German Franco Prussian War Medal with 2 Campaign Bars
This item is listed for historical interest only. It was listed on our site previously but has been sold and is no longer available for purchase.
Sold for: $150.00

Original era manufacture. An issue medal, with the phrase "from captured cannon" around its edge. Original ribbon with a period looking mounting pin. Attached to the ribbon are the bars for the following campaign, with the order starting from the bottom to the top.  Gravelotte St.Privat and  Metz. Normal age and wear. The clasp Gravelotte-St.Privat honors the battle held on the 18th of August 1870, with the German 1st & 2nd Armies engaging Marshall Bazine's Army of the Rhine.It was a pyrrhic victory of sorts for the Germans, reportedly causing King Freidrich Wilhelm of Prussia to state, "my Garde found its grave before the cemetery of St. Privat".Pyrrhic Victory or not, Marshall Bazine and the French Army of the Rhine, fell back upon the Fortress of Metz, where they were quickly surrounded, forcing their complete surrender  in October of 1870.