repulsed and the siege operations resumed.

On February 15 an armistice had been signed between France and Germany. Louis Adolphe Thiers, president of the Government of National Defense sent an urgent message to Denfert-Rochereau ordering him to surrender the fortress. On February 18 the Belfort garrison marched out of the city and surrendered to the Germans.

ources

*Howard, Michael "The Franco Prussian War" ISBN 0-415-26671-8