The Cemetery of Saint-Privat, August 18, 1870

This piece depicts an episode of the Franco-Prussian war from 1870–1871. The scene shows the final attack of the Prussian Guard's infantry against the final French defenders from Bourbaki's army corps in the village of Saint-Privat, on the evening of August 18, 1870. A handful of survivors defend themselves until the very end, among the tombstones of the village's cemetery. With their backs to the wall seen in the backdrop of the painting, two chasseur officers and a frontline soldier, injured, remain on their feet, unflinching. Personification of the stoic resignation and courage of the defeated, who know that they are as good as dead and are simply waiting to meet their end. At the center, the last of the combatants, foot soldiers from the 9th battalion and infantry soldiers from the 4th, 10th, and 12th frontline battalions push forward to the cemetery gates while the bodies of the deceased blanket the ground.