Time Astra

Schematic plan · World War I (Western Front 1914)

Alsace-Lorraine II

All battlesInvasion of Lorraine: engagement 2 of 2The event in the chronicleWikipedia
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.
Rolling, Mixed groundCentreCentreLeft wingRight wingLeft wingRight wingReserveReserve010 km20 kmN

One of the 2 engagements of the Invasion of Lorraine recorded in the CAA Database of Battles (number 2 in date order). Germany (Ger 6th & 7th Armies, 350,000 men under Gen Moltke) attacked France (Fr 1st & 2nd Armies & Army of Alsace, 400,000 men under Gen Joffre) in Germany and France. The CAA Database of Battles records 24 hours of fighting on a front of 225 km, a frontal attack against hasty defense and fortified defense, and that Germany won. Losses: Germany 11,000 (3%), France 21,780 (5%).

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

Gen Moltke

UnitArmMen
Germany left wingInfantry84,000
Germany centreInfantry112,000
Germany right wingInfantry84,000
Germany reserveInfantry70,000
Gen MoltkeCommander—
In this plan350,000

France

Gen Joffre

UnitArmMen
France left wingInfantry96,000
France centreInfantry128,000
France right wingInfantry96,000
France reserveInfantry80,000
Gen JoffreCommander—
In this plan400,000

What the sources report

GermanyFrance
Strength, this plan350,000400,000
Losses, this plan11,00021,780

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 263, “Alsace-Lorraine Ii”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
24 hours
Winner
the attacker
Terrain
Rolling, Mixed
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Summer, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense, Fortified defense
Front width
225 km (attacker), 225 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Germanyattacker350,00011,0000—Frontal attack; Penetration; Pursued
Francedefender400,00021,7800—Defensive plan; Withdrew

Attacker’s advantages none recorded

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.