page_title: Battle of Wörth
section_title: French cavalry
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Wörth / Battle / French cavalry
caption_attribution_description: La charge du 9e régiment de Cuirassiers à Morsbronn
context_page_description: The Battle of Wörth, also known as the Battle of Reichshoffen or as the Battle of Frœschwiller, refers to the second battle of Wörth, which took place on 6 August 1870 in the opening stages of the Franco-Prussian War. In the second battle, troops from Germany commanded by Crown Prince Frederick and directed by his Chief of Staff, General Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal, defeated the French under Marshal MacMahon near the village of Wœrth in Alsace, on the Sauer River, 10 kilometres north of Haguenau.
context_section_description: To cover the French retreat General Michel's brigade of cavalry was ordered to charge. The order was somewhat vague, and in his position under cover near Eberbach-Seltz, General Michel had no knowledge of the actual situation. Thus it came about that, without reconnoitering or manoeuvering for position, the French cavalry rode straight at the first objective which offered itself, and struck the victorious Prussians as they were crossing the hills between the Albrechtshäuserhof and Morsbronn. Hence the charge was costly and only partly successful. However, the Prussians were ridden down here and there, and their attention was sufficiently absorbed while the French infantry rallied for a fresh counterstrike. This was made about 13:20 h. The Prussians were driven off the hillsides between the Albrechtshäuserhof and Morsbronn which they had already won. But the counter-attack turned into disaster when 700 French cuirassiers were trapped inside Morsbronn and massacred within a few minutes by rapid close-range fire. The rest of the French cavalry eventually came under fire from the great artillery mass above Gunstett; von Bose having at length concentrated the main body of the XI corps in the meadows between the Niederwald and the Sauer, the French had to withdraw. Their withdrawal involved the retreat of the troops who had fought all day in defence of the Niederwald.
caption: French 9th Cuirassiers trapped in Morsbronn-les-Bains.
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