Bazaine 1870

Defeated commanders are frequently blamed for the decisions which they made, sometimes with serious or even fatal consequences. The case of the unfortunate Admiral Byng is an example from British naval history. In France in 1870, Marshal Francois-Achille Bazaine, the commander of the French army that surrendered at Metz during the Franco-Prussian war, was held responsible not only for what was alleged to be a breach of military discipline, but also, by many in France, was believed to have been guilty of treason. When the war ended with France’s crushing defeat, national pride demanded a scapegoat, and it was Bazaine who was blamed for just about everything that had gone so very wrong.