Battle of Bazeilles The Battle of Bazeilles was fought on 1 September 1870 . It was part of the larger Battle of Sedan during the Franco - Prussian War and was one of the first occurrences of modern urban warfare . The battle took place in Bazeilles , France , a small village in the Ardennes department near Sedan and involved a force of Bavarian soldiers pitched in battle against French marines and partisans . The battle was , in effect , an ambush of a force of Bavarians ( who were allies of the Prussians ) , by a small detachment of the " Blue Division " " Troupes de marine " ( also known as " marsouins " ) , under the command of General de Vassoigne . Marsouin snipers , along with local guerrillas , fired on the Bavarians using quick - firing Chassepot breech - loading rifles . Although outnumbered ten to one , the French held the village until Napoleon III gave orders to withdraw . A small group under commander Arsene Lambert remained in the last house on the road to Sedan , the " Auberge Bourgerie " , fighting to the last bullet in order to cover the retreat . After 7 hours of conflict , the Bavarians took the village . They captured Francs - tireurs partisans who , along with other civilians , were considered unlawful combatants . These men were then executed . Later the same day , France suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Sedan , where Napoleon III was captured along with his army . Coupled with the loss of another French army at Metz , these events effectively ended Napoleon III ' s Empire , ushering in the Third Republic . People of the new Republic saw continued partisan warfare for several months . General de Vassoigne famously remarked about the French soldiers involved in the battle , stating that " The troupes de marine fought beyond the extreme limits of duty . " The anniversary of the Battle of Bazeilles , and specifically the defense of the last house on the road to Sedan , is now celebrated by the " Troupes de marine " as an identity building event . The Battle . The Bavarian vanguard having prevented the demolition of the railroad bridge south of Bazeilles the previous day had encountered fierce resistance in their pursuit of the retreating French . By the evening they retired to the bridgehead north of the Meuse . The following night , the French army garrisoned Bazeilles with infantry and Marines of the " Blue Division " . Orders were passed to defend the town to the last shot . Roads were blocked and the houses were loopholed and fortified for defense . On the morning of 1 September at 4am , General Ludwig von der Tann - Rathsamhausen , commander of the First Royal Bavarian Army Corps , may have acted rashly out of personal ambition when he ordered his troops forward to attack Bazeilles . The Chief of Prussian General Staff Helmuth von Moltke , in overall command , was elsewhere leading troops . Due to poor light and visibility the Bavarian units quickly suffered heavy casualties during the attack . Continued troop reinforcements resulted in the 1st and 2nd divisions being engaged by 9am . At 11am the French began to withdraw as the line between Bazeilles and Sedan could be held no longer . During the fighting at Bazeilles , some civilians were killed and numerous houses were burned . In response , angered citizens fought back by hiding in basements and firing at the advancing troops . Some of these armed civilians were later arrested and executed as illegal combatants by the Bavarians . Losses and Reactions . The French army lost 2655 soldiers . The Bavarian army suffered the loss of 213 officers and 3876 men . French propaganda showed massacres of men , women and children . However , an official French investigation found that only 39 people from Bazeilles died during the fighting . A further 150 people ( 10 % of the population ) died from injuries in the subsequent months . The battle for Bazeilles was a dark day for the Bavarian army ; the Germans however deemed it " A bloody contribution to the Bavarian military honour , an honourable putty for German unity . " For many military artists and illustrators of the late 19th Century , the struggle for Bazeilles was a popular motif . Michael Zeno Diemer described it in 1896 , resulting in a Panorama depicting the struggle for Bazeilles . It was shown in a building in Mannheim . Also , Anton von Werner mentioned it in his 1883 Sedan panorama on Alexanderplatz in Berlin . The painters Otto von Faber du Faur , Friedrich Bodenmüller , Franz Adam , Carl Röchling , Richard Knötel , and the Frenchman Alphonse de Neuville all created Bazeilles representations .