Created during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the Blue Division is the name given to the division of Marine Infantry bringing together, for the first time in the history of marine troops, porpoises (four marching regiments) and bigors (an artillery regiment).
Commanded by General de Vassoigne, it is made up of two brigades:
* the 1st, under the command of General Reboul, is made up of the 1st Marine Infantry Regiment from Cherbourg and the 4th from Toulon;
* the 2nd, under the command of General Martin des Pallières, includes the 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment of Brest and the 3rd of Rochefort. The 1st Marine Artillery Regiment of Lorient provided 3 batteries.
The Blue Division is part of the 12th Corps under the command of General Lebrun, which is the last to enter the place of Sedan after having made a last attempt to return with General de Wimpffen.
* During the month of August 1870, eastern France was occupied by three German armies. Wanting to deliver Bazaine surrounded in Metz, Mac-Mahon is responsible for forming an army called Châlons including the 2nd brigade of the blue division. Leaving Reims after 6 days of forced march with the army of Châlons, the 2nd brigade of the Blue division reached Sedan where Mac-Mahon wanted to rest his army and resupply it before returning to Metz. But following the battle of Beaumont, the army of Châlons is fixed on Sedan.
* The 2nd Brigade must protect Bazeilles on the eastern flank of the fortress of Sedan. From August 31, the whole army was on the right bank of the Meuse, however a railway bridge at Remilly was still intact and would allow the infiltration of elements of the Bavarian vanguards, which would be repelled at nightfall. at night.
* The superiority in number and in artillery of the adversary will give rise to deadly confrontations where the losses are numerous; the village is taken back, then kept by the French only on the northern border. The 1st brigade, which arrived as reinforcements at the end of the day, enabled the total recapture of Bazeilles at nightfall.
* On September 1, the Bavarian forces reinforced during the night attacked the village at daybreak. They think they find it empty, but fall into a counter-attack of 150 porpoises organized by Commander Lambert, deputy chief of staff of the division.
Then follow two unexpected reversals:
* The first with the replacement of Mac Mahon, wounded, by General Ducrot who orders the abandonment of the acquired positions;
* The second, after the evacuation of Bazeilles, with the arrival of General de Wimpfen, who takes the opposite view of these provisions and orders the reoccupation of the abandoned positions.
After new fights one against ten, facing the 1st Bavarian army corps whose artillery is increasingly provided, General de Vassoigne considers that "the marine infantry has reached the extreme limits of duty" and rings retreat in order to avoid the complete massacre of the troops.
The Blue Division lost 2,655 men in this single encounter, but caused at least double casualties in an enemy superior in armament and numbers. Forty Bazeillais were killed during the fighting on August 31 and September 1. Another 150 died of their wounds in the six months following the battle. The adversary, for its part, had left 7,000 people killed, including more than 200 officers.
This is the reason why this episode has been remembered by military history, with in particular the immortalization by the painter Alphonse de Neuville of the defense of the Bourgerie inn, where we can see Commander Lambert and a handful of men to defend the house in particularly difficult conditions, and until the complete exhaustion of ammunition.
Bazeilles has since remained a high place and a symbol of the navy troops.