I. Size of the Armies
In the Franco-German War of 1870–1, a larger number of troops were assembled within a short time upon the field of battle than in any previous campaign. On the German side 33,101 officers and 1,113,254 men took part in the war; the average number of men in the German field-army was 815,000. The total number of French soldiers under arms is not definitely known; that it was enormous is evident from the fact that the number of prisoners taken (including the garrison in Paris and General Bourbaki’s army) amounted to no less than 21,500 officers and 702,000 men. At certain periods of the war huge bodies of troops were congregated within comparatively narrow limits; at the battle of Gravelotte (August 18, 1870) some 180,000 to 200,000 men faced one another on either side; at the siege of Metz the average size of the German investing army was 240,000 men, while the French army in the city numbered 173,000 men at the time of the capitulation. At the battle of Sedan (September 1, 1870) 124,000 French soldiers were opposed to nearly twice that number of Germans. The garrison in Paris amounted to about 250,000 men, while the German besiegers averaged 240,000 men.