3-039-003 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The sortie from Paris, Jan. 19: view from the Prussian left, at Louveciennes, 1871. Franco-Prussian War: 'The last great sortie of the garrison of Paris...took place on Thursday, 19th January, among the suburban villages beyond Mont Valérien, on the west bank of the Seine...[Our illustration] presents a general view of the localities comprised in a part of the battle-field on that day, which was decisive for the fate of Paris. The point of view occupied...was near the Marly Aqueduct, close to the village of Louveciennes...It was over this ground that General Ducrot led the right wing of the French army to gain the wooded heights west of the park of Buzenval. But he arrived too late...The troops of Ducrot...waited some hours for the artillery to be brought round by the St. Germain railway, via Asnières. This delay was fatal...Ducrot himself was stopped by the fire of the Prussian batteries on the other side of the river, shown to the left hand...the Prussians in force attacked the French left and centre, which were driven back...The redoubt of Montretout was recaptured by the Germans'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.