Volume 51 from the "From Musket to Maxim 1815-1914" series. This book recounts the last-ditch National Defense government attempt to turn the outcome of the Franco-Prussian War when Léon Gambetta led the Army of the East under General Charles Bourbaki, former commander of the Imperial Guard, into southeastern France in a desperate attack on the German lines of communication. The plan was that, after brushing aside the opposing forces, the Army of the East would turn north and help liberate Paris. It faced the German XIV Corps, which, after the fall of Strasbourg, had been ordered to overrun Alsace, besiege Belfort and take Dijon. There it met and finally defeated the corps of Giuseppe Garibaldi, who had volunteered to fight for France after the fall of the Second Empire. The French outnumbered them, but they moved too slowly. A bitter battle took place at Villersexel, but Bourbaki was unable to prevent Werder from taking up a position along the frozen Lisaine River to cover the siege of Belfort. On January 16, 1871, Bourbaki attacked. For three days, in terrible weather, the French tried to break through the German line, but were finally forced to retreat. Threatened by a new army that Moltke had set up under the name of the Southern Army under General Edwin von Manteuffel, the French initially retreated to the fortress of Besançon. When the pressure continued, they retreated further south towards the Swiss border. In his despair, Bourbaki tried to take his own life, but failed, although he was seriously wounded. His successor had no choice but to lead the defeated army into Switzerland, where it was interned.
