Battle of Kulmier

On November 8, at around noon, German troops, stationed near Orleans, received information about an attack on this city by the Loire army, whose advanced troops were already at Bardon and Sharsonville.

It was not profitable to take the battle under Orleans itself, since the vast outskirts of the city with the vineyards necessitated the division of the already small infantry and interfered with the action of other branches of the military. Occupation by the Germans of positions in some distance to the west of the city excluded, by the properties of the area, the possibility of a simultaneous attack of the French from the south and east, and in the event of an unfavorable outcome of the battle, the Germans opened the way to the north. On this basis, General Ludwig von der Tann , commander of the 1st Bavarian Corps, concentrated his troops near Kulmier by the morning of November 9: the 2nd Infantry Division on the Rosier-Monpipo line with forward units in Kulmier; The 1st Infantry Division is behind the Decure on both sides of the Orme-Kulmier road; artillery reserve between Ormes and Le Bar; 2nd Cavalry Division, Lieutenant General Count Stolberg, povrigadno, at S.-Sigismund, Kummier and Bacon; Bavarian Cuirassiers brigade - at S.-Peravi (to protect the right flank) ^[1] .

Meanwhile, the Loire army of General Louis d'Oréal de Paladin on November 9 came from the west in the general direction from the Marshenoir forest to Orleans; XV Corps along the Loire River with its left wing on La Renardier, XVI and the general cavalry Reyo - north of Culmier, in order to cut off the Germans, the main mass of which he considered to be in Orleans, the retreat to the north ^[1] .

Upon receiving news of the French offensive, von der Tann sent the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Division south at 9:00 am to Prefor-Chateau, and since the fighting units of Bacon had already started at that time, the 1st Brigade 1 Division 2 - to Renardiere. The rest of the corps assembled in Kulmier and behind it in order to strike the French wing in the left wing if they lead the offensive across the Mov creek. The cavalry of the right wing received orders to reach for Kulmye ^[1] .

When the enveloping movement of significant enemy forces was then discovered by the left wing north of the Orme - Kulmier - Epière road, Tann ordered the 3rd brigade to move to Renardiere, on the left flank of the 4th brigade, and advanced the 2nd brigade from the reserve in order to lengthen the right wing north to Shang. However, the 1st and 4th Brigades were attacked at Kulmier and Renardier by units of the XV and XVI French corps; therefore, their movement from Bacon and La Riviera became dangerous ^[1] .

The cavalry corps of Reijo, who was moving towards Shang, apparently had the intention to attack the considerably weaker Bavarian Cuirassier brigade, but after a 2-hour cannonade retreated westward to Prenuvelon ^[1] .

The 2nd brigade of von Orff, arriving at Shan, engaged in battle with the French brigade of Deplanka (Zhoregiberi division) and held her back. However, the 1st brigade, having before it superior forces, about two o'clock in the afternoon, after a three-hour battle, clean up Renardier; The 3rd Brigade, returned from Prefor-Chateau, approached Monpipe and from here supported the 4th, which the French attacked at Kummie ^[1] .

At around 3:00 pm, Barry’s (16th Corps) battalion offensive division was held back by artillery fire and repeated attacks by the 5th Cavalry Brigade, but then, when the D'Ary Brigade (XV Corps) launched against the park south of Culmier, von der Tann at 16: 00 decided to stop the fight and ordered from the left flank to retreat to the north-east towards Artenay from the left flank. Under the cover of the brigade of Orff, which firmly restrained the advance of the French, the 4th brigade withdrew from Kulmie through Gemini and S.-Peravi and the 1st brigade from Monpipo to Cuence; The 3rd Brigade, assigned to the rearguard , covered the retreat. The carts were sent the night before and reached Artenay only on the morning of November 10 ^[1] .

Thus, Orleans was lost by the Germans. The Germans are indebted to the hesitant actions of the French and the weak tactical training of their corps, already formed during the war after the Sedan catastrophe ^[1] .

Losses, according to "VES", amounted to: the Germans - 47 officers and 736 lower ranks; the French - 57 and 1543 respectively. In German Wikipedia it is said that the Germans lost 1,112 soldiers and 54 officers, while the losses of the French amounted to about 1,500 people.

There was no pursuit, General d'Aruell confined himself to the occupation of Orleans, entrenched in that, he awaited the arrival of reinforcements. General L. von der Tann departed to Turi (35 miles north of Orleans) and settled there.

Despite the call of Leon Gambetta to develop success, Louis d'Orel de Paladin did not want to leave Orleans, citing the fact that the troops need a rest.

Despite the fact that due to the seizure of strategically important territories, it is believed that the French defeated the Prussians during Kulmye, we must not forget that the French, having more than threefold superiority in the number of troops, suffered significantly greater losses during the battle than the "defeated". In addition, the victory was not fully utilized, and ultimately the German troops soon re-captured Orleans.

• German-French War of 1870–71, comp. whist. Dep. great gene. pieces, trans. by ed. gene. Sukhotina, St. Petersburg., 1890.
• Général d'Aurelle de Paladines, La première armée de La Loire. Campagne de 1870–71, Paris, 1872.
• Maurice Bois, Sur La Loire. Batailles et Combats, Paris, 1888; G. A., Le blocus de Paris et La première armée de La Loire. Coulmiers et ses Suites, Paris, 1890.