Time Astra

Schematic plan · Franco-Prussian War

Battle of Spicheren

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A schematic plan, generated from the statistics of the CAA Database of Battles: the armies' size and width, the hours of fighting, the plan of attack and the outcome are as recorded; the ground and the positions are not.
Rugged, Heavily wooded groundCentreLeft wingRight wingCentreReserveLeft wingRight wingReserveHorseHorseHorseHorseGuns02 km4 kmN

Germany (Ger 1st Army(+), 42,000 men under Steinmetz) attacked France (Fr 2nd Corps, 28,000 men under Frossard) in France. The CAA Database of Battles records 13 hours of fighting on a front of 6 km, a frontal attack, double envelopment against hasty defense and prepared defense, and that Germany won. Losses: Germany 4,900 (12%), France 3,100 (11%).

This plan is generated from those figures. It shows the shape of the battle the database describes: the size and width of the armies, the plan of attack and the outcome. It does not show where the units actually stood.

The armies

Germany

Steinmetz

UnitArmMen
Germany left wingInfantry8,611
Germany centreInfantry11,482
Germany right wingInfantry8,611
Germany reserveInfantry7,176
Germany cavalry of the leftCavalry2,250
Germany cavalry of the rightCavalry2,250
Germany artillery (108 guns)Artillery1,620
SteinmetzCommander—
In this plan42,000

France

Frossard

UnitArmMen
France left wingInfantry5,556
France centreInfantry7,408
France right wingInfantry5,556
France reserveInfantry4,630
France cavalry of the leftCavalry1,750
France cavalry of the rightCavalry1,750
France artillery (90 guns)Artillery1,350
FrossardCommander—
In this plan28,000

What the sources report

GermanyFrance
Strength, this plan42,00028,000
Losses, this plan4,9003,100

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 222, “Spichern”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
13 hours
Winner
the attacker
Terrain
Rugged, Heavily wooded
Weather
Wet, Light precipitation, Temperate, Summer, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense, Prepared defense
Front width
6 km (attacker), 2.5 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Germanyattacker42,0004,9004,500108Frontal attack; Double envelopment; Penetration; Pursued
Francedefender28,0003,1003,50090Defensive plan; Withdrew

Attacker’s advantages initiative +1

CDB90 (US Army Concepts Analysis Agency, 1990), tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold; data under ODC-BY 1.0.

Notes

On this reconstruction

Generated automatically from the statistics in CDB90. Frontages, depths, distances, the order of events and the terrain are schematic: they follow the recorded strengths, front widths, hours of fighting, tactical plan and outcome, not maps or accounts of the battle. The sources give no hours; the timing is conjectural.

Sources

Facts gathered from Wikidata (CC0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikimedia Commons (licence per file); the plan and its text are timeastra’s own.