Recalled to active duty at the outbreak of war in 1870, the academy president was given command of a division under Marshal Patrice de Mac-Mahon at the frontline, and on the first day of the first battle of the war, Abel Douay was killed in combat, hit by an artillery explosion. The subsequent Battle of Wissembourg (4 August 1870) proved a disaster for the French. Demoralized by the loss of their commander, Douay's outnumbered division fell back. By the end of the month, a crushing loss at the Battle of Sedan eliminated Mac-Mahon's entire army and, with it, the Second French Empire.