Here we present different first-hand accounts of the opening skirmishes of the War of 1870, with comments. This passage is a translation from Dr. Georg Hirth's, 'Tagebuch des Deutsch-Franzosischen Krieges 1870-1871', volume I, published in Berlin in 1871 by Stilke & van Muyden

(TRANSLATION)“The little reconnaissance skirmishing of the border which had until today been continuing on a daily basis has now come to an end with a significant engagement. Our troops, at least a great part of them, today stand on French territory. They forced entry into the enemy land with a bold storm and following this first brilliant success will hopefully quickly go on to further victories. This morning around 4 o'clock the army left its bivouac and marched to the border. The operation was to take the strongly fortified Weissenburg Lines. On the right wing stood the Bavarians who first went into action, supported by the batteries Kirchoffer and Bauer; the center was formed the Fifth and Eleventh Prussian army corps which almost simultaneously advanced to the attack. In the middle of the French fortifications on the Geisberg were three light field batteries and one Mitrailleuse battery. This last achieved no wonders, for an officer who knows his business does not without serious cause put his men into the field of fire of this hard-to-maneuver murder-instrument. The old part of town lying on the right was stormed during the first contact, but a tougher and more energetic resistance was put up by the French against the attack on Weissenburg, which was defended with great bravery by the 50th and 74th infantry line regiments as well as by a regiment of Turcos. Only after the 7th King’s Grenadier regiment simultaneously was sent in to attack the middle heights, did the united effort succeed in taking the strong city. During the battle our troops were repeatedly fired upon by the inhabitants of Weissenburg, six dragoons, among others, were wounded in this way. The losses on both sides have not been compiled yet. The King's Grenadiers has lost most of its staff-officers; on the enemy side General Douay and his staff-officer fell. 20 officers and around 800 soldiers were taken prisoner, among them a number of Turcos with brown Arab or black moorish faces."

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Allgemeine Zeitung: “Die Mitrailleuse hat keineswegs den von Französischer Seite erwarteten furchterregenden Eindruck gemacht…Als besonders Nichtwürdig verdient es bemerkt zu werden, dass von den Bürgen Weissenburgs während des Kampfes vielfach auf unsere Truppen geschossen ward. Die Bewohner des Elsasses sind, obschon sie alle mit Fertigkeit Deutsch reden, im Allgemeinen höchst aufgebracht gegen die Deutschen. Ehe sie wussten, dass Bayern mit Preussen Hand in Hand gehen würde, zogen sie vor jedem Pfälzer Bauern den Hut; seit 14 Tagen grüssen sie niemanden mehr.” (613) (617) Kreuz-Zeitung: “Eine kleine glorreiche Affaire. Wir hatten wohl die Uebermacht; aber der Gegner stand in fester Stellung. Die sogennanter Weissenburger Linien und ein weites, militairisch wertvolles Terrain darüber hinaus kam dadurch in unsern Besitz. Und was nicht weniger weth ist: die ganze Affaire ging nach den Dispositionen mit der Sicherheit eines Uhrwerks vor sich; es war zugleich ein Meisterstück des Generalstabes der 3. Armee, und General Blumenthal durfte am Abend nur das Bedauern äussern, dass uns nicht 50,000 Mann, das ganze Corps von Mac Mahon, gegenüber gestanden. So war eine Recognoscirung zu einem glänzenden Gefecht geworden. Die Chassepots schiessen gut, sehr weit, und machen, wenn sie treffen, schwere Wunden; aber das Zündnadelgewehr in den Händen unserer Truppen ist ihnen überlegen. Die Mitrailleusenbatterie hat drei Schuss abgegeben, zu mehr kam's nicht. Eine Granate störte den ganzen Mechanismus.”

(TRANSLATION)“The Mitrailleuse has made nowhere near the frightful impression awaited by the French…Particularly unworthy is to be noted how during the battle the citizens of Weissenburg repeatedly fired on our troops. The inhabitants of Alsace, although they speak German fluently, are in general incensed towards the Germans. Before they learned that Bavaria would go hand in hand with Prussia, they took off their hats before any farmer from the Pfalz; 14 days ago they stopped greeting anybody.” “A small, glorious engagement. We did have the advantage of numbers; but the enemy stood in a strong position. The so-called Weissenburg Lines and a great, militarily valuable territory beyond have thereby become ours. And no less valuable a fact is that the whole operation went according to our dispositions with the sureness of clockwork; it was at the same time a masterpiece of the Third Army’s staff, and General Blumenthal could only express [that] evening the regret that Mac Mahon's entire corps of 50,000 men had not stood opposite. Thus a reconnaissance became a brilliant engagement. The Chassepots shoot well, very far, and when they hit, they inflict severe wounds; but the Needle-Gun in the hands of our troops is superior. The Mitrailleuse battery fired three shots, and that was all. One shell disabled the whole apparatus."

