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The charges of the Cuirassiers at Wörth 6th of August 1870 recall those of Waterloo in desperate courage and recklessness. Marshall MacMahon had with him, on this occasion, the Cavalry division of the 1st Corps d Armee and 2nd Division of Cavalry Reserve. The former, Commanded by General Duhesne, consisted of three brigades, the 3rd of wich, under Gereral Michel was composed of 8th and 9th Cuirassiers. The 2nd Division of Cavalry Reserve, commanded by General Viscount de Bonnemins. At six a oclock on the following morning the battle of Wörth opened with a desultory artillery fire. The Cuirassiers immediately took up their positions, the Michel Brigade on the plateau before Eberbach, the Bonnemains Divisition before the woods of Elsasshausen and Froschwiller. By 11 oclock the French attacked by more than double their own strength, began to lose ground, and Marshal MacMahonwas forced to call his reserves into action. A desperate attampt was made at the same time by General de Lartigue to capture the village of Gunstett, which the Marshal had neglected to occupy early in the action. Crossing the river Sauer with his Infantry.
Read more in the Tradition Magazine no.32