Battle of Gravelotte The Battle of Gravelotte ( 18 August 1870 ) was a battle of the Franco - Prussian War named after Gravelotte , a village in Lorraine between Metz and the former French – German frontier . Terrain and armies . The conflict was between the Prussians under King William of Prussia and the French under Marshal Bazaine . The battlefield extends from the woods that border the Moselle above Metz to Roncourt , near the river Orne . Other villages which played an important part in the battle of Gravelotte were Saint Privat , Amanweiler or Amanvillers and Sainte - Marie - aux - Chênes , all lying to the north of Gravelotte . The Battle of Gravelotte , or Gravelotte - St . Privat , was the largest battle during the Franco - Prussian War . It was fought about six miles west of Metz , Lorraine , France where the Prussians , having on the previous day intercepted the French army ' s retreat to the west at the Battle of Mars - la - Tour , now closed in to complete the destruction of the French forces . The combined German forces , under Field Marshal von Moltke , were the Prussian First and Second Armies of the North German Confederation numbering about 210 infantry battalions , 133 cavalry squadrons , and 732 heavy cannons totaling 188 , 332 officers and men . The French Army of the Rhine , commanded by Marshal Bazaine , numbering about 183 infantry battalions and 104 cavalry squadrons , backed by 520 heavy cannons , totaling 112 , 800 officers and men , dug in along high ground with their southern left flank at the town of Rozerieulles , and their northern right flank at St . Privat . The battle . On 18 August 1870 , the battle began when at 08 : 00 Moltke ordered the First and Second Armies to advance against the French positions . By 12 : 00 General Manstein opened up the battle before the village of Amanvillers with artillery from the 25th Infantry Division . But the French had spent the night and early morning digging trenches and rifle pits while placing their artillery and their " mitrailleuse s " , a forerunner of machine gun s , in concealed positions . The French , finally aware of the Prussian advance , opened up a massive return fire against the mass of advancing Germans . The battle at first appeared to favor the French , for they had better rifles , the " Chassepot " , an early bolt - action rifle replacing the musket with a range of over 1 , 500 yards , far superior to the Prussian Dreyse bolt - action rifle , also called the needle gun , which had a range of only 600 yards . However , the Prussian artillery was superior for they had the all - steel Krupp breech - loading gun , which was to shape the future of artillery on the battlefield . By 14 : 30 , General Steinmetz , the commander of the First Army , unilaterally launched his VIII Corps across the Mance Ravine in which the Prussian infantry were soon pinned down by murderous rifle and mitrailleuse fire from the French positions . At 15 : 00 , the massed guns of the Prussian VII and VIII Corps opened fire to support the attack . But by 16 : 00 , with the attack in danger of stalling , Steinmetz ordered the VII Corps forward , followed by the 1st Cavalry Division . By 16 : 50 , with the Prussian southern attacks in danger of breaking up , the Prussian 3rd Guards Infantry Brigade of the Second Army opened an attack against the French positions at St . Privat which were commanded by General Canrobert . At 17 : 15 , the Prussian 4th Guards Infantry Brigade joined the advance followed at 17 : 45 by the Prussian 1st Guards Infantry Brigade . All of the Prussian Guards ' attacks too were pinned down by lethal French fire from the rifle pits and trenches . At 18 : 15 the Prussian 2nd Guard Infantry Brigade , the last brigade of the two Prussian Guards Infantry Divisions of the Guards Corps , was committed to the attack on St . Privat , while Steinmetz committed the last of the reserves of the First Army across the Mance Ravine . By 18 : 30 , a considerable portion of the VII and VIII Corps disengaged from the fighting and withdrew towards the Prussian positions at Rezonville . With the defeat of the First Army , Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia ordered a massed artillery attack against Canrobert ' s position at St . Privat to prevent the Guards ' attack from failing too . At 19 : 00 the 3rd Division of Fransecky ' s II Corps of the Second Army advanced across Ravine while the XII Corps cleared out the nearby town of Roncourt and with the survivors of the two Guard Infantry Divisions launched a fresh attack against the ruins of St . Privat . At 20 : 00 , the arrival of the Prussian 4th Infantry Division of the II Corps and with the Prussian right flank on Mance Ravine , the line stabilized . By then , the Prussians of the Guards Corps and the XII and II Corps captured St . Privat with von Prittwitz ' s battery being the first ones to arrive there , forcing the decimated French forces to withdraw . With the Prussians exhausted from the fighting , the French were now able to mount a counter - attack . But then General Bourbaki refused to commit the reserves of the French Old Guard to the battle because he considered it a defeat . By 22 : 00 , firing largely died down across the battlefield for the night . The next morning , the French Army of the Rhine , rather than resume the battle with an attack of its own against the battle - weary German armies , actually retreated to Metz where they were besieged and forced to surrender two months later ( see Siege of Metz ) . Outcome . The casualties were severe , especially for the attacking Prussian forces . Casualties for the Prussians were 20 , 163 troops killed , wounded or missing in action during the 18 August battle . The French losses were 7 , 855 killed and wounded along with 4 , 420 prisoners of war ( half of these were wounded ) , for a total of 12 , 275 . While most of the Prussians fell under the French Chassepot rifle , most French fell under the Prussian Krupp shells . In a breakdown of the casualties , Frossard ' s II Corps of the Army of the Rhine suffered 621 casualties while inflicting 4 , 300 casualties on the Prussian First Army under Steinmetz before the Pointe du Jour . Losses of the Prussian Guards Corps were even more staggering , with 8 , 000 casualties out of 18 , 000 men . The Guards Jäger Battalion lost 19 officers , a surgeon and 431 men killed , wounded , or missing out of a total of 700 . The 2nd Guards Infantry Brigade lost 39 officers and 1 , 076 men . The 3rd Guards Infantry Brigade lost 36 officers and 1 , 060 men . On the French side , the units holding St . Privat lost more than half their number in the village . Still , the battle was a Prussian strategic victory in that it succeeded in blocking Bazaine ' s way to Verdun . In short time the Prussians trapped Bazaine in the city and the siege of Metz ensued .