Lion of Belfort, France

The city of Belfort sits at a the southern end of the French province of Alsace, near the common border between France, Germany and Switzerland. Belfort occupies an important strategic position, at a pass through the Jura mountains. Belfort was ceded to France in the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. The French fortification architect Vauban designed modern fortifications for the city.

Remnants of Vauban's 17th century fortifications.

Map highlights Vauban's distinctive star shaped fortress designs.

This map of Belfort highlights the city's strategic importance. The city lies in a valley, through which any invading force from Germany must pass. At the end of the valley lies the mountain and fortress of Belfort

At the head of the valley is a high limestone ridge. Vauban added fortifications to protect its base. A barracks was placed at the top of the ridge. In 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War, the Prussian army assaulted the Belfort fortress but were unable to capture it. The garrison held out for 103 days, frustrating Prussian plans. However, following the French defeat in 1871 and the eventual armistice, the garrison was ordered to evacuate the city on 18th February 1871. While the rest of Alsace was ceded to Germany, Belfort remained a French possession.

Belfort town is filled with belle-epoch architecture.

The city was undergoing a substantial restoration when we visited in 2013.

The concert hall

Statues commemorating the defense of Belfort in 1870-71.

The gateway into the Vauban fortress

In honour of the garrison's resistance, a monumental sculpture "The Lion of Belfort" was constructed on the face of the limestone ridge. The sculpture is composed of red limestone blocks.

A model of the Lion of Belfort in Frederick Batholdi's studio. Bartholdi is famous as the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty, but he has done many other interesting works.

Within the Belfort fortress is a small museum. It contains a fine display of Napoleonic era armour and uniforms.

Curassior helmets. Unfortunately the museum's displays have nothing in English, which made it a little problematic for us non-French speakers.

French hussar's busby

Prussian picklehelms and other early Great War German hats and helmets.

German trench armour from the Great War.

View away from the town towards the extensive Vauban fortifications.

View towards the town from the fortress.

Although not a part of the true Maginot Line, Belfort can be seen as the southern anchor of the Maginot line.

Ouvrage de la Falouse, Maginot Line, France

Verdun was the site of one of the most horrific battles of the Great War. Over 18 months the German Imperial Army bombarded and besieged the ring of fortresses surrounding the city, while the French poured reinforcements into the salient to prevent its fall. This was German General Erich von Falkenhayn's goal, to attack the French at point they could not afford to lose and bleed them white. The Battle of Verdun certainly had that effect. It has been estimated that every French soldier on the Western Front was cycled through Verdun at least once. https://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/verdun.htm

Even before the Great War, Verdun was an important fortress city near the border with Germany. Verdun was surrounded by a ring of major fortresses. Between the major fortresses the French established smaller fortified gun emplacements, called Ouvrages. The countryside is still littered with their ruins.

The Ourvage de la Falouse is located four kilometres south of Verdun. It was constructed between 1906 and 1908.

The Ourage was constructed at the summit of a low hill. The concrete barracks is excavated from the centre of the hill, protecting it from direct artillery and rifle fire. The window are protected with steel screens with gun ports. Any troops attempting to assault the fort would be caught in a devastating crossfire.

The main entry is protected by armored steel doors, also fitted with gun ports. You will notice in this photo that the size of the ports can be adjusted open or closed.

The Ouvrage museum has an excellent diorama of life during the war.

Life inside the Ouvrage. The barracks.

Should you wear boots in bed?

The kitchen

What's a meal without wine?



Excuse moi!

It's a long climb up to the observation positions

The gun crew

The gun crew

The 75 millimetre gun turret

The left had gun had taken a hit.

Sited above the turret is the armored gun-aimer's cupola.

Machine gun turret positions. The Ouvrage had two defensive machine gun emplacements in retractable turrets.

As you can see from this photo above the gun-aimer's position, the machine guns had excellent coverage over approaches to the Ouvrage.

Looking back down towards the barracks from the turret position. The barracks are completely invisible from here.

The ground around this observation post has subsided around it and the position, which is constructed of reinforced concrete has begun to slip down the hillside.

View out of one of the gun sights at the Ouvrage entrance.

From the outskirts of the site, the Ouvrage is almost completely invisible. During the war the trees would have been cleared to ensure a clear field of fire.

The turret emplacements resemble an ironclad battleship stranded on land. Being sufficiently south of Verdun, the Ouvrage escaped damage during the Great War. It was later incorporated into the Maginot Line, but again, escaped the destruction that occurred further north.

An aerial view of the entire site from the museum's website. The Ouvrage is not as big or impressive as the Hackenberg Fortress, but it is a very good museum and well worth a visit.
 http://www.ouvragedelafalouse.fr/presentation.html

There are many more fortresses and Ouvrages in this area of France and many are well worth a visit.
Check out our visit to the Hackenberg Fortress. https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2019/06/hackenberg-ouverage-maginot-line-france.html

USS Cairo (1862), Vicksburg USA

Vicksburg was a strategically important port city on the Mississippi River, half way between New Orleans and Memphis. Not only did Vicksburg control passage up the Mississippi, but it also linked the Confederate capital, Jackson, to the river. For the Union, it was imperative that they seize Vicksburg in order to split the Confederacy in two.

