The Charge of Cuirassiers at Rezonville, 1870 (colour litho)

The Charge of Cuirassiers at Rezonville, 1870. The charge of the 7th Prussian Cuirassiers was one of the heroic incidents of the battle of Rezonville, on 16 August 1870. On reaching the summit of a hill which screened them from the French, they were ordered to charge in line formation. A storm of bullets swept through them before the line was complete, but undaunted they charged the infantry and artillery, 1,200 yards in advance. They swept right through the French, but when the latter had recovered from the sudden onslaught, they turned and fired into the Cuirassiers, whilst French cavalry charged them on their flank. Illustration for Hutchinson's History of the Nations (Hutchinson, c.1920).