Saint-Cyrians killed in the field of honour during the Imperial War of 1870

On 19 July 1870, Napoleon III took the gravest decision of his reign by declaring war on Prussia. From a mere controversy over the succession to the Spanish throne arose a spiral as unexpected as it was catastrophic. In early August, the first French soldiers and officers died on the battlefield. The fortunes of war turned against them immediately, and the army that was supposed to advance into enemy territory found itself defending its own ground against the methodical advance of the enemy. With Alsace lost, it was in Lorraine that the fate of Napoleon III was sealed, after Bazaine's army had shut itself up in Metz and Mac-Mahon's army had been encircled at Sedan on 1 September.

Much has been said about the causes of this imperial war: the ailing emperor, court intrigues, an ineffective Minister of War, the unpreparedness of senior officers… Our aim has been to highlight the fates of the Saint-Cyrians who fell in the field of honour, through a biographical approach but also by means of a group analysis of the individuals. Unable to reconstruct their lives in full, we endeavoured to trace their careers, uncover their origins and understand the circumstances of their deaths. The files of the Légion d'honneur and the Service historique de la Défense, civil register records and the research carried out by the Saint-Cyrienne made it possible to sketch their paths and thus to better know these men and better grasp the dynamics running through this group.

The reader will find, in addition to the biographical dictionary, a synthesis of the campaign that Zola cruelly summed up in a single word: the Débâcle. An historical analysis is also offered to help understand the reasons for the defeat. Royalties will be donated to the UNC Association — Widows and War Orphans.