Saarbrück

(anc. August i Mari , or Saræpons ). An open town on the left bank of the Saar, in Rhenish Pru ia. It was founded in the 10th century, and was long subject to the bishops of Metz; it was afterwards ruled by counts (about 1237), and by the house of Na au about 1380. It was captured by the French and retaken by the Germans, 1676; reunited to France, 1794-1814, and ceded to Pru ia, 1815. On August 2, 1870, it was bombarded by the French under Fro ard, and the Pru ians in small force were dislodged, and the town occupied by the French general Bataille. The emperor Napoleon and his son were present during this bombardment. On August 6, the Pru ian generals Goeben and Von Steinmetz, with the first army, recaptured Saarbrück, after a sanguinary conflict at the village of Spicheren. The heights taken by the French on the 2d are in Germany, those taken by the Germans on the 6th are in France, and both battles were fought between Saarbrück and the town of For bach, which was captured and has given a name to the second conflict. The lo was great on both sides. The French general François was killed, and the 2d Corps under Fro ard nearly destroyed. The French retreated to Metz. They were greatly superior in numbers at the beginning of the fight, but were badly commanded.