On the 14th of December 14, 1870, Tevis was granted the provisional rank of Brigade General and placed in command of General Camille Cremer's division's 2nd Brigade attached to the Armée de l'Est. Tevis's command included Francs-tireurs and Garde Mobile. Tevis's brigade fought in several battles of the war where he was wounded at the Battle of the Lisaine concluding with the Battle of Chenebier in January 1871 where the French troops under their General Charles-Denis Bourbaki marched into Switzerland and were interned. General Tevis became a French citizen in January 1871 and was made a Chevalier in the Legion of Honor