The Confederates' position in Vicksburg was formidable. The city was situated on a ridge overlooking at a sharp bend in the river, which itself presented its own obstacles in the form of sandbars and marshes. Impressive earthworks were thrown up and 170 artillery pieces were emplaced.

In 1863 Union general Ulysses S Grant led his army to Jackson and then swung west to cut the capitol off from Vicksburg. In an attempt to smash his way through he attempted a frontal assault, but was defeated with heavy loss. Grant changed tack and settled in to besiege the city while the Union fleet attempted to force their way up the Mississippi. https://www.nps.gov/vick/index.htm

Painting of the Union siege of Vicksburg.

Forcing the passage of the Mississippi was no easy task for the Union fleet. The river varied from wide and slow to narrow and winding and the Confederates opposed the fleet's passage all the way. Confederates fortified islands and strong points, mined the river and attacked the Union fleet with armoured gunboats. Both sides found it necessary to build ironclads for the riverine war.

USS Cairo (pronounced by Americans as 'kay-row') was one of four City class ironclad paddle-wheelers built for the Union river campaign by the James Eades company of Mound City, Illinois. 53 metres long and 15 metres wide, the ships were constructed of wood over which a casemate of iron rails was added for protection. The ships were powered by a single paddle wheel on the centreline, protected within the casemate. The ship was armed with whatever guns were available. Three heavy Dalgren guns were mounted forward and four mixed calibre guns were mounted on each side.

The Cairo commenced service in February 1862 and was involved in several actions against Confederate gunboats and shore positions over the next six months. On 12 December 1862, while clearing mines from the river ahead of an attack on Haines Bluff, the Cairo was destroyed by a mine detonated by Confederate troops observing from the riverbank. The ship sank in a few minutes but no lives were lost. The USS Cairo entered the history books as the first ship sunk by a remotely controlled mine.

Union forces attempted to salvage some of the guns and the engine from the wreck, but this proved difficult so the engine and most of the guns were abandoned. As the wreck was a hazard to shipping the ship was blown up. The wreck's position was then forgotten, disappearing under the silt. The silt however, protected the remains.

When the wreck was discovered in 1952, proposals were put forward to salvage the ship. Initially artefacts such as guns and the pilot house were removed.

The pilot house of the Cairo was raised in 1960.

In 1962 an attempt was made to lift the entire ship from the riverbed. This resulted in the ship beginning to break apart. After further assessment the decision was made to cut the ship into three parts and reassemble the ship ashore. The bow section, which is the best preserved was raised in 1965. The lengthy process of preserving and reassembling the wreck then commenced.

An excellent archive of photographs of the salvage can be found here: https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/search.html?q=USS+Cairo

In 1971 the National Parks services was authorized to move the preserved remains of the USS Cairo to the Vicksburg National Battlefield park, where she can be seen today. https://www.nps.gov/vick/u-s-s-cairo-gunboat.htm

The hull has been reassembled in a special cradle to keep the wreck intact. New sections of the ship have been constructed where parts are missing so that the entire ship can be appreciated.

In this photo you can see how the port side hull beams have been replaced with modern timber, compared to the original timbers of the bow. The corner of the armoured casemate and port side armour is missing.

Looking back through paddle wheel box. Constructed in the same way as a civilian paddle wheeler, the Cairo has a very low draft of less than two metres. Two reciprocating steam engines, one on each side provided the power.

The armoured pilot house. The armour was crude iron plates, riveted together. They protected against musket and light cannon, but would not have resisted explosive shell. 

The side armour consists of short iron plates, mounted vertically.

But further to the rear the armour consists of repurposed railway iron, mounted transversely. This was an easy and effective method also used by the Confederates.

The boilers

A model of the Cairo. You can see the railway iron armour on the front of the casement.

A field gun inside the museum

Monument to the CSS Arkansas, a Confederate ironclad which was lost defending the city.

The Vicksburg Battlefield Park

Rotunda monument

The Vicksburg National Battlefield Park can be found on the riverfront of Vicksburg. It's a large site but you can drive around it about an hour, with stops to visit the sites. The National Parks Service offered a great 'drive yourself' tour on CD, which guides you through the sites of the battles. The battlefield map is also excellent. Vicksburg was an important battlefield in the American Civil War and well worth a visit on any tour through the Southern States. https://www.nps.gov/vick/index.htm

The USS Cairo museum is also worth a diversion on the tour. You can see the ship from the outside and don't need to go into the small museum alongside, but the small entrance fee to the museum goes towards preservation of the ship so it's worth making the donation. https://www.nps.gov/vick/u-s-s-cairo-gunboat.htm

For more on Civil War ironclads http://steamboattimes.com/civil_war_ironclads.html
https://www.navalanalyses.com/2014/10/infographics-6-american-civil-war.html