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Aus dem Haupquartier der III Armee, Staats-Anzeiger, (619-620): ”Hier, wo der Feind auf vielfach coupirtem Terrain in bester Deckung stand, und die Truppen, auf die er das meiste Vertrauen setzte, die Turcos, aufgestellt hatte, fiel die Entscheidung des Tages. Das Königs-Regiment erwarb sich durch unübertreffliche Ruhe seines Vorgehens die grösste Auszeichnung. Es suchte sofort die unmittelbare nähe des Gegners. Ohne dass auch nur ein Schuss auf seiner Seite gefallen wäre, stürtzte es sich mit Bajonett-Attake gegen die feindlische Infanterie, die den tapfersten Widerstand leistete. Es kam zu einem furchtbaren Handgemenge, von dessen vernichtendet Kraft der Anblick des Schlachtfeldes Zeugniss ablegt. Das Regiment verlor 10 von seinen Officieren als Todte, 12 als verwundete, das 58., das mit demselben Heldenfeuer vorgedrungen war, 5 Todte und 10 verwundete aus seinem Officiercorps […]Die Franzosen schlugen sich, mit wenigen Ausnahmen, brav und hielten in der Position gut Stand…Was die Infanterie, deren Bataillone in maximo 800 Mann stark waren, betrifft, so eröffnete dieselbe schon auf 1500 Schritt das Feuer; die eigentliche Trefffähigkeit blieb daher dn Zufall überlassen; die Feuerdiziplin steht hiernach der Preussischen unbedingt nach. Die Preussischen Compagnie-Colonnen, sowie das Flankiren der feindlichen Schützen-Aufstellungen haben sich durchaus bewährt. Die Französischen Cavallerie-Escadrons nahmen selbst Attaken von gleich starken Abtheilungen nicht an. Die Preussische Artillerie zeichnete sich der Französischen gegenüber durch langsames, sicheres und erfolgreiches Beschiessen der feindlichen Position aus. Von der einen in Gefechte der verbündeten Armee gegenüber stehenden Mitrailleusen-Batterie, wurden im Ganzen nur 3 Schuss auf 1800 Schritt gegen Artillerie, und zwar ohne Wirkung abgegeben.”

(TRANSLATION) “From the Headquarters of the Third Army, published in the Staatz-Anzeiger: “Here, under strong cover, where the enemy held very uneven terrain, and the troops in which he trusts most, the Turcos, stood, came the decisive action of the day. The King's Grenadier regiment, through the incomparable coolness of its conduct gained the highest distinction. It instantly sought to come to close quarters with the enemy. Without even one shot from our side, with the bayonet it charged the enemy infantry, which resisted with utmost bravery. It came to a frightful hand-to-hand combat, whose terrible fury the devastation of the battlefield can attest to. The regiment lost 10 of officers killed, and 12 wounded, the 58th, which had advanced with the same valor, [lost] 5 dead and 10 wounded from its officers…The French fought, with few exceptions, bravely and held their positions tenaciously…As for the infantry, whose battalions hold a maximum of 800 men, it opened fire already at 1500 paces; the accuracy therefore was a matter of chance; fire discipline is certainly below the Prussian standard. The Prussian company-columns and the outflanking of enemy rifle positions vindicated themselves. The French cavalry squadrons refused to engage in combat, even against formations of equal strength. The Prussian artillery distinguished itself from the French through its slow, sure and successful bombardment of the enemy position. From the single Mitrailleuse battery that was engaged against the allied army only three shots were fired at a range of 1800 paces against artillery, and that, without any effect.”

Commentary:

To be noted are the continuing allusions to the Mitrailleuse, describing it in marginal terms: according to these sources, the weapon fired only three shots at a range of 1800 paces (ca. 1200 metres) at the German artillery, and was silenced by a single shell impact. In this engagement, as at Sarrebourg, it does appear that the Mitrailleuse contributed little, if anything, to French action. Still, in these continuing allusions, it is tempting to see a reflection of a certain concern and apprehension of the Mitrailleuse among the Germans. From a tactical point of view, it is significant that the German infantry immediately sought to close the range on the French, in an apparent attempt to minimize the effect of the Chassepot's advantage in range and accuracy vis a vis the Dreyse. The different accounts concede the superior range and accuracy of the Chassepot, and also allude to the very damaging effects of its high-velocity fire; at the same time, they stress the superiority of Prussian fire-discipline--meaning that the Prussian soldiers were trained to reserve their fire until they came into what was deemed effective range for the Dreyse, a distance of around 500 paces. Given the defficiencies of their weapon and, especially, the fact that they were attacking and therefore in movement (which made effective shooting illusory), reserving fire was a sound tactic for the Prussians. In a strange way, they thus found themselves replicating the French tactics of 1859: elan, audacity, headlong rushes, heedlessness of losses.