The Battle of Mars-la-Tour was fought on 16 August 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, near the village of Mars-La-Tour in northeast France. One Prussian corps, reinforced by two more later in the day, encountered the entire French Army of the Rhine in a meeting engagement and, following the course of battle, the Army of the Rhine retreated toward the fortress of Metz.
Heinrich XVII, Prince Reuß, on the side of the 5th Squadron I Guards Dragoon Regiment at Mars-la-Tour, 16 August 1870. Emil Hünten, 1902.
La ligne de feu, 16 août 1870 by Pierre-Georges Jeanniot (1886). French infantry at the battle of Mars-la-Tour.
The 4th Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 72 storming Maison Blanche in front of Rezonville on 16 August 1870.
Grenadiers of the French Imperial Guard. Detail from Édouard Detaille's painting of the battle of Rezonville.
The Army of the Rhine was a French military unit that fought in the Franco-Prussian War. It was created after the declaration of war on July 18 1870.
Commander of the Army, Marshal Bazaine
Napoleon III, first commander-in-chief of the Army of the Rhin.
Général Bourbaki, commander of the Imperial Guard.
Detachment of the grenadiers of the Imperial Guard at Rezonville (painting of Édouard Detaille - 1870).
