Battle of Loigny–Poupry

Battle of Loigny–Poupry
Part of the Franco–Prussian War
Hugo von Kottwitz with the Lübecker Bataillon
Date 2 December 1870 Location Loigny-la-Bataille, France Result German victory
Belligerents
North German Confederation Bavaria	France
Commanders and leaders
Friedrich Franz II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin	Antoine Chanzy
Strength
35,000	45,000
Casualties and losses
4,139	6,000–7,000 3,500–4,500 killed or wounded 2,500 captured

The Battle of Loigny–Poupry was a battle of the Franco–Prussian War. It took place on 2 December 1870 during the Loire Campaign near the town of Loigny. An army detachment (Armee-Abteilung) under the command of Friedrich Franz II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, engaged the French Army of the Loire and defeated them.

The French force was led by General Gaston de Sonis, an experienced cavalry commander. His core troops (about 300) comprised a mixture of Saraphis and Zouaves. Their support troops (the 51st Foot, a largely untrained motley group of conscripts) fell back, leaving de Sonis to make a stand, which he and his Zouaves and Saraphis did.

Sources

• Loigny–Poupry, Battle of
• The Orleans Campaign of 1870 from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
• History of the Franco–Prussian War
• A Soldier's Message by DCN, Comet Press, 1958