The Army of Châlons was a French military formation that fought during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Formed in the camp of Châlons on August 17, 1870, from elements of the Army of the Rhine which the formation was issued from, the Army of Châlons was engaged in combats of Beaumont and Sedan while disappearing during the capitulation of September 2, 1870.
Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Marshal MacMahon
March on Sedan of the Army of Châlons
Général Wimpffen, commander-in-chief of the Army of Châlons at Sedan.
Général Forgeot, commander of the artillery.
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871, the conflict was caused primarily by France's determination to reassert its dominant position in continental Europe, which appeared in question following the decisive Prussian victory over Austria in 1866. According to some historians, Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck deliberately provoked the French into declaring war on Prussia in order to induce four independent southern German states—Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse-Darmstadt—to join the North German Confederation; other historians contend that Bismarck exploited the circumstances as they unfolded. All agree that Bismarck recognized the potential for new German alliances, given the situation as a whole.
(clockwise from top right) Battle of Mars-la-Tour, 16 August 1870 The Lauenburg 9th Jäger Battalion at Gravelotte The Last Cartridges The Defense of Champigny The Siege of Paris in 1870 The Proclamation of the German Empire
French soldiers drill at IIe Chambrière camp near Metz, 1870
Prussian field artillery column at Torcy in September 1870
Bavarian infantry at the Battle of Wissembourg, 1870