actually expended and of the amount of ammunition lost or left on the dead and wounded. It is well known, that in the long periods, during which no engagement had taken place, an enormous amount of ammunition was lost on marches and in bivouacs. This applies likewise to battlefields. The commander of an ammunition column had his men pick up 22,000 rounds of needle gun ammunition in unbroken packages on the battlefield of Hühnerwasser.
A shortage of ammunition first manifested itself where the troops, on removing their knapsacks, had neglected to take out the tin boxes filled with ammunition (for example in the 12th Jäger-Battalion at Sedan),[1] or where the ammunition wagons had been sent to the rear with the field train (for example in the 50th Infantry, on January 19th, 1871, in the battle at Mont Valérien, and in the 38th Brigade, at the battle of Beaune la Rolande).[2]
The regimental histories contain only a few statements in regard to the amount of ammunition expended in the various engagements. Moreover, these statements are only approximations and, as a rule, cannot lay claim to trustworthiness.
The amount of ammunition expended in the opening battles of the war was very small, due to the training and fighting methods of the Prussian infantry, and to the support it received from the artillery. Moreover, the short range of the rifle prohibited long range firing.
"In order to hold its own against the intensity and long range of the hostile fire, the German infantry was compelled to fire more rapidly and at longer ranges than it had intended. In addition, the difficulties of fire control and fire direction were frequently increased on account of the tremendous loss of leaders. Under these circumstances, so much ammunition was expended that, among the troops fighting in the first line, the ammunition carried by the men was no more than enough. This explains why it not infrequently happened that the fighting efficiency of the infantry was impaired by a lack of ammunition. The first general shortage of ammunition occurred at the battle of Mars-la-Tour in the infantry of the IIIrd Army Corps."[3]
On August 16th, at the battle of Vionville, the Prussian IIIrd Army Corps, whose effective strength was 21,050 rifles, expended 720,486 cartridges, which corresponds to only 34.5 rounds per rifle; yet, in spite of this, the ammunition ran short. During the lull in the battle at noon, by removing the cartridges from the dead and wounded, each man in the 35th Infantry[4] was again supplied with about 200 rounds of ammunition, which were then expended in the course of the afternoon, so that toward evening another shortage occurred.
